1915_01_11 IF YOU LOVE ME

[Ani]

Note 5

 

 

IF YOU LOVE ME

 

 

 

“If you have love for me, keep my commandments.”

 

John 14:15

 

 

The teaching of Christ is for this world, not for the next world, as most people assert. Between the Invisible world and the visible world, there is such a relation as there is between the roots and branches of plants. When we walk into the paths of Christ, then the saints and the Luminous beings rejoice that we are in connection with them and they feed us. A tree feeds from its roots and from its branches – from below and from above. If we keep the commandments of Christ, He will give us everything we ask in His name; if we are not given what we want, it is because we have done wrong.

 

The Earth is not a place for sufferings, it is a school; we cannot uplift ourselves without the Earth. We have brought tears to the Earth’s eyes more than once, and when it gets angry because of us, it shows us its attitude by its convulsions – its fur bristles up from our bad actions. When we listen attentively to His commandments, He will manifest to us in bright thoughts and wishes.

 

Divine Love is needed, which manifests in Grace[1]. What is Grace? For instance, in the Thames River there are small ships, up to twenty or thirty thousand, which go fishing, and all of London earns its living. At low tide these ships are left in the dry, in the slime; the tide rises – this is Grace, then they are raised and start sailing in the sea, they go fishing. There is high tide in Grace. We have to seek these moments of Divine Spirit when the tide is high; if we lose this moment, we will lose Grace and will have to wait “twelve hours”, and this is twelve weeks, twelve months, twelve years, twelve centuries, etc.

 

First of all, wWe have to apply Divine Love at the core. It works in the heart, which is the most important organ. The heart measures out the pulse, and when the Divine heart pulsates, we revive, we heap upamass tide. In the day when we do not manage to keep the Divine commandments, disharmony appears within us, and we are no longer Christians – we will search for Christianity in ourselves, but we will not be Christians. We often ask ourselves whether we have lost the goods[2], or we have gained more in this world. We may make mistakes, but Christ will judge us if we do not correct them – we must not repeat mistakes any more, but we have to correct them. We ought to learn from our mistakes, that is, we have to free ourselves from our[O1]  bad thoughts; and this means not to talk with the devil, otherwise he will gradually settle his entire self inside us and will say: “If you do not feel comfortable, go outside, I feel fine here.” Such is the example with the camel and the water-miller, in whose water-mill it asked and received permission to warm only its head, its muffle, but bit by bit, it settled its entire self in and told the miller to go outside if there is no room for him in its presence – the camel felt comfortable. People go out of themselves every day, because they have given room to the devil inside themselves.

 

First we have to purify our heart, and in the second place we have to purify our mind. When we do not muddle the spring, it will cleanse our hearts[O2]  by itself. “I will give you a spring of life-giving water.” That is why we have to set a good thought against every evil thought, and we will cleanse ourselves in the course of time.

 

 Love lies in preserving Christ’s commandments – therefore we have to study them, and gradually at that. The Master will show us the method, the succession of this study. Love is not only a feeling, but a mindful[3] act. It implies sacrifice – it is a rucksack that is carried all over the world. Everyone must carry this rucksack, even though it may be heavy, for we will be elevated by it and will learn Christ’s commandments. When we experience sufferings, then the Lord tries our Love, and if we stand the sufferings without a murmur, it shows that we have the Divine Love. For instance, a rich person in Paris decided to test his relatives, to see if they would support him, by pretending to be a very poor fellow, and made those who took care of him, to be his inheritorsthe heirs of his fortune[O3] , while he deprived the others, even though they were angry at him – such was their reward.

 

Christ says that if you love Him, you will keep His commandments, and they are in relation to our brothers, sisters, teachers, societies, etc. – and we have to keep these correlations towards everyone. We ought to avoid the exchange of firing inside life, which we have in all Christian sects. They preach Christianity but do not observe it. A Christian will show his own strength in the struggle with the devil who is a very big coward – once the Christian shows him the net, and the devil runs away; he is the father of the lie and that is why he runs away from the Truth, from the Light.

 

Once in a town, public baths were made; a dispute was carried on among the citizens eight years along[O4] , whether the boards should be planed or not planed, and the baths stayed unfinished, because they did not come to agreement. Both sides gave their motives for comforts and discomforts, for practicality or lack of practicality of smooth or not smooth boards, and vice versa. They brought the dispute to a great architect for a solution, and he arranged for them to alternate the boards, so that both sides would be satisfied. In this way we must proceed also with those Christians who are dogmatic and support the outer side.

 

Every morning we should read a chapter from the Gospel, seek for some commandment and apply it during the day in our life. And then Christ will come in us and will make a dwelling inside us, and thus we will understand the deep Divine matters. Life is eternal, and Christ will reveal a lot of great things to us, but gradually – now we are not ready for these great secrets. There is an example with a person who wanted the Lord to reveal to him at least one of His secrets, and the Lord sent an Angel who took him up, leaving his body while taking his Spirit together with the human heart; after seeing a series of majesties, this person began to pray to be taken down because he could not endure it as they carried him through the high places in Heaven. When keeping the commandments, we will prepare this path for us and we will not wish to get back down. First of all, health in the mind and health in the heart are required. We have to make attempts every morning. If we have fear, this is spiritual cold[4], that is why we should breathe deeply, and through this we will get connected with the Angels, with the Heavenly Forces.

 

People easily turn sour every day, but this is not a rule in life. People ought to turn from sour to sweet, just as the fruit turns from blossom first into green fruit, and then it ripens and becomes sweet. The Lord says: “Everything will turn into good”. The bigger we are, the bigger difficulties we will have – so it is with children, men[5], saints, etc.

 

Christ says: “How much longer will I have patience for you?” We seek Him, we find Him, and when He comes in us, we crucify Him. He will resurrect and leave, but when will He come again? In ten, hundred, thousand and so years. Christianity is not hard, it is easy. Those who died for Christ’s sake, have died with Joy, but their names are written above. It is better for us to die tortured as Christians, than as bandits. For the bandits, Moses will come, Elijah will come, Prophet John will come, and they will whip the faults out of them all. Therefore Christ says: “My burden is easy”. The Lord, who speaks to us, will lead and rule over us. The greater sufferings are, the closer Christ is to us; if we have no sufferings, then the Lord is away from us, and this is wrong. That is why everyone has to fulfill Christ’s teaching at one’s own place – as a chief, teacher, professor, etc. This is Christ’s commandment; the Lord will help us in its accomplishment, and will raise us, from small persons making us great people.

 

John of Kronstadt[6], since he devoted and dedicated his life to the Lord, he has become John of Kronstadt, and before that he used to be dull-headed. To dedicate your life does not mean to take off and go to the woods, but to fulfill His commandments in our life – to enlighten our minds, our hearts to become warmer, our souls to revive, our Spirit to come to life and to be exhilarated.

 

24 January 1915, Bourgas[7]

 

 

 

[Ani]

[1] “Grace” in this whole context is used in the meaning of “blessing”, “boon”.

[2] “goods” here implies “wealth”, ” bounties”.

[3] “Mindful” here should be comprehended in the meaning of “intelligent”, “sensible”, “understanding”.

[4] “Cold” here is in the meaning of “sickness in the nose”.

[5] „Men” here is in the meaning of “male persons”

[6] Ivan of Kronstadt – or John of Kronstadt (1829 – 1908) – a Russian Orthodox priest with the non-clerical name Ivan Ilich Sergiev

[7] Bourgas is a big harbour city in South Bulgaria.

 

 

 [O1]This was missed in the first translation

 [O2]This was missed in the first translation

 [O3]Sorry, again I missed it in the first translation

 [O4]Again missed in the first translation