And that means loving!

Since I always share everything nice and useful with you, now I would like to share this with you. And, as always, I hope everyone will find a gentle thought between the lines.

"A few years before the Second World War, there was a wonderful couple which loved each other very much. The husband, whenever possible, proclaimed his love to his wife. She was beautiful, sensitive and of delicate health.

Then the war started, and the husband had to go to the front lines to fight. He experienced many temptations, and miraculously he remained alive. Every day he prayed to God to help him survive, so that he could return home, to the woman he loved. The thought of hugging her again warmed his soul and helped him survive hunger, cold and wounds.

When the war was over, he ran home, happier than ever in his life, as if carried by wings. The village was already visible, and a friend came his way to meet him! When the joy of finding themselves alive and unharmed had subsided, the friend began to comfort him while talking about temptation that had befallen him.

- What temptation are you talking about? - asked the man, whose heart almost stopped.

- Why, you know nothing? Your wife was very ill. She survived, of course, , only her face is distorted now, - the friend replied compassionately.

The husband, as if slain, fell to the ground and wept bitterly.

In the evening he reached his house. The woman, when she saw him, could not rejoice enough and thanked God for the miracle that he had come home safely! Then they sat down at the table ... suddenly she realized that her beloved husband, , had lost his sight in the war! She thought he was blinded by the effects of the wounding, and she asked him nothing more about it, as not to cause him any additional suffering. She began, as before, to take care of him, as befits a woman who loves, and they lived happily together for fifteen years.

After these 15 years of complete happiness, but also of secret suffering, as she was terminally ill, the woman gave her soul to God. And the husband who loved her, closed her eyes ... and opened his! All those years he acted blind, as not to increase their suffering ".

And that's what loving means! To blind yourself, as not to hurt the other.

And for us, often it would be better to close our eyes, because our gaze can be more severe than we think, especially the person receiving the gaze can be worse off because of this reproachful look. Many people lose the power to fight with themselves or with temptations, only because of the way we looked at them, in a way we should not have! Because of us, their lives can be even more difficult, because we do not see how much they suffer in their soul, hidden in the body of an invalid, or their ugliness, or because of something else ugly, or a vice that dominates them, or a depression, with which they have to fight ...

But to be able to close our eyes to these things, we must love! We cannot overlook ugliness when we are indifferent or dull, or when we want to marginalize someone, but only by showing sensitivity, tenderness, and generosity.

Is love necessary for us to act simple and natural? Obviously, yes! It is necessary that we love in a way that the other person does not feel injured and reprimanded for not becoming the cause of his suffering. On the contrary, we can help him in his pain and alleviate it as much as we can.

Dose not Christ do the same in our lives? It seems to me that He looks at us with closed eyes, otherwise we could not look at Him, with the feeling of guilt before Him.

And one more thing: how seldom do we hear such events like this today! Love seems to be cold, as if we have no strength left to love, or have we just become too selfish?

Formerly, the relationships between those who loved each other were much more stable, nicer, happier. There used to be the beauty and the sacred love of two people. A simple gesture, a flower, a look, have already become the source of joy, heart-dwelling and tears of joy. And today ... You only hear of divorces and grief, scandals and accusations.

Everyone complains about someone. Everyone blames somebody. Very few are willing to take the blame and responsibility for separation. Maybe we cannot love anymore? We cannot forgive anymore? Does love no longer matter to us? Or are we so attached to the love for ourselves that the next one becomes ballast for us?

We all know that relationships, family life, only work when one person increases the happiness and beauty of the other's life with his love. It has always been known,

"Love is a fire, but it burns only when you put in wood", and then it is possible to love unceasingly.

It is not written in any book, nor has anyone said that loving means only feeling happiness; No, loving means to wish good and happiness to others. This means abandoning one's egoism and pride, becoming humble, having peace, praying with hope, having little things to be content with and being grateful for that, being happy that the other is happy, and to be exalted in life ...

To love - is the wisdom of life. To love means to have a wise heart. To love means to have knowledge that heals, and does not kill, that gives comfort, and does not destroy! Maybe some people who read these lines will disagree because they think that I'm not entitled to write about love affairs because I do not know "how hard that is". Perhaps they are right, but, like any priest, I suffer more than you can imagine, when I see a broken heart, tears on the beautiful faces. Because love can hardly watch it ...

Archimandrite Siluan (Visan)

Aus dem Russischen: Mirjana Miletic
Aus dem Serbischen: Mirko Kolundzic
Quelle: „Православие.ру“