Близость к Богу

If we want our Lord to mercifully look at us with His merciful eyes and heal our spiritual contortion, then we ourselves must come before His eyes and stand so that He can see us. Otherwise, when we are somewhere far from His eyes, how will He see us? And then, how can He have mercy on us, not seeing our misfortune? Or will you say that God is an all-seeing Being, as David says: “You have searched my path and my way, and You have foreseen all my ways” (Ps. 139:3); Why should we stand before the eyes of God ourselves, when God sees us everywhere? I answer. The Lord God has a double gaze: very insightful and very short-sighted. He is very insightful, for example, in His omnipotence and omniscience: if you were to retire to the ends of the world, if you were to shut yourself up among the thickest walls in the darkest rooms, if you were to hide yourself in the deepest caves, pits, even under the earth itself, then the all-seeing eye of God would see you everywhere. This is what Sirach says: “the eyes of the Lord are much brighter than the sun, piercing all human paths and looking into secret places” (see Sir. 23:27–28). Therefore, everything that a person does, or even thinks about doing, God already knows and sees. Before anything is done, it is all already known to Him: “Your eyes have seen my unfinished work” (Ps. 139:16). This is God's discerning glance. It also sometimes happens that the Lord God looks with a very unpenetrating gaze. Usually you recognize who you look like, and then look closer, turning around, and not seeing is not knowing. Some people turned to the Lord: “Lord! God! Have we not prophesied in Your name? and was it not in Your name that they cast out demons?” (Matthew 7:22). And what does the Lord answer them? I don't know you, I don't know you; If he doesn’t know, then he probably hasn’t seen them. If I had ever seen them, I would probably know them. They, however, claim: “We ate and drank before You, and You taught in our streets.” But He said: “I tell you, I don’t know you, where you come from; Depart from Me” (Luke 13:26–27). Let us note here the short-sighted view of the Lord: They ate, they say, and drank before You, but He did not see them and does not know them. What is it that the Omniscient and All-Seeing does not know or see those people? Let's try to explain. Light does not know darkness, and if light penetrated darkness, then darkness would not be darkness, but would be illuminated by light. Those people were filled with the darkness of sin and therefore, although in body they were immediately before the eyes of Christ, their darkened hearts and darkened minds were far removed from Christ. Because of this, Christ did not see, did not look at them with His merciful, loving, humane eyes; and that is why He does not know them, as if He had not seen them. “The Lord knows those who are His,” says the apostle (2 Tim. 2:19). The Lord knows only those who belong to Him, and those who are strangers, He does not know: I don’t know you, where you come from. Who is his own and who is a stranger to Him? Undoubtedly, he who is close to Him is His, and he who is far from Him is a stranger, he is not His, he is lost. “Those who withdraw from themselves,” it is said, “will perish from You” (Ps. 72:27). The Lord sees only those with humane-loving eyes who draw close to Him with their hearts, and those who are far away, with the prodigal son moving away to a distant country (Luke 15:13), although He sees their sins with the all-seeing eye, yet He does not look at them with humane and merciful eyes and does not seem to notice. Confirm the truth of this to us, Saint David! David, describing how the Lord God becomes close to His saints and righteous people and how He places Himself far, I will say, from sinners, says that He looks at the righteous with love with His eyes, and turns to the sinner as if with a face without eyes: “The eyes of the Lord are turned to the righteous, and His ears are to their prayer. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to destroy the memory of them from the earth” (Ps. 33:16-17). Look at whom the humane eyes of the Lord look? On the righteous. And towards sinners, and sinners who do not repent, He turns His face, and a stern face, destroying sinners, so that David does not mention eyes - as if a face without eyes: like justice, which has its eyes blindfolded, impartial, not merciful, strict. This is our explanation of the short-sighted gaze of the merciful eyes of Christ, with which He only sees those close to us, I say, only the righteous, but does not see those who are distant, that is, sinners. If He turns His face towards them towards their own sorrow in order to destroy them, then a face without eyes, i.e. without mercy, without partiality, without love of humanity (1). A person, as long as he holds on to God, the Creator and Giver of life, by whom he lives and moves and exists (see Acts 17:28), until then he does not appear before God as a dead soul, until then God lives in his soul, until then his soul is revived by God’s grace. But as soon as a person turns away from God and from the virtuous life befitting a true Christian, as soon as he deviates towards nasty iniquities, then God immediately separates from his soul, departs from him with His life-giving grace, departs like a bee driven away by smoke, driven away by the stench of sin, and that soul becomes dead. Such a person can be said to be dead (1). Where there is God, everything is good, and where there is no God, everything is evil. The person who has God in him does everything good, and everything good happens to him, but the person who does not have God in him does only evil, and only evil happens to him. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31) - if God is not with us, then all our enemies attack us and overcome us. If God is with us, then the web will be a stone wall for us, but if God is not with us, then solid stone walls will be a web and will not protect us. It is good for those with whom God is, and for those without God, it is bad for them. So, with whom is God and with whom is God not? Everyone answers this question very easily: whoever is virtuous and pleasing to God, God abides in him, but whoever does evil, who angers God, has no God. God is only with a good person, but He is not with an evil person. It is true that God, with His omnipotent, all-containing and all-controlling power, is with every person, with evil and with good, as “he is everywhere and fulfills everything.” Just as “He makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45), so it contains the life of everyone: good and evil, righteous and sinners. “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). But with His special grace, merciful, saving, helping, covering and preserving, He is not with every person, but only with those who, turning their eyes to Him with fear and heartfelt love, always see Him present near them, according to the word of Saint David. “I always saw,” it is said, “the Lord before me” (Ps. 15:8), and everything that for the sake of His presence, fear and love for Him he does, or says, or thinks, he does everything pleasing to God, speaks honestly, thinks about what is useful, and spends his entire life, as if in the eyes of God, virtuously and soul-savingly, often repeating in himself with fear the following words of the holy prophet Elijah and Elisha: “As the Lord lives... before whom I stand” (1 Kings. 17:1), - or, to put it more expansively: “As the Lord lives, before whose all-seeing eyes I walk, stand, sit, do, eat, drink, speak, talk, think, and everything that I do, I do for Him, who looks at me, and I do not even dare, before His eyes, looking at me, to do anything bad, or to say, or to think, so that He, being angry with me, did not strike me suddenly for my iniquities. If a person looks at God in this way with his intelligent eyes, then God is present with him, for He approaches those who approach Him, is present with those present around Him, and looks at those who look at Him.” He is like a mirror. If someone looks into a mirror, then he also looks at the face visible in the mirror, and if someone turns away from the mirror, then the face visible in the mirror also turns away. Likewise, the Lord our God addresses those who turn to Him and look at those who look at Him. He turns His face away from those who turn away from Him, and does not look at those who do not look at Him and do not want to see His presence in themselves (1). Where there is no presence of the Lord, where people do not have God before their eyes, where they do not look at God, there nothing else can multiply, except demons and pigs, that is, demonic malice and swine life; there people are not like people, but like demons and possessed pigs, drowning in the abyss of destruction. Judas lost the presence of the Lord in himself, destroyed his love for Him in his heart, God did not appear before his eyes. Although he looked at Christ with simple, carnal eyes, his intelligent eyes had already turned away from Christ, they began to look at the host of the Jews and deliberate about the price: “What will you give me, and I will betray Him to you?” (Matthew 26:15). He completely stopped looking at God and fearing Him. And what happened to Judas? Satan entered into him, and Judas became like a demon, for just as “he who is united to the Lord is one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17), so he who cleaves to a demon has one spirit with the demon. An evil person is the same as a demon, for, clinging to the demon, he has one spirit with him. If a person stops looking at God, stops fearing God, and does not even think about God in his mind, as if He does not exist at all, then he begins to live godlessly. Forgetting the fear of God, he will go into unrighteous trade and for unjust profit, will stretch out his hand to what is foreign and to what is holy, will extend it to theft and robbery, will encroach on his neighbor and begin to look for his head. At that time, such a person is nothing more than a demon, for Satan enters into him, like Judas, and after that he has one spirit with Satan. Oh, how great the evil is in not having God before your eyes! The prodigal son separated from his father, went far from his eyes, and what did he get? He ended up with pigs, he tended pigs and ate pig food, he was glad to fill his belly with the horns that the pigs ate (Luke 15:16). Likewise, every person, if he begins to separate himself from God by his evil deeds, begins to separate his mind from the presence of God, begins to move away from Him to a sinful country, if, I say, he begins to acquire a swine disposition and a harlot name, then he becomes nothing more than a pig wallowing in the stinking swamp of bad deeds, a demon-possessed pig, arbitrarily rushing to eternal destruction and perishing. So, I repeat: where there is no present Lord, where people do not have the Lord before their eyes, there are only pigs and demons, there is a swine and demonic life, the end of which is drowning, and drowning not in simple waters, but in a river of fire. Pharaoh became enraged, not wanting to listen to God, like a demon, he did not want to let Israel go. And what was the end of Pharaoh? He drowned his body with all his strength in the Red Sea, and his soul in hell. The Sodomites gave themselves over to the life of swine, they raged in a frenzy of nasty carnal sins - and what befell them? They were drowned, like the Gergesin pigs, but the drowning was more terrible, for they drowned both soul and body in the flames sent down on them from heaven. What was the reason for such death of Pharaoh and the Sodomites? Truly, only this is that they did not have the presence of God, that is, they did not have God before their eyes, did not look at Him and did not fear Him. Pharaoh said: “I do not know the Lord, neither will I let Israel go” (Ex. 5:2). He was blind and insane. He did not see God in front of him and did not know Him above him. The Sodomites also did not have the fear of God. They did not expect God's judgment and terrible vengeance. Their minds, clouded by sinful passions, did not see God, which is clear from the words of God Himself, who spoke to Abraham like this: “The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is great, and their sin is very heavy; I will go down and see” (Gen. 18:20–21). Let us listen to what God says: I will go down and look - as if He, the All-Seer, had never seen them. With His all-seeing eyes He saw them before and always, for nothing is hidden before Him, He said this in order to show their guilt, to show the reason for their destruction, which was that they did not look at God, did not have God before their eyes, they were alien to the presence of God. That is why God, as if he had never seen them, says: I will go down and see, - and with this He said the following: the Sodomites did not remember Me, did not want to know Me and fear Me, for this now they will know Me and see Me: they will know God’s terrible execution, if they did not want to see and know God’s mercy. Until now I have endured for a long time, but now I will begin to execute them. Let sinners and all those who forget God return to hell. Oh, how great is the evil and misfortune of not having God before your eyes! It is not known which sinner David is talking about: “There is no God before him. His ways are always defiled” (Ps. 9:25-26), - all that is known is why the ways of a sinful person are always defiled. Therefore they are defiled because God is not before them. Why does a person transgress the good, holy and soul-saving commandments of God? Because God is not before him. Why does anyone dare to offend their neighbors, rob, kidnap, rape, insult? Because God is not before him. Why does a thief steal and a robber kill? Because God is not in front of them. Why does a shameless person curse, a liar deceive, a perjurer break his oath and swear, and an offender harass? Why does a person, being full of sins himself, condemn others? Because there is no God before them. Why does a bribery judge judge unjustly, a deceitful witness bear false witness, and an evil one deceive? Because God is not in front of them. Why does a drunkard get drunk, a sinner commit fornication and adultery, not be content with a lawful marriage, defile many and be defiled with many? Because there is no God before them, there is no fear of God, they do not have God before their eyes, they do not remember God, they do not fear Him, they do not fear eternal torment and do not expect the Kingdom of Heaven: There is no God before them. Oh, if God were before the eyes of the sinner, if he remembered the future Judgment and punishment, then he would not have dared to sin and anger God, his Judge and Rewarder (1). Don't you know what the Scripture says? “The eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun and look at all human ways and penetrate into hidden places” (Sir. 23:27–28). And again: “Before Him are the works of all flesh, and it is impossible to hide from His eyes” (Sir. 39:25)(1). O beautiful image of the eternal vision of God! O good cause of everlasting safety from sins! Truly, he who has God always present with him, who always sees his Lord before him, will never stumble and will never anger God. If he, as a man, stumbles in something, then immediately, having God before his eyes, he will stand up, correct himself, and the word of the psalm will come true on him: “When he falls, he will not be broken, for the Lord strengthens his hand” (Ps. 36:24) (1). “The Gergesenes asked Jesus) that He would depart from their borders” (Matthew 8:34). The Gergesenians were not yet completely evil people, for, not wanting to see Christ the Lord among themselves, they prayed for Him to leave them, and not by force, did not dishonestly drive Him away from them. And we, accursed sinners, do incomparably worse: we force and dishonestly drive away Christ the Lord from ourselves. Perhaps someone will say: I have never driven Christ, my Light, away from me, and I will not dishonor Him to anyone who wants to say this: you persecute Him in every way and dishonor Him, for you persecute Him in your neighbor and dishonor yourself. as He Himself says about this in the Gospel: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40). If you gave alms to the beggar, then you gave it to Christ, and if you did not give it to the beggar, then you did not give it to Christ: “Just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me” (Matthew 25:45). If you did good to your neighbor, then you did good to Christ, and if you did not do good to your neighbor, then you did not do good to Christ. Remember, man, how often you not only failed to do good, but even embittered and offended your neighbor. Not only do you not give alms yourself, but you also forbid others to give it. Not only are you not merciful, but you also encourage others to be unmerciful. All those unmerciful and cruel deeds that you do to your neighbor, are you not doing them to Christ Himself? How many times have you persecuted and offended the innocent, so many times have you persecuted and offended Christ Himself. How many times have you annoyed your neighbor and cursed him, so many times have you annoyed and cursed Christ Himself. As much evil as you have done to your neighbor, so much evil have you done to Christ Himself, according to His word: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me.” This is how you persecute Christ in your neighbor, man! How then do you dishonor Christ in yourself? Listen! Do you remember what the apostle wrote in the Epistle to the Corinthians? “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” Shall I, having received the members of Christ, make them members of a harlot? (1 Cor. 6:15). Let it not happen! Do you understand, man, what was said? Your members are no longer yours, but Christ’s, for by Him they were created, quickened and redeemed by His holy Blood; and as often as you have defiled your members with unclean carnal sin, so many times have you dishonored Christ, making Christ’s members members of fornication. Think, man, how often you have defiled yourself with fornication, adultery and other vile, nasty and godless fornication, just as often you have dishonored Christ, brought the filth of fornication onto Christ and made the members of Christ members of the fornicator (1). How can we know whether God lives in us? The holy books speak about this truthfully: where there is love, there is God; where there is mercy, there is God; where there is a pure, chaste, holy and sober life, there is God; Where the fear of God is, there is God. To put it briefly, where right faith is located along with good deeds, God also dwells there. Let's see if we haven't driven all this away from ourselves, and at the same time God? There is no true, Christian love in us, but there is only hypocritical love. We flatter each other in our eyes, but in our hearts we see malice and deceit. An ancient prophecy is now coming true for us: “due to the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). Our true love has already dried up. We have expelled love from ourselves, which means we have expelled Christ God Himself from ourselves. Don't ask the truth now. Now such lies and insults are being made that it is impossible to say anything about them. We have expelled the truth from ourselves, which means we have also expelled God. Don’t even remember mercy now. People have already forgotten what mercy is. Unmerciful and inhumane insults are being committed among gentlemen everywhere. We have expelled mercy from ourselves, which means we have also expelled God. Don’t even think about a clean, chaste and sober life, in this we are not much like Sodom and Gomorrah, and there is no end to your drunkenness. Where will you find the fear of God in us today? We have expelled everything from ourselves, and that means we have also expelled God. I don’t dare say anything about faith leading to disagreement, unless I remember one Gospel saying written by St. Luke: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8). As for good deeds, we can safely say that we have driven them away from ourselves, and with them we have driven out God. Being without God, without His goodness and mercy, without His protection and protection, what can we hope for? Guess for yourself! (1) Always look with your inner eyes at the presence of God, Whom you want to love unceasingly, and therefore leave behind every evil deed, word and thought, but do everything, speak and think honestly, humbly with filial fear (3). You might be interested in: