How to
stumble over... God
Priest
Anthony Michurin
Priest Anthony Michurin, a priest of the
Church of the Holy Martyrs Alexander and Antonina of Rome in Selishche, in the
Kostroma Diocese, and Deputy Head of the Missionary Department:
Over the
years, especially since the day of my ordination, I have heard all kinds of
people tell all sorts of stories about their encounters with the Creator. Some
of them sounded prosaic, while others could pass as scripts for a Hollywood
drama.
One autumn
evening, I, a young priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, was returning home
from somewhere. Approaching the entrance of the block of apartments where I
lived, I saw a very familiar sight: a neighbor of mine, drunk and dozing off as
usual on a run-down bench.
Yet instead
of passing him by, diving into the entrance and forgetting that painful sight,
for some reason unknown to me even now, I walked up to him, shook his shoulder,
and, looking into his lackluster eyes, stretched out my hand and said, “Hello.”
The handshake,
as you understand, was very brief; and I, representing the Russian Church,
hurried home to a meal of potatoes with pickles.
He caught up
with me on the stairs. There was none of the blather typical of drunks. He gave
me his hand and said only one thing, “Thank you,” and quickly walked away.
I don’t mean
to contradict the “Orthodox teetotalers” or justify drunken people, but since I
saw the awakened image of God in that degraded man, I dare to hope that I
understood much of what the Savior spoke about to His disciples and to me,
someone trying to become one of them. And may God help me learn this lesson,
without which all theology is reduced to abstract words. Not to think of
yourself as someone special while hitting your head against a brick wall in your
conceit and pride. That is what I wish for you as well.
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