The norm is given by God and confirmed by the life itself: “blessed is he who has mercy on the brutes” – one who is unable to sympathize with the patient street animal, are unlikely to sympathize with the person – why may begin our personal transformation, reflects the priest Sergei Kruglov.
I remember the conversation of the participants of the lecture series for adults in our Sunday school:
– That’s why the disciples exclaimed that it is good for them to be here? Are they in heaven found?
– No, on earth left…
– Then why?
– Why. Because Christ was transfigured, their favorite Teacher, they saw this light, this glory…
– Then why on earth is left?
– Yes, because some have not changed. The transformation is not from earth begins. And people…
The feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord we are bringing in the temples of apples, as in the minority , do the new crop, domestic, and, most of the Chinese-Argentine, do not know what harvest, just purchased in the store, with joyful anticipation we arrange their bags and baskets with fruit near the Solea, remember, as deliciously described Apple Spas have Shmelev, and so much to think and talk about the blessing of fruits of the earth touch of the light of Tabor, looking for the icons of old masters special glow painted “slides” and nature, and so rarely think about how what volumes have been written on moral theology and which is so briefly and just said videomania parishioner: transformation starts with people. Without our transformation, there will be no transformation of flora and fauna, there is no “new heaven and a new earth”…
Seals of love, and it would be better neighbors loved
Thinking about the transformation of a man, and I think that, in fact, the whole of human culture is also one of the ways of men to help God to transform the earth. For example, a huge area of this culture – taking care of our smaller brothers, the Christian component of which is the notion that Christ came to save, including the most powerless and insignificant in this world, those who do escape can not, and we Christians follow the Savior.
A dumb beast – who is more powerless and helpless in the world? Of course, in this area, as in everything in our lives, enough distortions, and people saving dolphins from death in oil hell, protesters against the landfill, arranging pickets near a smoky poison plants, and simply – give your love a pet, and are often subjected to censure, and ridicule of, say, seals of love, and it would be better neighbors loved. Over Hitler also shepherd his cherished, and people are destroyed.
But nonetheless I will say is simple: why “better”? Than one can get in the way? The example of Hitler and his dog Blondi is still not the standard and not the norm. The norm is given by God and confirmed by the life itself: “blessed is he who has mercy on the brutes” – one who is unable to sympathize with the patient street animal, are unlikely to sympathize with the man. Conversely, one who is able to massively secretly to poison dogs in the neighborhood, or remove the phone the bloody penalty of a kitten, it is likely able to do the same with others. Even about the simple human appearance of the representative of “Homo sapiens” you can talk with difficulty, but it’s not about the Transfiguration. More precisely, we can talk about its nepropitannoy…
Crocodile Gena and Cheburashka – a sermon
Now flipping through pages of the Internet, come across sounding right in the topic words of the recently deceased writer Eduard Uspensky, one of his interviews: “I’m a man purely Christian. And each fairy story is trying to Express something important in this sense the idea. Every children’s book, according to my notions, — first sermon. Crocodile Gena and Cheburashka — a sermon on what animals should be full citizens in this land.”
But – the usual Facebook page of my good friends (to say in midst a Facebook “friends” – plainly, bluntly, to say “friends” is inaccurate, because outside of social media I didn’t meet them): a husband and wife who devoted her life to gathering at home, the care and treatment of stray cats, purebred absolutely, excess of this world, and then building out in good hands. The woman wearing the always in my purse a couple of packets of “Whiskas”, suddenly meet a homeless hungry cat in the street. A man with neighbors on the porch at night on duty in the yard, voluntarily and free of charge, to catch the maniac dog hunter. Another vyazovoi on the balcony falling there sick of a dove. The woman just loving your dog and telling about it so that readers sent her joie de vivre, ironic, warm affection, and readers thank you “After your posts and me with my depression easier to live”… and another, And another hundreds of people, those who condemn others and often contemptuously referred to sotssetevyh faceless amorphous category of “fasting, mimimi”. People learned a small, discreet but love.
Vaccination against unbelief in people
Of course, cure the sick kitten is not an indicator of global transformation of the world, which are, alas, full of increasing entropy, sin, war, violence and senseless suffering. But, in my opinion, this kitten – still an indicator of something more important: the transformation of a specific human individual, albeit held to a very small extent (and how we judge and how to measure the value of this degree?), but not without the presence and help of God, without the involvement of the light of Tabor, which has transformed once Jesus Christ on the mount before his disciples, which over the centuries has transformed many of the saints.
For me, this figure is a small sign of hope, an inoculation against unbelief, despair and gloom, a sign that we still, despite all of our sins, able to respond to God’s love for His saving love, is able to take possession of the promised us a new heaven and a new earth and live in them.
Remember the words of the Apostle Paul from the Epistle to the Romans?
“For creation awaits with hope the coming sons of God, for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by the will of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaning in travail together until now; and not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies”. (ROM. 8, 19-22)
“The glory of the children of God” – all creation, including voiceless animals, waiting for her from us as the pledge of salvation own. And this glory, this transformation, begins not with the world, and a man with a personality as it showed itself to imagine our Savior on mount Tabor. Our business is to go to God to meet and to be open to this light of Tabor, “as each one could endure”.