Беседа 10. На гневливых

Just as the usefulness of medical prescriptions, when they are given successfully and on the basis of art, is most clearly demonstrated by trial; so in spiritual exhortations, when the advice is especially justified by the consequences, then their wisdom and benefit for the correction of life and for the improvement of those who heed these exhortations are visible. We hear, as clearly expressed in the parables, that “anger destroys even the wise” (Proverbs 15:1); We also hear the apostolic exhortation: “let all... wrath and wrath and cry... be taken away from you with all malice” (Eph. 4:31); We hear that the Lord says: “Be angry with your brother in vain; you are guilty of judgment” (Matthew 5:22); and now, when we have experienced this passion - a passion that was not revealed within ourselves, but from outside, like some unexpected storm, hitting us, now we have learned most of all how amazing the Divine prescriptions are worthy. Having given place to anger, like a free path to a rushing stream, and in a calm state observing the unseemly confusion of those possessed by this passion, we actually learned the truth of the saying that “an ardent man is unseemly” (Proverbs 11:25). This passion, as soon as it once rejects the suggestions of reason and takes possession of the soul, already makes a person a perfect beast and does not allow him to be a man, depriving him of the help of reason. As there is poison in poisonous animals, there is irritation in angry ones. They rage like dogs, rush like scorpions, bite like snakes. Likewise, Scripture calls those possessed by this passion by the names of those animals to which they are likened by their vice. It calls them dumb dogs (Isa. 56:10), serpents, brood of vipers (Matthew 23:33). And for their willingness to mutually destroy each other and harm their fellow tribesmen, it is fair to classify them as beasts and poisonous animals, which by nature have an irreconcilable hatred of people. From irritability - an unbridled tongue, untamed lips, intemperate hands, insults, reproaches, slander, blows and much more that hardly anyone can count - these are the bad consequences of anger and irritability. Irritability also makes the sword more sophisticated; the human hand dares to kill a person. From her, brothers do not recognize each other; parents and children forget the bonds of nature. Angry people first do not know themselves, and then they also do not know all their neighbors. Just as mountain streams, flowing into low-lying places, carry away with them everything they encounter, so the violent and uncontrollable aspirations of the angry strike everyone equally. Those who are irritated respect neither gray hair, nor a virtuous life, nor family ties, nor previous favors, nor anything else that has any value. Irritation is a kind of short-term rage. Those who are irritated often plunge themselves into obvious evil; trying to take revenge on others, they neglect themselves. The memory of the offenders is wounded, like a sting, in the outbursts and leaps of their anger until they do not calm down until they either do some harm to the one who upset them, or, on occasion, suffer something bad themselves, just as something that quickly falls suffers more than causes harm, breaking against what it hits 46 . Who will explain this evil? Why do people quickly become irritated, inflamed by unimportant reasons; screaming, growing fierce, rushing more recklessly than any poisonous animal, until they stop, until, from the excess and incurability of evil, their anger, like a bubble, bursts and the fever cools down? Neither the edge of a sword, nor fire, nor any other terrible thing can restrain a soul driven into a frenzy by anger, almost as much as a person possessed by a demon, from whom the angry one does not differ either in appearance or spiritual disposition. Those who want to repay an insult with an insult, the blood in the heart boils, seething and bubbling, as if on a strong fire; rushing to the surface of the body, it shows the angry man in a different form, replacing his ordinary and well-known features, as if with a mask used for disgrace. You don’t recognize those eyes that are characteristic and common to them; on the contrary, the gaze wanders and sparkles with fire. They grind their teeth like pigs as they charge at each other. The face is gloomy and bloodshot; the whole body is inflated, the veins are ready to burst, because the spirit is agitated by an internal storm. The voice is cruel and tense, the speech is incoherent, goes into excess, flows inseparably, out of order, incomprehensible. And when, like fire with an abundance of combustible matter, a person is inflamed to the extreme degree of distress for him - then, oh! - then you will see such sights that cannot be retold in words and cannot be endured in practice. He raises his hands against his fellow tribesmen, raises them to all parts of the body, his feet mercilessly trample the most important members; whatever comes into his hands becomes an instrument of his rage. And if on the opposite side the same evil is met ready to fight back - similar anger and fury of an equal degree - in this case, those irritated in a mutual battle inflict everything on each other and suffer from each other that is only typical for those fighting under the influence of such a demon to endure; Such warriors, as a reward of anger, often receive damage to their limbs or even death. One inflicts offense with his hand, the other takes revenge with the same; one responds to the blow with a new blow, the other does not want to give in. My lips are already broken, but irritation takes away the feeling of pain. They don’t even have time to feel what they have suffered, because their whole soul is occupied with taking revenge on the offender. Do not heal evil with evil, do not try to outdo each other in disasters. In bad fights, the one who wins is more unfortunate: because victory brings more sin. Do not be a collector of evil tribute, and an even more crafty repayer of a crafty debt. Did the angry one offend you? Stop evil with silence. And you, like a stream, accepting his anger into your own heart, imitate the winds, which with their nasty breath throw back what was brought. Do not take the enemy as your teacher; Don't be jealous about what you hate. Do not be like a mirror for the angry, showing his image in yourself. He's purple, but aren't you flushed? His eyes are bloodshot, but tell me, is the silence visible in your eyes? His voice is stern; but is yours also meek? The desert echo does not respond to the speaker with such completeness as insults are returned to the reproacher. It’s fairer to say that the echo repeats what you say, and the reproach comes back with more. For what do scolders say to each other? One will say: you are vile and of a vile kind; the other will answer: and you are a slave of slaves. One will call him a beggar, another a tramp; one is an ignoramus, the other is a fool; and so on until there are no more offensive words, like arrows in a quiver. And then, when all the reproaches are shot down with the tongue, they move on to revenge itself. For irritation gives rise to a quarrel, a quarrel gives rise to cursing, cursing gives birth to a fight, a fight gives rise to wounds, and from wounds death often results. Let us stop evil at its very beginning, using all measures to destroy anger in souls. In this case, we will be able, together with this passion, to cut off, as if at the root and at the beginning, most of the bad. Who is reproaching you? and you bless. Beats? and you be patient. Does he despise you and treat you as nothing? and bring to yourself the thought that you were made of earth and will be resolved into earth again. Whoever protects himself with such reasoning will find any dishonor easier than it usually happens in reality. Through this, you will make revenge on your enemy impossible, showing that reproaches do not hurt you, and you will prepare for yourself a great crown of patience, when you turn the rage of another into a reason for your own wisdom. Therefore, if you listen to me, then add something from yourself to the offensive words of another. Did he call you vile, inglorious, worthless? And you call yourself earth and ashes. You are no more honest than our father Abraham, who calls himself that (Gen. 18:27). Does he call you an ignoramus, a beggar, a person worthless? And you, in the words of David, say about yourself that you are a worm and come from dung (Ps. 22:7). Add to this the wonderful deed of Moses. Rooted by Aaron and Mariam, he began not to complain to God about them, but to pray for them. Whose student would you rather be? Are they men pleasing to God and blessed, or men filled with the spirit of wickedness? When the temptation to say a reproachful word confuses you, imagine that you must decide for yourself whether to approach God through patience or through anger to go over to the side of the enemy. Give your thoughts time to choose the good part. And you will either provide some benefit to the enemy by an example of meekness, or you will take greater revenge with contempt. Could anything be more painful for him than to see that his enemy is above insults? Do not lose discretion and do not allow yourself to give in to the offender. Let him bark at you uselessly and tear himself apart. He who beats someone who does not feel pain punishes himself, because he does not take revenge on the enemy and does not calm his irritation; and whoever insults with words a person who is not touched by reproaches cannot find satisfaction of his passion; but on the contrary, as I said, he is bursting with frustration. In this case, what will those present call each of you? He is a scolder, and you are generous; him - angry and intolerable, and you - long-suffering and meek. He will regret what he said, and you will never repent of your virtue. Do I need to say much? His reproaches blocked the Kingdom of Heaven. For “troublers... will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:10). And the Kingdom has prepared silence for you. For “he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22). And if you take revenge and respond to reproaches with reproaches, what can you say in your defense? That the person who started the quarrel annoyed you? But is this worthy of any apology? A fornicator who blames a harlot for causing him to commit sin is no less condemned for this. There are no crowns where there are no opponents; there are no defeats where there are no opponents. Listen to what David says: “The sinner never stood up before me, I was not irritated, I did not take revenge, but I was dumb and humbled, and kept silent from good things” (Ps. 38:2-3). And you yourself are upset by reproach, as if by something bad; but again you imitate it as if it were something good. And so he became guilty of the same thing that you condemn. Or do you look closely at someone else’s vices, and disregard what is vile in you? Isn't resentment a bad thing? Run in imitation. And the fact that someone else started a quarrel, of course, is not enough to excuse. Therefore, as I assure myself, it is fairer for your opponent to be indignant at you for not seeing a chaste example from you. Seeing how ugly an angry person is, you are not careful from imitating him; on the contrary, you yourself are indignant, you yourself are irritated, you yourself are angry, and your passion serves as an apology to the one who warned you. For by what you do, you free him from guilt, and you blame yourself. If irritation is not good, why didn’t you avoid the bad? And if it deserves leniency, why are you indignant at the irritated one? Therefore, even if you were not the first to take revenge, this will not help you at all. In the deeds for which one is crowned, it is not the one who began the struggle, but the winner who is crowned. Therefore, not only the one who initiated the evil deed is condemned, but also the one who follows the evil leader into sin. If he called you a beggar and is telling the truth, accept it as the truth, but if he is lying, what do you care about what he said? Do not be puffed up with praises that are higher than the truth; Do not be upset by insults that do not concern you. Don't you see that arrows usually pierce through hard and stubborn bodies, but in soft and compliant bodies they lose their swiftness? Think of the quality of reproach as something similar. He who opposes it takes it upon himself; and whoever gives in and gives in, by his gentleness of character weakens the anger directed against him. Why does the name outrage you: beggar? Remember your nature; Naked you entered into the world, naked you will come out (Job 1:21). And what is poorer than naked? You won’t hear anything offensive if you internalize what they say about you. Who has ever been sent to prison for poverty? It is reproachful not to be a beggar, but not to have the courage to endure poverty. Remember the Master: He “made us rich for the sake of our poverty” (2 Cor. 8:9). And if he calls you foolish and ignorant, remember the offensive words of the Jews with which they reproached true Wisdom: “Thou art a Samaritan and a demon” (John 8:48). If you are angry, then you confirm the reproach. For what is more foolish than anger? And if you remain not angry, then you bring shame to the offender by showing chastity in reality. Are you buzzed? 47 But the Lord was also strangled. Are you spat on? But our Lord was also spat upon; for he did not turn his face away “from the cold of spitting” (Is. 50:6). Have you been slandered? But the Judge was also slandered. Did your shirt get torn? And they took off my Lord's robe, and divided His garments among themselves. You are not yet condemned, you are not yet crucified. You lack much to become like the Lord. Let all this come to your mind and put out the fire. For such preparations and dispositions, as if stopping the impulses and tremblings of the heart, bring thoughts into order and silence. This is what David said: “Be prepared and not be troubled” (Ps. 119:60). Therefore, the frantic and unreasonable movement of the heart should be pacified by remembering the examples of blessed men. With what meekness did the great David endure the reproaches of Shimei! He did not give time to anger, turning his thoughts to God; for he said: “The Lord spoke to Shimei to curse David” (2 Sam. 16:10). Therefore, hearing the names: “a man of blood and a man of iniquity” (2 Samuel 16:7), he did not become irritated against Shimei, but humbled himself, as if he had deserved the insult he encountered. Eliminate two thoughts in yourself: do not recognize yourself as worthy of anything great, and do not think that another person is much lower in dignity than you. In this case, the dishonor inflicted on us will never irritate us. It is terrible if a person who has been favored and owed the greatest favors, in spite of his ingratitude, inflicts insult and dishonor on him. This is terrible, but there is more harm to the one who does it, and not to the one who suffers. Let him offend you, but don’t offend him. Let his words be an exercise in wisdom for you. If they don't touch you, it means you're invulnerable. And even if a few souls suffer, keep the regrettable within yourself. For it is said: “My heart is troubled within me” (Ps. 142:4), that is, the passion did not appear outward, but was pacified, like a wave breaking within the shores. Calm your barking and enraged heart. Let your passions be ashamed of the presence of reason in you, just as playful children are ashamed of the coming of a venerable man. Therefore, how can we avoid the harm caused by our anger? - if we instill our irritability not to prevent reason, but first of all we will take care that thought never goes ahead; Let us treat her like a horse, which is given to us to control, like some kind of bridle, submits to reason, never steps out of its own duty, but goes where reason tells it. The irritable power of the soul is still useful to us for many deeds of virtue, when it, like some warrior who has laid down his arms before the leader, readily gives help where ordered and promotes reason against sin. For irritability is a mental nerve that gives the soul strength for wonderful undertakings. And if when it happens that the soul is weakened by voluptuousness, irritability, tempering it, like iron is tempered by immersion, turns it from weak and very pampered into courageous and stern. If you are not angry against the evil one, it is impossible for you to hate him as much as you should. I think that one should love virtue and hate sin with equal zeal. For this, irritability is very useful when, like a dog following a shepherd, following reason, it remains meek and obedient to those who provide help, quickly runs to the call of reason, but becomes ferocious from someone else’s voice and gaze, although apparently they are friendly, and shrinks with fear when it hears the voice of an acquaintance and friend. This is the best and most correct assistance that an irritating force can provide to the rational part of the soul. In this case, she will be irreconcilable with those who intend evil, will not enter into any relations with them, will never enter into friendships that are harmful, but, on the contrary, she will always bark and rush at insidious voluptuousness like a wolf. Such is the benefit of irritability, if one knows how to control it; because every other ability, according to the way it is used, is either bad or good for the one who has it. For example: whoever uses the lustful power of the soul to enjoy carnal and unclean pleasures is vile and intemperate; but whoever turned it to the love of God and the desire for eternal blessings is worthy of imitation and blessed. And again, whoever has good control of the judging power is prudent and intelligent; and whoever sharpens his mind to harm his neighbor is a deceiver and a villain. Therefore, what the Creator has given us for salvation, let us not turn it into a reason for sin! In this case, irritability, brought into action when it should and as much as it should, produces courage, patience and self-control; and if he acts contrary to common sense, he turns into rage. That is why the psalm admonishes us: “Be angry and do not sin” (Ps. 4:5). And the Lord in vain threatens the angry with judgment, but does not forbid where anger should be used, as if in the form of medicine. For the words: “I will put enmity between you” and between the serpent (Gen. 3:15), and: “Enmity with the Midianite” (Num. 25:17) are the words of one who teaches to use irritability as a weapon. Therefore, Moses, the meekest of all people (Num. 12:3), when punishing idolatry, armed the hands of the Levites to kill their brothers. He said: “Gird every man... a sword upon your thigh, and go from gate to gate, and return through the regiment, and kill every man his brother... neighbor... and every man his neighbor” (Ex. 32:27). And soon afterwards it was said: “And Moses said: Fill your hands this day with the Lord, each one of his sons and his brothers, that blessing may be given to you” (Ex. 32:29). What exonerated Phinehas? Isn't there righteous anger against those who have gone astray? He was very philanthropic and meek, but when he saw the fornication clearly and shamelessly committed by Zimri and the Midianite woman, so that they did not hide the shameful sight of their cold, then, not suffering from this, he took advantage of his irritability in a timely manner and pierced both with the “sulice” 48 (Num. 25: 7-8). And didn’t Samuel kill in righteous anger, bringing out on Wednesday 49 the king of the Amalekites, Agag, whom Saul saved, contrary to God’s command (1 Sam. 15:32-33)? Thus, irritability is often the servant of good deeds. And the zealot Elijah, in a reasonable and chaste irritation for the benefit of all Israel, put to death four hundred and fifty priests of the cold and four hundred priests of the groves, “those who ate the table of Jezebel” 50 (1 Kings 18:19). But you are angry with your brother in vain. For is not anger in vain when one is the cause of an action, and you are irritated by another? Are you not doing the same thing as dogs who gnaw a stone, but do not touch the one who throws the stone? The one who serves as an instrument of action is pitiful, but the one who acts is hated. Turn your irritability against him - against the murderer, the father of lies, the doer of sin; but be compassionate towards your brother, who, if he continues in sin, will be consigned to eternal fire along with the devil. Just as the words irritation and anger are different, so is what they mean very different. For irritation is a kind of ignition and rapid evaporation of passion, anger is constant sorrow and a long-lasting desire to repay equal to the one who offended, so that the soul, as it were, thirsts for revenge. Therefore, you need to know that people sin in both states of mind when they either frantically and madly rush at those who have upset them, or they insidiously and maliciously lay snares for those who have offended. We must beware of both. How can we prevent passion from being aroused where it shouldn’t? How to do it? First learn humility, which the Lord commanded both in word and in deed. He commanded in a word when he says: “Whoever wants to be older in you, let him be the least of all” (Mark 9:35); He showed it by deed when he meekly and without an angry movement suffered the one who hit him. The Creator and Lord of heaven and earth, Whom every creature, both intelligent and sensual, worships, “bearing every word of His power” (Heb. 1:3), did not cast him alive into hell, did not command the earth to open up under the wicked, but exhorts and teaches him: “If you speak evil words, bear witness to evil: if it is good that Me biyeshi? (John 18:23). If, according to the commandment of the Lord, you learn to be the least of all, then can you ever become indignant, as if you have received an undeserved insult? When a foolish child reproaches you, his reproaches will give you a reason to laugh. And when a madman, crazy in his mind, speaks dishonest words to you, you consider him worthy of pity rather than hatred. Therefore, as a rule, it is not words that arouse grief in us, but contempt for the one who reproached us and each person’s idea of ​​himself. Therefore, if you destroy both in your thoughts, what you pronounce will be nothing more than empty noise of sounds. So, “cease from anger and forsake rage” (Ps. 36:8), lest you learn from experience the wrath that is revealed “from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Rom. 1:18). For if you are able to use a chaste mind to cut at the bitter root of irritability, then you will destroy many passions at their very beginning. Cunning, suspicion, mistrust, malice, malicious intent, insolence and the whole swarm of similar vices are the offspring of this sin. Therefore, we will not allow such great evil into ourselves - this mental illness, clouding of reason, alienation from God, ignorance of kinship, the beginning of battles, the fullness of disasters; this evil demon, which arises in our very souls, like some restless inhabitant, occupies our insides and blocks the entrance to the Holy Spirit. For where there is “enmity, zeal... rage, inflaming” (Gal. 5:20), competitions that produce incessant rebellions in souls, there the Spirit of meekness does not rest. But, having submitted to the admonition of blessed Paul, let us take from ourselves “all... wrath, and wrath, and crying... with all malice” (Eph. 4:31), let us be kind and merciful to one another, awaiting the blessed hope promised to the meek (for “blessed are the meek: for these shall inherit the earth”; (Matthew 5:5), in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion forever! Amen. That is, false prophets, priests of Baal, eating from the table of Jezebel, the idolatrous queen who killed the prophets of the Lord. You might be interested in: