I’m Busy

In one village, there lived a large family – a husband, a wife and four children. All his life the master of the house worked hard to meet the needs of his near and dear.

Every Sunday, his wife took the children to the church service. However, the head of the family refused to go to church. When his wife asked him why he did not go, he used to say, "You go. And I'm busy."

The master of the house had a habit. Whatever the man started doing, major or minor, he would say, "Lord, help me!" or "With Lord's help!"  Without these words, he did not proceed to any work. Therefore, during his long life he turned to God a large number of times, and a large number of things he did with God's help.

And now it is time for the man to die.

– Let me call a priest, – cautiously suggested the wife, – so that you could confess and take communion.

After his wife's words, the man thought. For a moment, the whole life rolled back in his mind’s eye – at work and worry. He remembered how many times his wife had suggested him going to church, and how many times he had excused himself saying he was busy.

Suddenly, the man made an effort, with great difficulty got out of bed and said to his wife:

- Do not call the priest. I'll go to church myself.  The Lord so many times came to me, and I to him – never!

Then he turned to the children and said:

– However busy you are, do not miss a chance to come to God. Remember – God is much busier than us, but He always helps us as soon as we turn to Him!

Read also

The blueprint of church raiding: then and now

Church seizures in Ukraine may appear to be a tragical phenomenon of recent years. In reality, their story began in the waning years of the Soviet Union, when the template still used today was first established.

Forty days without a leader and the spiritual collapse of a nation

The Jews waited for Moses for forty days. On the forty-first, they lost patience – and paid for it with their own gold.

Why do we read the Bible through the eyes of American Protestants?

When we buy little “educational” books about the creation of the world, we rarely suspect that beneath their covers lie the arguments of Western Protestants from the last century.

A unique cossack cathedral in Samar and its engineering secret

The wooden Trinity Cathedral was built without metal. How this unique Cossack church survived empires – and why its architecture still saves us today.

A solitary vigil light against academic enlightenment

​Byzantium was fading from external wars and internal strife. At that time, a fierce dispute erupted on Mount Athos, determining whether one could touch God in prayer.

The color of faith in the grim darkness

​The famous Rublev icon was created amidst ruins. The experience of an ancient catastrophe teaches us to find God anew when the world around us is falling apart.