Письмо 94
The Danger of Distraction
The author warns against the subtle onset of spiritual dissipation and the need for immediate withdrawal into solitude.
You've gotten scattered again. Steady yourselves; watch — the enemy's tricks are cunning.1 . . Notice: his first step, or blow, is claiming for yourself the right to privileges.2 When that is there, you must drop everything and everyone and, withdrawing into solitude, take stock of yourself and stand in your proper place.3 With everyday distractions, how long before you're completely thrown off?4 And before you know it, you can scatter and grow cold.
Guarding the Heart
A call to abandon idle habits and turn toward prayer and the fear of God as a defense for the heart.
Later you'll catch yourselves, but it will be hard to turn back. See what's happened with you: empty reading, and empty conversations with it.5 . . Those are two very evil things! Look at what your conscience tells you after readings like that — and that settles it.6 It was allowed once, and that's enough; it has to stop. Let it go, and protect yourselves with the fear of God.7 You can't play around with the heart; it's foolish. And before you know it, it’ll go astray. Pray! The Lord is close to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He will do the will of those who fear Him, and He will hear their prayer and save them.8 . . Who knows — maybe death is near, too.
Labor and the Master's Reward
The author encourages perseverance in the labors of the Christian life, reminding the reader that rest is earned through faithful service.
You need to be ready to stand before the Lord. "I'm tired of living; if only I could rest soon," you write.9 True, life is hard and full of toil. But rest? Will there even be rest? First you have to labor. . . What rest is there without labor? So let’s work in God’s garden.10 Even if it’s just for an hour, the Master of the house will reward it all at evening.✦ For He is merciful. Watch over yourselves.✦ The enemy has many traps and many winding paths around.11 . . He's certainly crafty; he knows exactly which paths to lead you down.
Read the original Russian
Вы опять рассеялись! Постепенитесь; смотрите, хитры уловки врага. . . Замечайте, – первый шаг или удар его есть присвоение себе прав на льготы. Когда есть сие, надо все бросить и всех и, уединясь, осмотреться и стать в свой чин. При повседневных разволоках долго ли совсем растеряться? И не заметно, как можно рассеяться и остыть.
После хватитесь, да трудно будет воротить. Вот видите, что у вас пошло: чтения пустыя и с беседами пустыми. . . две вещи весьма злыя! Смотрите, что читает вам совесть после таких чтений, – и дело. Однажды позволено, и довольно, надо прекратить. Бросьте и оградите себя страхом Божиим.
Шутить с сердцем нельзя, оно глупо. И не увидишь, как покривится. Молитесь! Близ Господь всем призывающим Его, всем призывающим Его во истине. Волю боящихся Его сотворит и молитву их услышит и спасет я. . . Как знать, а, может быть, и смерть близка.
Надо готовым быть, чтоб предстать пред Господа. Наскучило жить, поскорее бы на покой, пишете вы. Правда, жизнь тяжка и многотрудна. А покой? Да будет ли он? Надо прежде трудиться. . .
Без труда какой покой? Потрудимся убо в вертограде Божием. Хоть за час, да все заплатит под вечер Домовладыка. Милосерд бо есть. Внимайте себе. Много козней и много обходов у врага. . .
Уж он ловок, знает, какими дорогами провесть.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.20.1-Matt.20.16 — For the kingdom of heaven is like a man, a master of a house, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Matt.20.2 — And when he agreed with the workers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. Matt.20.3 — And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the marketplace, idle. Matt.20.4 — and to them he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' Matt.20.5 — But he went out again about the sixth and ninth hour, and did the same. Matt.20.6 — And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, 'Why are you standing here all day idle?' Matt.20.7 — They answered him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard.' Matt.20.8 — And when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and going to the first.' Matt.20.9 — And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. Matt.20.10 — And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they also received each a denarius. Matt.20.11 — But when they received it, they grumbled against the master of the house. Matt.20.12 — saying, 'These last ones worked one hour, and you made them equal to us, who bore the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' Matt.20.13 — But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?' Matt.20.14 — Take what is yours and go. But I want to give to this last one the same as I give to you. Matt.20.15 — Or is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is mine? Or is your eye evil because I am good? Matt.20.16 — So the last will be first, and the first will be last.
- ↩Acts.20.28;1Tim.4.16 — Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he obtained through the blood of his own. 1Tim.4.16 — Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persist in these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
Notes
- 1 ↩Постепенитесь is rare/archaic: go gradually, moderate yourselves, take it carefully. Rendered as 'Steady yourselves' for natural spiritual counsel.
- 2 ↩льготы: privileges, concessions, self-granted leniencies — not civil benefits, but spiritual liberties the enemy tempts one to claim.
- 3 ↩стать в свой чин: return to your proper rank, station, or ordered place in the spiritual life.
- 4 ↩разволоки: colloquial/archaic for pulls, hassles, scattering busyness that tears attention in many directions.
- 5 ↩«чтения пустыя» = empty/vain reading (not sacred reading that feeds the soul); «пустыя/пустыми» carries the sense of spiritually hollow, not merely uninteresting.
- 6 ↩«что читает вам совесть» is imaged as conscience reading something out to you; rendered as what conscience tells you. «– и дело» is idiomatic for that settles the matter / case closed.
- 7 ↩«оградите» can mean fence off / enclose / protect; rendered as guard, preserving the sense of a protective enclosure under the fear of God.
- 8 ↩Church Slavonic «я» here is the object pronoun 'them' (not Russian 'I'); rendered as 'them'.
- 9 ↩Russian «на покой» can mean rest in general or rest in death; later sentences treat rest as what follows labor, so 'rest' is retained without forcing 'death'.
- 10 ↩вертоград is a Church-Slavonic garden/orchard; kept as 'garden' rather than 'vineyard' (виноградник), though the next sentence clearly echoes the vineyard-laborers parable.
- 11 ↩обходы can mean detours, roundabout approaches, or evasive circuits; rendered as 'winding ways around' to keep the sense of crafty bypasses rather than mere 'paths'.
Letters on the Christian Life companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit