Беседа 4. О благодарении

Have you heard the words of the Apostle with which he addresses the Thessalonians, prescribing a law for the whole of life; because the teaching was taught to those who ever treated the Apostle, and the benefit of the teaching extends throughout human life. “Rejoice always,” he says, “pray without ceasing. Give thanks in everything” (1 Thess. 5:16–18). What does it mean to rejoice? What's the use of it? How is it possible to correct unceasing prayer and give thanks to God for everything? We'll talk about this a little later, if possible. First, we need to deal with what our opponents object to, slandering that what is prescribed by law is impossible. They say: what kind of virtue is it to spend day and night in the outpouring of the soul, having fun and rejoicing? And how is it possible to succeed in this when we are surrounded by thousands of disasters beyond our control, which produce the necessary despondency in the soul, and in which it is even more impossible to rejoice and be complacent than for someone who is burned not to feel pain and someone who is pierced not to suffer? Or maybe some of those around us here, suffering from this weakness of reason, present the same excuses in excuse for their sins; due to his negligence in keeping the commandments, he thinks to turn this into a reproach to the legislator, who prescribes the impossible. And he says: how can I always rejoice when the reasons for joy are not in my power? For that which produces joy is outside us, not in us; for example, the arrival of a friend, a meeting with parents after a long separation, the discovery of money, honors from people, restoration of health after a serious illness and other prosperity of life: a home with plenty of everything, a satisfying table, friendly accomplices in fun, pleasing to the ears and sights, the health of close relatives, the successful course of their lives in everything else, because not only the sorrows that befall us ourselves are regrettable, but also those that saddens friends and family. Therefore, all this is necessary to create joy and spiritual complacency. And moreover, when it happens to see the fall of enemies, the defeat of those who are malicious, the reward of benefactors, and in a word, when neither real nor expected difficulties disturb our life in the least, then there can be joy in the soul. So, why is a commandment given to us, the fulfillment of which is not in our will, but is a consequence of other reasons? How can I pray unceasingly, when bodily needs necessarily turn the thoughts of the soul onto themselves, and it is impossible for a thought to be divided between two concerns at the same time? But I am also commanded to give thanks for everything. Is it really possible to give thanks when they torture me, mock me, stretch me on a wheel, gouge out my eyes? Is it really possible to give thanks when a hater inflicts dishonorable blows on me, when I am numb from the cold, when I am tormented by hunger, when I am tied to a tree, when I suddenly became dispossessed or lost even my wife, when I suddenly lost my income from a shipwreck, was caught by robbers at sea or on land by robbers, when I am wounded, slandered, became a beggar, living in prison? All this and much more are collected together by those who accuse the legislator, thinking to use the slander that what is prescribed to us is impossible as an excuse for their sins. What can we say to this? What the Apostle means is different and is trying to lift our souls from earth to heights and lead us into a heavenly way of life. They, without comprehending the great thought of the legislator, in bodily passions, like worms around mud, entwining themselves around the earth and flesh, demand the opportunity to fulfill the apostolic instructions. The Apostle invites not everyone to always rejoice, but the one who is like himself, no longer living in the flesh, but having Christ living in himself; because communication with the highest of goods does not in any way allow for sympathy with what worries the flesh; but even if the flesh is cut, the severance of the connection remains in the suffering part of the body, but the spread of pain cannot reach strength in the soul. For if, according to the apostolic advice, we have killed “the fish of the earth” (Col. 3:5), and we bear “the deadness of Jesus in the body” (2 Cor. 4:10), then it is necessary that the blow inflicted on the mortified body does not reach the soul, which is cut off from communication with it. Also, dishonor, loss and death of neighbors will not rise to the mind and the sublimity of the soul will not be reduced to sympathy with the local. For if those exposed to troubles reason in the same way with a person who is attentive to themselves, then they will not cause sorrow to another, because they themselves calmly endure what happened to them. If they live according to the flesh, then even in this case they will not cause sorrow, but will be considered pitiful, not so much because of the cramped conditions of their circumstances, but because they have chosen for themselves something that is not what they should. In general, the soul, once embraced by love for the Creator and accustomed to having fun with the beauties there, will not lose its joy and complacency from the various transformations of carnal suffering; but what is sorrowful for others will increase her joy. Such was the Apostle who favored “in weakness, in sorrow, in exile, in troubles, boasting in his poverty, being in hunger and thirst,... in winter and nakedness, in exile and distress” (2 Cor. 6, 4, 11:27); while others grieve and renounce life, while the Apostle rejoices. Therefore, those who do not understand the apostolic thought and do not understand that he calls us to the life of the Gospel, dare to accuse Paul as if he is prescribing the impossible to us. But let them know how many reasons God has given us to reasonably rejoice. We are brought from non-existence into existence, created in the image of the Creator, we have both reason and word, which constitute the perfection of our nature, and through which we have come to know God. By carefully studying the beauties of creation, from them, as from some writings, we understand God’s great Providence and God’s wisdom in everything. We have the ability to distinguish between good and bad; by nature itself we are taught to choose what is useful and to avert what is harmful. Having been alienated from God by sin, we are again called to communion (with Him), freed by the blood of the Only Begotten from dishonorable slavery. And the hope of resurrection, and the enjoyment of angelic blessings, the Kingdom in heaven, the promised blessings that surpass the power of understanding and words! How can one not recognize all this as a sufficient reason for unceasing joy and unceasing joy, but on the contrary, think that the one who satiates the belly, is amused by the sounds of the flute, reclines on a soft bed, is the one who leads a life worthy of joy? But I would say that it is proper for those who have intelligence to cry about it, but those who spend their present life in the hope of the next century and exchange the present for the eternal should be pleased. Those who are united with God, although they are in flames, like the three youths in Babylon, although they are imprisoned with lions, although they are swallowed up by a whale, should also be pleased by us, and themselves lead their lives in joy, not grieving about the present, but rejoicing in the hope of what is prepared for us later. For I think that a good ascetic, having once entered the field of piety, must courageously endure the blows of his opponents, in the hope of glory - to be crowned. And in physical feats, those accustomed to the labors of warfare do not lose spirit from the pain of a blow, but continue to fight with the enemy, due to the desire to be declared winners, despising real labor. Likewise, for a zealot of virtue, even if something difficult comes across, it will not darken this joy; because “tribulation makes patience perfect, patience is skill, and skill is hope, but hope does not put to shame” (Rom. 5:3-5). Therefore, the same Apostle in another place commands us to be patient in tribulation and to rejoice in “hope” (Rom. 12:12). So, hope makes joy dwell in the soul of the virtuous. But this same Apostle commands us that we must “weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). And writing to the Galatians, he wept for the enemies of the cross of Christ. And is it necessary to say that Jeremiah wept, that Ezekiel, at the command of God, wrote the lament of the princes (Ezek. 19:1), and that many saints indulged in weeping? “Woe is me, mother!.. Who did you give birth to?” (Jer. 15, 10). And: “It is cruel to me... for the pious perished from the earth, and there is no one to correct among men”; and: “U lute me! as soon as you gather sludge at the harvest” 30 (Mic. 7, 2, 1). And in general, examine the voices of the righteous, and if you find that one of them emits a mournful voice, then you will be convinced that they are all mourning this world and this miserable life in it. “Woe is me, for my coming will continue” (Ps. 119:5); for “I have a desire to be resolved and to be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23); Therefore, he is upset by the continuation of this coming as an obstacle to joy. David also left us with songs of lamentation for his friend Jonathan, in which he also mourned his enemy. “I’m sad about you, my brother Jonathan!” . and: “Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul!” (2 Kings 1, 26, 24). Saul mourns as one who died in sin, and Jonathan as a man who was in close friendship with him all his life. And do we need to talk about anything else? The Lord himself wept for Lazarus (John 11:35), wept for Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), and blessed those who mourn (Matthew 5:4) and in another place those who weep (Luke 6:21). They say: “How can this be reconciled with the words: “rejoice always”? For tears and joy do not come from the same reasons. Tears are usually born from an unexpected impression, which, like a blow, strikes and depresses the soul, constricting breathing in the atrium; and joy is, as it were, a galloping of the soul, admiring the fact that things agree with its desire. This is why there are various changes in the body. Those who mourn have a pale, bluish, cold body; but the cheerful ones have a blooming state of body, a rosy appearance, the soul almost jumps and bursts out with pleasure.” To this we say that the saints cried and cried out of love for God. Always looking at the Beloved and increasing in themselves the joy they drew there, they cared about the fate of slaves like them, mourning those who sinned, correcting them with tears. But just as those standing on the shore, compassionate for those drowning at sea, do not lose their own safety by caring for the needy, so those mourning the sins of their neighbors do not thereby destroy their joy, but, on the contrary, increase it even more, receiving joy from the Lord for their tears for their brother. Therefore, blessed are those who weep and blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted and laugh (Luke 6:21; Matt. 5:4). Laughter does not mean the noise coming out of the cheeks when the blood boils, but gaiety, not dissolved or mixed with anything sad. Therefore, the Apostle allows us to weep with those who weep; because these tears are like the seed and guarantee of eternal joy. Escape your thoughts and contemplate the angelic state. Is another state appropriate for them other than the state of joy and complacency, because they are worthy to stand before God and enjoy the indescribable beauty of the glory of the One who created us? Urging us to this life, the Apostle commanded us to “always rejoice.” About the fact that the Lord wept for Lazarus and for the city, we can say that He ate and drank, not Himself needing it, but leaving you the measure and limit of the necessary sensations of the soul. So He cried in order to correct the excessive sensitivity and cowardice of those prone to lamentation and tears. For like everything else, crying also requires proportionality with reason regarding who, how many, when and how tears should be shed. And that the tears of the Lord were shed not out of a passionate movement, but for our teaching, this is clear from what was said: “Lazarus, our friend, succeeded; but I go and stir him up” (John 11:11). How many of us mourn a sleeping friend whom we hope will soon awaken from sleep? “Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43), and the dead man came to life, bound began to walk. It’s a miracle within a miracle to have your feet bound in burial shrouds and not encounter any obstacles to movement! Here the strengthening was stronger than the hindering. Why, intending to do this, did he recognize the present incident as worthy of tears? Is it not clear that, while supporting our weakness in everything, he has limited the necessary passionate movements to a certain extent and limits, preventing lack of compassion, because this is bestial, and not allowing us to indulge in grief and shed many tears, because this is cowardly? Therefore, having shed tears over a friend, He Himself showed communication with human nature, and freed us from excesses in this or that, commanding that we should not relax in passionate movements, and not meet sorrows with insensibility. How the Lord felt hungry when His solid food evaporated, thirsty when the moisture in His body was depleted, and tired when His muscles and veins were overexerted from travel; Meanwhile, it was not the Divinity that was tired of labor, but the body that experienced changes depending on its nature; So he allowed tears, allowing a change natural for the flesh to occur. And this happens when the cavities of the brain, due to grief, are filled with vapors, through the eye holes, as if through some kind of plumbing, a wet burden is expelled. This is why, with unexpected, unfortunate hearing, some kind of noise in the ears, dizziness and darkness in the eyes occur, due to the shock produced in the head by the fumes that are sublimated by the concentration of heat in the insides. Then, like clouds turning into raindrops, so, I think, the density of evaporation resolves into tears. Because of this, those who are distressed find some pleasure in shedding tears, because tears imperceptibly exhaust what burdens them. The validity of this reasoning is confirmed by actual experience; for we know that many, in hopeless disasters, forcibly restrained themselves from shedding tears, and after this, some suffered from incurable illnesses, stroke or paralysis, while others completely gave up the spirit, because their strength, like a weak support, was crushed under the weight of grief. You can see in the flame how it is suffocated by its own smoke, if the smoke does not go away, but spreads around it. The same thing, they say, happens with vitality; it melts and fades away from grief when there is no evaporation outward. Therefore, those inclined to excessive sadness should not point to the tears of the Lord to justify their own passion. For just as the food that the Lord ate should not serve for us as a reason for voluptuousness, but, on the contrary, as the highest rule of abstinence and moderation, so tears are offered to us not as a law that prescribes crying, but as the most decent measure and as a precise rule, according to which we must, remaining within the limits of nature, endure sorrow honestly and decently. Therefore, neither women nor men are allowed to complain and cry a lot, but they can be somewhat saddened during grief and shed a few tears, however, quietly, without sobs and cries, without tearing their clothes, without sprinkling ashes on themselves, without any other similar indecencies committed by people who have no idea about decency. For one who has been purified by Divine teaching must be protected by the right word, like a solid wall, courageously and with strength to repel the aspirations of such passions from himself and not allow a horde of passions to flood a compliant and pliable soul like some kind of low-lying place. A soul that is weak and not in the least strengthened by trust in God tends to strain itself beyond measure and fall under the weight of grief. Just as worms most often breed in trees that are less solid, so sorrows arise in people of a more delicate disposition. Didn't Job have an adamantine 31 heart? Was not its interior made of stone? in a short instant, his four children die, crushed by one blow in the house of joy, during the time of pleasure, because the devil brought the house down on them. He sees a meal mixed with blood, he sees children born at different times, but suffering a common end to life. He does not cry, does not tear his hair, does not utter any unmanly voice, but utters this glorious and sung thanksgiving: “The Lord has given, the Lord has been taken away: as the Lord willed, so it was: blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Isn't he an insensitive person? but is it possible? He says about himself: “I wept for everyone who was oppressed” (Job 30:25). But wasn't he lying when he said this? However, no, the truth testifies to him that with other virtues he was “true”; it is said: “man is blameless, righteous, godly, true” (Job 1:1). And you cry, humming some songs composed for sadness, and trying to torment your soul with sad melodies. Just as performers, when they imagine something sad, tend to change their clothes and the outfit in which they appear at the spectacle, so you think that the person crying should have a corresponding appearance, black clothes, disheveled hair, the house is dark, unclean, ashes and a sad melody, which would constantly keep the wound of grief unhealed in the soul. Leave it to those who have no hope to do this. And you have been taught about those who have fallen asleep in Christ that “it is sown into corruption, it is raised in incorruption... it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; a spiritual body is sown, a spiritual body is raised” (1 Cor. 15:42–44). Why are you crying about someone who went to change his clothes? Do not cry for yourself, as if you are deprived of some helper in life; for it is said: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man” (Ps. 117:8). Do not mourn about him as if he had suffered a disaster, for soon the heavenly trumpet will awaken him, and you will see him standing before the judgment seat of Christ. So, abandon these cowardly and ignorant cries: “Alas! what an unexpected misfortune!”; and: “Who would have thought this would happen?”; and again: “When I expected that I would cover the head that was most dear to me with earth!” At such words, if we hear them from another, we should blush, because both by remembering the past and by experiences in the present we have been taught the necessity of these natural sufferings. Therefore, neither untimely death nor other unexpected misfortunes will strike us, instructed by the word of piety. For example, I had a young son, the only successor to the estate, the consolation of old age, the adornment of the family, the color of his peers, the support of the house - and he, at the most charming age, was suddenly snatched away by death; the one whom recently it was so sweet to listen to, who was the most pleasant sight for the eyes of a parent, has become earth and dust! What should I do? Will I tear off my clothes, begin to roll on the ground, scream and complain, show myself to others like a child who screams and struggles under blows? Or, drawing attention to the necessity of what happened, to the fact that the law of death is inexorable, extends equally to all ages, destroys everything complex in order, I will not marvel at what happened as if it were something unprecedented, I will not go crazy as if struck by an unexpected blow, having long been forewarned that I myself am mortal and had a mortal son, that everything human is fragile and does not remain forever with those who possess it; on the contrary, even great cities, famous for the splendor of their buildings, the power of their inhabitants, and distinguished by the flourishing state of their country and trade in everything else, now in some ruins retain the signs of ancient greatness. And the ship, which was repeatedly saved at sea, after a thousand fast voyages bringing thousands of cargoes to the merchants, dies from one blow of the wind. And armies that have defeated enemies in battles many times, with a change in happiness, become a pitiful sight and a parable. Even entire nations and islands that achieved great power, erected many victorious monuments both on land and sea, collected great wealth from military booty, were either swallowed up by time, or, having fallen into captivity, exchanged freedom for slavery. And in general, no matter what you name the greatest and most unbearable disasters, there are examples in the past life that are identical to them. Therefore, just as we distinguish weights by the inclination of the scales and test the difference of gold by friction against a stone, so, bringing to mind the measure indicated to us by the Lord, we will never go beyond the limits of prudence. So, if something unpleasant happens to you, first of all, by ordering your thoughts, do not be embarrassed, and then make the present easier for yourself by relying on the future. How those with sick eyes, turning their gaze away from objects that are too shiny, calm them down by focusing on flowers and greenery; Likewise, the soul should not continuously look at the sorrowful and not be preoccupied with real sorrows, but raise its gaze to the contemplation of true blessings. So you will always be able to rejoice if your life is always turned to God, and the hope of reward will ease everyday sorrows. Are you dishonored? But behold the glory that is reserved for patience in heaven. Have you suffered a loss? But stretch your eyes to the heavenly riches and treasures that you accumulate for yourself through good deeds. Are you expelled from your fatherland? But you have Heavenly Jerusalem as your fatherland. Have you lost your child? But you have Angels with whom you will rejoice before the throne of God and rejoice with eternal joy. Thus, by contrasting the expected blessings with real sorrows, you will keep your soul carefree and unperturbed, to which the apostolic law calls us. And let not the happy course of human affairs produce immoderate joy in your soul, and let sorrow not degrade its cheerfulness and sublimity with despondency and oppression. For anyone who is not first trained to look at everyday affairs in this way will never live without worry and embarrassment. But you will easily succeed in this if you have with you the commandment that advises you to always rejoice, you will begin to eliminate the worries of the flesh from yourself, gather spiritual joy, rise above the sensation of the present, direct your thoughts to the hope of eternal blessings, of which even one idea is enough to fill the soul with joy and instill in our hearts an angelic joy in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion forever. Amen. There are no more merciful people on earth, there are no truthful people among people... Woe is me! for with me now it is like a gathering of summer fruits... You might be interested in: