We were born into a world of tears to enter the abyss of joy

Pascha. Photo: istockphoto.com

Today, for the first time since the beginning of spring, a tit flew to the birdhouse on my balcony. We're at war, but it has its own mission – to give new life to its offspring. Because that's God's will, and the tit will fulfill it despite everything and against all odds. Trees, birds, animals – they all know what God wants from them. Only humans, the only ones in the world, have lost the meaning of their lives.

Tits don't think about life; they just do their job, and God creates all the conditions for them to do it. The linden branches opposite my window are budding. Nature is awakening again from its slumber. Images from a not-so-distant past life involuntarily revive in my memory...

Here's my childhood home, the garden, buzzing bees amid fragrant blossoming apples and apricots. A heady scent of spring, a stream behind the garden, rustling with friendly reed thickets. Emerald-green grass of swaying field grasses. The ringing, joyous laughter of children in the street, the roar of the tractor in the fields. This is a world that no longer exists and will never be again. The war killed everyone and everything depicted in my memory on this canvas. Now there's smoke, stench, ash and ruins in that place. But I'm confident that the surviving trees there will bud again and bloom as if nothing happened, amidst the grim silence of the destroyed town. And the birds will continue to build their nests, raise their offspring and sing spring songs to each other. Because, unlike humans, they know why they came into this world and what God gave them life for.

The same processes occur in the world as in any human body. It ages, gets sick, recovers only to get sick again.

We cannot influence these processes, but we can learn to perceive them in the right way. Bodily illnesses warn us not to become attached to everything that surrounds us. Epidemics, catastrophes convey the same message, only on a global scale. "The elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare" (2 Peter 3:10-12). No matter which way disaster knocks on our soul, we need to trust God in everything. Otherwise, the burden of leaden thoughts will crush us with its weight.

If you look at the sky through the branches of dry trees, they may resemble veins. Their dark lines, spreading like capillaries, disappear into the azure, barely noticeable cobwebs. The trunk's artery enters the earth, and there the roots' veins draw their juices from the soil to provide everyone living on earth with clean air to breathe. The earth gives us food, the sky – air, the sun – light, but what do we give to this world? What benefit does each of us bring? Or are we used only to using and consuming?

It is said that angels must work hard to make stars shine, rain or snow fall, wind blow, and the earth yield its harvest. It's shameful to live as a freeloader in God's realm, where everyone is engaged in their own work. But it's even worse to be seen as a thief and a robber in His eyes.

Angels do their work well, but humans constantly make mistakes.

We were born into this world of sorrow and tears to be reborn into a world of peace and joy during this brief earthly period. Living by our minds, people have forgotten about their hearts.

And yet only in it can we hear the voice of God, which speaks to us in the quietness of the spirit. It gives us strength, silently answers our questions, quietly observes everything happening, waiting for us to abandon our wisdom and return to simplicity, silence and peace.

The spirit living within each of us says: "Calm down, be humble, be at peace, stop listening to your mind, don't immerse yourself in the fiery lava of emotions, loosen your grip, don't cling to the earth of the body, break the shackles of attachments, and you will be saved."

In my childhood, the game of "knife" was popular. We drew a circle on the ground. Lines were drawn from the center to the circumference, corresponding to the number of players. Then we threw a knife, which had to twist in the air. If the knife landed in another player's section, you could cut off a piece of it. If the knife fell, it was another player’s turn. The winner was the one who managed to take all the land in the circle so that the last player had nowhere to stand even with one foot.

I remember those who played with me back then. Many of them have long since been laid to rest in this very land. With the knife, we took from each other what did not belong to us. As adults, some continue this "game" with missiles, tanks and shells. But it all ends the same for everyone. It is not the people who take the land, but the land takes the people.

The earth does not belong to us; it is God's and common to all. And we are all from it and for it. A person rejoices when they manage to take land from their neighbour. But there is much more joy for bacteria and worms who feast on the body of the deceased. The earth also rejoices in this nutritious cocktail. But for the deceased, there is only sorrow, perhaps realizing that this may be the only joy they could bring into this world, and even that not of their own will.

The elder says, "Until you have rejected the body and soul, you cannot see your spirit, which is the abode of Christ. As long as you are attached to the body and soul, you are concerned only with yourself, and you do not care about God. Until you are united with Christ, you see only the actions of the mind." But we lack faith for this.

We are afraid to part with that selfishness that lives within us... "Then at least learn to live in quietness and meekness. It doesn't matter where you are, the only thing that matters is that you are in God."

Girl Spring is always good, even amidst war. There is something in it that is above, deeper, stronger than death and fear. Spring brings us the good news of God's love and gives hope that in the end, everything will be alright. A tree may be cut, but a shoot will emerge from under the ground.

A bare branch does not mean it's dead. Life will blossom on it in due time. The seed may die, but it will give rise to an ear of wheat. The air after the winter cold and frost will once again be filled with the scent of flowers. Bright colors will replace the darkness. The blue of the sky cannot be forever obscured. Life will conquer death, no matter how hard it tries to evade it. Good is stronger than evil, though it may seem helpless.

An infinite number of petty human truths will bow before one single great Truth, which is Love. Everything will pass, but Pascha will not pass; it will remain with us forever, and we will be comforted.

We just need to endure silently for a little while, proving nothing to anyone. Because all the words that could have been said were spoken when people had ears to hear. Now we live in a world of the deaf. People only hear their petty truth and hate everyone who thinks differently. All we can do is pray and be silent.

If God is in me, then I am in Him. Just as the air from a broken jug returns to the sky, so the spirit, leaving the mind, reunites with Christ. The Kingdom of God is a pure heart. Happiness is Christ. Find Him in your spirit, and you will find eternal joy.

Christ is already here. Grace in the heart is His second coming. When you experience the world as Divine love, you are one with God, with the Holy Trinity.

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