Inner State
We reproach ourselves for laziness and wait for a holiday. Why is it so hard to just rest?
The rhythm of modern life often gives us no right to rest. You have to meet certain demands, run somewhere, strive for something. It is desirable to rest “usefully” too, preferably actively, while spending time passively is perceived as stopping…
Love for yourself and egoism
What is love for yourself? Different people understand this notion differently; some say that loving yourself is bad, others that it is simply essential. Let us try to work out where the line between love and egoism lies, how a…
Three main causes of dejection
All people become dejected from time to time and feel bad. But sometimes dejection becomes too frequent a guest in our life. Life turns into a string of dull, boring, heavy days, and every day is like Groundhog Day. So…
What is a sin — love for yourself or self-abasement?..
Recently, in one Orthodox community, I saw a long discussion prompted by my book “5 steps to loving yourself”. In fact it was not the book itself that started the discussion (the participants do not seem even to have read…
Orthodoxy. How to make faith alive
These days many educated people aged 25–45 have travelled a similar path. Enthusiastic neophyte zeal, services every week, strict fasting, pilgrimages, arguments with those close to them about faith — all of it gives way to disappointment, emptiness and a…
We reproach ourselves for laziness and wait for a holiday. Why is it so hard to just rest?
The rhythm of modern life often gives us no right to rest. You have to meet certain demands, run somewhere, strive for something. It is desirable to rest “usefully” too, preferably actively, while spending time passively is perceived as stopping…
Love for yourself and egoism
What is love for yourself? Different people understand this notion differently; some say that loving yourself is bad, others that it is simply essential. Let us try to work out where the line between love and egoism lies, how a…
Three main causes of dejection
All people become dejected from time to time and feel bad. But sometimes dejection becomes too frequent a guest in our life. Life turns into a string of dull, boring, heavy days, and every day is like Groundhog Day. So…
What is a sin — love for yourself or self-abasement?..
Recently, in one Orthodox community, I saw a long discussion prompted by my book “5 steps to loving yourself”. In fact it was not the book itself that started the discussion (the participants do not seem even to have read…
Orthodoxy. How to make faith alive
These days many educated people aged 25–45 have travelled a similar path. Enthusiastic neophyte zeal, services every week, strict fasting, pilgrimages, arguments with those close to them about faith — all of it gives way to disappointment, emptiness and a…