Baptism, wedding, Christmas, Easter - these and other terms associated with church life have become quite firmly established in the life of Russians. For attending church, they will no longer be kicked out of work - rather, on the contrary, they will look with suspicion at a person who calls himself an atheist. It has become fashionable to be a believer, and fashion has both positive and negative sides. Therefore, a person should be aware of why he goes to the bosom of the Church, what he wants to find there.
What is the Church for? This question cannot be answered unequivocally, because believers and non-believers will answer it differently. If for the first the Church is Truth and Life, then for the second, at best, a kind of social non-state institution, the activity of which has some useful aspects.
The Church gives a person the main thing - Faith, Hope, Love. For a believer, the question of whether God exists is meaningless, because all life is a visible confirmation of His existence. God is revealed to those who seek Him. How does a person get on the path of faith? If his parents have not instilled faith in him from childhood, then most often he comes to her in the days of difficult life trials. When a person has nothing to hope for, he turns to God. You can call it stupidity, the act of a weak, desperate person. And we can say that in the soul of a confused person, for the first time in many years, something true woke up and was drawn to the Light. On days when everything is well with him, a person does not turn to God without feeling the need for it. The craving for God usually wakes up precisely during the period of life's upheavals.
To understand a believer, one must be a member of the Church oneself. Observation from the outside in this case will not be objective, because it is impossible to understand the essence of faith, staying on the sidelines. This is the case when you need your own experience to understand. Having come to the Church, a person does not necessarily meet only good things in it. Not every believer is a model of kindness and humility; for a newcomer - a person who is just beginning to comprehend the basics of faith - the period of churching can become a rather difficult test. Everything is unusual, incomprehensible, ignorance of the rules of church etiquette can cause criticism from the parishioners. At this stage, many people who are drawn to God leave the Church forever or for a while. But those who remain have a wonderful opportunity to touch a huge layer of spiritual heritage. First of all, through church literature. For the Russian Orthodox Church, of course, these are the books of the Old and New Testaments, as well as the works of the holy fathers. It is in the books of the holy fathers that one can discover an inexhaustible source of wisdom and faith. Isaac Sirin, Ignatiy Brianchaninov, John of Kronstadt, Theophan the Recluse and many others - their books are full of Truth and can provide invaluable help to any person.
Does the Church make a person better? Yes. Reading the books of the holy fathers, a believer can realize many of his mistakes, get rid of bad character traits. Become calmer, softer, kinder. And stronger, because faith is a tremendous power. A believer feels himself to be a conductor of God's will, he feels God behind his back, which gives him steadfastness, courage, patience, readiness to endure any trials with honor. At the same time, he not only believes in God, but - believes in God. He does not believe at random, not because he simply chose to believe - he knows that help is really being provided, because he received it hundreds, thousands of times. Once it can be a coincidence, two, ten, but when help is provided over and over again, when he sees that sincere prayer and faith in God allows him to turn the most difficult situations for the better, he no longer needs confirmation. He knows that God exists, sees how the Lord helps him, keeps him, leads him through life. The church becomes his stronghold, support. In this support, in daily communication with God, he draws his strength.
