The cycle of goodness in the world. Volunteer Sergei Melnik: came up with such a game - the cycle of good in nature. "It all starts with a father's dream"
August 13th, 2015 , 12:00 am
You know, in my picture of the world there are such concepts as karma and the boomerang effect. I believe in them in theory, and in practice in own life convinced many times. And the story that I wrote below just illustrates these concepts.
Like a girl in an interesting position (who came up with the idea of calling the expectation of a child interesting position?), I wanted to organize a photo shoot for Ruslan and me as a keepsake. So I started looking for photographers.
In general, in a good way, for a start it was necessary to come up with an idea for a photo shoot, and start looking after. But sometimes it happens that the idea comes already in the process. What I was hoping for :)
How many sites and instagrams I reviewed ... in the end, I even spat on some special idea and I just wanted a couple of dozen beautiful joint photos.
But the more I watched, the less I liked at least someone. Usually, even out of twenty photographers, you can choose one excellent and one in reserve. Here I didn't want to choose. And it's not that I have any special requirements, although they certainly are.
I looked at the pictures and saw only beautiful pictures. Behind these pictures, I did not see people, their emotions, feelings, what kind of people they are ... this is what I lacked most of all - realness.
And then one day we touched on this topic with my pregnant friend who lives across the street. She complained to me that she couldn't find a photographer for joint photo session with her husband and asked someone to advise. We had something to talk about :)
I just had something to offer her. And I suggested that they take a picture with Ruslan. I may not be the most objective model, but I really, really like the way Rusik sees the world through the lens. And I was lucky to have many different and beautiful portraits of his authorship.
The guys agreed to our proposal and a couple of weekends ago we organized a photoshoot for them. Rusik took pictures, I was responsible for the locations. And besides the fact that we had a great time together, we took almost a hundred warm, touching and bright photos for the guys. Which, by the way, were given away the very next day - where else can you find such promptness? :) Without false modesty, I will say that the guys were very, very pleased. And we, in fact, too, as we touched their magical waiting period and were glad to give them a memory of this.
In the end, I resigned myself to the fact that we would not have a photo shoot, since none is better than what the hell. And here on last week A friend of mine writes to me with a proposal for Ruslan and me to shoot with her husband. To say I was surprised is an understatement :)
We, of course, agreed. And last Saturday we went to San Francisco for a photo shoot. Which took place in an incredibly pleasant and comfortable atmosphere, and we have already seen its results. And very, very happy with how it turned out. As soon as all the photos are ready, I will certainly share with you.
In the meantime, I was once again convinced that the world is amazing, capable of making surprises, and it knows more than we do.
Now we will focus on chapter 11. And only 12 chapters, like 12 months. It is interesting that in the parables of Solomon (Mishlei) there are 31 chapters, like 31 days. And here there are 12 chapters, and one could study 1 chapter of Kohelet every month and 1 parable every day. And then it would be great: every day would be filled with the wisdom of King Solomon.
So, 1 passage of chapter 11 begins with a very famous expression which entered the history of thought of the whole world. King Solomon put it this way:
Send your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it.
What is meant? Rashi says: "Do good and mercy for other people." Outwardly, it is as if you are giving to nowhere, you are giving to another person. It is especially difficult to give if you do not know this person.
You never know how it will return to you. For example, as in the case of the commandment of hospitality, when a person comes to visit, whom you may not know. As Abraham our Forefather was waiting for guests to fulfill the commandment of hospitality.
By the way, the essence of this commandment: Everything in this world belongs to God. We are all guests in this world. And a person tries in his "mini-world" to meet the guest well. And God, to the merit of fulfilling this commandment, “receives a person well in this world.”
How Yitro received Moshe without knowing him. And he said to his daughter: "Go and feed him, invite him home."
As a result, the unknown "Egyptian shepherd" Moshe became Moshe Rabbeinu - the greatest Leader in the history of the world. He married Yitro's daughter. Yitro converted to conversion and a chapter in the Torah is named after him. And his descendants were in the Sanhedrin ( Supreme Court during the time of the Temple).
It all starts with the fact that you do good to some person, and then it returns to you. Simply put, it was famous story Charles Schwab, who was the manager of the richest man in the world 100 years ago. He told how he became its business manager with a salary of $1,000,000 a year. 100 years ago he was paid a salary of 1,000,000 dollars! People were then earning $100 a month on average.
He worked in a store as a salesman, and went there elderly woman. It was raining outside and she went to wait. Charles Schwab offered her a chair, she sat down and he said something kind to her. Then she came home and said to her son: what good man He treated me with respect. And Andrew Carnegie, her son, had such a strategy in life that he was always looking for smart and good people. He said that was his secret to success. And even on his grave, he ordered to write that there lies a man who knew how to gather around him people who were much smarter than himself.
And he invited this Charles Schwab to his place. At first he became his assistant, grew up and became his manager of all his affairs.
Another well-known story that this passage illustrates is that by sending your bread to the water, after some time it will return to you. A week ago, a friend of mine told me this story.
One girl worked as a restaurant director. Another girl from the village, who had nowhere to live, got a job as a waitress there. She let her live with her, gave her her clothes. Several years passed, this waitress girl became a singer. She is currently in London recording her album.
She was told: can you take someone with you as an assistant, whom do you want? And she remembered the one who helped her a few years ago, and she invited her all of a sudden quite unexpectedly: come with me to London for a couple of weeks, you will live, relax, there is a beautiful hotel.
King Solomon said: send your bread to the water. Time will pass and you will find it. Do good deeds and mercy for other people, and it will definitely return to you somehow.
The most famous story that I remember as good word saved a man's life. A delegation of rabbis in Argentina checked one meat processing plant, how much kosher meat is there, how it is stored, and so on. They inspected this meat-packing plant for several days, there were about 15 rabbis of them, and one day they left this meat-packing plant, and the guard says: one is missing. They say: how is it not enough? They themselves did not notice.
Indeed, one elderly rabbi is missing. They started looking for him, and he fell in one of the refrigerators, lost consciousness, he had a heart attack. They found him, called an ambulance, managed to save him. But, if the guard had not noticed that one was missing, then naturally he would have died. Then we began to thank this guard: how did you notice, even we did not notice, although he was with us, but we did not notice that he was not with us, but did you notice?
And he says: just when you came in and out, he was the only one who greeted me and said goodbye. And then you go out, and no one greets me. Therefore, I noticed that he is not with you. In general, good returns, that's a fact.
Therefore, chapter 11, passage 1 says that you need to do good, moreover, when you give, you gave it to the water, but it will return to you. They say you can't step into the same river twice. That is, do not expect that from where you gave, it will return. You just create goodness in the world, which will then return to you. King Solomon clarifies this in his parables and says that the one who takes pity on the poor, destitute, it is as if he lends to G-d. And God will always return. It's like you're creating a deposit in Heaven. Any good deed you create a deposit in Heaven.
In passage 2 he continues:
Give a part (grain) of seven and even eight, for you do not know what trouble can happen on earth.
Here you need to figure it out, there is some kind of code. You need to divide what you give into seven people and eight. Metsudat David explains: give to everyone and don't let it seem to you that there are too many of them.
And why did he choose the number 7? Because 7 is such an even number, it's 7 days of the week. 7 in Judaism is considered an even number that describes this material world. Center - top - bottom - and four cardinal directions. 7 notes.
And 8 is already more than this world. This is the entrance to the spiritual space. Circumcision is made on the 8th day. Sign of Union with God.
There is such a Lerner family in Israel, they never know how many guests they will have on Saturday. They have open house, everyone comes. They make Shabbat for Russians. And nearby there is a house that is made for English-speaking Shabbat. So 40-50 people come to the Lerner family, and 100-150 people come to the English-speaking family of their neighbors. How everything fits is not clear. A fairly small apartment, they never know how much food will be, but everyone has enough space and food. As it used to be in the Jerusalem Temple, there is enough for everyone.
And he says: when you start doing good, then consider that you have a companion - this is Gd. He will help you. If you have the intention to give to people, to do good, then know that God will give you resources and help you.
And they do not worry, they try to do good and all the time they succeed.
Rashi explains: "When it says - give a share of seven - this is 7 days of Pesach." It is very important that when the week of Pesach, 7 days of Pesach, they arrange a meal every day and invite those who do not have the opportunity to organize a holiday for themselves. And God says in the Torah that if you yourself celebrate, and there are people nearby who are starving (widows, orphans, etc.), then your celebration is unpleasant for God. This is not a Commandment.
Rashi explains that "Give some of the grain 7 and 8" is not just handing out bread and wine. There are 3 periods in which it is very important to do this. The three main holidays that are listed in the Torah are Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot.
3 times a year it was necessary to rise to Jerusalem (it is higher than other cities both physically and spiritually) when there was a Temple. And there they celebrated Passover for 7 days. People who wanted to fulfill the Commandment correctly collected money all year round in order to eat there and glorify God on these days. It was necessary to dress festively, and eat, and rejoice, and invite the Levites, the poor, and so on, so that there would be a holiday for all the people.
And all of Jerusalem in these 7 days of Pesach - it was a continuous holiday, everyone came to rejoice. For it is said: "Rejoice in the holidays."
And 8 days is 8 days of Sukkot. It is necessary for this time to save up money for the holiday and distribute it, arrange a holiday for those who have no money and no opportunity.
You do not know what evil will come to the earth, King Solomon said in other chapters of Kohelet. Sometimes people save money. They live for money. They do not give birth to children and do not serve God, because "you need to earn money." And then evil comes, and you can't do anything with it.
God forbid, what happened 70 years ago. 6 million Jews were killed in concentration camps. 200 million people were killed during the 20th century in wars. People have been saving and collecting all their lives, and then it disappeared anyway. And if they gave more for tzedaka (charity), then there would be no Catastrophe. If people did more mercy, goodness, then there would be no evil in the world.
And so a person is always afraid of what will happen to him tomorrow, he has fear, he is not sure about his future. And he hoards all the time.
But at the beginning of Kohelet, King Solomon figured it all out in the first chapters: where are you saving up, you don’t know where it will all go. Will your children stay? You don't know what will happen to them, what they will be like.
It is imperative to do good - this is what goes with a person to Heaven.
Rothschild was asked, the one who laid the foundations of this family: "How much money do you have?" He named a fairly small amount. They say to him: "No, you have more." And he says: “No, all this is not mine. And mine is only what I gave away. What I gave away for good deeds is forever with me, and this is just mine. And the fact that I have some assets is not mine, because I will die, and I will not have this.
When the clouds fill up, they pour rain on the ground.
If the clouds are filled with rain thunderclouds then it's bound to rain.
And if a tree falls - to the south, to the north, where the tree fell, it will lie there.
This is some kind of incomprehensible chapter ... What the the tree will fall? It turns out some kind of lesson in geography or natural history and botany.
Actually the meaning here is that this is an explanation of the previous passage. He says: like clouds that fill with water, they must give up this water. Also, the person to whom G-d gives money, gives opportunities today, he gives not only for him, but also for those who are in need.
Through this person, a blessing also goes to those people to whom, in principle, he should distribute at least a tenth of what he earns.
But there are people who hold it in themselves and do not distribute it. There are people who pass it on. The maximum can be given up to the fifth part - 20%.
There are people who give a fifth. One very rich businessman, a righteous Jew, told me his “life hack in communicating with God. He said: sometimes I have some business, I want it to work out, but it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t go. When they call me to the Torah in the synagogue, I stand next to the Torah scroll and say to G-d: “If it is bad for me, then I don’t need it to work. But if this is good for me and something is a little lacking, then let's agree that I will give a fifth of what I earn in this business to good deeds, to charity. And if I don’t need it, then let it not work.”
He says that very often it happened that it didn’t work out, it doesn’t work, but then he found out that thank God that it didn’t work out there, because there would be trouble later. And it often happened that everything worked out, and he gave a fifth. He helps a lot. He has a special book in which he records all his earnings. And he usually gives a tenth and sometimes 20%. This is about money.
And what is this tree that will fall? Metsudat David writes as follows: “When the clouds are filled with these rains, just as when a person is filled with wealth, he should not keep him only for himself, but he should also influence other people, give to others. Thus, if he needs more, G-d will give him, and others will give him. Everyone loves a person who gives and this is very important.”
About the tree he says this: it is not about the tree, but it is about the righteous. The righteous man in the Torah is often compared to a tree.
There was Job, and he is compared to a tree. The Psalms say, "And he shall be like a tree planted by a stream of water." This is a righteous man, he will be like a palm tree that bears fruits - dates. Where there is this righteous man, there will be a blessing. When there is a righteous person, then you can come to him for a blessing, ask him a question. His blessing is very strong.
When Rav Yitzhak Zilber was, blessed is the memory of the righteous man, everyone came to him for a blessing. People were getting better. A very strong blessing from the righteous. Now many go to the graves of the righteous, but this, of course, is not the same as visiting the living righteous.
There is one well-known story that there was one very rich man, a righteous man. He tried to fulfill everything, gave tsedaka. He lived in small town. He built a synagogue in this town, opened a school for boys, a school for girls, a nursing home. He helped a lot.
And then he heard that a very large righteous man was passing by. This story was before the revolution. He came to this more Big City. He came to him, asked for a blessing and said: come to us, we have never had a righteous man in our city.
He agreed, came to him in the city, stopped at his house. I spent Saturday in the Synagogue, all the Jews in this city were happy that such a righteous man had come.
He was supposed to leave the next day. He sleeps at night and suddenly woke up. He opens his eyes, looks, and the rich Jew who invited him is standing over him with an ax and is about to kill him. The righteous says: what are you doing? He replies: what am I doing? Now I won't do anything. It is one thing to kill a man when he is sleeping, and another when he is awake.
And he says: why did you want to kill me? He says: you understand, you know how much I love our city, how important it is for me. We have everything in the city for Jewish life. Only there is no grave of the righteous. I wanted to make a grave of the righteous in the city, so that everything would be perfect.
This is, of course, a joke. But the grave of a righteous man greatly influences the spiritual state of people. People come to the grave of a righteous man, remember how he lived for other people and how many good deeds he did, what miracles he did. And through the righteous, the memories of him, join the thoughts of G-d, they are awakened to greater service.
Thinking about this righteous man, one cannot pray to him. The righteous cannot do anything after death, only G-d rules the world. But you can ask God in his merit: you remember how he prayed for us, how important it was for him. That is, they ask for the merit of the righteous. Do not ask the righteous to do something, G-d does everything. But, thinking about him, remembering him, a person awakens more to the service of G-d, becomes better.
How does prayer make a difference? After all, how can a person ask God for something?
One day a cactus blossomed in a young woman's apartment. Before that, for 4 years he stuck out on the windowsill, looking like a gloomy and unshaven janitor, and suddenly such a surprise. It's strange that they consider me an evil, soulless bitch, the woman thought. This is all untrue, cacti do not bloom in the soulless and evil.
In pleasant thoughts about a flowering cactus, she accidentally stepped on the foot of a gloomy man in the subway. In response to his remark, she did not yell as usual with an offended look: “Oh, if you are such a gentleman, then take a taxi!”, But smiled:
- Do not be angry with me, please, I have nothing to hold on to, if you want - step on my foot too and we will quit.
The grim man swallowed what he was about to say about her. Then he got out at his station and, buying a newspaper, instead of being rude to the saleswoman who got confused with the change count, calling her a slow cow, he said to her:
- It's okay, count again, I'm also not strong in mathematics early in the morning.
The saleswoman, who did not expect such an answer, became emotional and gave two old magazines and a whole pile of old newspapers free of charge to a pensioner - a regular customer who was very fond of reading the press, but bought only one cheaper newspaper every day. Of course, unsold goods were supposed to be written off, but any rules can be circumvented. The contented old man went home with an armful of newspapers and magazines. Meeting a neighbor top floor, he didn’t make her a daily scandal on the topic: “your child stomps around the apartment like an elephant and interferes with rest, you need to educate better”, but looked and was surprised:
How your daughter has grown. I don’t understand who I look like more like you or my father, but I’ll definitely be a beauty, I have a trained eye.
The neighbor took the child to the garden, came to work at the reception and did not shout at the stupid grandmother who made an appointment with the doctor yesterday, but came today, but said:
- Come on, don't worry, I sometimes forget my business too. You sit for a minute, and I'll check with the doctor, suddenly he can see you.
The grandmother, having got an appointment, did not begin to demand that she be prescribed a very effective, but inexpensive medicine that could instantly help cure the disease, threatening to write complaints to all instances up to the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights if she refused, but sighed and said:
- “I haven’t completely lost my mind yet, I understand that old age is not cured, but you, doctor, forgive me for constantly dragging myself to you as if I were at work.”
And the doctor, heading home in the evening, suddenly remembered his grandmother and took pity on her. He suddenly thought that life in its usual bustle was flying by, and, yielding to a sudden impulse, he stopped at the nearest supermarket, bought a bouquet of flowers, a cake with cream roses and drove in a completely different direction. I drove up to the house, went up to the third floor and.
I was thinking, well, why do we share everything, like children playing in the sandbox. I bought you a cake, only I accidentally put my briefcase on it and it wrinkled. But it's no big deal, taste qualities because it won't affect. I also bought you flowers, only they were also a little wrinkled by the same briefcase. But maybe they will?
They will definitely leave, - the woman answered, - we will resuscitate them. And I have news. Just imagine, I woke up today, I look at the window, and my cactus has blossomed. See?
The cycle of good
One day a cactus blossomed in a young woman's apartment. Before that, for 4 years he stuck out on the windowsill, looking like a gloomy and unshaven janitor, and suddenly such a surprise. It's strange that they consider me an evil, soulless bitch, the woman thought. This is all untrue, cacti do not bloom in the soulless and evil.
In pleasant thoughts about a flowering cactus, she accidentally stepped on the foot of a gloomy man in the subway. In response to his remark, she did not yell as usual with an offended look: “Oh, if you are such a gentleman, then take a taxi!”, But smiled:
Don't be angry with me, please, I have nothing to hold on to, if you want - step on my foot too and we'll be even.
The grim man swallowed what he was about to say about her. Then he got out at his station and, buying a newspaper, instead of being rude to the saleswoman who got confused with the change count, calling her a stupid cow, he said to her:
- It's okay, count again, I'm also not strong in mathematics early in the morning.
The saleswoman, who did not expect such an answer, became emotional and gave two old magazines and a whole pile of old newspapers free of charge to a pensioner - a regular customer who was very fond of reading the press, but bought only one cheaper newspaper every day. Of course, unsold goods were supposed to be written off, but any rules can be circumvented.
The contented old man went home with an armful of newspapers and magazines. Having met a neighbor from the top floor, he didn’t make her a daily scandal on the topic: “your child stomps around the apartment like an elephant and interferes with rest, you need to educate better”, but looked and was surprised:
How your daughter has grown. I don’t understand who I look like more like you or my father, but I’ll definitely be a beauty, I have a trained eye.
The neighbor took the child to the garden, came to work at the reception and did not shout at the stupid grandmother who made an appointment with the doctor yesterday, but came today, but said:
Come on, don't worry, I forget my stuff sometimes too. You sit for a minute, and I'll check with the doctor, suddenly he can see you.
The grandmother, having got an appointment, did not begin to demand that she be prescribed a very effective, but inexpensive medicine that could instantly help cure the disease, threatening to write complaints to all instances up to the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights if she refused, but sighed and said:
- “I haven’t completely lost my mind yet, I understand that old age is not cured, but you, doctor, forgive me for constantly dragging myself to you as if I were at work.”
And the doctor, heading home in the evening, suddenly remembered his grandmother and took pity on her. He suddenly thought that life in its usual bustle was flying by, and, yielding to a sudden impulse, he stopped at the nearest supermarket, bought a bouquet of flowers, a cake with cream roses and drove in a completely different direction. I drove up to the house, went up to the third floor and knocked on the door.
I was thinking, well, why do we share everything, like children playing in the sandbox. I bought you a cake, only I accidentally put my briefcase on it and it wrinkled. But this is not scary, it will not affect the taste. I also bought you flowers, only they were also a little wrinkled by the same briefcase. But maybe they will?
They will definitely leave, - the woman answered, - we will resuscitate them. And I have news. Just imagine, I woke up today, I look at the window, and my cactus has blossomed. See?
http://sobiratelzvezd.ru/kr...
Do you know that pain is a remedy that we can use
Article by Liz Burbo: Did you know that pain is a tool that we can use for our own development?
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growth It is unfortunate that many people are in constant motion, not stopping for a minute to ask themselves the main questions. And only suffering from physical pain can stop them.
Many even believe that illness is the norm, although it is obvious to me that pain is unnatural. And instead of stopping and realizing exactly what the body wants to communicate through pain, people prefer to stop the pain with medications or special procedures.
I am not saying that you should not help your physical body medical means, but it is important to turn inward and realize valuable thoughts for yourself. Without looking inward, the pain will return, because your attitude towards yourself cannot change only from taking medication.
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In addition to diseases, we also receive signals in the form of injuries and accidents that hurt some part of the body. In general, accidents tell you that you feel guilty, although you are not, and want to punish yourself.
If you take the time to understand the metaphysical cause of the accident and understand your body's signal, your body will be able to heal much faster. Remember also that physical pain is always proportional to the pain you experience psychologically. The body is a beautiful instrument that constantly seeks to draw your attention to those qualities of itself that you do not accept and do not like.
In addition to people who attract accidents and illness in order to grow, many also believe that it is normal to get sick and suffer in old age.
How often have I heard that old age is always associated with a whole bunch of diseases. This belief is based on the norms, structure, traditions and laws established by society and accepted by the majority of people. For a long time, society has tried to guide us based on its own ideas of what is normal, instead of allowing people to be natural. What do you want? To be "normal", forgetting about your needs, or to strive for what is "natural" for your nature?
Also, there are people (those who suffer from the trauma of injustice) who have high threshold pain tolerance. It is extremely difficult for such people to listen to their body, their needs and love themselves in moments when they do not correspond to their own ideal. People with rejection trauma manage to completely deny the pain. As a rule, the body of such people has to send very strong physical signals to get their attention.
In the Age of Aquarius we live in, there are fewer and fewer less people will suffer. People will become more and more attentive to the slightest signal, physical, emotional or mental body. People will be able to consciously prevent their own suffering from physical ailments.
As I said above, there is no only physical pain. Every physical pain is associated with emotional and mental blockages. Physical pain simply tells us that we allow our thinking (beliefs) to guide us, which prevents us from following our needs, thinking that is guided by the fear of being what and how we want to be. And this prevents us from loving ourselves.
As soon as you have pain, ask yourself the question: what does it hinder you the most, in what area does it affect you the most? Your answer will allow you to determine the direction in which your inner work on yourself should proceed. Also, ask yourself, how is your illness preventing you from BEING? This is how you find out what or who you most want to be, that is, what you want for yourself. Then define the fear for yourself: what are you afraid of if you allow yourself to be whatever you want to be? This is how you become aware that your inner self wants to communicate to you through pain.
One thing is obvious: your “I” always reminds you that you need to love yourself more, that is, accept yourself in different states and with different qualities: every day, even if the way you are seems bad, abnormal or unacceptable to others. To love ourselves is to accept ourselves, even if we are not who we want to be at every moment. Stop judging and blaming yourself in an effort to change. Simply accepting yourself the way you don't want to be will help you become the way you want to be.
You just have to make a decision: do you want to continue suffering in order to learn to love yourself, or do you just need time to become aware and avoid unnecessary suffering. Think about it!
Holy righteous John of Kronstadt became the author of a progressive for his time social structure- Houses of industriousness, where people received shelter and the opportunity to work, who did not find a use for themselves in public life devastated spiritually and physically.
The legacy of Father John is by no means forgotten today. The house of industriousness of the St. Elisabeth Monastery, created with the blessing of the confessor of the monastery, Father Andrei Lemeshonok, has preserved main principle such establishments - service to one's neighbor. It is symbolic that a mother with the name of the Italian martyr Khionia became the head of the House of Diligence. young age left an orphan.
"It all starts with a father's dream"
— Any undertaking in our monastery always begins with a father's dream. Father Andrew, like his heavenly patron Apostle Andrew the First-Called, dreams of leading to God as much as possible. more people, - says mother Khionia (Efimova). - The foundation, which had stood in this place for a long time, was overgrown with grass. And the priest, passing by, prayed: “How nice it would be if there was such a house where people who could not find a place in the world could get a job, work and learn about God - the disabled, people with various social and spiritual problems …” And the Lord fulfilled his dream.
The Apostle says: God has chosen the lowly things of the world and the lowly things that mean nothing (1 Corinthians 1:28). We talked for a long time with Mother Khionia about how true the apostle's statement is regarding the House of Diligence and how labor helps in the socialization and rehabilitation of people.
“Perhaps, the most important thing in the House of Diligence is that people who come here find the meaning of life, understanding it as the salvation of the soul. And each of them is brought by the Lord Himself, of this I am convinced.
We are working different people. There are specialists: beginners and experienced. But since from the very first day of the founding of the monastery the main idea, the platform of the monastery was to help our neighbor, the weak, we try to help just such people. Spiritual infirmity applies to everyone in general, therefore, speaking of infirmity, I mean, first of all, physical infirmity. People come to us with various pathologies: developmental delays, severe chronic diseases, physical and mental disabilities. The house of industriousness thus becomes the only place where such people can find themselves in work. After all, the bar is very high in the world.
I am convinced that it is for their work and prayers that the Lord covers with His strong Hand all our flaws. And while the monastery will help the suffering, it will live and develop.
Establish life and return the daughter
It turned out that people who went through serious life upheavals, through prisons also work in the workshops of the House of Diligence. According to Mother Chionia, the basis for the rehabilitation and socialization of such people is building warm trusting relationship when a person is treated with understanding, they do not put a stigma on him, but, supporting him in every possible way, they give him a chance.
Mother Khionia remembers Vasilisa, who went through a correctional facility due to drug problems. She has a daughter, but Vasilisa was deprived parental rights. One day, Vasilisa's grandmother called Khionia's mother and with desperation in her voice asked to take her granddaughter to work. Today Vasilisa is improving her life and dreams of taking her daughter.
She is eager to be reunited with her daughter. You should have seen her shining eyes! This is what it means to have found God. They say that the eyes are a reflection of the soul, and so it’s even painful to look at Vasilisa’s eyes (smiles). She confessed for the first time with us, took communion. May God keep her on this path!
There are many such stories of transformation. A person renounces the criminal past, begins to live like a Christian, participate in the sacraments, creates a family. Everything is becoming better. Finding God, a person acquires the meaning of existence. He has a different experience. Realizing that without the Lord nothing will work, he builds his life on Christian foundations.
The only specialist who is always there is the Lord
Mother Chionia says that the obedience of the head of the House of Diligence fell on her like a thunderbolt among clear sky. Awareness of the colossal responsibility for a long time did not allow to recover. Mother Chionia experienced the grief of an internal struggle with God, disagreement with His decision. But every time I talked to my spiritual father and consulted with other people, I received the same answer: “Do what you can.” Now she perceives these words as God's formula.
Apparently, this is why the workshops, located on three floors of the House of Diligence, no longer have enough space. Ceramic, sewing, gold-embroidered, icon-laying, stone - this is where the products made with soul and prayer appear. It also manufactures Stuffed Toys and paint nesting dolls. And in the spring there was a social assistance office for people with mental illness- "Goodness".
The working day always begins with a prayer, and a conciliar one at that. Workshop employees read the morning rule, memorials for each other, a prayer for unity, petitions to the saints. In the subdivisions, they take on additional prayer work - akathists are read in a conciliar manner.
— Labor within the walls of the monastery is always accompanied by prayer. I am not a great prayer book, but I understood a long time ago: without God, on your own, you cannot do anything, - Mother Khionia shares her experience. - Every day there are such tasks in front of which you get lost, you pass. To whom to run? The only specialist who is always there is the Lord.
Here comes a crooked line, and you are already asking: "Lord, help me." We try to ensure that each product is of the highest quality: stitch by stitch, line by line. And in order not to redo it several times, the seamstress, foreseeing the difficulties (do you know how velvet slides under the foot?), Begins to ask God for help. Thus, in addition to the conciliar, each in his place makes a personal prayer.
Unity of opposites
Watching the employees of the workshops of the House of Diligence, I suddenly remembered the words of Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), who said that great salvation is born through unity. But how can one maintain intimacy, acceptance of each other, understanding, if very different people come here in such numbers?.. Many of them really have a broken fate, a soul warped by sin, and certainly each with their own character and ideas of justice... I share my thoughts with Mother Chionia.
“As Batiushka teaches us, the beauty of unity lies precisely in the fact that it is made up of different people,” Matushka replies. - This does not happen, and God does not need everyone to be the same. A person during the day is in constant motion, external and internal, depending on the mood, situation, even physical condition. Yesterday I was in despondency, but the Lord consoled me, and today I am cheerful and happy.
There is such an expression: "the unity of opposites." Here is a straight line spiritual meaning: if we learn to combine with each other in our differences, when opposites do not compete, but complement each other, then unity arises.
As the priest says, spirituality is when one weak person cannot come to the service today, and another strong one prays for himself and for him. Do not judge your sister that she is sleeping, but come, cover her with a blanket, straighten her pillow and pray for her.
When we accept each other with all our incapacities and weaknesses and, in the words of the apostle, “bear one another’s infirmities,” then true unity is born and true love God's.
Who do people help?
Outside the window of the House of Diligence, construction has begun - a new building is being built. When I looked at the working equipment and people, a story about the Monk Moses of Optina came to mind: the brothers grumbled at him in response to the construction of a new hotel, they say, not a penny in the treasury. And the monk started the construction solely for the sake of the people: the laity got jobs, fed their families.
So it turns out that the highest idea can be distorted, discredited. As a rule, people do not want to delve into and understand before criticizing. That is why we decided to find out what is the most the main objective such broad activities monastery and whom people actually help by buying monastic products.
“First of all, people help those who work here,” Mother Khionia answers the question. - Just imagine, our employee sewed five baptismal sets. Her prayer is embedded in the product, which will go on to someone's family, because new Christians have entered the world. The sacrifice of their loved ones returns to the monastery, invests in construction, in payment human labor. Thus, the cycle of goodness in nature takes place.
The temple that is built by the world stands firmly. Our monastery is being built in this way - by the world. Workshops provide jobs for people who will never find work in the world. And this is the main spiritual idea of the monastery: to attract as many people as possible, to bring them to God.
Gotta hold on! Batiushka says that a solution can always be found in God. Yes, it's hard, it's hard. But the Lord takes us through trials for our spiritual maturation and strengthening, because only then do we begin to truly pray. And in answer to our prayers, God's help always comes.