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Пишет webpadre (![[info]](http://lj.rossia.org/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} webpadre)@ 2004-06-24 17:07:00 |
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Notes from a poor monk
Dear friends,
A friend of mine, an archimandrite from the USA, shares some his thoughts with friends via email. By his permission I'm starting uploading these notes on my LiveJournal.
-----------------
Having taken a mere glance at what shapes us as humans, we now want to know what God makes of all that.
Well, to begin with, since God is perfect, as we have many times observed by looking at his creation and reflecting on the theology of the christian church, we know that his knowledge is also perfect. He knows, then, all these factors (and OTHER, MORE similar and dissimilar factors) that have shaped us and continue to shape us. He is conscious of them even if we are not. He sees their interplay even if we do not. He knows what is going to go on in the future, even if we do not. He not only knows the individual factors, but he understands them and their implications. He is not ignorant of any aspect of them or how they affect each other within us. He is aware of planetary and astrological effects on us because of our own existence in this universe together with them (and here we are not speaking of superstition of any kind!!!). And, furthermore, he knows why these factors are so!
Accordingly, he also knows how much is our fault and how much we are innocent of. He knows how much guilt may be ours, as well. He knows whether there is, indeed, any fault even possible in all this inner churning within each of us. He knows how much or how little freedom each of us has, and why. He knows what true freedom actually is. He knows how we could be helped and when it would be most effective. He knows whether we will get help or not, and how much it will really help us, and why. He knows if we know that we need help.
In view of all this, we must remember that God is all-knowing, all-understanding, all-merciful, all-loving...all-everything-good! This means we have no more to do than the best we can...and leave the rest in the 'hands' of God. For he wants nothing but the best for each of us, without exception...(he wanted the best for Hitler and Stalin and whether they availed themselves of it or not, finally, only God knows.) Of course, we must not deceive ourselves...we have to act, always, in good conscience, otherwise we incur blame that cannot be anyone's but our own! So all this is influenced also by another factor which we did not make EXplicit, but is IMplicitly included in those lists above, namely, our upbringing, education, and training. These will have much to do with our being of good will (among other things) and trying to live a good life in spite of the bad stuff that has happened to us. But, if we do manage to be of good will in all things, God knows this and understands everything better than we ever could. Because of this, we have nothing, really, to worry about, as long as we do the best we can. It is true that we cannot be absolutely sure of having pleased God, but it would be defective of God were we not able to have some confidence in our own good will as well as his!!! God's goodness is obvious and unassailable...it is perfect!
And what is more, after having said all the above as well as the last e-mail especially, God ALSO knows what else goes on in the world...in physical reality, for example. He knows this and how all these factors, perhaps totally unknown to any human, has, does, or will influence each of us. For example, how new knowledge in various fields affects us, how incorrect concepts of religion and faith influence us, how the production of food affects us, how societies' views influence us, how rock-'n'-roll influences us, how tampering with food genetics influences us, how our health and moods affect us and, through us, others, how the making of medical drugs affects us, how the medication we ourselves are taking affects us and, through us, others, how TV affects us, how the movies, how books and daily news items affect us...and WHY,why, why all this DOES affect us...etc., etc., etc. And these are only a few.
So we can see: "What God is great like our God? You are a God who works wonders!" He is wonderful! And all this goodness, wisdom, and power about him should draw us to imitate him as best we can, to the limit of our abilities. And after almost a year...about ten months?...of these considerations, have we changed at all...? That's not a bad question, is it?... How shall we answer it?... Happy sleddin'!
Dear friends,
A friend of mine, an archimandrite from the USA, shares some his thoughts with friends via email. By his permission I'm starting uploading these notes on my LiveJournal.
-----------------
Having taken a mere glance at what shapes us as humans, we now want to know what God makes of all that.
Well, to begin with, since God is perfect, as we have many times observed by looking at his creation and reflecting on the theology of the christian church, we know that his knowledge is also perfect. He knows, then, all these factors (and OTHER, MORE similar and dissimilar factors) that have shaped us and continue to shape us. He is conscious of them even if we are not. He sees their interplay even if we do not. He knows what is going to go on in the future, even if we do not. He not only knows the individual factors, but he understands them and their implications. He is not ignorant of any aspect of them or how they affect each other within us. He is aware of planetary and astrological effects on us because of our own existence in this universe together with them (and here we are not speaking of superstition of any kind!!!). And, furthermore, he knows why these factors are so!
Accordingly, he also knows how much is our fault and how much we are innocent of. He knows how much guilt may be ours, as well. He knows whether there is, indeed, any fault even possible in all this inner churning within each of us. He knows how much or how little freedom each of us has, and why. He knows what true freedom actually is. He knows how we could be helped and when it would be most effective. He knows whether we will get help or not, and how much it will really help us, and why. He knows if we know that we need help.
In view of all this, we must remember that God is all-knowing, all-understanding, all-merciful, all-loving...all-everything-good! This means we have no more to do than the best we can...and leave the rest in the 'hands' of God. For he wants nothing but the best for each of us, without exception...(he wanted the best for Hitler and Stalin and whether they availed themselves of it or not, finally, only God knows.) Of course, we must not deceive ourselves...we have to act, always, in good conscience, otherwise we incur blame that cannot be anyone's but our own! So all this is influenced also by another factor which we did not make EXplicit, but is IMplicitly included in those lists above, namely, our upbringing, education, and training. These will have much to do with our being of good will (among other things) and trying to live a good life in spite of the bad stuff that has happened to us. But, if we do manage to be of good will in all things, God knows this and understands everything better than we ever could. Because of this, we have nothing, really, to worry about, as long as we do the best we can. It is true that we cannot be absolutely sure of having pleased God, but it would be defective of God were we not able to have some confidence in our own good will as well as his!!! God's goodness is obvious and unassailable...it is perfect!
And what is more, after having said all the above as well as the last e-mail especially, God ALSO knows what else goes on in the world...in physical reality, for example. He knows this and how all these factors, perhaps totally unknown to any human, has, does, or will influence each of us. For example, how new knowledge in various fields affects us, how incorrect concepts of religion and faith influence us, how the production of food affects us, how societies' views influence us, how rock-'n'-roll influences us, how tampering with food genetics influences us, how our health and moods affect us and, through us, others, how the making of medical drugs affects us, how the medication we ourselves are taking affects us and, through us, others, how TV affects us, how the movies, how books and daily news items affect us...and WHY,why, why all this DOES affect us...etc., etc., etc. And these are only a few.
So we can see: "What God is great like our God? You are a God who works wonders!" He is wonderful! And all this goodness, wisdom, and power about him should draw us to imitate him as best we can, to the limit of our abilities. And after almost a year...about ten months?...of these considerations, have we changed at all...? That's not a bad question, is it?... How shall we answer it?... Happy sleddin'!
