When were times easy?

Today, we often hear that we are living in difficult times. We can’t argue with that. However, there is another question: When were times easy? Can we say that it was easy for our grandfathers to rebuild the country, almost completely destroyed by war? Was it easy for our great-grandfathers to survive the civil war after the 1917 revolution, Stalin's repressions and famine? Was it easy for those who had lived before them? No, in fact there are no easy times. It is hard to all and always. The problem lies in us.

This means that not the time or even the problem which we face takes the most important place in our life, but how exactly we treat this.

Today, a piece of bread on the table (and nothing else), says that people who have this piece are on a poverty line – they do not have money for meat, butter, caviar, etc. But let us remember that not so long ago this same piece of bread was considered as a great treasure, as a sign of prosperity.

What has happened, what has changed between now and then? Only our perception. It's simple – we forgot to thank God for what we have. And we are not talking about "today" and "yesterday", but about our life in general. The fact is that’s when we lose a thing, we begin to appreciate it. Moreover, it concerns peoples as well.

Now I'm not trying to justify what is happening and to reassure those who do not have a piece of bread on the table. I'm just trying to say that grumbling and indignation have never been creative forces. Only love and gratitude create.
In this regard, we would recall a good parable. Once a man complained, "My goodness, how hard I feel!" To which the Lord answered him: "You do not know what is hard. I’ll show you."

And another man said, "Oh, Lord, how easy and good I feel!" To which the Lord answered him, "You do not know what is easy and good. I'll show you."

Exactly the same happens to us: the more we resent and complain, the worse and harder we live. After all, according to the Holy Fathers, a prayer of a grumbling man does not come to God. So let us all do so that our prayer will always be effective. The only means for that is gratitude. Thank God for everything!

KP

Read also

​The Time of the Soul's Ripening

Modern society has turned youth into a cult and calls old age a period of "living out one's days." The Christian view reveals the deep spiritual meaning of one's later years.

Faith is not a checker piece in a spectator sport

Arguments about faith on social media increasingly resemble no-holds-barred fights. We turn to a saint who, sixteen centuries ago, knew how to speak to those interested only in turning theology into a combat arena.

The metropolitan who fought with a pen

St. Cyprian of Kyiv was robbed, expelled, and barred from his see. He answered with letters, books, and canons – and before his death, forgave everyone.

Loneliness under one roof

Spouses can share a home for years, raise children, and faithfully attend church – yet remain strangers to each other.

The cross – the deepest healing of the human soul

Emotional exhaustion and anxiety have become a way of life. Ancient Christian tradition offers an unexpected way out – embracing one's own cross.

The Prophet Elisha and the mystery of the Bethel massacre

​The story of the prophet Elisha and the two bears seems to be the harshest in the Bible. But in reality, it carries a profound theological meaning.