123. Отрыжка

Like the belching of the stomach, words and deeds come from the heart. Belching starts first in the stomach and comes out of the mouth. Likewise, what a person has inside his heart, good or evil, is shown outside through word or deed. When there is prayer in the heart, and in abundance, it will certainly manifest itself either by raising one’s eyes to heaven, or by raising one’s hands, or by saying a word appropriate to the prayer of the heart. Heartfelt prayer will find words suitable for itself. Then the person will cry: “O Lord, have mercy! O Lord, hear! O Lord, have mercy!” - or something similar. When God’s mercy, blessings, and gratitude for this are felt in the heart, it also comes out through the appropriate words. Here the man exclaims and with a joyful spirit and lips of joy calls out to God the Benefactor: “Glory to Thee, God!” or: “Blessed be God!”, or: Bless the Lord, my soul, or the like. When sadness for sins is felt in the heart, it shows itself through sighing or tears. Sighings and tears coming from a contrite heart are the words of heartfelt prayer. Then a person prays and cries out to God not with his tongue and lips, but with his heart: Hear my prayer, O Lord, and do not be silent to my tears (Ps. 38:13). When the love of God is felt in the heart and its sweetness is felt, then a person with a prophet will cry out to God: I will love You, O Lord, my strength (Ps. 17:2), or: The Lord is generous and merciful, long-suffering and abounding in mercy (Ps. 102:8), or something else similar to that. For love will regurgitate its signs. When humility is in the heart and is felt, then a person humiliates himself, and recognizes himself as unworthy of everything, and everywhere looks for the very last place. When there is love and mercy for one’s neighbor in the human heart, it manifests itself through joy for the well-being of the neighbor and condolences and compassion for his misfortune. Such a soul will not leave its neighbor without help; and if he cannot help, then to God, the Helper of all, he will sigh for him, and so on. From here you see, Christian, what true prayer, thanksgiving and true Christian piety are, when it is in the heart and comes from the heart. And what is not in the heart is not in the thing itself. In the same way, whatever evil a person has in his heart, like belching from the stomach, comes out through word or deed and shows itself. Anger shows itself by rage, shouting, blaspheming, cursing, clapping hands, tearing hair, and so on. Malice or rancor shows itself through vengeance through word or deed, damage, disgrace, slander and murder. These are the fruits of anger and malice. Fornicating lust shows itself through bad thoughts, bad dreams and manifests itself through lustful looks, bad jokes, touch, passionate words and the worst deeds, and so on. The love of money shows itself through all sorts of searches for wealth, through stinginess and storage of wealth, through theft, embezzlement, robbery, violence, taking away other people's goods and other evils. Lies, hypocrisy, cunning, deceit show themselves through words that do not agree with conscience and thought, and other signs that are contrary to what is inside a person. Pride shows itself by seeking the honor and glory of this world, and by preparing rich houses, beautiful clothes, expensive carriages and horses and other splendors of this world. Pride does not tolerate contempt and uncertainty. She is looking everywhere and in everything for how to show herself and be like something in front of people. Arrogance shows itself by showing off its good deeds, by despising and destroying others and condemning them, and by praising itself more than others. Although it does not utter Pharisee words outwardly, it says inside its heart: I am not like other people (Luke 18:11). Oh, if such a person would pronounce these words in the opposite sense both in his heart and with his lips: I am not like other people, that is, “Everyone is better than me,” and would cry out to God: God! Be merciful to me, a sinner! (Luke 18:13), - he would really be better than many, and would be righteous not by his own, but by God’s truth, which justifies the sinner! Many people think and say that they have hope in God, but in each case, as if from a burp, it becomes clear in whom they trust. Temptation shows in whom we hope: in God, or in man, or in another creature. Whoever in his need resorts to someone and seeks help, trusts in him. If you run to a person and seek help from him in some kind of trouble, then you rely on the person, and not on God. Through wealth and gifts you get rid of misfortune - you rely on wealth, and not on God. Through reason, cunning, and cunning you try to get rid of yourself - you rely on yourself, and not on God. If you want to get rid of yourself through your rank and dignity, you rely on your honor and rank, and not on God, and so on. But whoever truly trusts in God, having abandoned everything that exists besides God, resorts to God alone in all cases and adventures and asks for help, as we see from the psalms. Such a soul, in all kinds of needs and adventures, says heartily with the prophet: The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear, what will man do to me? The Lord is my Helper, and I will look upon my enemies (Ps. 118:6–7). I trust in the Lord; How can you say to my soul: “Fly to the mountains like a bird?” (Ps. 10:1). That is why the Lord says about her: Because he trusted in Me, I will deliver him (Ps. 90:14). So, what hope lies in a person’s heart is revealed and shown by chance and temptation. Many people dream that they love God and their neighbor, but since they do not have love in their hearts, they are deceived in this. Their deeds show that they love their own whims and love themselves, and not God and their neighbor. Great is love, and there is nothing greater than love. All gifts without love are nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-3). Love should be in the heart, not in words, and is known by deeds, not by words. The constant desire and desire for God's glory, and the fulfillment of His will, as far as is possible for man in this world, are signs of heartfelt love. Many people think that they are meek and patient, but chance and temptation, like belching from the stomach, show the opposite, and then they themselves learn that there is no meekness and patience in them. Many people think that they pray all day and often, because they bow a lot and read many written prayers, but since they do this without reason and inner attention, they either pray little or never. Everything external without the internal is nothing. All goodness and piety must first be in the heart and from the heart, or from the interior, just as belching comes from the stomach. The Holy Prophet says: I will vomit out of my heart a good word (Ps. 44:2). So do you, Christian. If you pray, let your heart burp out your prayer. If you give thanks and sing to God, let your heart burst forth with thanksgiving and singing. If you humble yourself, let your heart vomit out your humility. If you have mercy on your neighbor, let your heart burst out with mercy. Speak quietly and kindly to your neighbor - let your heart burp out your quiet and tender word. You hug and kiss your neighbor - let your heart burp your hug and kiss. In the house you receive and treat your neighbor - let your heart burst out with acceptance and entertainment. You bow your head and knees to the Lord your God - let your heart burst out in adoration and obeisance. You lift up your hands and lift up your eyes to Him who lives in heaven - let your heart respond to the lifting of your hands and the lifting of your eyes. Sing with the prophet to God: I will love you, Lord, and so on - let your heart regurgitate this word. You say to God: I trust in You, Lord, that I may never be ashamed (Ps. 30:2), and so on—let your heart vomit this word and your hope. You repent to your Lord and confess your sin, saying: “I have sinned, Lord,” and so on - let your heart burst out in repentance and confession. You confess and acknowledge before God your poverty, wretchedness, misery, wretchedness and insignificance - may your heart burp out your confession and recognition. Therefore, O Christian, pay attention to the following: 1) What people don’t know, they learn, and what they don’t have, they seek. They do not know the arts and sciences, so they enter academies and schools, and there they study, and study, and become intelligent. This is what we must do, fulfilling the characteristic Christian calling. We don’t know how to pray, we must learn. Therefore, the apostles prayed to the Lord: Lord! Teach us to pray (Luke 11:1). The canons that speak of repentance, the passion of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ and which are read on other holidays, as well as other church prayers, teach us a fair amount to pray and praise God. They teach and move towards true prayer and praise, but only if they are read with reasoning and reason, and without this there is no benefit. We do not have love, humility, meekness and patience - we must look for them and learn. And so what we are looking for, we will find, and what we do not know, we will learn. 2) As for prayer, so for every spiritual good, that is, for love, humility, meekness, patience and other Christian virtues, we must force ourselves and convince ourselves, although our hearts do not want to and turn away from this. Seeing such work and our efforts, the Lord will give us the hunt, and zeal, and true prayer, and other Christian goodness; He who can give and has promised will give (See Matt. 7:11; 21–22; John 16:23). 3) Knowledge of poverty teaches a person to get rid of poverty. The lack of bread teaches us to seek bread so as not to die of hunger; lack of drink convinces one to seek something to drink so as not to die of thirst; the lack of clothing forces one to look for clothing so as not to walk naked; weakness convinces you to look for a doctor, and so on. So it is in the Christian cause. When we recognize the poverty and poverty of our souls, we will seek our bliss. It is bad to be a Christian without prayer, without love, without humility, without meekness and other Christian virtues, and not to have them. Obvious trouble follows from this. We must look for them diligently. Thus, a known misfortune convinces a person to seek his own bliss. Know, Christian, corruption, poverty, damnation, misery and wretchedness of your heart - and this very knowledge will teach you prayer and Christian virtues. 4) A fair amount of training in prayer and piety—sorrow and suffering. The Israelites, being in Egypt and suffering insults from the henchmen of the tormenting Pharaoh, diligently prayed and cried out to God, as the Lord Himself spoke about them: I saw the suffering of My people in Egypt and heard their cry (Exodus 3:7). Anna, the mother of Samuel the prophet, enduring reproach due to infertility, enduring cramped conditions and sorrows, heartily prayed to God, and was heard by God (See 1 Samuel 1). His psalms testify to how King David, in his sorrows and persecutions, was aroused to heartfelt prayer. The prophet Jonah, in the belly of the whale, as in hell, cried out to the Lord from the depths of his heart, as he himself says: I cried out in my sorrow to the Lord my God (Jonah 2:3). Susanna in Babylon, unjustly slandered by the lawless elders and condemned to death, in this oppression and sorrow rebelled to the Lord, and was heard by the Lord (See Dan. 13:42–44). This is how grief teaches heartfelt prayer. When do we pray more earnestly, if not during illness, trouble, misfortune, temptation, during the invasion of foreigners, during famine, pestilence and other disasters that threaten us with death? Then prayer comes from the depths of the heart and rises. Likewise, we learn Christian virtues nowhere better than in the cross of sorrow, suffering and temptation. The warrior is not the skilled one who learns a lot about military regulations while staying in the Fatherland, but the one who has been in enough battles against the enemy. Likewise, that Christian is skilled in the Christian title, who goes through the fire and water of temptations, troubles, misfortunes and sorrows, and fights against invisible enemies. And for this, among other reasons, God allows His servants grief and suffering, that is, so that they learn true and heartfelt prayer, and resort to Him, and seek help, and learn Christian virtues. From tribulation comes patience, from patience comes experience, from experience comes hope, and hope does not disappoint (Rom. 5:3-5). Without salt, meat and fish rot. Even without sorrow, a Christian becomes spoiled. Salt drives worms out of meat and fish. Likewise, grief drives out corruption and passions from the soul. Salt keeps things intact. So grief preserves the integrity of the soul. Salt is bitter, but good for the body; sorrow is bitter, but good for the soul. Blessed is the man whom You discipline, O Lord (Ps. 93:12). The Lord punishes whomever he loves; He beats every son whom he receives (Heb. 12:6). 5) Pupils in schools look at the regulations and example set by teachers, and this is how they learn the arts and sciences. Christians, our rule is the Holy Gospel, and the life and morals of our Savior Jesus Christ are a living example. We must look at this sacred rule and living example of virtues and learn the art of Christianity, that is, a virtuous life. Everything that we see in us that is contrary to the Gospel and the life of Christ is a vice. The Gospel and the life of Christ are light. Everything that is contrary to this light in us is darkness. Just as we present a mirror in front of our face, and, seeing in it the vices on our face, we erase them, so we must present our souls before the mirror of the Gospel and the life of Christ, and cleanse everything that is contrary to this, like a vice, with repentance and contrition of the heart. I am the Light of the world; Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life, says the Lord (John 8:12). Let us approach this wondrous light, and let us follow Him - let us not remain in darkness. 6) One must stand and fight against every evil, whatever arises from the heart, and not allow it to go into action, and oppress it in the very heart, and cut off the word of God with the sword. Against malice and rancor, we must remember the word of Christ: If you forgive, you will be forgiven; If you do not forgive, it will not be forgiven you (See Matt. 6:14–15). Against the love of money, and pride, and the pomp of this world, we must remember the apostolic word: We brought nothing into the world; It’s obvious that we can’t take anything out of it. Having food and clothing, let us be content with this (1 Tim. 6:7–8). And Christ says: You cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). We will suppress fornication by the fact that this sin greatly torments and torments the conscience. For arrogance, the bridle is the memory of past sins, and reasoning about one’s poverty, and wretchedness, and that a person can be the most vile and filthy sinner more than others, if God takes His hand away from him, for we see quite a lot of such examples. Do not be proud, but be afraid (Rom. 11:20). One must act in the same way with other sins and fight against them. Everywhere and always one must imagine before oneself the presence of God, and His omniscience, and His truth. God is invisibly present everywhere, sees everything, and can strike a sinner in his very sin. Be afraid to sin not only in word and deed, but also in thought, for God sees even thoughts - so that God’s judgment does not befall you. So is it proper for a Christian to commit those sins for which Christ the Lord drank the bitter cup of suffering? Every sin closes the door to eternal life: the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Beware of all sin, lest you perish. A Christian cannot exist without a good conscience. It is better for a Christian to die than to sin and have his conscience disturbed and irritated. This feat against sin is needed by all Christians who want to be saved. Kill, Christian, lawless babies while they are small - so that they do not grow up and kill you (Ps. 137:9). Kill lust - may it not be fulfilled in reality. Kill small anger so that it does not turn into rage and malice. Kill the prodigal thought - let it not multiply again and defile you. Kill the desire for wealth - so that you will not be a slave to mammon. Kill small arrogance - so that you do not ascend, but, having ascended, you humble yourself. Kill all evil while it is small, so that it does not grow and destroy you. This feat is difficult, truly difficult, but necessary. Fight - and you too will be given the crown of life from the Hero of Christ. 7) All our efforts and feats, both for the sake of good and against sin, are powerless without the help of God, since we are very corrupt and weak. That is why our Savior told us: Without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5). Therefore, we must ask and seek from Him every good thing, and strength, and strength against sin. Holy books teach us so that we know what to do and what to avoid. But Christ the Lord enlightens our minds and gives us strength and strength to desire and do, just as the vine imparts its juice to the rods. So, we must draw closer to Christ and sigh to Him, and ask and expect strength and strength from Him in everything. He who promised is faithful (Heb. 10:23) and wants to help those for whose sake he came into the world and suffered. You might be interested in: