Let’s Help as Much as We Can – Father Pimen Vlad
23 September 2022
How Do I Know God Has Forgiven Me? – Father Theologos
27 September 2022
Watch a discussion between several typical profiles of contemporary Christians in which the great problems of contemporary Christians are laid out and solutions are sought.
What are the problems? What are the solutions?
Watch this video to find out.
Enjoy!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages and ages. Amen. Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy. Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us! Amen.
Father Theologos: Until now we had some important guests and now we have some important guests, meaning that though they are simple people, they are all normal people and we will discuss a lot of things related to Orthodoxy with Constantine and Andrei. You’ll figure out along the way their area of expertise, their area of influence, their area of knowledge.
What should we talk about?
Constantine: Do we let Andrei ask a few questions?
Andrew: No, no, I’m a little shy, please!
Constantine: I’d like to explore. About questions and answers.
Father Theologos: Yes.
Constantine: What is the relevance of a question and what is the relevance of an answer in today’s world!?
Father Theologos: Yes, that’s right. It’s a big problem here because today people unfortunately don’t sit down to talk. Today, people, when they supposedly sit and listen, in fact they wait carefully as if they are hunting the other and try to serve him the position he already has. That is, you are no longer listening to understand the other, but listening to find his weak point, to hit him, to pounce …
Constantine: It’s hard to get to dialogue.
Father Theologos: Yes, it is very difficult to reach dialogue because we live in a very polarized society and you have to know that these things come – I even saw a very good exposition of a student actually – all these are coming from the fact that the artificial intelligence that is behind the engines of Google, Facebook, YouTube, all these, are giving you what you want.
Then, when it’s offering what you want, at that moment you think that the world is made up only of the things you want, everyone has the same opinion as you and in fact, you close yourself off on a certain point – on your point of view which becomes very harsh. You are very sure of yourself and forget that there is actually someone else, there are many others who do not share your opinion. And the moment you get used to these artificial intelligence (AI) search engines, or rather AI-powered recommendation engines, and suddenly reality offers you something else that’s beyond these recommendation engines, at that moment you tense up.
I mean, you say, “Wait a minute, I’m used to YouTube or Facebook and what that platform offers me, with what suits me, with my opinion.” Do you understand? They are called echo chambers, that is, chambers of one’s selfishness. And so today’s man is no longer accustomed to dialogue. Why? Because he is used to receiving only what he likes. Because all these recommendation engines give him just things one likes, and why?
To keep the man trapped there, in so-called screen-time, in order to press the “like” button. So that person is not going to be offered a position that he doesn’t accept because the risk is very high that the person will leave that platform. So by these means comes a very powerful polarization of society and this is seen very well unfortunately in the US where people are very polarized, they are very harsh in expression and so there is no more dialogue, no more acceptance of the other.
Andrew: Cancel Culture.
Father Theologos: Cancel Culture, yes. Good. So for those who don’t know what Cancel Culture is, because in Romania it is not known… What does Cancel Culture mean?
Andrew: It’s now in my generation and those a little older, the moment when a person, either public or not, makes a statement that does not fit into certain patterns concerning certain religious sects, certain sexual orientations or certain races, they are exposed to bullying so to speak, at a very high capacity, both online and in some cases physically, until either the person literally disappears or disappears …
Father Theologos: …from a platform, so to speak, yes, yes… I mean, it’s about destroying the other.
Andrew: Destroy the person if he doesn’t share your opinion.
Father Theologos: Exactly. So it’s about pushing towards an absolutization, it’s about cultural extremism.
Constantine: [It’s] cultivated.
Father Theologos: [It’s] cultivated. As I said, this also comes from these artificial intelligence algorithms – from recommendation mechanisms, but designed by humans. So it’s about people’s passions, you know? Because if man wanted to say: “Let me see a little of what the others are saying, the other side, I mean is it really as I say?” Unfortunately, the passionate man says: “No, it’s how I say for sure, and you have to listen to me and if not woe to you,” something like that.
Constantine: We are dealing here with a kind of luxury of opinion. We are more informed, we are apparently more present, more involved, more fully in the flux of living, and it seems to us that we have an opinion, and because of this it is increasingly difficult indeed to give birth to dialogue because each side has a sum of justifications and some certainties…
Father Theologos: A harshness of his opinion. That is, man becomes very tough in his opinion, very strong in his opinion, conceited.
Andrew: Pride…
Father Theologos: Pride, exactly.
Constantine: It can also come from fear, fear of accepting something you somehow notice from his eyes, but you…
Father Theologos: Oh, [fear of] embarrassing yourself online, for example.
Constantine: On one hand, and on the other hand, there are things you don’t want to see even though you intuit them, you know them.
Father Theologos: Yes, there’s that too. It’s the extremes. So, on the one hand, it’s about pride, as Andrei says, and on the other hand, it’s also about this – it’s a psychological phenomenon that if a person takes a position (also from egoism, it also comes from pride) then he tends to hold that position no matter and I have seen this. I’ve seen people who were like, “Well, I don’t know, if it’s not like this, or not like this…,” with the vaccine, for example, but I don’t want to open the discussion on that. I mean [saying], “It may be like this, or not, I don’t know….” Well, when he took a position for or against, it doesn’t matter, he holds on to that position no matter the arguments you bring him. Do you understand?
Constantine: Yes, because the stress of, say, accepting an alternative seems to a lot of people to be too great.
Father Theologos: Yes, and it’s about something else. It’s about losing authority, which can be real or exaggerated or just imaginary, you know.
“What, should I show myself the fool – so to speak – to tarnish myself…?” And then he sticks to that position, it can be seen that he becomes a fan of the position.
Constantine: Here you may wonder how much of your presentation is self-observation.
Father Theologos: Yes, because there is not this flexibility of humility. Let me tell you what impressed me very much and I always have a very fond memory on this subject. It happened that I had, well, some 3D printers and I came into contact with a big software firm in the US, it’s called Autodesk.
You may have heard…
I didn’t work at AutoCAD, but I did work on the 3D modeling program. I worked at Inventor, we collaborated. Why? Because I had some 3D printers, it doesn’t matter. I was in the team there and I was acting as an architect somewhat. What was very important to them is that I knew programming, but I was also a user. And so I could help them, that is, tell them what it’s like from the user’s point of view, but also from the programmer’s point of view. Because the big problem of the programmer is that users come and tell them all kinds of strange things that they have encountered and it is very difficult to express themselves in the language of a programmer.
So feedback is very difficult. Okay, because I had both, as was the case, it was very valuable to them and so they valued very much my feedback, what I told them. Brothers, Inventor alone is a business, at least it was, now I don’t know, but a few years ago, with a revenue of $800 million per year. And I don’t know how many hundreds of programmers there were and 20 million lines of code, and the main point that interested them beyond the algorithms of 3D modeling and real-time rendering, above that, was the flexibility of humility. That is, not to get stuck in your position.
And they had a special time where there were the best, most experienced of them. The team was called customer success where they were always in the community and I was in the community somehow. So the moment they had an opinion, a position, that is, we have to implement this and we have to do it and this opinion turned out to be wrong and the community didn’t accept it, they immediately had to pivot. And I said, well, guys, but why so? And he says: Mister – they did not know about “father,” although they knew that I was a monk in the Holy Mountain, that is, it was not the team who knew, but the director of quality assurance – God bless him! His name is Chris Mitchell.
He says: for us who have so many millions of lines of code and we have so many millions of users, if we make a mistake and the community does not accept us, everything is up in the air. So one of our main indicators, key-performance indicators, basic indicators, is that we have to be focused on reality, on what the community wants. So if we spend I don’t know how many months to make a feature, and it will not be accepted, well, we lost money, reputation, acceptance and we lost time compared to the competition.
So everything falls apart. So for us what is very important is that the moment we see something going viral in the community, we immediately pivot. And because of this there were the so-called beta programs, that is, where they were given to selected users and I’ve been told – I’m out of there – that you’re not allowed to say anything that’s discussed inside, and two, there are a lot of amenities given for you to help them pivot right away.
So even with these people who are programmers, not theologians, they realized the paramount importance of humility and the destructive nature of being stuck in one’s own position.
Constantine: Here we come to talk about “becoming.”
Father Theologos: Yes.
Constantine: It’s a strong word and we still don’t understand it, but I think this, in a certain way, highlights what you are saying for a company, but especially for the individual and this is where I want to get to, if possible, with our discussion. The individual must develop, to become, in order to participate in a successful community, we would say in today’s terms. If we relate to the spiritual space, in a community that…
Father Theologos: Is saved…
Constantine: …Which has the chance of communion.
Father Theologos: Yes, yes, because salvation actually is communion. Salvation is unity between us. And see, if you don’t become, you freeze. And what is total freezing? It’s death. So if man does not become, if he does not advance, man dies. And that is why Christ did not come to give us a dead teaching, but came to give us Himself.
Constantine: Although it teaches us good mortality.
Father Theologos: Yes, yes, so we must learn to die.
Constantine: Denying the world… Here is a contradiction that few want to accept, to see and fewer want to practice.
Father Theologos: Why? Because the world teaches you stagnation or actually teaches you to advance into a finite infinity, so horizontally, not vertically.
Constantine: It’s an illusion of micro-well-being…
Father Theologos: Yes, yeah, yeah.
Constantine: And of opinion. It’s like you’re doing well, it’s like you’re stable.
Father Theologos: Yes, yes.
Constantine: You have certainties, you have stability…
Father Theologos: That’s what I was saying – that you get stuck in your position…
Constantine: Very hard to get out of there.
Father Theologos: Yes, exactly. Of course. And that hurts you, because you can’t come out higher, I mean… I once had a revelation from God, but you will see what kind of a revelation.
So I had been shooting for I don’t know how many years and I was a photographer, as a definite article, and at some point, after I don’t know how many years, I realized that I actually didn’t know anything. I mean, I’m at the beginning of this…
Constantine: Well, that’s what a competent, really competent person finds out at any moment.
Father Theologos: Yes, yes and that’s when you realize that oh! you’re starting to become a professional, you know…. That’s what I saw in computer science and in photography, in art. So you see those who don’t know anything or know how to press the button or so [saying] “Well, what’s so difficult, you just press the button and it comes out?” Well, it’s not like that.
You, Andrei, who are in aerospace, is it a big deal to drive a plane? You sit and you press the button and it works, I mean, no problem….
Andrew: Yes, indeed. All those buttons….
Father Theologos: Yes, exactly. So the moment you approach a certain field and this is a psychological phenomenon, I don’t remember what it’s called, it’s still pride actually. Superficiality. From afar you say: “Man, how easy it is to be a pilot because it pays well and you sit in the seat.” But the minute you get closer, wait a minute, it’s not quite like that.
Andrew. Stress, health conditions.
Father Theologos: Exactly. And that’s in any field. Because even in photography, it’s not the problem to press the button, the problem is to press the button better than the other. And to benefit others, to be better than the standard of the great masses. Do you understand? That’s where the big problem is. That is, to raise a person to a higher plane, to a higher level than the level that is.
Wherever it is… And by the way, in life too, if you want to succeed you have to be good. When I say you have to be good, you have to be better than you were yesterday and better than others around you. When I say better, not in the sense of this world, that is, to destroy others, to shut others, but to give more love to others, to help others more.
Constantine: Maybe give them some openings.
Father Theologos: Yes, some openings, exactly.
Constantine: Something truly new…
Father Theologos: Yes. And it comes only through God. You can’t do it any other way. Because speaking of aerospace and so on, I remember a story. There was an airline that was on the verge of bankruptcy and a man comes to this company and saves this company from the brink of bankruptcy and today it is one of the best airlines in the world. What did this man do?
He realized that in fact the main problem of man is not to fly from here to there. The main problem of man is that man seeks a pleasant experience – as he said, or rather, as we say, a piece of heaven. And that’s actually what we have to offer: a part of heaven, something really new, a part of God. And then this man focused on offering a pleasant experience, a glimpse of heaven from the moment the company took the person from point A to point B. Do you know which company I mean?
Andrew. I think Wizz air…
Father Theologos: KLM… He was the first to bring this, the pleasant experience, because the man does not remember flying from point A to point B. He will remember: yes, I felt good, it was heaven, of course at the level of….
Andrew: Quality is reflected in prices.
Father Theologos: Exactly, quality is reflected in prices and because of this they can afford it because they offer superior quality and are best, they have a very strong market position.
Andrew: Indeed.
Father Theologos: And that’s where it started, because until then with KLM and all the other companies you would get on the plane and get there. And of course they were kind of pressuring to put out a quicker plane and so on, but for the first time the manager at KLM said: “Ok, no, let’s have a stewardess to offer a snack, something.” And that’s very important for any company. So any company must provide a pleasant experience. As I said, people today have a lot of things to buy and it is very difficult to differentiate them. So many services, so many cell phones, so many…
You have to offer an experience, you have to give the confidence of tomorrow, that’s what you have to give. And this is what man seeks – man seeks heaven and, of course, professionally, this is what you offer him.
Be competent. And when you finish, you will be an engineer and a pilot, whatever you will be, give confidence, spirituality, give heaven. I hope [your] mom sees us too… Your mom, because she actually works at a very important airport, in Otopeni she also works in a position of great responsibility, we ask Andrei’s mother to offer a glimpse of heaven, to offer a lot of love, of course, with discernment not to overwork, to take breaks so that… We need to take little breaks at work so we can love. Because if we run continuously, at some point we will no longer be able to love and we overwork, we collapse, we get troubled and then this disorder of ours will pour over others, this negative energy of ours will pour over others.
And that’s why it’s very important: we work 50 minutes, we take 10 minutes to pray, to charge ourselves a little with the uncreated energy of God’s grace, to say a prayer so that we can love further, to be able to offer this piece of heaven to people, this security that people expect from us in every place where we work.
Because brothers, God doesn’t care what we do, I don’t want to offend now. God is interested in how much love we put into what we work and that will remain, you know… The amount of love… Understood?
Constantine: Father…you go to many places.
Father Theologos: Please forgive me!
Constantine: It’s hard to keep up, but I would go back to the individual.
Father Theologos: Person!
Constantine: To the individual, that this is what we are working with now…
Father Theologos: No, to the person…
Constantine: “Person” is the goal.
Father Theologos: Yes, that’s right…
Constantine: I think that’s where we start, from the individual and what he should cultivate in order to become more cultivated himself and become a person. What do you think the Church still offers in this space of becoming?
Father Theologos: Yes.
Constantine: If we are to refer to the avalanche of…, to this scientific and technological revolution in which we are trapped.
Father Theologos: Yes, I believe that the Church …
Constantine: And which, forgive me, also engages an unseen spiritual revolution, I believe.
Father Theologos: Obviously, this can be seen and especially since I was talking to Constantin – he is a worker…, yes I am also a worker…
Constantine: Meaning he’s not a brand name…he’s off the rack.
Father Theologos: Off the rack, yes. We were talking about Jordan Peterson. Peterson has his shortcomings, but he is a phenomenal man who really shows a spiritual revival. There are others…
Constantine: Rather a very vigorous search.
Father Theologos: Yes, very vigorous. A search, but you see that all of this is spiritual because in the West there was, and still is, somewhat of this great wave of atheism, which at one point, if someone started talking the way Peterson talks, well, they were also put in jail. I’m not saying in prison, but he was marginalized by Cancel Culture anyway…
Constantine: He himself wonders in some of his lectures how the University of Toronto let him give lectures of this kind for so many years…
Father Theologos: Yes, yes… With regard to the Church, I think it needs to have this flexibility of humility, apropos of Autodesk. That is, to minimize response time. We speak now on the side of the Church’s message to us who are …
Constantine: Here there is much to discuss and clarify what the Church is, with a capital letter, the people in the Church, what is the administration of the Church, what are the people of the Church…
Father Theologos: We have to connect to reality, that is, reality is this, I have to connect to it, and I have to respond now.
Constantine: What is the reality? Because we seem to be swimming in a little sea of stories.
Father Theologos: The reality is Christ. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. The truth is a person. And to find out the reality, you don’t have to search the net or lock yourself in your cognitive bubble. Speaking of this Cancel Culture and this… In fact, we are talking about cognitive bubbles here, ego chambers. That is, I am in my world, in my parish, whether this parish is ecclesiastical or professional – if you will – or social.
I have to go out, see what others say, but first of all, I have to have a spiritual life, that is, pray my socks off and I will have an acute knowledge of humility, of my limitation as an individual.
I remember at one point, I asked Father Raphael Noica, what humility is. I still remember the answer the father gave me. He says: humility is knowledge of truth. To accept reality as it is, not as you think it is, not as you want. And then you have to have these…
By the way, also someone in this entrepreneurial environment, who actually messed up badly, said: we need to have strong opinions but weakly held. I mean very strong positions, very well documented that’s what I mean, but to hold them very weakly. That is, you pivot immediately if you see that the other person has a better position…
Constantine: That is, to keep warm for becoming…
Father Theologos: Yes, for becoming. So immediately change. Not just because “I said so, I’m the boss, let it be done like this,” thunder, lightning, because “I said so,” because “I have a revelation from God”. You don’t have a revelation from God; Humility.
Constantine: Where do you learn such a technique?
Father Theologos: Yes, humility, son, by obedience, there must be obedience!
Constantine: Humility itself is a term at the moment. How do we basically beacon it? How do we beacon these terms basically, because they’re still in the books?
Father Theologos: Yes, unfortunately, and here the presence of an Abba is essential. Westerners have Abba, but only a professional Abba, and that’s why all these things I say…
Constantine: But are they still Abbas? I ask you an essential question: does the Church still produce saints?
Father Theologos: Yes! Because otherwise time would stop. The purpose of the Church is to produce saints, that’s the job of the Church. Well, time was given to be saved, to become saints. Time did not exist and will not be. Time is given to us for salvation, for becoming, this is time: the possibility of becoming.
The paramount importance of death is that after death time stops. Do you understand? And we enter eternity. Well, clearly the Church still produces saints. The big problem with the Romanian Orthodox Church for which I have great respect at this hour…
Constantine: – We have.
Father Theologos: We have, yes, that’s right, it’s the fact that there the Church was hit hard by communism in which it took all these saints, these Abbas and put them in prisons where they were sanctified, super-sanctified there and whom we do not honor. I never miss an opportunity to emphasize on this subject that we don’t honor saints like that. But the manner of sanctification and this red line of Abba has diminished greatly—not to say that it has been lost. That is, Holy Tradition has thinned greatly. Do you understand? And today there is one here, one there, if there are any more… Pretty much everyone is kind of gone.
And now the Church must produce new Abbas. This is the paramount importance of the Holy Mountain: that the Holy Mountain has Abbas, your bad luck that I am speaking now, but in the Holy Mountain there are Fathers who know Holy Tradition, the way of sanctification, they know this humility, this flexibility that has, as I said, repercussions and scopes even in the entrepreneurial field, in computer science, for example. Clearly in aero-space too. Yes…
Constantine: Is there a tool that can be detected, that can somehow be filtered from these teachings that are relatively difficult to access, of the Holy Fathers, and be delivered somehow to the individual who opens himself to becoming a person, to realize himself as a person? Because everyone offers in one way or another, all kinds of ways, alternatives, alternative stories. There are all kinds of calls everywhere.
Father Theologos: All kinds of people who solve everything…
Constantine: Speaking of questions and answers, that’s what I started from. Are there still pertinent questions, and even more so, are there still pertinent answers? How do you check? What source are they from? Or if you browse on your own, how do you scan for good sources, how do you identify them? How do you stay in a good horizon of becoming?
Father Theologos: Yes, it’s the same. It’s all Abba. In other words…
Constantine: Abba is not seen.
Father Theologos: I know, I know.
Constantine: I believe it exists, but for one reason or another it’s invisible or it’s meant to be invisible.
Father Theologos: I know. Find who you can. So we have: the lack of a confessor, a confessor and a good confessor. The absence of a confessor is destructive, terrible. Having a confessor is infinitely better than not having a confessor.
Having a good confessor is even better, but I want to emphasize that there is a huge difference between not having a confessor and having a confessor. The difference is much greater between having a confessor and not having a confessor than between having a good confessor and confessor. We must seek a good confessor. But if we cannot find a good confessor, we must necessarily have a confessor. And then he will enlighten us and we confess and then, if we can ask him, we ask, but if we see that he does not know, our very question is a sign, a confession to God that we desire the truth and God will give it to us. He will discover it in our hearts.
We’re going to see a certain leaning, a certain openness, a certain love. The moment you see your love for God grow in your heart when you read something, when you see something, do it, see it. If you see that you have a heartbreak, if you see that you are drifting away from God, do not do it! Don’t do it! It is not good! Of course, beyond that or above that we have God’s moral law that says do that, don’t do that, but clearly we have many situations where God’s law doesn’t say…
Constantine: So nothing is solved automatically.
Father Theologos: No.
Constantine: The mere presence, by simply applying to this extraordinary instrument of worship, nothing is solved automatically. You embark on a personal adventure where you will have to suffer, make a total effort and take some risks.
Father Theologos: And open yourself to others and to God! To the confessor….
Constantine: And specially to open yourself to failures.
Father Theologos: Obviously, obviously. You have to hit your head.
Constantine: Because that’s what our lives seem to be made up of.
Father Theologos: Yes and great attention here, that’s why you see, those who put the Bible first in other cults and so on, it’s not right because the Church is not the church of the Bible. It is the Church of Christ, that is, of the Living One, Who guides us through our hearts and through others whom He validates before us.
Constantine: Yes, but many relate to the Church as a kind of pharmacy, sanatorium or salon where you go and apply a certain treatment.
Father Theologos: That’s right, but…
Constantine: And apply it…Receive…
Father Theologos: But you have to do it too.
Constantine: You get your health back, you get better, and then you take care of yours further.
Father Theologos: That’s right…Yes, good, but stay in the Church! You take care of your own, but you don’t break away from the Church! So be careful! When we say treatment, we don’t mean the treatment is yes, I know…
Constantine: No, I wanted to point out the wrong way to relate to the Church and what it offers.
Father Theologos: Yes. Great attention, because yes, you receive your treatment, but the treatment is continuous and you must be careful continuously.
Constantine: Is it effective if you don’t work together with the offer, so to speak, with what you are handed there, given there, because you are given some energy, you have access to grace.
Father Theologos: Well, of course, you have to work with grace, and that’s what I mean: it has to be permanent, meaning I don’t pray for 5 minutes in the morning, 5 minutes in the evening, and then I go about my business. My business belongs to the Church and the Church belongs to me. Do you understand? So living in the Church is continuous, constant.
Constantine: You realize how hard it is to make this translation being in the middle of the world, trapped in a job…
Father Theologos: That’s why I’m in the Holy Mountain…. Please forgive me!
Constantine: And having as a second or third job, one could be driving in a crowded city, the simple fact of living in that anthill, in that madness there.
Father Theologos: That’s why, son, I’m in the Holy Mountain, but still retreat and that’s why I made all those videos that you remember you helped me make, thank you very much.
Constantine: Some of them.
Father Theologos: About detachment from the world, about breaking away from the world, about estrangement from the world.
Constantine: Then you stay suspended. That’s a big problem. Speaking of the opinion in which you close yourself, in which you ossify yourself, it’s also because of this. That’s a big fear: you’re denying this world, but what do you put in return? Because it has to be concurrent…
Father Theologos: Yes. You must put God instead, the love of God, which comes through the Church, so you can never be alone in the services of the Church, with the confessor, as I said.
Constantine: Church reality does not allow such statements.
Father Theologos: Okay, I’m talking about the Holy Mountain.
Constantine: Unfortunately…
Father Theologos: Yes, I know. But still in the world, as much as possible, go where you find a monastery, where you find a spiritual person. It’s true, you must have your confessor to whom you confess every day…
Constantine: Aren’t we the Church, these who are struggling to do…?
Father Theologos: We are, we are.
Constantine: Isn’t that where it needs to start?
Father Theologos: Yes. From there on, find spiritual people and go once a month or once every two weeks or so on, go talk to a spiritual person, that’s very important.
Constantine: Spiritual people, if and how many there are, protect themselves very well.
Father Theologos: Yes. God reveals to you.
Constantine: So that they can still be spiritual.
Father Theologos: I know. And I protect myself very well.
Constantine: Then the rest of us unfortunately navigate by our own tools, trying to understand what the Church offers, what the Holy Fathers offer, and trying to take small steps forward on our own.
Father Theologos: Yes.
Constantine: Sort of leap forward, as they say, on an extremely hard, violent front that never stops.
Father Theologos: I know. It is your struggle in the world. That’s why I do the podcasts…
Constantine: …Which also comes to your yard. By the fact that people seek what you have said, they seek spiritual people, and trouble can happen, that is, they block the mechanisms and good states in the places of retreat due to this influx. And there’s a problem with that.
Father Theologos: I know. Big [problem]. And that’s why we have a program and a schedule has to be put in place. I mean, for example, we have a program with the public between 10 and 11, you know, and in the evening let’s put it this way, 8 half, three quarters to 9 until about 10. That’s kind of the program with the public.
We need to cut! We don’t do it live! We don’t answer phones. If you’re wise and smart enough to find the phone number, we only respond to messages and messages to those who text us some targeted messages, and we can respond. Likewise to emails. Because we really need to maintain our spiritual life. Doing live shows or going to conferences and so on, no. Because then I will have for a week an immense popularity that will destroy me spiritually and then I will be a leaf, mountain spinach, be prewashed, please forgive me, like Costel’s jeans. Forgive!
So it must always be done with discernment and praise God that we have a lot of posts about the harmful effects of technology, but we must use technology with discernment and now we really can use technology with discernment so as to give people a certain value system, as spiritual as possible. I know it’s difficult in the world and that’s why I do it. And especially what I deplore is that I don’t want to do podcasts, I want to write…
Constantine: You need to find a way to stay in your area of…
Father Theologos: Expertise, as it is.
Constantine: …of living, because the position that a man has in the world is broader when he assumes it.
Father Theologos: That’s right…Well, yes.
Constantine: What do we do to find small ways for ourselves to move forward? How do you map the territory you’re in so you know exactly where you’re coming from, where you are and where you’re going?
Father Theologos: Yes. Here prayer and questioning help a lot.
Constantine: Again we return to…
Father Theologos: Again to Abba, you don’t get rid of Abba. But let us leave Abba because we have been talking about Abba continuously. Prayer. For prayer you must have this silence, this hesychia, this so… That is, to be careful to cut off your will.
Not a lot of money, be careful! Yes?
Andrew: You got me.
Father Theologos: I got you, exactly. Because your generation, as Constantine said at the beginning… You are very intelligent, very capable, yet very disoriented. In fact, this is what Constantine wanted to learn from me, a value system. So we have to ask, we have to pray. In order to pray, we must have peace and quiet first of all with those around us and for this we need a certain distance from those around us and a certain together-work with those around us, a love for others, with discernment, apropos of mother and so on.
Constantine: There are no energies and resources and no science for that.
Father Theologos: Cut, cut! Science does not exist.
Constantine: I’m talking about the experience, the personal knowledge you come to.
Father Theologos: Yes, yes… Let’s cut back on worries and always let it be according to others….
Constantine: It cannot be because the system itself, besides the illusory little wealth it offers, it takes care to feed you with worries.
Father Theologos: Yes, with worries and with our own will: “My opinion – I read it on Facebook, that’s how it is”….
Constantine: There’s a closed circle here, how do we break it?
Father Theologos: Yes, yes, if you read in the Scriptures [you think] “Hm, hm..” but if its’s written on Facebook it’s for sure….
Andrew: Letter of law…
Father Theologos: Yes… Sure. Now on tiktok, “It appeared on tiktok….” I don’t know, are you going on tiktok?I hope not.
Andrew: Not really.
Father Theologos: Not really, good. There’s a huge problem with tiktok, but let’s not digress. I don’t even know what you asked, because I followed Andrew’s train of thought.
Constantine: How do we do, once again, find those resources of energy, patience, love, humility…
Father Theologos: Yes, yes, I know; cut, cut. Cut your worries! Cut your worries! Cut your worries!
Constantine: They can’t be cut off because they’re essential, like cutting off the organs of your life out there in the world.
Father Theologos: Cut it! I mean, you must have….
Constantine: The awareness that something will immediately grow in place?
Father Theologos: That too, but that’s not what I mean. So you have your job, you have to pay and you have to know what you have to pay – your daily expenses, food, house, meals…. The three things you must have. You must first of all have a plate of food, then a coat and a bed where you can sleep. That’s it, brothers!
Andrew: That is, to know exactly how to cut from…
Father Theologos: Yes, yes, yes…
Constantine: Sketch the idea of a simplicity of living.
Father Theologos: Yes, yes, necessarily, the simplicity of living so that you can afterwards…
Constantine: To let go of certain worries that are…
Father Theologos: Yes, yes! And then to be able to develop spiritually – this is our focus: our spiritual development.
Constantine: Do you know that even those smart guys who promote Cancel Culture preach simplification of life? And you know very well all this ideology about global warming and personal restraint.
Father Theologos: Yes.
Constantine: I mean, there are some smart guys somewhere, it seems, and they understand the substance of the problem very well, they point out real issues very well, but they give answers – that’s what we’re talking about – they give a certain kind of answer. How do we identify them exactly, the mistake, the error in their answers and especially, from where, what do we look to in order to have access to some pertinent, really pertinent answers.
Father Theologos: Yes. Christ says: In this they will know that you are my disciples, if you have love between you. So if…
Constantine: We are far away [from that]. We have to start at the beginning!
Father Theologos: The beginning, the beginning! A little love. So if I tell you: Constantine, take care of your garden! And you feel that doing that increases your love for God, for nature and so on, this can be even in the current of climate change somehow and so on, it’s ok. But if somebody else comes up with a narrative that yes, we have to do this, and if not, you will be put in jail and you pay carbon fines and so on, here you see love already disappears.
Constantine: Those smart guys did one more thing: they demonetized some terms, the terms that you did. You use them routinely and justifiably, and they are terms of great force. They are demonetized.
Father Theologos: Yes. In the name of democracy, in the name of love…
Constantine: And then, what you do articulate very competently and very well, it has no echo. And then it means nothing to the ear of the worried one, drowned in all sorts of…
Father Theologos: Yes, for the Orthodox it still means…
Constantine: The Orthodox are sought.
Father Theologos: Yes and no. That is, for the one who seeks God. The great drama is of those who no longer believe in God, because they…
Constantine: All of us? If we are to give credit to the Russian pilgrim, a confession there at the end is exactly highlights: that we do not believe.
Father Theologos: Well, wait a minute, it’s clear we don’t believe it, but….
Constantine: Not in the absurd sense that we do not believe in Christ, in the sense that we are not committed to honoring the statement. And that’s what Peterson highlights when he says he has no problem with churches and Christ, but he has a problem with people who say they believe and offer for visualization a life that doesn’t reflect their claims in any way.
Father Theologos: Obviously.
Constantine: He’s starting to have a problem with affirmations as well. That’s why I say some smart guys took care to demonetize some terms and…
Father Theologos: It’s not necessarily about the smart guys, it’s about an entire civilization doing this. It is Western civilization that has detached itself from living God, and then, indeed, the moment you depart from God everything possible, as Dostoevsky said… You know what I mean, right?
Andrew: If I’m not mistaken, from “The Brothers Karamazov”…
Father Theologos: Exactly. He says that if God no longer exists, anything is possible. Now, the moment he departs from God, man loses his meaning because man is the mirror of God, he is an image of God, where God is reflected. The moment God leaves, the archetype leaves, at that moment the mirror remains meaningless, purposeless. And the moment the mirror becomes aimless, meaningless, it means that whatever that mirror talks about no longer makes sense. And then he talks about love, about peace, about democracy, about everything else. It no longer makes sense because the fuel of human existence is God, God’s grace. Just as the car runs on gasoline, on diesel, so man rides with God’s grace. If grace disappears, man begins to distort himself.
Constantine: These are realities absent from our lives.
Father Theologos: That’s bad!
Constantine: We touch them somewhat thoughtfully, but we don’t know what they mean…
Father Theologos: This is why spiritual life is needed. Brethren, at the grassroots. We must begin to pray, we must begin to have a constant spiritual program. Do you understand? 10 minutes a day. Otherwise, no matter how much we talk, you will still be unfulfilled, you know. That’s very important because otherwise… you can even discuss theology, you can even do international congresses of theology, which, as Constantine said, quoting Peterson, will not solve much, will not be of use. Moreover, it will scandalize, because Peterson was slowly beginning to be scandalized by the lack of spiritual efficacy of some teachings that are not lived.
Constantine: They are not internalized…
Father Theologos: Yes, not promoted, let’s say, by the Holy Spirit. So that’s capital. Because that’s what faith is. God says, “Pray and you will gain sense.”
And you say, “What do you mean to pray and gain sense?”
God says, “You listen to what I say, because it will work. Have a spiritual life and you will be fulfilled.” “How does it happen?”
“Listen to what I say!”
That’s actually what faith is, which is super logical.
Constantine: We return to dialogue.
Father Theologos: Yes. He would be a good moderator…
Constantine: Everyone can actually give their opinion in their excavation area, in the area where they mine, where they search, sweat and where they find…
Father Theologos: And if they’re not looking?
Constantine: If they’re not looking…
Andrew: He gives his opinion…
Father Theologos: Good one…
Constantine: He’s just a consumer.
Father Theologos: That is right.
Constantine: And he can also be obese, but it doesn’t mean he’s fed.
Father Theologos: As the grand inquisitor said, also Dostoevsky…
Constantine: Dialogue would mean that exchange of experience.
Father Theologos: That’s right.
Constantine: I have my tunnel that I dig, someone has his, someone else has his. I have my discoveries, so to speak, my experiences, the other has his, and more, at least two or three together, can slowly build something at the level of everyday life.
Father Theologos: What is heaven?
Constantine: Father, that’s also a word that…
Father Theologos: Let’s not waste time! Heaven is the total sharing of experiences. Heaven is the interpenetration of all persons. That’s heaven. I mean, I’m going to be in you, and I’m going to say…
Constantine: It doesn’t refer to the world here as far as I’m concerned. It’s another state… transfigured that loses touch with what we live here…
Father Theologos: Yes, yes, but this is what you say, sharing experiences will be taken to absolute heaven. And I will be in you, you in me, both of us in him, and this will be the immense joy of each of us. I mean: look, how beautiful the other is! What extraordinary experiences the other has, what knowledge the other has. That’s the beauty of heaven. Whereas hell is eternal solitude. We are now closer to hell than to heaven. Why? Because we don’t have dialogue… Effort, time and together-work…
Constantine: It’s nice that we have mapped the teaching to the end, so to speak, to the end of the road…
Father Theologos: That’s it…
Constantine: What are we doing to take the first steps? I also come there and I dig because personally, individually, I ask myself some questions and try to give myself some answers.
Father Theologos: Yes…
Constantine: It’s work there… It’s an effort.
Father Theologos: Of course, and you need time for that…
Constantine: It takes time, but it’s very, very, very hard, if not impossible on your own.
Father Theologos: I know, again, (I know, again), again we come to the acute lack of spiritual leaders, of teachers. Abba.
Constantine: If there is a shortage, we must find a solution to it. Let’s try to find a solution to this lack, at the grassroots, as you say.
Father Theologos: Yes, may God grant it!
Constantine: We live somewhere in an apartment building, we have some neighbors, some co-workers, we are drowned in all kinds of worries, we are torn in two, in three, in a thousand of all kinds of narratives around… What does a man do in this situation? Let’s explore, we don’t have to… You tend to answer… Perhaps the answer is not yet formulated.
Father Theologos: Yes, the answer is Church Tradition. So, first, as I said, is right behavior toward God through prayer.
Constantine: God is a stranger in our lives.
Father Theologos: That’s bad! It doesn’t matter! You must pray either way. You must talk to Him and He will respond. What is paramount in our discussion is that God is a person, or rather is pure interpersonal communion, God knows about dialogue. There we have the Holy Trinity. It’s three people, not one. He’s not a loner.
There is only one God, but it consists of Three Persons.
Constantine: In the concrete [city], it’s very hard to have this image.
Father Theologos: It doesn’t matter! And you have to have it.
Constantine: I’m not arguing in favor of those who live in cities, saying that’s it, that’s what happens, we leave it at that. No, on the contrary! I try to think of a solution for myself and implicitly for some of them who resonate with me. Prayer, whatever it is!
Father Theologos: I know. Yes. The solution is to pray no matter what! Period. So they shouldn’t think it’s hard and so on. There is no other solution. This is right behavior toward God: prayer, humble prayer.
Constantine: It is an essential, important mandatory step. How do you work with that prayer? What happens along the way, what stages do you go through, what are the experiences of some of the ones that live in cities who prayed and began to understand what prayer is and began to walk…
Father Theologos: You are now going deep…
Constantine: I have no other choice. It’s what troubles me, I told you. I’m no longer interested in questions and answers that don’t resonate in my immediate life.
Father Theologos: Okay, just a second, let’s finish so we can do the overall structure first and then go deep.
Constantine: The overall structure is very well defined.
Father Theologos: Just a second. It’s not!
So one: it’s that we are to behave right toward God—which is prayer; right behavior toward others—which is obedience toward those God validates before us; and right behavior toward ourselves—which is alertness, attention to ourselves, to our thoughts, to our heart.
AND now let’s take them one at a time. Yes? Prayer…
Constantine: Everything is debatable in what you said…
Father Theologos: Of course…
Constantine: In the sense that it requires solid explanations.
Father Theologos: Well, that said, now we go into explanations. These three are said by the Holy Fathers. That is, praying, listening and guarding the mind. Prayer; I’ve done I don’t know how many podcasts on this topic, but very briefly: quantity brings quality. That’s number one. That is, we must pray as much as we can. In order to have quantity, we must have constancy in the program. You have to be consistent in the program and, of course, cut your worries.
Constantine: I am trying to point out a problem to you. There’s a for-mi-da-ble pressure not to do this…
Father Theologos: Well, I know I’ve done a whole thing…
Constantine: You have a super offer all the time, the gang of worries. They are all against.
Father Theologos: Yes, I know, that’s why I did a whole podcast with proofs of the devil’s existence, and one of the proofs is exactly that. You must use the incensive part of your soul correctly, to say: no! I will pray now!
People came here saying, “Father to talk to us,” and so on. And people come from Romania, so they don’t come from across the street. I say: brothers, the program here says: this, this, this. St. Joseph the Hesychast even scandalized people, because he said he would receive them until noon and in the evening they were no longer received, he would say, “Be it an angel from heaven, I no longer receive.”
And Elder Joseph even scandalized people. You must cut with incensiveness!
Constantine: Urge people to embark on the journey through the wilderness at the exit of Egypt.
Father Theologos: Yes, of course, that is, you have to cut out worries, news, whatever. News, brothers, watch for 5 minutes if you want, I would say don’t even watch any. You look at a reliable website and that’s it, it’s over. And especially since it’s on the internet now, use that advantage too. Complete your prayer rule first and then watch the news, because the news does not disappear. It stays there, and it’s not like we are in the general staff of the Ukrainian or Russian military to see the news as soon as it comes out. No! First we pray, we complete our spiritual program while we are fresh, and then we watch the news. It would be better, like I said, if you don’t watch the news, but let’s say, we descend so people don’t say we’re tough. So leave, brethren, all this, all the pressures that you have to see this and that and so on and solve this and that. You don’t have to! We need to have a very smooth life, to simplify our lives. St. Paisios the Hagiorite speaks on this subject.
And of course now, because in the West people became mentally unbalanced, of course an important part of Western culture, of elites, Western think-tanks say “Let’s simplify our lives;” but of course they have nothing to put in place – the Holy Fathers, prayer, Christ, the love of Christ, pure interpersonal communion, as I said.
And that’s why Westerners feel it’s good to do this, but they go to a garden or do something, they go to Tenerife or Malibu or the good Lord knows where. So it is a good step, but beyond that, what is put in its place? And what must be put is the love of the interpersonal Holy Trinity, the love of the personal, life-giving Christ.
That’s it! This is what Orthodoxy brings in addition.
Constantine: Let’s say you take these first steps, there is an absolute need to share…
Father Theologos: I said – the right relationship with others.
Constantine: To confirm or deny your personal happenings.
Father Theologos: Exactly. The right relationship with others. So you have to listen to an Abba. You go to someone who’s been down this road before.
Constantine: There’s no one, father.
Father Theologos: There is.
Constantine: No, in the apartment building there is no one. And there is no one at work either, neither in the tram nor in the taxi. That’s where I stay 99% of the time.
Father Theologos: Oh, in your apartment building, no. Ok. That’s right.
Constantine: We take out of the equation the reference to Abba, because it does not exist.
Father Theologos: You will go to a nearby spiritual father, to a parish and so on, thank God that there are [parishes]. And if not, go as your parents used to go, they went from Transylvania to Father Cleopas in Moldova.
Andrew: Some still do.
Father Theologos: Some still do, yes. And at that time they didn’t have a car.
Constantine: That’s part of the solution. There you load yourself with a little hope – that it is possible.
Father Theologos: Exactly. Yes, you can!
Constantine: But you still have to fight, that leap forward…
Father Theologos: That’s right.
Constantine: At the level of the moment…
Father Theologos: That’s right….
Constantine: Your miserable life… Let’s see what can be done. How can we come down from theological heavens, those extremely precious teachings, as you said? – at the grassroots. Let’s find a solution! That reference to the source is easy. Let’s see how we translate them into a daily schedule, as you said.
Father Theologos: Today, this can be done through the Internet, but of course, I’m kind of afraid to recommend the Internet because after that they look at all kinds of other nonsense. But it can be done on the Internet. In the past, this existed, if you will, in the community. There was the Christian community, today unfortunately it no longer exists…
Constantine: Two or three at least? Should one force himself to find two or three?
Father Theologos: Yes. You can and don’t worry. Don’t be so defeatist. They come and also came earlier, a million people came to me, a million Romanians and told me: we are alone. You are not alone. Do not be so despondent, find very spiritual people near you.
Constantine: There is no despair, quite the contrary. It’s guts.
Father Theologos: Courage! But due to the fact that you do not find such people so easily, because of this 95% of saints are in monasteries. Because of that. Because there is this environment in the world that is not propitious.
Constantine: What I’m trying to suggest is that you, from the position that you and other people like you have, can reap such positive experiences and make them known.
Father Theologos: Well, that’s what we do.
Constantine: Real experiences, real people to possibly invite, small churches of a few people who have managed to put into practice what you say, which you say very well, and their experience would be, I think, much more convincing than any kind of speech.
Father Theologos: Yes and no. If you are very attentive…
Constantine: …Everything enveloped in what you know. And you know well…
Father Theologos: If you’re paying attention, that’s exactly what I do. I have two videos a week – one that speaks from the point of view of teaching, what to do from my little experience, and what I have also read, with the prayers of our Holy Fathers. And the one on Sunday – discussions with people with different experiences. I can’t just talk to people with different experiences because they are limited. As you very well said, people in the world have limited spiritual knowledge, that’s it. As with any science. The one who is a doctor by profession, he has medical knowledge, he has no other worries than to… Or he will have knowledge of flying airplanes and so on, much more than me, who also liked airplanes very much when I was a child…
Andrew: What about you? You have programming and IT knowledge.
Father Theologos: Yes. Why? Because I’ve dealt with it as Andrei is dealing with flying. Do you understand? The same goes for the discussions between me as a monk, even though I am unsuccessful and a man of the world, I have much more knowledge with the prayers of our Holy Fathers, with the gift of the Mother of God – thanks to the Mother of God! And that means I have to do something where I can express myself directly, and on the other hand, I also have to do something where I can talk to the person. Do you understand?
And that’s why on Tuesday, we usually post the podcast where I speak directly, I transmit the teaching directly, and on Sunday, these people who come… Now, I can’t hunt the people of Romania because I don’t know who they are, well now I’ve found you who are the best ones at the moment…
Andrew. No, no…
Father Theologos: Yes. Okay, ok. And they have this experience. And so far the Mother of God has really helped me to find people who have also come to us and so on with whom I have done [podcasts].
Constantine: Because you could think about what you have to say, thinking as much as possible from the perspective of one from [the world].
Father Theologos: That’s what I’m trying to do.
Constantine: And in doing so, to inspire real experiences and then urge people to share them with you so that later, the teaching you preach further, will also contain this vein of experience.
Father Theologos: Yes, their problems.
Constantine: Exactly. And their successes and their failures, but real, on the ground, in this world now, here and now.
Father Theologos: Yes. Well, that’s why I actually posted a whole series of videos because there was Untold in Romania. It was a big miracle, you know, brothers. So I prepared the video, that’s how I felt in my heart to prepare that video about Satanism in music, with Led Zeppelin.
And I didn’t know there was Untold. And I posted it exactly when Untold started. It was from the Mother of God directly. Thanks to the Mother of God! Great miracle it was. After that, someone sends me a message – “Father, it’s exactly in time for Untold.” And when I saw that people were using that video, I started a series mostly to show people that I understand them.
So I once posted an example of Satanism in rock music. We posted a video to show that it’s no play and that there really is Satanism. Two, I posted a clip of someone, Dave Mustaine from Megadeth, who is a genius. Never in the world did I listened to Mustaine, although I recognize his genius. The man really did this job, so he got bogged down in all this stuff and came back and speaks about his experience which is according to the Holy Fathers. And three, I posted a clip of a discussion with Steve Vai, who, within his limits, at his level, is a very simple man, very humble, a beekeeper and so on. One of the top ten guitarists in human history.
The clip showed that he gets a 10-year-old girl who has learned to play bass and he shares his experiences with her, teaches her, brings her to his cottage. Because Steve Vai has a cottage of… Our cell has two floors, Steve Vai’s cottage has one floor. So something like that, very small.
And all this I do because young people have a big problem – Untold – where they take drugs, where they get drunk and so on, and I have to address this problem. Simply saying – brothers, come to church and listen to the 7, 8 tones there are, does not help. I have to somehow speak their language. That’s what I’m trying to do.
Andrew: Now it also depends who goes to those things.
Father Theologos: Yes.
Andrew: Because I’ve been to something similar, I’m in Bucharest and I noticed that before I had this kind of thinking – well, everyone who goes, gets high… I was there and saw that wasn’t really the case. It’s true. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen and people take advantage of the fact that there’s demand, overprice, but that’s where you realize it’s not necessarily like that. There if you want to consume, you consume, if not, you can live without.
Father Theologos: That’s exactly what I said, and that’s why I posted three clips because if I posted the first one, everybody’s going to say; oh yes, all rockers are Satanists and so on. It’s not like that. That’s why I posted the three: one black, one gray and one white.
And now we’re really going to try to post something else to show people that they’re phenomena, but these phenomena, as you say, can’t identify with people. That is, you can never judge people. And I hope we will be able to address other topics of interest. Now, I don’t know what topics of interest would be in the case of young people…
Andrew: Music is the most constant…
Father Theologos: Yes, young people are very influenced by music, very, very influenced. They should be influenced by spirituality, but… However, music has something divine in it. Of course, this shadow of deification can be very crooked, and then young people seeking God end up in other places, far far away. They seek perfection.
Andrew: Regarding young people, I also have a question, not on the same plane… Because I’m sure a lot of people have been through this and maybe they’re going through it now. How can we heal our heart from bad experiences, a breakup, a cheating, things like that?
Father Theologos: Yes, yes, that’s right. Yes, ok, prayer, spiritual program. First of all, you must remember your eternity and say: “Lord Almighty, give me Your almighty love!” Yes? And pray for the person who hurt you, and then you will see that you will overcome this spirit of resistance within you. And from there on, to work, not to leave your mind free, prey to thoughts. You necessarily have to work. And professional physical work, but also spiritual work: reading spiritual books, praying, watching podcasts on chilieathonita.ro… Kidding! But not very much. I’m not talking about us now.
But you have to raise your mind on a spiritual plane and beyond that, physical activity, because the moment a person works, at that moment the mind gathers on something else and it is very difficult to shatter. So the demonic attack hits there very hard. And this is why the Holy Fathers say that laziness is the mother of all wickedness, and they say that the working man is warred by one devil, while the lazy man is warred by seven devils. A figure of speech, but it’s very suggestive and very true. Do you understand? So that’s why always have a constant schedule – I think I repeat myself 100 times on this topic, but it doesn’t matter – so now I’m working, now I’m praying, now I’m reading, now I’m doing this.
Don’t let the mind get bogged because God forbid! And from there on, I said, to remember your eternity, pray for yourself, you say: “Lord Almighty, give me Your almighty love!” Pray for that person… Let me tell you something; It’s water under the bridge! Forget it, it’ll pass!
Andrew: That yes… And also on this topic because well, many after the unpleasant experience fall into despair, they can no longer find….
Father Theologos: “It’s the end of the world…”
Andrew: Exactly.
Father Theologos: No.
Andrew: What can that person do, after changing his mind-set, so to speak, to attract that person intended by God or to attract someone?
Father Theologos: Yes, first of all, they need to think it’s not the end of the world. The end of the world is when God wants it. Because God is the arbiter of the center, He is our Father. The devil is a referee on the sidelines, but nobody notices him, you know. So nothing is finished, everything is played until the final second. So always think about the future, forget what is in the past, as St. Paul says, and don’t be afraid of failure. Any fall is a step forward, actually.
We must not fall, but if it happens we must learn. The real fall is the one from which you learned nothing. And you have to know that there are two types of people. People who do you good and are blessings to your life and people who do you good by teaching you how not to do it.
We must always take things in balance and see them positively, so to speak, that is, spiritually. Because evil is just misuse. Even from any misfortune we can learn and draw near to God because otherwise God would not allow it.
Andrew: Thank you very much for answering my question.
Father Theologos: You’re welcome! May the good God bless you.
Andrew: And you too.
Father Theologos: Thank you very much. It was a simple discussion, with two simple people… As Nichita Stanescu said – three bomfs at noon. Let the good God help us! Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us! Amen.
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