70. О чтении духовных и светских книг

God's mercy be with you! At your request, I am sending you Saint Anthony with his writings. Read and go deeper. And marvel. He was not a scientist and did not read the books of scientists, he only sang the Psalter and read the Gospel with the Apostle. The grace of God revealed contemplations in his mind, and look how wise his speeches were. There is eyewitness testimony about him that when he began to speak, his speech flowed like a river and, coming from his heart, filled the hearts of all those who listened. Sometimes whole nights passed in such conversations, and neither he nor those listening to him felt tired or felt the urge to sleep. So our father Seraphim of Sarov was also unlearned, but the experiences of spiritual life, deepening into the word of God and the scriptures of the fathers made him wise from the wise. In spiritual life, books are only a guide. Knowledge itself is acquired by doing. Even what is learned from reading, as if clearly and thoroughly, when experienced by action, appears in a completely different light. Spiritual life is a special world into which human wisdom does not penetrate. You will experience this yourself or are already experiencing it. Work on yourself and pay attention to yourself. Little by little, and you will reach the point where you begin to make wise speeches, which you sit down and write down. God bless you! You write: “I read a lot; Isn’t that bad?” It can be both bad and good, judging by what you read and how you read it. Read with reasoning and believe what you read with the true truth of our confession. Whatever agrees with it, accept it, and whatever disagrees, immediately reject it as an ungodly thought, and throw away the book in which such thoughts are expressed. You have undertaken to study the spiritual life. This is an object that is both vast, sublime, and sweet for the heart, which cannot help but see in it its last good. Take it up - study it, and from books, and especially by doing it. You already know what books to read, and you know how to lead a good life. If you seriously want to embark on this path, then you will have no time to turn to the study of other subjects. You have studied and have a general understanding of everything – and that’s enough for you. You say: “Will you come out retarded like that?” What a problem! Retarded in one way, but successful in another, and much higher in another. If, lagging behind in human wisdom, you did not advance in the wisdom of God, there would be damage. But since you will undoubtedly succeed in the latter, if you take up the matter properly, you will not suffer damage, but gain a greater advantage. For human wisdom cannot be compared with spiritual wisdom. By saying this, I don’t mean to say that nothing else can be respected, but only that you can do without it without damage, whereas by leaning towards it you can suffer damage in your main thing. If you chase two, you won’t make it in either. But the question still remains unresolved: how can one read anything other than the spiritual? Through clenched teeth I tell you, barely audible: perhaps it is possible, only a little and not indiscriminately. Put this sign: when, being in a good spiritual mood, you begin to read a book with human wisdom and that good mood begins to fade away, throw that book. This is a universal law for you. But books with human wisdom can also nourish the spirit. These are those who, in nature and in history, show us traces of wisdom, goodness, truth and God's care for us. Read books like this. God reveals Himself in nature and history as well as in His word. And they are the books of God for those who know how to read them. It’s easy to say “read books like these,” but where can you get them? I can’t show you this. Nowadays, more books are being published on natural science subjects. But almost all of them have a bad direction, namely: they attempt to explain the origin of the world without God and all the moral, religious and other manifestations of spiritual life in us - without spirit and soul. And don't pick them up. There are books on natural science subjects without such philosophies. Those can be read. It is good to understand the structure of plants, animals, especially humans, and the laws of life that manifest themselves in them. Great is the wisdom of God in all this! Unexplored! What kind of books exactly there are, ask someone who talks fascinatingly about objects of faith. What about stories and novels?! There are good ones among them. But to find out if they are good, you need to read them, and once you have read them, you will get such stories and images that God forbid! Manure your clean little head. Then clean it up. How can one incur such labor upon oneself?! Therefore, I think it is better not to read them. When one of the well-meaning people who have read it recommends a story, you can read it. There are good land descriptions. And you can read them. But everything is a little bit and just for variety. Keep your job and don’t distract your attention from it. You might be interested in: