We all know what resentment is because we offended and were offended. Without realizing it, everyone who offends and everyone who is offended hurts himself, since he deprives himself of the sun of love. The offender hurts not only his soul, but also his body: evil emotions give rise to a painful tension of the body in a person, which affects his physical metabolism and disrupts life. The offender offends, first of all, himself. But even the offended person acts unwisely, injures himself. You need to cover yourself with a bright shield from offenses, not pay attention to them. And what is even higher is to oppose resentment - love, meekness, generosity. "Learn of me," said Christ the Saviour, "for I am meek and lowly in heart. And you will find rest for your souls" (Matt. XI, 29). This is the simple road to happiness, which a person often thinks about, not knowing the ways to it. Offense comes from pride, which wants to humiliate a person, from vindictiveness, malice. People also offend from greed, envy, vanity, egoism, and simply from spiritual insensitivity and moral inattention.An entrepreneur (individual or collective, like a state, a party) offends people most shamelessly, exploiting them not only economically, but also morally. Exploitation is a multifaceted form of injustice. The history of mankind is full of this sin, to our times. But now it is not the feudal barons and not only the money bags who exploit the poor, but these former poor peasants themselves, who have become administrators, party members, representatives of the proletariat, cruelly exploit the poor peasants (collective farm peasants, workers), covering, however, this exploitation with very flattering, but empty words. it can be moral insensitivity, a search for personal, party, and state gain. High motives are used to justify exploitation - material and spiritual - in our days. The goal of the revolution is for the good of all, great offenses to people are justified. Humane phrases are used by soulless planners who do not see a living person. The utilitarian materialistic approach to the immortal human soul is mortally offensive to man and humanity.But feelings of justice and compassion can also be born in a materialist, contrary to his materialistic theory. As a person, a materialist can be morally sensitive. And it happens that the heart of a believer in God (contrary to the spirit of this faith) is filled with greed and heartlessness. Just as a materialist can have "unbelief" only on the tip of his tongue, so "faith in God" is sometimes only on the tip of the tongue of a believer. (Faith in God is not a theoretical declaration).Nowadays people offend even faith in God (forcing them to write the great holy Name God with a small letter). But man "can 'offend' God even less than the constellation of Orion or Cygnus. Unbelievers offend only their own lives.A person is offended by a person with his evil (or not good enough) will. And all these innumerable "molecular" grievances in the world, all our personal and common evil, give rise to those black storm clouds of conflicts, wars and murder in the world, from which humanity shudders. And it can be exterminated.Earlier in history, in the name of faith in God, kings and leaders of nations offended unbelievers (or not as believers as they are). Now, in a number of countries, unbelievers offend believers.It is said to a man: "You know the commandments, you shall not commit adultery; thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness; do not offend (Mk. But if an offense has happened, it must be opposed not by touchiness. Overcoming evil also includes overcoming resentment. We people offend each other so easily, And even more easily we are offended. Even if no one offends us, we are offended even then. Sometimes we want to feel "offended" and this manifests bad human infantilism. A child sometimes wants to cry not because his mother has offended him, but because he suddenly wants to feel (and, most importantly, to show himself!) offended. This is the immaturity of the soul." The active egoist offends, the "passive" offends. The resentment of active egoists and the resentment of passive egoists greatly interfere with life. And there is only one way out of these states - to freedom of spirit - not to offend anyone and not to be offended by anyone.

Value and personality

There are values in relation to which it is difficult for a person to admit that he is poor. We, all people, are rich in air, there is a lot of it, and it belongs to everyone. But the patient, in the last stage of tuberculosis, is poor in the air. No one is poor for a glass of water, but a wanderer in a waterless desert will give all the treasures of the world for a glass of water. We see that, in relation to one, we are very poor in the world, and in relation to the other we are very rich.If not actually, then potentially, everyone is rich in sincerity and good feelings, but not everyone knows about this, and, moreover, not everyone uses such wealth, and that is why there are so many unhappy people in the world. It can be said that in relation to many things, we are all intelligent, sensitive, sighted, and in relation to others we are surprisingly blind, unreasonable and dependent on others. But in everything that we carry out, what we eat, and what we carry on and in ourselves, people of many generations participate. Rightly so, one sage bowed every evening to all four sides. Thanking God and people, he said that everything he has, he has from God and people.Yes, in some things we show knowledge, skill and reason, and in others we reveal our extreme foolishness... The Earth, on which we live and over which we fly a mile, is rushing through outer space, among its solar system. And this system is carried among other, more grandiose systems. And they, in turn, rush among even larger, already unimaginable quasars for us.Therefore, our miserable jumps to the moon, of course, cannot be a reason for any pride. These distances are literally mosquitoes. And the earth, which so patiently and meekly holds us to itself, is a fiery apple, on the thinnest skin of which we live so self-confidently and even boldly rant and boast of settling down without God, and so tastelessly boast of our "achievements." They do not always harm us, but only when the Master allows them to do so. There is a Master of life. Its greatness is revealed in nature and in the spirit, in the moral values instilled in us and inherent in us. Human life depends on the slightest and mysterious circumstances. Science, which reveals the secrets of the universe, shows us more and more how weak and fragile our flesh and earthly life are, and how little we know in essence. He speaks to us with His mysterious signs and knocks at our door: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock" (Rev. 3:20), and if anyone opens to Me (in the depths of his conscience heeds the call), I will come to him. The response of the Spirit of God to human prayer is swift. "I stand and knock," the first act of Grace in the soul. And "who will open" the heart is the condition for the next action of grace in man. The miraculous freedom of man is, first of all, the freedom of opportunity for our correct, moral attitude to everything that surrounds us and appears within us. We are not free to escape what is given to us independently of our will; But we are always free to transform every life event and word into light, to make it necessary for ourselves and others. This is the matter of our freedom. Through all events, all sorrows and joys, a person has both the power and happiness to go to God's truth, which has no end. We are surrounded by great Care... There is no "fate", there is no "blind fate". There is the Unsleeping Eye of God's love and our freedom to be in it.

A sign of love

One of the signs of love is "not to be irritated". Who can really imagine a mother being irritated with her infant? A mother is given a feeling of special love when her child is helpless. But how many mothers are there who, even later, when their children grow up, are also "not irritated" with them. In kindness, which covers human weakness, the image of God in man appears most of all. Of course, anger - against evil (and not man) - can be holy; But this is something quite different from the egoistic irritation of people against each other, which so burdens the life of both those with whom they are irritated and those who are irritated. The Holy Scriptures give advice: "When you are angry, do not sin." In other words: people, be angry only at evil, and not at a person who suffers from his evil. "Those who love God, hate evil"! (Psalm 96:IV) Anger at evil (especially at one's own evil!) can cure evil if this anger comes from love. But the trouble is that dark anger, irritability, hangs like a spider's web in the world over nations, families and hearts. And this human irritability, sometimes caused by a trifle, poisons life.One man rightly said: "Quarrelsomeness, eternal complaints about fate and acquaintances, this is, perhaps, even worse, since these shortcomings are long-lasting... It is better to be hot-tempered: you get angry, talk and then go away. But how difficult are touchy people; they are vindictive. A touchy person is annoyed by everything. Even if he gets what he wants, then (because deep down he is ashamed) he is looking for a new excuse - to lose his temper. The saddest thing is that especially those who love us most and do the most for us suffer from our irritability and irascibility. What unjust, evil remarks our closest people sometimes have to listen to from us! And we allow ourselves this, knowing that they will not be angry; but if they are angry, they will forgive us and will not break off relations with us, because they love us... "At the heart of irascibility and irritability are malice, hatred, pride, cruelty and injustice. A swamp easily turns into a raging ocean. A single match can burn down a city. From one, seemingly harmless passion, the soul lights up and burns in agony. What self-control people need, what sobriety and caution. Not a single vice, neither addiction to money, nor passion for pleasure; Even wine, the destroyer of many, does not destroy the good spirit of the family as much as an irritable and unrestrained person. It disrupts social work, poisons the lives of children and families. In society, we are still embarrassed by self-love, to show our spiritual baseness, We are looking for a good opinion of ourselves in society. But at home, with "our own", we unleash ourselves, give free rein to our inner evil... "An angry man starts a quarrel, but a hot-tempered man sins much," says Solomon in Proverbs (29:22). Man murmurs against the life given by Him... Haven't you ever complained about the weather, why isn't it the way you would like? Have you never complained about your position in life, about your circumstances? Have you never been burdened by the path along which the Hand of the Lord has providentially led you? This is a reverent faith in the nearness of God. "The Lord is near." Love is spread over man. Only you need to be able to see it with your inner eyes. This is faith. We do not always understand the healing paths of Love. But having believed in this love over himself and the world, a person sees life with spiritual eyes, in the light of its highest purpose. That which previously seemed incomprehensible appears to the bright faith of man as something necessary and important. Thus wisdom matures in the soul and eternity is revealed.Our freedom is not only the free expression of everything we think; And not just the ability to do what we want. Our deepest freedom is freedom from the evil with which we torment ourselves and others. It is to this state of freedom of the spirit in good that the path of faith leads us. Faith is entry into the highest reality.

Memory and oblivion

The imperfection of the human soul is manifested in the fact that it forgets the important and remembers the vain. Applying a well-known saying to this, one could ask every person: "Tell me what you forget and what you remember, and I will tell you who you are."

Do we remember that the Word of God became incarnate and stood beside us, spoke in our language and taught us to see in ourselves and in others an inner, spiritual person, a friend of God? And yet, do we remember how Christ was rejected, how few defenders He had, how there was no place for Him on earth either in His first earthly or in His last moment? But, like lightning "flashing from east to west," Christ miraculously, mysteriously, irrefutably resurrected, rose from His tomb and appeared to His closest disciples, 12, and 70, and five hundred, and they recognized Him, the Risen One, and He gave immeasurable hope to people; how He then ascended to heaven, hid Himself in the invisible world, in order to become even closer to every soul on earth, to stand even more perfectly at the threshold of every human home. Do we remember that the angels and spirits of the saints surround people and are especially close to those who call upon them?Does our memory, wherever we are, preserve the truth that our earthly, brief life is always only a hair's breadth removed on earth from the great invisible world, and at any moment we can be summoned to another world, to the final judgment of the Heavenly Truth?... Do we always remember this, and especially when the weight oppressing the soul enters us and some inner voice whispers flattering, dark words, and our soul begins to waver and incline to evil? Do we then remember God, do we call out to God? Do we remember, after our sin, that the Lord is merciful and has given us the way to restore spirituality in repentance? Do we remember, in moments of despondency, that the Lord is long-suffering, and in moments of temptation by evil, that the Lord is Righteous? And when we look at the people around us, do we remember that our Lord is also their Lord; our Heavenly Father is also their Father; their Judge and our Judge? Do we remember that a person is justified or condemned only "from his works", but that "without faith it is impossible to please God"?... Such spiritual treasures of truth and immortality can be preserved by our memory, our life. Does she keep this radiance? Blessed is he who knows the truth of God's love for us. Not knowing how to hope for anything else, he hopes for the Love of God and lives by the love of his Lord.Not about everything, but about the most important thing, I asked human conscience and memory. And now I want to interrogate human oblivion.Oblivion, have you swallowed up all the grievances of my life, all the sorrows and all the pains, all the fears of life? Have you swallowed up, oblivion, the vanity of the past life, all its insignificant experiences, misunderstandings, empty words, unnecessary arguments and worries?... Only in the field, cleansed by the oblivion of vanity, does wisdom grow.Oblivion is bold, you, like the water of a pure spring, carry away the dust of the earth and drown it within yourself, without losing your sparkling purity. And a person can only be one who wisely forgets himself, remembering God and His righteousness.