We often make a mistake – we thank the postman (or hate the postman) for the gift or news! And the postman has nothing to do with it (except that we thank him for doing his job conscientiously – he did not steal the money, did not damage the contents of the parcel (package), brought it on time, etc.) – he is at work. And the gift or telegram was passed by Another! (The postman – is God’s providence – circumstances of life, people, angels (evil and good)…, and the gifts are given by God).
Instead of thanking the Giver through the same postman (messenger) or directly, we thank the postman (the gift comes from a person, not from ‘body’ and ‘soul’, through whose mediation the person entered (calls me) through the gift into communication with me…). ‘Good, that it happened this way!’ – say the pagans, thanking the circumstances, sometimes they say: ‘Glory to God, that it happened’, and start, regardless of God, to use (previously appropriated and ripped it out of the realm of communication and gratitude-giving) what happened (as a givenness, which is actually a gift of divine providence). (‘Regardless of God’ – means without a loving impulse of gratitude, which is manifested in the zealous fulfillment of God’s commandments – ‘He who loves Me is the one who keeps My commandments’, not the one who says: ‘Glory to You, Lord’, ‘thank you, God’ and other senseless (unfounded) words, behind which there is no repentance. The postman – is a mediator, the gift – is a mediator, as a call to direct communication, not a value in itself, or, what is even worse, an object for use in one’s utilitarian purposes!
Always rejoice, no matter what news you receive! How often do we start to love the postman because he brought joyful news (food for the pleasure-seeking flesh – being, egotistically directed at oneself) or hate the postman when he brought a telegram or letter with ‘bad’ news! (A gift is not always sweet, pleasant – medicine, surgery and other bitter, painful saving procedures… – and the postman has nothing to do with it). Therefore, often through our ignorance, we make the postman, the messenger, the culprit of our joy or sorrow, and not the one who sent the gift! But if we were grateful, and for the news (or gift) and the postman saw the One who wrote the letter and sent the postman, – everything would be different, our joy would be full and constant! Christians, knowing that God is Love, and only Love, and everything that He sent them (i.e., ‘here and now’, and everything that is in this ‘now’ – all circumstances and active characters, neighbors, in short, everything outside my will, outside of me) – is Good, Happiness, regardless of the form, – ALWAYS REJOICE and THANK FOR EVERYTHING!!!
P.S. In the booklet ‘Worthy Communion of Unworthy Christians’ I promised that I would say more about something (about prayer, marriage, etc.) in the next booklet, in Part II of the ‘Introduction…’! The booklet is ending – this chapter (Praise and Gratitude) goes instead of ‘conclusions’, – and I did not fulfill what I promised!? I will explain why it turned out this way (it is not an excuse, but just a clarification-explanation of what happened and why exactly like that). The content of this booklet – is the answers to the questions of readers of the first part of the ‘Introduction’! Since its content was formed not by me, but by the readers, then what I planned to say, went to the end of the line (if there is room in the book)! That is, the time for conversation has expired – everything that we did not say in it (did not have time or have not yet touched on certain important issues), is postponed to the next! What we will talk about (report) in the next conversation (booklet), I do not know yet, because you are the authors of the content (I formulate the topics of conversation, responding to your questions)! But now in this note I will briefly answer the questions from the first booklet (Part I.) about sin, confession, forgiveness, salvation, good deeds…
Orthodox know that the world was created by God from nothing (from non-existing in the absolute sense of the word), that is, all created by itself – is nothing-being (nothing, nothing yet is), and in God, in the Holy Spirit – Everything, god by grace! On the way from nothing-being to the deification of creation got lost (sinned, made a mistake) – went on the path of self-deification (first angels (Lucifer, Satan and his demons), and then people)! On this unnatural path of self-deification, creation severely ‘injured’ itself (with the sin of godlessness, illusion and self-deception), fell into a state of godlessness and when falling into illusion fell so (someone will say: oh you, villain, you even dared to joke!? how dare you… Forgive me, I forgot about you, the weak, who do not yet know the Truth; being already in a safe place (state) – in the depths of the Holy Trinity, in the Grace of the Resurrection, we can already talk about sin-falling (absolved – man and God are one forever in Jesus Christ!), death (mortified), hell (destroyed, and no one will rebuild it ever)! The Kingdom of God has come and is given to all, that is, everyone can already accept it (it is just a matter of time and desire of each); and those who still believe in sin, death, hell – of course, they are not up for jokes!?), that it could not get up by itself anymore! It was necessary to save creation from this hellish state, but since creation is free and God is Love, God could save only with the voluntary permission of creation (free persons)! And this implies the knowledge of the need for a savior, a doctor, which in turn implies the knowledge of one’s own helplessness to save oneself, to heal oneself with one’s own efforts, the knowledge of one’s nothing-being, absolute impotence – that is, the presence in creation of righteousness (knowledge of the truth about oneself) and, as a result, humility (the state in which the righteous person necessarily hopes on God). Since God is Love (Gift, Grace), salvation, deification can be accepted only as a Gift (the gift is given not for something, but for free and for nothing, for the happiness of the gifted), and not earned, deserved, begged, prayed for… And to accept the gift with absolute gratitude can only the one who knows their helplessness to earn it (i.e., does not think that if it had not been given to me, I would have bought it myself, previously earning money with good deeds, bonuses)! The Lord gives the Gift of the Holy Spirit only to those who can thank, give thanks, that is, partake of the Eucharist (Divine gratitude of the Son to the Father, from Whom everything and for Whom everything exists; the Father, Who is the cause, the Gift of everything existing). The Gift is accepted in absolute self-sacrifice (not hoping on oneself), in absolute hope on the Giver (which implies the knowledge of one’s own helplessness and no hope on one’s own forces, which do not exist – absolute paralysis to do good deeds; faith is accepted by absolute trust, and trust in turn is a result of absolute no hope on oneself – see above)! Therefore, divine pedagogy consists in the following – to help a person become righteous (to know their nothing-being without God), to destroy in a person any hope on oneself, one’s forces, and in that state of humility, trust (ability to enter the realm of absolute freedom, self-sacrifice) to accept the hypostatic being into the Realm of Divine Life, into the Kingdom of Sacrificial Triune Love!