Archbishop Sergius (Korolev) of Kazan and Chistopol (+1952)
People constantly complain that
life is monotonously gray, that it has become hateful to them and therefore
seems very unhappy. Every day we get up and work until exhaustion and never see
a ray of joy. And besides all this, we do not cease to be grieved, irritated,
and angry, mostly over trifles.
Whence comes this oppressive
feeling of unhappiness and abandonment? The origin of our misfortunes lies in
the fact that we yield to the influence of external circumstances, living
mechanically, and become slaves to things that have no significance whatsoever,
things that are here today and may not be here tomorrow. In other words, we
mistake the unceasingly passing life, with its anger, insults, envy, and
hatred, for real life.
The constant agitation in which
we live is the cause of the loss of peace and calm in our hearts, which, as a
result, are plunged into darkness. But he who walks in darkness stumbles; and
we are cast into darkness because we take the sinful state of our souls, that
is, their possession by dark forces, for reality. And when we carry this
anxiety into our spiritual relations with others, mutual disunity and
estrangement arise. Such a feeling of disunity is a cause of suffering.
Undoubtedly, however, each of us strives for well-being and happiness, for God
gave us the earth for joyful dwelling upon it, gave it to us so that we might
be happy on it and, so to speak, partake of the glory of God. But where are we
to seek good and joy in everyday life? We like to strive after heroic exploits
in the hope that they will give us the possibility of attaining blessedness.
But this is only a fleeting moment of passing joy. We, however, seek abiding
joy and well-being in our daily life.
A great obstacle on this path of
ours to joy is the fact that for the most part we live mechanically, for we do
not judge man from the side of the soul, in all his fullness, but touch him
only from the outward side, not taking the trouble to reach the true essence of
man. This is all the greater an omission because in reality the life of each
one of us is a great wealth. Every person has his own personality, every one
has his own task, each of us is, as it were, a messenger of God. Alongside this
it must especially be emphasized that in every person there is more good than
evil.
One might naturally ask: how can
this be so? Around us one sees so much that is bad, a whole sea of evil. Yes,
but if evil is a full sea, then good is positively an entire ocean. Evil in us
does not cease to show itself on the surface; it catches the eye, whereas good
is hidden, scattered, not concentrated. Evil is bold, whereas good is modest.
Evil is darkness, sin; it is our weakness and misfortune, our death. Good is
light, a uniting force, power, joy. In short, good is life. We do not encounter
one another by chance. The Lord unites us in the family, in society, in the
nation, whereas the spirit of evil strives to divide us and set us at odds. Our
task is to overcome this disintegrating force, for only by this path can we
discern that one thing in us which is from God and which gives us well-being in
life. Evil and sin rob man, for they do not allow him to manifest himself in
the full measure of his spiritual essence. But when man does not overcome that
which divides us, then we do not see true life, but only its seeming image.
Such disunity and isolation are subject to severe condemnation, for we are
called to communion. Only in communion does our soul fully blossom in life.
Therefore, communion among us is not a matter of indifference; it is manifested
first and chiefly in the word. Yet the word must be regarded as a reflection of
the Word.
The Lord said, “Let there be
light.” And the light came into being. The invisible received its existence
from the Word. The word can manifest tremendous power. In the 32nd Psalm we
read: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and by the breath of His
mouth all their host.” In us as well, by the word the hidden is manifested and
becomes plain. Therefore, one must use the word with great caution. It is
important that our word breathe goodness into the surrounding atmosphere. For
by means of the word we wish to attain well-being. Therefore, the word that
proceeds from our lips must contain within itself that good which will illumine
our life. When in conversation a good word has had force, there long remains
after such a conversation a sense of something precious, substantial, divine.
The word should draw us closer to one another, bringing unity and not division
and disintegration. But we live in sinfulness, which weakens the power of our
word, and therefore the word does not enter our life in its full strength. Only
a word free from sin manifests itself in full power, for in that case it is
united with the Word that created the light. A word that falls into an
environment that resists it acts with the greatest force and has enormous
significance in the ordering of our life. A word issuing from the hidden
recesses of the soul, not weakened by our own sinfulness, being the power of
the potential good within us, brings with it light and goodness, since it is in
union with the Source of light and with the Word. The word becomes incarnate.
If we utter a word without
attention, we do not think that these words, rising to heaven and vanishing
into eternity, may be bearers of divisions and disintegration in the family, in
society, among nations, throughout the whole world. When we gather in company,
we usually begin with judgment, and very quickly pass over to condemnation.
Judgment and condemnation are a poison that disintegrates life. Condemnation
divides us, repels one from another, whereas the word—a reflection of the Logos
on earth—ought to carry with it the light and joy of being into the atmosphere
of enmity and disintegration in which we live. The word has eternity within it.
It is of the highest importance that our relations with people give us the joy
of life; therefore, we must use words in such a way as not to be condemned by
them. “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they
shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matt. 12:36).
Therefore, in our relations with
people we must be sociable and not shun them. If we succeed in finding that
which is common among us and which proceeds from God, then true joy will dwell
in our heart. In this way we acquire values by which we then live. Seeking and
finding communion in God, we become fellow workers with God here on earth.
Through such cooperation we are reborn and enter into the realm of the essence
of light. In such a rebirth there is reflected both the light and the glory of
God, and the Lord Himself finds in us a foundation on the basis of which He can
draw near to us. “For where two or three are gathered together in My name,
there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). Thus, when people live in
company with two or three, in a family or in some other shared life, and
thereby overcome their estrangement, they begin to feel a community of the
interests of life, which brings them happiness and well-being. The overcoming
of this distance creates the impression of our identification with others, as
though we lived soul to soul. We are all created in the image of God, and it is
precisely this image of God that unites us. By this means we gradually attain
unanimity in the expression of the will. This is that unity of which Christ
said: “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee,
that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent
Me” (John 17:21). The consequence of this is that in unity there is life, in
division there is death. This unity is like a thread cast from earth to heaven,
to God, to the unifying center. Unity brings us well-being, which is the
foundation of our true joy in life. This is the law of life. Whoever deviates
from it must inevitably suffer for it. Unfortunately, in our petty everyday way
of life we usually do not regard it as our duty to seek in this drab life that
which we have from God and which alone can draw us close to one another. On the
contrary, we take the image of division for true life and do not even try in any
way to overcome this division, despite the fact that such division deprives us
of the possibility of finding joy even in everyday life, prevents us from
opening our soul and manifesting our true qualities. These qualities live in us
precisely so that we may manifest them. The Lord has endowed us all with good
qualities and has given us potential abilities for their realization, but we do
not manifest them rightly, not making use of the powers that slumber within us,
but by which we could move mountains. If only we desire it, we can kindle
within ourselves a blazing fire of good. If we acknowledge that daily life is
in fact only a means to the creation of true life, then we see that we have
turned the means into the end. As a result, we go through life as though in a
dream, plunged into darkness, sinfulness, and passions, gazing only at the
darkness that we now see before us. The evil spirit hinders us from looking at
the light, and we become instruments of his dark powers and because of this, of
course, suffer greatly. We must look around us at life with open eyes. And then
we notice that the mechanized life to which we have wholly surrendered
ourselves is poisoning our soul. True, we know that our soul was created for
eternity, but we do not care for it at all; on the contrary, we try in every
possible way to acquire material riches, neglecting eternal riches. We are very
poor merchants, for we appraise our soul far too cheaply, although we possess
nothing more precious than it. We buy only that which has absolutely no value
for eternity, and we pay no attention to that which passes into eternity. We do
this because sin has darkened for us the true condition of all things. Only
when we truly come to know all the falsity and untruth of our life, only then will
a real exchange take place, for man will come to know the light of God that
illumines his darkness, will begin to find his bearings in the vanity of life,
and will begin to direct himself toward God and eternity. Let us not forget
that each one of us has received certain talents, and we are obliged to
manifest and then to multiply this talent given us by God.
The unfolding of this talent has
been placed directly into our hands. In meeting other people, we must overcome
within ourselves that which separates us from them; by this we manifest our
abilities, unfold the talents entrusted to us, and by this value enrich both
ourselves and them. Every encounter in which we conduct ourselves attentively
toward those around us will be for us a source of great enrichment, for in such
an encounter there will always be light and goodness. For beauty can be found
in every person, but our sinfulness hinders this. Therefore, even in everyday
life one should seek its true values by rejecting its mechanical course. And by
this we attain that not a single day will pass idly into eternity, but each day
will be for us a source of at least some small measure of joy and well-being,
as constituent parts of eternity that will pass with us into the life to come.
If we wish to merit these values, then we must awaken within ourselves the
creative power by which we can overcome our inertia and free ourselves from the
darkness of the passions that have taken possession of us. Passion and sin take
from us the true joy of life and prevent us from seeing the beauty of God’s
light. Therefore it is precisely the overcoming of sin that leads to a joyful
knowledge of the world and at the same time to the creation of a new, true
life, which in fact is the task of every person. In this way we attain that the
outward, old man dies within us and a new man is created. By overcoming sin, we
uncover the good, with which, if only for a moment, we immerse ourselves in
eternity.
How are we to realize this
creative life? By being constantly on guard, so as to be aware of all the vices
in the life of the soul and to eliminate them. It is felt that we are truly, as
it were, on the border between good and evil. In our heart, almost every
moment, a struggle is being waged between evil and God. Evil unceasingly
introduces darkness into our heart: irritation, anger, envy, condemnation,
laziness. If, with God’s help, we overcome this darkness, then light will enter
our heart, or even the Lord Himself.
I repeat: it is very important
that we realize that the Lord created the world by the Word, for He said, “Let
there be light!” If we strive to live a creative life, then we shall become, as
it were, a reflection of the Creator Himself. Good thoughts appear in us as a
reflection of God’s creative thought. A good thought is itself light, for it
gives us light in the likeness of the creative principle which it brings from
the very Source of Light—God. A good thought shines and penetrates into the
chaos of life’s contacts between good and evil, creates a new life, and leads
to the overcoming of darkness. It was said: “While ye have light, believe in
the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and
departed, and did hide Himself from them” (John 12:36). God’s light illumines
us constantly and everywhere, but the darkness of our soul repels it. In
essence, when some thought illumines us, we experience it as though it were a
ray from heaven that has shone upon us and illumined everything that until then
had been unclear to us. Such a ray awakens us from sleep and proclaims the
power of God. “Let there be light,” said God, and light appeared. But it
appears now also, and by it a new life comes before our eyes. By this light we
can transform our gray life as well into a new, bright, joyful life, when, of
course, we pay special attention in the direction of this light, which
penetrates into us in the form of a good thought that urges us to overcome
evil.
By the creative power manifested
in us, we discover within ourselves the source of good and learn to feel the
joy of life, and as a consequence of this our attitude toward life will be not
mechanical in character, but creative. And this creative activity will at the
same time bring a clarification of our life.
In the intellectual realm, a man
often compels himself to reflect and to work, not infrequently for whole years.
Through strenuous effort one can come into contact with God’s light. Having
then entered into the realm of luminous thoughts, we dispel the darkness of our
heart and thereby begin to create a new life that frees us from evil. Our
misfortune lies in the fact that our will has been weakened by sin. Therefore,
the will must be so educated that it may help us emerge from confused feelings
into the realm of another being, into the realm of light. To sins we surrender
slavishly, whereas to the Lord we surrender by our own will. But this, indeed,
is possible only if we overcome sin within ourselves. For this purpose, an
enormous effort must be applied; true heroism must be shown. Therefore, the man
who has overcome sinfulness by an act of his will is free, whereas the man
given over to sin is a slave of sin. He who has overcome sin sows joy and has
allowed light to enter the heart, that is, the Lord. When there is light in our
heart, we feel as though everything around us gives us joy and that being
itself has drawn near to us. Thus we come to the realization that our sinful
life is in essence not true being, but a distorted one that brings unhappiness.
True being contains only good and brings only well-being. Thus the struggle
with sin, which is true progress, is the primary source of a new life, full of
joys hitherto unknown to us.
Let us not forget that every
person, as I have said, has his own special calling, a certain advantage of his
own, his own beauty, by which he must serve the light. Thus individual human
being is manifested, freed from sin and developed into the fullness of true
life. It becomes a valuable contribution to the treasury of the whole world.
Naturally, in these efforts we
must not be afraid of exertion or avoid it. After all, in athletic training we
sometimes use great effort. It is not hard for us to rise early for athletic
exercises; for their sake we know how to deny ourselves excessive food and
drink and to perform various special exercises the whole day long. And in such
undertakings we may speak of heroism or even asceticism, employed, of course,
for earthly goals. All who wish to become athletes must be temperate. They do
it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. “And every man
that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to
obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible” (1 Cor. 9:25). All the
more natural, then, is heroism for the Christian who wishes to overcome his
sinful nature, which hinders him from attaining happiness and deprives him of
eternal life.
The overcoming of sin gives us
the joy of being; it gives it not only to the man who struggles against evil
and conquers it, but through him it is communicated to others as well. In this
way the personal overcoming of sin by one man becomes the possession of all
humanity, becomes the basis of social rebirth, by which evil on earth is
destroyed and the common good is increased. The consequence of this is the
overcoming of all sin by virtue, extending to the whole world. By overcoming
sin, a man concentrates good within himself and, together with this, the beauty
of human dignity, and enriches others as well. Good is eternal; it proceeds
from God and strives to return to God. This striving of good toward God is true
life and constitutes the realization of the Kingdom of God on earth. The
Kingdom of God is not obtained by us easily, but only through effort. It is a
good that can be realized here on earth, and not somewhere above the clouds.
Remaining in sins diminishes this good, my joy of life.
Our forefathers were created
sinless, but from the moment of the first sin, it enters into our very nature,
is born with us, and holds us captive. We must be convinced that sin is not
something that is truly ours. This awareness is very important for us, because
it awakens in us the striving to free ourselves from sin, which brings us
unhappiness. Further success in the struggle against sin consists in this: that
we begin, to a certain degree, to be reborn. One who was formerly irritable and
hot-tempered, for example, learns to restrain these impulses; one who was
stingy becomes generous; a man constantly troubled and wrathful finds peace.
The good that is within us is manifested in the struggle with our passions.
This is precisely that cross of which we are so afraid, but with the cross come
joy and resurrection as well. The thought of resurrection is the victorious
thought of good. To remain in sin is to be in darkness, whereas he who remains
in a state of holiness lives in the light, the source of which is the Holy
Spirit. In this state man is reunited with God, returns to the Father, and
experiences with his whole being joy in the Holy Spirit.
By driving the darkness out of
our heart with heavenly light, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, who
transforms our life at its very foundation, calling life out of non-being into
true being, and this light then determines our direction toward a new life. The
struggle with our passions is difficult, and therefore we must turn to God for
help, without Whom we are not able to change our sinful nature. The Lord is
always near us and will help us at once. A brief but fervent prayer is enough:
“O God, help,” and by this very thing we bring a new life into being. A thought
turned to God for help pierces the heavens, and from heaven there comes an
answer to our cry in the form of light, driving out the darkness that has
settled in our heart. Every thought of God is a consequence of the action of
the Holy Spirit within us. By crying out to God, we pass over into another
realm of being. This union with the Light of God is already in itself an act,
for by our petition we attain this, that the Light of God is poured out upon us
and awakens in us the energy for action, so that the good that until now had
slumbered within us is awakened and manifests itself. This light is our guiding
star. Calling upon God illumines our inward being with heavenly radiance,
enlightens that which surrounds us, and, what is most important, helps us climb
out of our gray life, which chiefly shows itself because of our weakness of
will. Along with this there arises the impression that by this light eternity
itself is opened before us and that in this way we ourselves become partakers
of it.
Such a change of our heart from
darkness to light, or from evil to good, is the miracle of the transformation
of the old man into the new; it is the drawing near to us of heaven, for which
we so ardently long. In moments of such change, we undoubtedly enter into
another being, touch eternity, and become convinced that man is truly given
great power to transform a sinful life, with God’s help, into the Kingdom of
God. And every such man is, as it were, a wonderworker, for by victory over sin
he reveals God within himself. In our daily life we are too much cut off and
removed from the source of God’s light; this is all the greater a misfortune
for us because by the light of God we are able to become capable of seeing and
recognizing the illusory character of our ordinary life.
Without calling upon God, we can
in no way free ourselves from slavery to things and become absolute slaves of
our surroundings. But a single small turning to God is enough, and soon our
heart is illumined by His light and the true significance of things in this
world is shown to us. Therefore it is necessary as often as possible to
illumine our daily life with a ray of God’s light, by overcoming sin, as though
opening a window into our inner being, so that through it heavenly light may
pour into our heart. This is the foundation of the creative life, of the
spiritual and Christian life; at the same time it is the foundation of
well-being and happiness. The more such bright moments there are in our life,
the more our life will be illumined by Divine light; the more resolutely we
must reject the passions, and our life will acquire ever more unexpected beauty
and value. Then man will experience the true joy of life and a good undisturbed
by anything; and all this is nothing other than victory over sin and drawing
near to God. Then true life will be established on earth, that life for which
we pray daily in the words: “Thy Kingdom come.” It is necessary that we
understand that the Kingdom of God is true good and happiness on earth. True
joy for the liberation of the heart is the joy of the Holy Spirit, who has
descended into us.
To name oneself a Christian means
to come out of a state of sleep and inertia, to manifest one’s creative powers.
It is necessary to spread the understanding that Christianity is not passive,
but on the contrary wages a very active struggle against sin. Christianity is
not something cut off and infinitely remote, but on the contrary something
fully realizable here on earth.
The Christian religion is not a
religion of grief and suffering, but, on the contrary, a religion of joy and
well-being. The Apostle Paul says: “Rejoice always” (1 Thess. 5:16). But in
reality we can rejoice only when we overcome within ourselves the state of
sinfulness, for only the overcoming of sin can bring the soul joy, which is the
beginning of blessedness; concerning this the Apostle Paul said: “Eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9).
Russian
source: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Sergij_Korolev/put-k-bogu/
