Last updated on December 2nd, 2020 at 08:39 am
Escape from responsibility
The family is broken. And everything around us is collapsing. Living in an age of complete moral collapse, when, according to Pavel Florensky, what must be inside (intimate sexual life) comes from outside, and vice versa (spirituality and goodness are hidden).
We must not forget the words of the famous Austrian psychologist Viktor Frankl, who pointed out that “sexual abstinence in adults does not give neurotic symptoms”. That is, the story of the subjugation of instincts, which was the basis of the sexual revolution, is a mere fabrication. Sexual love, Frankl says, is the lowest form of love. The mere exercise of “free sex” is an escape from responsibility because only a person can love, and only a person can be loved – and people today are selfish individualists.
Fornication, says Frankl, although disguised as a “sexual revolution” and “liberation,” is only a vulgar primitivization of love, often mere prostitution.
According to psychologist McMillan, there are three types of love: “I will love you if”, “I will love you because” and “I will love you no matter what”. The first is a mask of egoism, and the second is conditional. If a person is not satisfied with “because”, he can begin to flee into virtuality. That is why today internet pornography removes living people from the horizon. I don’t like anyone, they are all “heavy”, so I will look for the ones I need for self pleasure in the electronic void.
Love in spite of everything
True love is one that loves in spite of everything. Saint Paisios of Mount Athos cited the case of a Greek from America who saw the uncreated light of the Lord in prayer, even though he was not an ascetic. He experienced this because he prayed for his unhappy wife who, little by little, neglected her marital duties, committed fornication and went to Greece where she became a prostitute, leaving him and the children behind. He loved her selflessly and to the end, praying for her soul, which is why he was worthy of seeing God’s grace.
Here is how the old man described it: “Once an American of Greek origin, a doctor by profession, came to my hut. I noticed that his face was shining and so I cautiously began to inquire about his life. “Father,” he told me, “I am Orthodox, but until a short time ago I did not fast, nor did I go to church often. One evening I knelt in my room to ask God about the torment that was tormenting me then, and then the room was filled with a miraculously pleasant light. For quite a long time I saw nothing but that light and I felt unspeakable peace within myself. “
I was surprised, because I understood that this man was worthy to see the Uncreated Light, so I asked him to tell me what preceded it.
“Father,” he replied, “I am married and have three children. In the beginning, everything was good in our family. Later, however, my wife did not have the patience to deal with household chores and children and asked us to go out with her friends. I did as she pleased. After a while, she told me she wanted to go out alone with her friends. I agreed to that, and I took care of the children during that time. Then she didn’t want us to go on vacation together, but asked me to give her money to go alone. Then she asked me for an apartment to live alone. And I did that to her, but she started gathering her friends. All that time, I tried in various ways to help her, to advise her, so that she would at least feel sorry for our children, but she didn’t even want to talk about it. Eventually she took a larger sum of money from me and disappeared. I searched and inquired everywhere, but without success. Every trace of her was lost. One day I received a notification that she had come here to Greece and that she was in a house with a bad reputation. It is impossible to describe how sad I was for her downfall. Out of great distress I knelt to pray. “My God,” I said, “help me find her and do everything I can so she doesn’t lose her soul.” I couldn’t stand her downfall. ” Then that light bathes me and fills my heart with perfect peace. ” “My brother,” I told him, “God saw your suffering, your innocence, your love, and so comforted you.” That is why I speak, and let the laity judge. Do you see? A doctor in America, who lived with such a woman, in such circumstances and in such an environment, and what he was worthy of! “
The sacrifice he offered to Christ led this man to Christ on the mount Tabor.
What is a happy family
A large study of the lives of three thousand happy families, conducted in the West, showed, says Russian doctor Konstantin Zorin, that they all had common features: they put the family community first, they spent time together, they communicated by listening to each other and paying attention to the words and actions of the other, accepting him or her as he or her is. Those families had a fundamental spirituality and solved problems together.
Sexuality is not overemphasized as a key element of family happiness. That is why Zorin points out: “According to God’s providence, spouses should go from physical union through spiritual connection to spiritual unity.”
Unfortunately, as psychologist Tatjana Florenska says, today’s loss of shame and pansexualization lead to the disappearance of personality and the formation of the so-called “sexual dominants” that can be as dangerous as alcoholism or drug addiction.
It is time for repentance
The world will exist as long as there are people who rejoice in God. Today there are fewer and fewer of them. Therefore, it is the last hour for repentance, conversion and return to the Lord.
A Russian priest, Father Oleg Stenyaev, says in one of his sermons: “Do you remember how the prodigal son returned to his father’s home? And he must have wondered: will my father receive me or not? He wanted to be among his father’s servants. However, while he was still far away, his father saw him and ran to meet him. The God who became Man is the God who meets us, the God who comes so close to us that he becomes like us. He who created us in His image, Himself receives the image, the form of a servant, becomes like us. It is the secret of love, of incomprehensible love.
How should we treat each other, after God became Man? Namely, he became a Man because of every man who lives on earth – regardless of his religion, regardless of his nationality, regardless of his sex, regardless of his age, regardless of his social status. Saint John Chrysostom clearly says: “And if only you, a sinner, lived on earth, Christ would come for you and die on the cross!” Just think over these words! We have accepted that Christ died for the sins of the whole world. However, in relation to each of us, individually, He died just for you! To become aware of that means to understand the greatness of God’s love. “
If we become aware of these loves, and if we renew our souls, we will renew our family and society and the state and the world. The decision is up to us, and the road is ahead of us. God, bless us!