Father Arseny Part Five: LOVE THY NEIGHBOR 

Content CONVERSATION FATHER HILARION THE PAST IS THE PRESENT PSYCHIATRIST MEETING WITH DANIIL MATVEYEVICH CONVERSATION CROSSWORD YURI AND KIRA ARCHBISHOP LONELINESS SCOUT FATHER SERAPHIM FATHER OLEG ILYA NIKOLAEVICH POETS OF THE "SILVER AGE" MEMOIRS OF FATHER ARSENY AND HIS SPIRITUAL CHILDREN, CONVERSATIONS OF FATHER ARSENY, RECORDED BY KIRA BAKHMAT MEMOIRS OF A. F. BERG 1980 MORE ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY... HEALING ABOUT PRAYER MEMOIRS OF FATHER ARSENY AFTERWORD TO THE MEMOIRS OF FATHER ARSENY

CONVERSATION January 19, 1964

Conversations after evening tea were quite rare. Usually several people came, with each of them it was necessary to talk, listen, confess, and this took all Fr. Arseny's time. Going to bed, he literally collapsed from fatigue, and prayed for a long time before going to bed.

Less than five people were almost never in Nadezhda Petrovna's house, 10-12 people came on weekends and public holidays. Then Nadezhna Petrovna began to get nervous, realizing that if the police came with an inspection, then for Fr. Arseny it could end in arrest. But, thank God, for all the time of his life in the city, this did not happen, and he lived in Rostov for almost 17 years.

Sometimes, however, there were rare evenings when everyone sat quietly in the dining room and involuntarily a conversation arose; it could arise from the question asked, or Fr. Arseny asked one of those present to tell about what he had experienced that was good, good, about the path that led to God, or he himself began to tell about the people he met, about his experiences, thoughts. This is how most of the memories were born from these conversations. Some memoirs were written down from the words of the narrator, others, on the advice of Fr. Arseny, were written down by the narrator himself, and often over a period of more than one year. The writings were collected by A. V. and Elizaveta Alexandrovna and given to reliable people for safekeeping. The memoirs have become a reflection of the long life of our brothers and sisters, the old spiritual children of Fr. Arseny, and now many new arrivals after 1958.

Fr. Arseny always asked to write camp memoirs without camp "folklore", criminal words, the specifics of the camp dialect: "Write without this rubbish, write in the intelligent Russian language." I was able to write down several conversations conducted by Fr. Arseny – interesting and spiritually useful.

That day, eight people gathered at the table, three I saw for the first time, the rest I knew. The conversation was about faith in God and love for one's neighbor. No one argued about anything, they just discussed what was more important – deep faith or full dedication to helping loved ones. Father Arseny, sitting in an armchair, slowly drank tea, stirring it from time to time with a teaspoon, and, listening to the conversation, smiled and said:

"Let us remember the words of our Lord Jesus, who answered the lawyer who tempted Him: 'Teacher! What is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind: this is the first and greatest commandment; and the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matt. 22:36-40).

In the words of the Lord it is said so clearly and definitely about love for God and one's neighbor that, it would seem, no additional interpretations are needed. And yet the Apostle James writes: "What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says that he has faith, but has not works? Can this faith save him?" (James 2:14), and continues: "In the same way, faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself" (James 2:17), and once again writes: "But do you want to know, unfounded man, that faith without works is dead?" (James 2:20).

The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of the obligation of faith: "And without faith it is impossible to please God; for it is necessary that he that cometh unto God should believe that he is, and that he shall reward them that seek him" (Heb. 11:6), but in order to bind together faith in God and love, the Apostle Paul continues: "If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not love, then I am sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I can move mountains, and have not love, then I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions, and give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing" (1 Cor. 13:1-3).

I have often met such people: kind, friendly, ready to share the last piece of bread, but indifferent to God, denying Him, or hostile to God. And you know, for all the "goodness" of these people, I noticed in their behavior, character, perception of life inferiority, out of their own kindness they created their own religion, which replaced the Lord for them.

Only the Lord can evaluate and weigh the good deeds performed by these people, and give credit to these deeds (perhaps they made life easier for many people or saved someone from desecration and death); but without faith, it is impossible to be saved by good deeds alone. On the other hand, in the Acts of the Apostles it is said: "But in every nation he that feareth him, and doeth righteousness, is acceptable unto him" (Acts 10:35). Perhaps in these words there is little hope for the Lord's mercy to people who do good deeds, although they do not have the proper love for God, but still – with the obligatory understanding that God exists, and with a religious consciousness: "I, man, believe in Him."