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At the end of this book, let us say the following: the imperfection of the human soul is manifested in the fact that it forgets the important and remembers the trivial. It forgets what needs to be remembered and remembers what should be forgotten. Applying the well-known saying (“Tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who you are”), one could ask each person: “Tell me what you forget and what you remember, and I will tell you who you are.”
Let us first ask ourselves: what do I remember and what do I forget? Do I always remember Him who gave me life? Does my soul not forget God? Is our memory of Truth – of the Highest and Holiest Reality – strong, deep, life-giving, and joy-giving? Do I remember that the One who created me (and all that exists) is Love, and only Love, and He is always with me (and with everyone), lovingly and passionately caring for my Happiness? Do I remember that I am so dearly loved by God the Father that He sent His Beloved (Only Begotten) Son to the Cross and unspeakable sufferings, even to the descent into the abyss of hell of God-forsakenness, to save me from the prison of hell and death, and to make me receive the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God? Do I remember the mutual love-gratitude as a response to God’s Love for me – by zealously fulfilling God’s Commandments (more precisely, one: Communion of the Eucharist – to live the Marriage Parish-Eucharistic life with Christ in Christ)? Do I remember that my neighbor (every person) is the image of God, the Icon of Christ, is Christ? Do I remember that Happiness is to Love and be Loved, and that to achieve Happiness, all that remains is to learn to Love, to acquire Love, because we are already Divinely Loved? Do I remember that the greatest Love is to lay down one’s life for one’s enemies? Do I remember, while preaching, that people are impressed primarily by what we are (and not by what we say – by word (= information) in the time of the internet, mobile access to information (all the knowledge (books, words…) of the world in my smartphone (mobile phone) – here and now)), and this means – the whole strength of our personality, our personal experience, devotion, self-denial, fidelity to Christ? Do I remember that Happiness (the Kingdom of God) is God-the-Trinity-Love; that to be happy is to love (and to be loved – to accept with a grateful, humble heart God’s Love, which comes to us from everywhere, from everything and through everything!)? (Do not forget that when we repeat something several times, we do not forget!). Do I remember that the Kingdom of God has come, and that through great tribulations I must enter the Kingdom of God (to humble myself and accept with a humble heart as a gift – Love – the Holy Spirit)? Do I remember that sadness for the past, anxiety for the future, and ingratitude for the present throw me out of paradise and alienate me from Happiness, causing torment and suffering? Do I remember that everything I have and everything I am is a Gift from God, Divine Love-Eros? Do I remember that the purpose of human life is to become Happy, that is, to acquire the Holy Spirit? Do I remember that in this world there is a constant spiritual war (by God’s mercy, according to a spiritually-educational program, blessed by the Heavenly Father) against the “spirits of wickedness in the heavenly realms,” that the Kingdom of God (the Inheritance of the Father to His children) is taken by force (“give blood – receive Spirit”), that in this world I must experience great tribulations, troubles, trials, temptations (“it is impossible – by God’s mercy, for the sake of our learning (humility) and spiritual growth – not to have temptations”)? Do I remember that the essence of spiritual Parish-Eucharistic life is faith in God’s providence, prudence with advice? Do I remember that the greatest danger on the path to Happiness (the Kingdom of God) is pseudo-spirituality, the infallible signs of which are self-satisfaction, pride (this: self-deception, delusion, cunning…), inclination to judge the spirituality of others, and emotionality (what does all this have in common with bearing the cross, self-denial, self-emptying, laying down one’s life for one’s friends (that is, for every person!)?!)? Do I remember that only those who endure to the end will be saved (deified, made happy)?… Such spiritual treasures of truth and immortality can be preserved by our memory, our life. Does it preserve this radiance, this light of truth? Blessed is he who knows the truth of Divine Love for us. Unable to hope for anything else, he hopes in God’s Love and lives by the Love of the Lord Jesus Christ. I asked the human conscience and memory about the most important things. And now let’s interrogate human forgetfulness.
Forgetfulness, have you swallowed up all the offenses, all the sorrows, and all the pains, all the fears of my life? Have you, forgetfulness, swallowed up the vanity of past life, all its petty experiences, misunderstandings, empty words, unnecessary disputes, and worries?… (Only on the field cleansed of the vanity of forgetfulness does wisdom grow). Only someone who wisely forgets himself, remembering God and His Truth (“deny yourself, forget yourself, pass by yourself, die to yourself… take up your cross, and, having first turned your gaze away from yourself, fix it on Christ, follow Him into Eternal Life, the Life of the Holy Trinity, the “Ecstatic” Divine Love-Eros!”) can truly be human! By our holy forgetfulness and bright memory, we enter into True Life!