The impoverishment of the human soul. Spiritual impoverishment of Dr. Startsev in a story

Funny people catch some signals in the Universe, dreaming that aliens will come and teach humanity. What do you guys have to teach? If you ask any such dreamer, he will not even think of what an alien mind can teach us.

I can say right away that we won’t expect anything from them, since everything necessary for the development of the mind has already been given to everyone in the form of true words about how to live in order to get a good result.

God Himself, our Heavenly Father, recommended us through Jesus Christ to improve ourselves in order to become impeccable and infallible like Him, and people don’t even want to think about the Word of God, which is written down and kept in the Gospels. And what can an advanced alien civilization teach such people? Giving them high technology is like giving a monkey a grenade.

The Word of God has been given to mankind for the transition from the disastrous paths of sin to the path of overcoming sin, and people do not begin this transition until they see that they have absolutely no bright prospects, that there is only hopeless darkness ahead.

This is exactly what the Russian people are approaching today.

Seeing nothing good ahead, the Russian will see that there is nothing to do, and will take a closer look at what the Savior teaches, at the Word of God.

And the Word gives him a native idea, absorbed from childhood from Russian fairy tales, of moving through life to victory over the immortal Koshchei, over the devil, in order to free Vasilisa the beautiful and wise - love, which he does not yet feel, and without which he is not happy. And it is he who will begin to assimilate from the Word of God the idea of ​​attaining divine perfection.

The solution of the task of achieving perfection stretches for a lifetime, which a person devotes to the relentless struggle against internal evil, and the establishment of the power of good forces in his inner world, the reign of love for God and people there.

The follower of the instructions of the Word of God goes through life through a stubborn struggle with all sinful impulses, and on this path he finds the responsiveness of God, the highest Teacher, promised in the Word, which he needs to learn victories over the devilish power, trying to stop his movement to the heights of perfection.

And the follower of the instructions of the Word of God can tell people that they, too, can come to the responsiveness of the Heavenly Father along the path indicated by the Word of fighting temptations, and they will have a constant connection with God, through which they can ask Him for help or explanations ....

Not all people can assimilate such stories - the stronger the power of lies over them, the more difficult it is for them to assimilate the truth. Because of this power of lies on Earth, people have not established communication with the Heavenly Father, the black forces of the father of all lies deceive people's thoughts in the other direction. People buy into the devil's bait and commit sinful acts that constitute a step away from God.

But they will return, as it is said in the parable of the prodigal son. And if the Father does not hold back any of His children, then none will hold them back, and I am not trying to keep you from sin.

But I tell everyone who sinks into the quagmire of sin that they leave good to plunge into evil. And let them know for the future that the gospel Word of God will help them get out of the evil quagmire and return to God.

By the way, “blessed are the poor in spirit” – this is what Christ said about those who, after their departure from the Father, spent their entire spiritual inheritance. They became spiritually impoverished, and the more severe this poverty, the sooner they will return to the Father. Because they are blessed, because they have not long.

The spiritual impoverishment of the Russian people, as the fruits of alignment to the West, is becoming more and more distinct. The fruits are not yet ripe, but even unripe fruits show that there is nothing good ahead for the people.

And this is a good sign, which means that a reversal and the return of the people to God will soon follow.

It seems that our church leaders care about many other things, or only struggle to do social and charitable work. It cannot be said that this is an unnecessary matter, especially in our difficult time, but it is not the primary and most important matter of our Church. Bread can be given by others, but can others give meaning and purpose to life? Who can save the soul, save it from the terrible egocentrism that misleads, enslaves, torments young and old people? The life-giving and grace-charged church body can become a compass of hope, a warning of an accident, an antibody to chronic illness, a shield against melancholy, a support in climbing the mountain of truth. Only the Church can balance a tired and very disappointed person.

Only the Church can speak clearly in the hearts of people in order to comfort and reassure them. Change in society can only be brought about by sacred and tested laws. Church leaders are responsible for their silence. The time has come for words and deeds, for example and consolation. Who's to say that we don't live just to eat? What is more blessed to give than to receive? What is more valuable than a clear conscience? Are we all managers, not rulers? We don't have a permanent city? It is known that it is very difficult to change the mentality of a society that has been prepared for the deification of eudemonism for many years, but it is never too late, and in any case, something can always happen. The twelfth hour has not yet arrived.

Despair that dominates, clouds, darkens and kills. But, the truth is, this can be a great opportunity that no one else can give you. Thus, we can speak of privileged despair. A person must see in the mirror that he was not created to be an insatiable animal, which the only thing that can be done is to rob, ruin, overeat and get fat in every possible way. It is necessary to follow his gaze, because his eyes do not see well, his vision is weakened, he does not see far, in general, he does not rejoice at the good, sacred and beautiful. Who will be talking about all these things? Only the relationship between love, peace and the unanimity of church communities. The joy of their members, their purity, kindness, brotherhood and mutual respect. The meaning of life is given in traditional worship and especially in the excellent Liturgy.

If selfishness, stress, haste, superficiality and spiritual shallowness pass to our cassock-bearers and believers, then it is better to cry silently, and may God have mercy on us. We have already said that the real crisis is the spiritual crisis, then comes the economic crisis. Decadence lies in greed, dishonor, lies. And the decline lies in personal gain, individualism, great and "inflamed" egoism. Greece is already in a state of spiritual impoverishment. The Church speaks of poverty, abstinence, simplicity, humility, fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Poverty can bring wealth, bring calmness, equanimity, an authentic and ascetic ethos...

"Blessed are the poor in spirit." The falsity or inaccuracy of the interpretation of this commandment is indeed capable of turning into both "madness" and "temptation." For people who are far from the Church, the words about “poor in spirit” sound scandalous: if Christianity is the religion of the weak and miserable, and I am not, then it is right that I am not a Christian. Within the church community, the misunderstood ideal of spiritual poverty from time to time causes insanity in the form of the so-called “concept of salvation through sin”: if you don’t sin, you won’t repent; if you don't repent, you won't be saved; therefore, if you do not sin, you will not be saved.

Meanwhile, already a simple philosophical analysis of the concept of spiritual poverty turns out to be quite sufficient for its clear definition. This analysis consists in distinguishing between misery and poverty: the poor is the one who does not have too much; a beggar is one who does not even have what he needs. The beggar is not able to cover the irreplaceable "zero" needs - for drink, food, medicine, protection from the weather. The poor man lives modestly, but calmly - the beggar dies restlessly and immodestly. That is why his name is thirst, his being is struggle and prayer. The instinct of self-preservation of a fading life acts against the will, overcomes inertia, laziness and resistance of personal dignity, forcing one to look for the necessary - something with which one can make up for the fatal insufficiency of life, and in the case of spiritual poverty - the inferiority of being.

A beggar in this sense can also be called a banker who discovered that his expenses inexorably exceeded income during a crisis. A great artist, who is convinced that his canvases do not capture even a tenth of his inspiration, may turn out to be thirsty.

Spiritual poverty is the presence in the structures of human existence of some unfilled vessel: such is a woman who has not yet become a wife and mother; such is the righteous man who discovered in his life a law not filled with love; such is a Spartan from among three hundred, sent to Sparta with a report from King Leonidas and therefore missed the opportunity to die heroically in the brilliant and tragic battle of Thermopylae ...

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle argued that "nature abhors a void" and strives to fill it. It is commonly believed that "poor in spirit" refers to the weak. But spiritual poverty in the language of dynamics is, on the contrary, potency, or strength, that is, the cause of any movement.

First, it is a force that produces a culture-forming movement. Neither the spiritually poor Arkhangelsk fellow fishermen, nor the spiritually rich noble children of Moscow understood Lomonosov, who had come on foot from Arkhangelsk to the capital, to the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. None of them, self-sufficient and static, was destined to be inspired to dare in science and found the first Russian university. To understand the passion for knowledge that drove the first Russian academician until his death can only be understood by those who themselves stood before the greatness of the Truth, feeling their own inferiority and poverty.

Secondly, it is the force that initiates the movement towards God. The poor in spirit, about whom the Gospel speaks, is a person whose spiritual thirst is not quenched by anything earthly - neither by the tragedy of the theater, nor by the spirit of music. Spiritual poverty is a need that the rationalizing complexity of science, the artistic fantasy of literature, and even the comforting wisdom of philosophy succumb to. By the inexhaustibility of his own spiritual thirst, a person guesses that he is a microcosm, that is, the image of the One Whom "even heaven cannot contain." The inexhaustibility of thirst for anything earthly makes one seek the heavenly and reach the heavenly spheres. This is subtly noticed by Pushkin in the poem the prophet:

Spiritual thirst tormented,

In the gloomy desert I dragged myself

And a six-winged seraph

Appeared to me at a crossroads...

"Spiritual thirst" - an expression of poverty - becomes an indispensable condition for the "appearance of the seraphim." And a diligently praying person can freeze in perplexity: why are prayers not fulfilled? Is it possible that the All-good and Almighty God does not want or cannot give what is asked? But the difficulty arises not with the giver, but with the petitioner: there is a gift, it is offered, but the person has nothing to carry it away. Therefore, truly “blessed” are those who have a vessel filled with nothing - they can really “move mountains”. Thus, spiritual poverty turns out to be the very essence of faith.

Supporters of “salvation through sin” should note that the prayer of the gospel publican was fulfilled not because he “pleased” God with his sins, but because he was able to survive his own spiritual poverty as poverty. The spiritual wealth of the Pharisee overwhelmed him, created the illusion of personal ontological completeness and completeness, depriving him of the opportunity to perform a miracle through prayer.

Doctors point to a good appetite as one of the main signs of health. The loss of the ability to thirst turns out to be an external reflection of the pathology - the Pharisee is so spiritually ill with a feeling of satiety that overwhelms him. Having created the human soul in His own image, God created a being that is complementary only to Himself, capable of being completely filled only with divine Infinity and Fullness. Therefore, a person torn off from the Creator, capable of being filled to satiety with spectacles, theater, literature, arts, science or empty entertainment, betrays his own nature. He is fake, sick, wrong.

It would be wrong to identify spiritual poverty with personal weakness of character, and its bearers with outcasts. Regardless of the amount of talent and virtue, wealth and social success, the poor in spirit are just genuine people who are able to feel their lack of self-sufficiency in the face of divine perfection. This poverty is expressed in the strength of the thirst with which the soul seeks rest in its Creator, for the time being comforted by the creation of culture, like the great Song of the Lost Paradise.

In what works of Russian literature does the theme of the spiritual impoverishment of society sound, and in what ways can these works be compared with the proposed fragment?

An old two-story cream-colored house was located on the boulevard ring in the depths of a stunted garden, separated from the sidewalk of the ring by a carved iron grate. A small area in front of the house was asphalted, and in winter a snowdrift with a shovel rose on it, and in summer it turned into a magnificent section of a summer restaurant under a canvas awning.

The house was called "Griboyedov's house" on the grounds that it was once owned by the writer's aunt, Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov. Well, owned or not owned - we do not know. I even remember that, it seems, Griboedov did not have any aunt-houseowner ... However, the house was called that. Moreover, one Moscow liar said that allegedly on the second floor, in a round hall with columns, the famous writer read excerpts from "Woe from Wit"

to this same aunt, sprawled out on the sofa, but, the devil knows, maybe he read it, it doesn’t matter!

And the important thing is that at the present time this house was owned by the same MASSOLIT, headed by the unfortunate Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz before his appearance on the Patriarch's Ponds.

With the light hand of the MASSOLIT members, no one called the house "Griboedov's house", and everyone simply said - "Griboedov": "Yesterday I pushed my way through Griboyedov's for two hours", - "So how?" - "I got to Yalta for a month." - "Well done!".

Or: "Go to Berlioz, today he receives from four to five in Griboyedov..." And so on.

MASSOLIT is located in Griboyedovo in such a way that it is better and more comfortable not to think of.

Everyone entering Griboedov, first of all, involuntarily got acquainted with the notices of various sports circles and with group and individual photographs of MASSOLIT members, with which (photographs) the walls of the stairs leading to the second floor were hung.

On the doors of the first room on this upper floor one could see a large inscription "Fish and cottage section", and right there was a picture of a crucian caught on a hook.

Something not entirely clear was written on the doors of room No. 2:

"One-day creative tour. Contact M. V. Podlozhnaya."

The next door carried a brief, but completely incomprehensible inscription:

"Perelygino". Then a random visitor to Griboedov's eyes began to dazzle from the inscriptions that were full of walnut aunty doors: "Entry in the queue for paper at Poklevkina", "Cashier", "Personal calculations of sketch artists" ...

Having cut through the longest queue, which was already beginning at the bottom in the Swiss one, one could see the inscription on the door, into which people were bursting every second:

"Housing problem".

Behind the housing question, a luxurious poster was opened, on which a rock was depicted, and a horseman in a cloak and with a rifle over his shoulders rode along its crest. Below - palm trees and a balcony, on the balcony - a sitting young man with a tuft, looking somewhere up with very, very lively eyes and holding a self-writing pen in his hand. Caption: "Full-length sabbaticals from two weeks (short story) to one year (novel, trilogy). Yalta, Suuk-Su, Borovoe, Tsikhidziri, Makhinjauri, Leningrad (Winter Palace)". There was also a queue at this door, but not excessive, about a hundred and fifty people.

Then followed, obeying the whimsical curves, ascents and descents of the Griboedov House, - "Massolit's Board", "Cashiers N 2, 3, 4, 5", "Editorial Board", "MASSOLIT Chairman", "Billiard Room", various auxiliary institutions, finally , the same hall with a colonnade where the aunt enjoyed the comedy of a brilliant nephew.

Any visitor, if, of course, he was not completely stupid, having got into Griboedov, immediately realized how good life is for the lucky ones - members of MASSOLIT, and black envy immediately began to torment him. And immediately he turned bitter reproaches to the sky for not rewarding him with a literary talent at birth, without which, naturally, there was nothing to dream of mastering the MASSOLIT membership card, brown, smelling of expensive leather, with a wide gold border, known to all Moscow ticket.

Who will say anything in defense of envy? This is a feeling of a lousy category, but you still have to enter into the position of a visitor. After all, what he saw on the top floor was not all, and far from all. The entire lower floor of the aunt's house was occupied by a restaurant, and what a restaurant! In fairness, he was considered the best in Moscow. And not only because it was located in two large halls with vaulted ceilings painted with purple horses with Assyrian manes, not only because a lamp covered with a shawl was placed on each table, not only because the first person with streets, and also because the quality of his provisions Griboedov beat any restaurant in Moscow, as he wanted, and that this provision was released at the most reasonable, by no means burdensome price.

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In many works of Russian literature, the theme of the spiritual impoverishment of society sounds. For example, in the story of A.P. Chekhov "Ionych" and D. Fonvizin's comedy "Undergrowth".

In the work of A.P. Chekhov's "Ionych", the main character - Startsev - comes to one of the provincial cities as a young doctor. He is interested in art, literature, he seeks to comprehend his life. But having become rich, Startsev is engaged only in the accumulation of money. The hero becomes rude and greedy. This story can be compared with the novel The Master and Margarita. In both works, the characters under the influence of money become vulgar, ignorant and cynical. In Chekhov's story, they are Startsev, and in Bulgakov's novel, they are members of MASSOLIT, who Literature is not as important as spending your time in the restaurant, the desire to benefit from the organization.

Criteria

• 4 of 4 K1 Inclusion in a literary context and persuasiveness of arguments
• TOTAL: 4 out of 4

Anna Gennadievna Maslova

SPIRITUAL IMPOSURE OF DOCTOR STARTSEV. In the story "Ionych", written in 1898, A.P. Chekhov turned to a topic that had long been studied by Russian literature - the spiritual degradation of the individual. It was painful for Chekhov to see how everyday vulgarity and dullness cripple human souls, gradually entangling a person with their networks, depriving him of activity, purposefulness, and interest in life. In his work, he described the fall of a man, visually depicting his "road down."

The story "Ionych" is the story of the life of a talented young doctor who came to the provincial city of S. to work. They tried to dissuade all visitors who saw boredom and monotony in the everyday life and customs of this city, and as proof they were introduced to the Turkin family, “the most educated and talented” in the city.

This family really shone with "talents". The owner of the house, Ivan Petrovich Turkin, entertained the guests, speaking "in his unusual language, worked out by long exercises in wit and, obviously, which had long become his habit ...". His wife, Vera Iosifovna, read her tiresome novels to the guests about "what does not happen in life." And the daughter of the Turkins, whom everyone affectionately called "Kotik", was rumored to be going to become a great pianist and "surprised" the guests with her ability to "hit with all her might" on the keys. Against the background of this extremely "intelligent" and "gifted" family, the life of the rest of the inhabitants of the city of S. flows monotonously in idleness, idleness and empty talk while playing whist. However, peering into the way of life and the inner world of the Turkin family, we see how small, limited and vulgar people really are. Under their destructive influence, a young doctor Dmitry Startsev falls.

At the beginning of the story, we have a nice young man, active, full of strength and energy, passionate about his work. He perfectly sees the stupidity and narrow-mindedness of local residents, they annoy him with “their conversations, views on life and even their appearance”, because he himself has quite serious interests and high aspirations, is interested in literature, art (music). He was looking for an interesting company and therefore reached out to the Turkin family, believing that he would be able to talk with them about art, freedom, and the role of labor in human life. Soon, however, Startsev understands what the Turkins are, but does not run away from them, on the contrary, he remains and soon becomes one of the inhabitants.

The first sprouts of degradation appeared, oddly enough, in Startsev's love for Kotik. He watched how Kitty, playing the piano, "stubbornly hit everything in one place, and it seemed that she would not stop until she drove the keys into the piano." But Startsev was pleased "to look at this young, graceful and, probably, pure creature." And he stopped noticing the home-grown entertainments of the Turkins.

During love for Kotik, Startsev experiences the only emotional upsurge for himself: he admires nature, loves people, endows Ekaterina Ivanovna with the best qualities: “she seemed to him very smart and developed beyond her years.” He admires the girl's erudition, considers her intelligent, worthy of respect, but fright is mixed with his "tender, joyful, painful feeling ...". Where will this novel lead? - Thinks Startsev, having received a note from Kotik; and besides, “what will the comrades say when they find out?”. Going to propose to his beloved girl, our hero thinks not so much about the joys of family life, but about the benefits, that the Turkins for the daughter of a dowry "must give a lot." The received refusal does not lead Startsev to despair, but only offends. “Three days” Startsev “didn’t eat, didn’t sleep,” and then he began to forget his love, only occasionally lazily remembering how much trouble she gave him: “how he wandered around the cemetery or drove around the city and looked for a tailcoat.” We see that Startsev's love was in fact shallow, although it was only love that kept him from spiritual degradation.

As the material well-being of Dr. Startsev grows (at first he walks, then he has a pair of horses, and then a “troika with bells”), his spiritual development stops, and by the time of the final meeting with Ekaterina Ivanovna, he falls completely. Now the inhabitants of the city of S. no longer see him as a stranger, their interests become the same. Continuing to complain about the environment, Ionych, as they now call him in a relative way, lost everything that distinguished him from other residents. “We are getting old, we are getting fat, we are sinking ... life passes dully, without impressions, without thoughts ... During the day we make money, and in the evening the club, a society of gamblers, alcoholics, wheezing, whom I can’t stand. What's good? - he complains to Ekaterina Ivanovna, who, having matured, has become smarter, more serious.

The hero's attitude to work is also indicative. We hear from his lips good and correct reasoning “about the need to work, that it is impossible to live without work ...”. And Ionych himself at first works every day. However, his work is not inspired by the “general idea”, the purpose of the work is in one thing - “in the evenings, take out the pieces of paper obtained by practice from the pockets” and periodically take them to the bank.

Chekhov makes it clear that the spiritual development of the hero did not just stop, it went in the opposite direction. Ionych has a past, a present, but no future. He travels a lot, but on the same route, gradually returning him to the same starting point. His whole existence is now determined only by the thirst for enrichment and hoarding. He fences himself off from space and from people. And this leads him to moral death. In fact, Startsev does not even resist these disastrous circumstances. He does not fight, does not suffer, does not worry, but simply concedes easily. Losing at the same time his human appearance, soul, Ionych ceases to be a good specialist.

As you can see, activity, devoid of a lofty goal, very quickly had a detrimental effect on Startsev. Only four years have passed, and he no longer regrets youth, love, unfulfilled hopes, he is no longer embarrassed by the vulgarity and meaninglessness of life around him. "The bourgeoisie is a swamp" finally sucked him in. Everything died for him, even his only poetic memory died. But inversely proportional to these human losses, the degree of wealth increases, interest in money and real estate becomes the main content of life. Now only money received from patients can please Ionych. And he continues to work only for the sake of "papers". The rest of the time he plays cards and conducts "secular" conversations with other townsfolk. There is absolutely nothing positive left in Startsevo. His appearance is also deformed: Ionych “has become even more stout, obese”, acquired an outward disgrace, and when he, “chubby, red”, drives by on his troika with bells, “it seems that it’s not a man who is riding, but a pagan god.”

In the story "Ionych" A.P. Chekhov, with his characteristic skill, showed how detrimental a gray philistine environment affects a person if he refuses to resist it, follows public opinion, lifestyle, his own weaknesses and does not strive for spiritual growth. If the inclinations, high aspirations are not realized, it means that there is a wormhole in the person himself, it means that such a person did not have inner strength and firm convictions, it means that he was initially ready to come to terms with the outside world and merge with it.

It seems to me that the problems that Chekhov touches on in this story will always remain relevant. The writer warns of the dangers of philistinism and worldly vulgarity. After all, imperceptibly for ourselves, each of us can fall into the "case" of our own prejudices, ceasing to think and work, love and dream, seek and doubt. And this is really scary, as it leads to spiritual devastation and degradation.