Early Winter Came to Finland

Early winter surprised Finland on September 23, 2014. A scene

from the Northern Finland. Photo by the Finnish website.

The swans are leaving Finland. Photo by the Finnish website.

Today, it seems like the winter has come to Finland. It is very early this year. Today, we got a first snow (well, not in my area in Western Finland, but in Northern and Eastern Finland)! Anyway, last night was very cold also here in the west coast, temperature was only -2 °C or 26 ºF.

On this morning, I saw three swans flying towards the south. It was a beautiful but also a plaintive scene. Now it really feels like summer is over and winter is coming. Well, no problem for me. As my friends knows, the winter is my favorite season of the year.

Lately, I have been very busy in my work, and that's why I've been so silent in my blog and YouTube. Yesterday, I started my 10 days summer vacation. I worked all summer long, and only now I have time enough to rest and relax and just be a lazy. :)

Let me tell some other news from my life.

Three weeks ago, I started to study Russian language in the adult training college. It's quite difficult but also very interesting. I can only do my best, and my Russian friend support me. At least I hope so. Haha. ;)

Last Saturday, I visited in the local antique store, and I bought four old Finnish military magazines, useful for me since military history is my job and also my hobby.

Well, these were the latest updates from chilly Finland. Stay tuned, and see you, my friends. Have a wonderful autumn to all!

Teisuka

P.S. The photos in this article are not taken by me, except the image of magazines.

My Russian textbook called «Пора!» (English: It's
time). In this case, it is time to learn Russian! :)

The old Finnish military magazines (mostly comics) which
I bought from the local antique store. Photo by Teisuka.

The Impending Clouds

The time is stretching while I'm spending
a rainy night by listening to Revelation,
escaping the reality, running ahead,
behind me the enemy of humanity.

No time for love means no time for live.
Now what's the time and am I still alive?

In these times of wrath and insanity
the love of many is growing cold.
Friends turn their back to each other,
farewell to the flowers and cranes.

Dark clouds are rising in the sky,
warmongers are proudly marching
over the graves of past generations.
Does no one realize where it leads?

A poem by Teisuka (on 23rd of the Harvest Month, 2014)

The Way of a Pilgrim – Amazing Spiritual Book

The Way of a Pilgrim tells about the secret of prayer.

It represents so called hesychasm, a mystical tradition

of experiential prayer in the Orthodox Church.

Hello, my friends, after a long time. ( ^.^)ノ I'm sorry, I've been too busy (or lazy) to write my blog lately. This time, I want to introduce one wonderful book that I read some time ago.

The book is a spiritual classic called The Way of a Pilgrim, a 19th-century Russian work, recounting the narrator's journey as a mendicant pilgrim across Russia while practicing the Jesus Prayer, the practice of ceaseless inner prayer and communion with God. The Russian title of the book is actually much longer than its English translation: «Откровенные рассказы странника духовному своему отцу» - literally, 'Candid tales of a pilgrim to his spiritual father'.

In this book, an anonymous pilgrim treks over the Steppes in search of the answer to the one compelling question: How does one pray constantly? Through his journeys, and under the tutelage of a spiritual father, he becomes gradually more open to the promptings of God, and sees joy and plenty wherever he goes. Ultimately, he discovers the different meanings and methods of prayer as he travels to his ultimate destination...

The Way of a Pilgrim is a really amazing and mystical book, one of the best Orthodox Christian books I have ever read. It represents so called hesychasm. It's a mystical tradition of experiential prayer in the Orthodox Church. The Greek-derived word hesychasm means "stillness, rest, quiet, silence". The Hesychast usually experiences the contemplation of God as light. It's called the Uncreated Light and is identified with the Holy Spirit. I feel hesychasm is right way for me.

Silence – often it also means loneliness. While longing for silence, soul doesn't like noise or noisy people. The Bible says, "My soul, wait thou in silence for God only; for my expectation is from him" (Psalm 62:5).

 

 The Russian front cover of The Way of a Pilgrim.

The Way of Silence and the Jesus Prayer

Here I want to share two quotes from the book:

"Sit alone and in silence; bow your head and close your eyes; relax your breathing and with your imagination look into your heart; direct your thoughts from your head into your heart. And while inhaling say, 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,' either softly with your lips or in your mind. Endeavor to fight distractions but be patient and peaceful and repeat this process frequently."

"All that is necessary is to descend in silence into the depths of one's heart and call on the name of Jesus Christ frequently. In this way one can experience interior light and many things will become clear to him, even the mysteries of the kingdom of God. And what depth of mystery and what light there is when man realizes his ability to descend into himself, to see his inner self, to take pleasure in self-knowledge, to be touched and even to shed tears over his fallen and weakened will. It is not difficult to be reasonable and to speak sensibly with people, for the mind and the heart of man preceded knowledge and wisdom. When one has a mind, it is possible to cultivate it with learning and experience, but when there is no brain, no upbringing will help. The fact is that we are alienated from ourselves and have little desire really to know ourselves; we run in order to avoid meeting ourselves and we exchange truth for trinkets while we say, 'I would like to have time for prayer and the spiritual life but the cares and difficulties of this life demand all my time and energies.' And what is more important and necessary, the eternal life of the soul or the temporary life of the body about which man worries so much? It is this choice which man makes that either leads him to wisdom or keeps him in ignorance."

If you want to get a whole PDF book in English, just send me a private message via YouTube and give me your personal email address. (Please don't share your secret email address here in public.) Then I'll post you a free PDF file (3,74 Mb). The book contains 196 pages. You can find the original Russian text here (click the blue word). By the way, here is a real treasure in Russian language – a free digital Orthodox Christian library: Библиотечка Православной.

Regarding the Jesus Prayer, you can find my video from YouTube:

In this prayer, one sentence repeated over and over again. In English language it goes (in the shortest form): "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me." That's all. Very simple and short, but very powerful prayer.

These days, except that I'm working diligently, I'm just searching for the silence and the presence of God. In this quest, I'm using the Jesus Prayer. I am not a good Christian (far from it), but I try to do my best. We all have our own battles to win, and that's the way of sanctification or divinization...

Blessings to all of you, my friends. （＾—＾）

Best greetings from warm and sunny Finland,

Teisuka

The Finnish front cover of The Way of a Pilgrim.

The Sphere of Beauty

In my darkest moment, came a girl and said: "Do not despair."

Then she was laughing, her laughter lighted the whole sphere.

"I'm just a girl", she said, "and I can not even speak so well."

But I knew, she was an angel, and she raised me up from hell.

Through her eyes she taught me to see the beauty everywhere.

"Behold!" the angel said, "Look at all those flowers out there."

Although far from each other we live in a conjunction.

Together we stand, we are safe – is it just a fiction?

A poem by Teisuka (May 31, 2014)

I Found the Joy of Easter

Me and the other guys just a moment before we became members of the church.
I am second from left.

Father Matti, and me (second from right) and the other "catechumens".

On the Great Saturday, we were accepted to become amembers of the parish in a formal
and beautiful ceremony called Chrismation (Russian: миропомазание, Finnish: mirhalla
voitelu, a direct translation: "anointing").

The priest anoints the recipient with "chrism", making the sign of the cross on the
forehead, eyes, ears, nostrils, breast, back, hands and feet using the following words
each time: "The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit."

We got candles and also white roses after the ceremony.

As I told you before, I spent the Easter weekend at the Orthodox Church of Vaasa. I attended many services, and on the Great Saturday I was accepted to become a member of the parish in a formal and beautiful ceremony. At last, I am officially Orthodox Christian. A long, long journey has come to an end. This process began already in the summer of 2011, after my mother's passing. Now I feel like I have returned home.

Easter Night Service in the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church was stunningly beautiful, and it lasted for three hours (from 11:30 pm till 2:30 am). There were a lot of people from many different nationalities: Finns and Russians, Ukrainians, Greeks, Serbs, Ethiopians, and so on. All in all, our church has members from 24 different countries and they speak 14 different languages. Indeed, it's a very international organisation.

On the Easter Vigil, all who wanted, got the chance to ring the church bells. So I tried it too, and it was not easy at all to make it sound good. Haha. (One of my friends, Victor from Moscow, is a professional bell ringer, and I really admire him.) There was also a traditional outdoor procession around the church. In the procession, I carried the icon of the Mother of God.

I spent two nights in the church basement, in the room called playfully the "Crypt" by the members of the parish. My good friend also visited me on Friday evening. When I wasn't participating services, I was reading and praying in the Crypt. For me, it was like a monk's cell. （＾—＾） The book I was reading was the Orthodox Catechism written by Ivan Glukhov (he was a great teacher of theology from Moscow, died in 1999).

In summary, this was the happiest and the most memorable Easter in my life. I can say that now I have found the joy of Easter. Indeed, Christianity is a religion of joy, like Ivan Glukhov said.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I put here some photos from my trip.

Note! A new photos added on 24 April, 2014.
Please click on the pictures to see them bigger.

Text by Teisuka
Photos by Jussi and Teisuka

Me in the church on April 19, 2014.

 St. Nicholas Church in the Easter morning light.

 A dome of the church.

 A view inside of the church before the service.

 My modest bed in the church basement.

 Orthodox Catechism written by Ivan Glukhov. This book is a real gem,

an extensive and detailed guide to the Orthodox faith, including more

than 500 pages.

Next to the church is the Lotta Svärd statue, designed by Tea Helene-
lund, unveiled in 2005. Lotta Svärd was a Finnish voluntary national
defence organisation for women that was active between 1921 and 1944.
The organisation was religious-patriotic, unarmed and non-political.

A view from the city center of Vaasa.

Happy Easter to My Friends!

The Resurrection of Christ, the icon of the Holy and Great Saturday.

I'd like to wish a Happy Easter to all my friends in advance, because I'm going to spend the next few days (from Friday to Sunday) in Vaasa and the Orthodox Church. I will spend my nights in the church basement. I have a special permit for that. （＾—＾） On the "Great Saturday" (April 19), I will become a member of the Church.

Probably, I'm not able to see my messages or blog comments before I return home on Sunday evening. So let me say once again: Happy Easter to my dear friends! I keep you all in my prayers. До свидания – "Until we meet again"!

Peace and blessings,

Teisuka

P.S. On the Easter Night, I'll whisper these words (with three kisses) to my angel: «Воистину Воскресе!» Because I know you will say the first words... (￣ー￣)

P.S. 2. In the Orthodox Church, Easter is called Pascha. See also my previous blog article titled "Christ is Risen!" Easter Greetings in Many Languages.

Are We Living in the End Times?

Is the time running out for the planet Earth?

The Bible teaches about the end times, meaning the time before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. A few days before his death, Jesus spoke to his disciples about the signs of His second coming and the end of the present age. I want to take some quotes from this speech according to The Gospel of Matthew chapter 24, and The Gospel of Luke chapter 21. Please read them carefully and ask yourself: Is He talking about the time we are living in right now? In any case, everything is in God's hands. He is the Lord of history. Faith in Him can bring us peace and safety.

This is what Jesus Christ taught two thousand years ago:

"Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven."

"At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

A burning tank in the Syrian civil war.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011.

"If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time."

"So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."

"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ... So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

A meteor exploded over Russia in 2013.

"The stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies
will be shaken." (The Gospel of Matthew 24:29)