28. What must be done to get to God?

What should be done? The Lord says this: "He who loves me keeps My commandments." This is the path by which one can go to God. Only if we fulfill not just as a promise, as the pioneers once promised: we will do this and that, as the Communist Party teaches, as bequeathed... and so on. And let us love these commandments ourselves precisely because they teach us to love God, Christ, and our neighbors. If we do not just practice the lesson, like mercenaries and slaves who are afraid to die, but with joy because of love, then this path will lead us to Christ.

29. What is faith in God?

Belief. The most important thing in it is to believe that the Lord exists. But simply to know, to understand with one's mind that God exists, is not enough for an Orthodox and for a Christian in general. After all, it has been said that even demons believe, that is, they know that the Lord exists, but at the same time they do not depart from sin, so knowing is not enough, we need to trust God, to trust the will of God both in good qualities and in bad ones, and when we are praised, and when we are blamed, and when we are healthy, and when our health leaves us, and when we are loved, and when we are scolded, to know that the Lord is always with us, that he will not give us a test more than we can endure. And thirdly, to be faithful to Christ, faithfulness is also an obligatory attribute of an Orthodox Christian, faithful and resolute at all times, and to decide: either to be faithful to the end and to lose everything in this life, and maybe life itself, or to have everything, but to renounce Christ. This faithfulness is cultivated from small things: for example, there is a fast, you are walking past an ice cream stand, you want to eat a portion, but you want to be faithful to Christ and refuse: "I will be faithful to Christ and will not eat what pleases me." Here is a neighbor sitting, whom I passionately want to pull more painfully by the pigtail, but I will restrain myself and will not do it, for Christ's sake. That's what faith is: confidence, trust, and loyalty.

30. Why do some people not believe in God?

Some do not believe because they did not have the opportunity to know and love God and the Orthodox faith. But the words of the Apostle Paul, which he addressed to the Gentiles, are applicable to them, saying that they have their own law in them – this is the law of conscience – and will be judged according to this law. This is the law of conscience, the natural moral law that every person has. He is the voice of God in our souls, and the one who has acted in essence, according to God's truth in his life, means that he can still be saved and meet Christ. But there are people who do not believe because they do not want to believe. And we can say that these people rather believe, feel that there is a God, know it, but rebel against this faith, against this knowledge, either because this faith prevents them from living the way they want, that is, according to their own will and desire, or because it is uncomfortable, inconvenient, or interferes with it. After all, ask yourself how often it happens that we believe only as much as faith does not prevent us from living. In this sense, we are sometimes even worse than unbelievers.

31. How did you personally gain your faith?

Probably, like many of you, I grew up in a family of non-believers at that time, it was still Soviet times, and we had not heard anything about God. I grew up in an environment where people did not go to church, did not celebrate Easter, and had nowhere to read the Gospels or the Bible. I met faith through an amazing and special experience of my life. When I was fourteen years old, I had two twin brothers. All the months of waiting, I really did not want this. Well, what is it really: I was no longer the center of attention, and all the attention of my parents, all the love, care and my time, priceless, personal, will have to be devoted to some two lumps? I grieved very much, but when they were born, when it turned out that I had to go to the dairy kitchen, wash diapers, walk – in general, that you can't live as if they didn't exist, then suddenly my heart felt: I love them. Although at first glance it seemed stupid, unreasonable - they interfered with a quiet life. And the question arose: either there is some justification for this love, or to live really, as I read in one of Stendhal's books at the time: "Everyone for himself in this desert of life called egoism." And it turned out that there is no other excuse than to look beyond this life – into eternal life, in fact. Well, there began the path to God and the church.

32. What is a temple?

The church is the house of God, the house of prayer, and not a club of interests. And we must always remember that the church is not ours, but God's. Of course, in a sense, we are the owners there, if we often go there or serve, we seem to be at home, but we are also guests, because the true owner of this house is the Lord Himself.

33. Which church was the first?

The very first church was the Upper Room, in which the apostles gathered, where the Holy Spirit descended on them. This day, when the Holy Spirit descended upon them in the form of tongues of fire, and they spoke in different tongues and went out to preach, is the birthday of the Church. And the Upper Room in Jerusalem is the very first New Testament church.

34. Is your church beautiful?

Very much. Each temple is beautiful. And what a joy it is to see what was recently dirty, ruined, cluttered, like an icon, scratched and dirty, gradually, piece by piece, begins to shine sky-blue, golden, red, and also in our church such pieces are already visible, and those who pray here are very happy about it and appreciate this beauty.