Жизнь земная

...We live in a vale of 40 tears; That’s why we have to spend time sometimes jumping and sometimes crying. Let us at least console ourselves with the thought that this deplorable vale is temporary. Everything will rush by, everything will flash by, like a shadow, like an echo, and there will come a constant, unchangeable, endless and oh, blessed, bright eternity for us! Let us hope that the Lord, in His infinite mercy, will not deprive us of this mercy (2, part 1, p. 169). However, you need to know that only in the Kingdom of Heaven will there be complete peace. And on earth, the Lord said, you will have sorrow (see John 16:33). And people say: “It’s good where we are not.” That’s why they always end with the words: “No matter what you think, everything turns out to be a wedge.” Therefore, out of necessity, people manage to connect wedges and sew them together so that a quadrangle emerges. It is not without reason that earthly life is called the “vale of tears”: the subordinates and the poor cry, the bosses and the rich sigh. There is no one on earth without grief and sadness. Considering all this, let us turn our thoughts and hearts to the all-good Providence of God, which has hitherto nourished us and given us everything we need. Let us cast our sorrow 41 upon the Lord (2, part 1, p. 198). When the heart clings to earthly things, then we must remember that earthly things will not go with us to the Kingdom of Heaven (3, p. 220). We must live on the earth the way a wheel turns - just one point touches the ground, and the rest certainly tends upward, and as soon as we lie down on the ground, we cannot get up (1, part 1, p. 97). To live is not to bother, not to judge anyone, not to annoy anyone, and my respect to everyone. We need to live unhypocritically and behave exemplarily, then our cause will be true, otherwise it will turn out badly (1, part 1, p. 97). ...Don’t worry that you don’t have belt tugs. The bast and the bast broke off; tied it up and rushed off again... A rich gentleman was riding in a troika; He had good horses and harness. The poor man was also traveling. He had a bad horse, and all his harness was bast and bast. Both got into trouble. Both of their harnesses were torn. Having somehow freed himself from the jam, the poor man tied up his bast and bast and rode forward, but the rich man remained in place - the belt tugs had to be sewn together (1, part 2, p. 56). [Question: “What does it mean to live according to your heart?” Answer: “Do not interfere in other people’s affairs and see all the good in others” (3, p. 216).] Live for now, where it is more convenient and where you will not be a burden, waiting for a change for the better. Out of despondency, you can jingle the keys according to need, remembering the old saying of the experienced: need is tricky - and if you don’t want to, you will laugh. However, know that in any place you can please God by fulfilling His holy and life-giving commandments, which is why it is sometimes said that it is not the place that saves a person, although a convenient place provides many conveniences for that. It is said this way for the reason that caution, self-protection and compulsion to do good are required everywhere. Adam and Eve were in paradise, but due to carelessness and lack of care, they violated the commandment there too. To this we should also add that every person who believes in the Orthodox way, like Lot, preserves himself more in the place where he sees inconvenience and danger. However, what has been said does not interfere with the fulfillment of your sincere desire, which you expect in due time from the Providence of God (2, part 1, pp. 179–180). You might be interested in: