Serving God among people - Tolstoi

translate by ChatGPT 3.5

The idea for the narrative dates back to 1889, making it a good example of Tolstoy's philosophical ideas on religion shaped in a literary work. The content of the work is as follows: In St. Petersburg in the 1840s, the commander of a prestigious guards regiment, Prince Stepan Kasatsky, unexpectedly retired to a monastery instead of pursuing a brilliant military career. His surroundings did not understand the reason for this, as he was a young man of outstanding abilities on the brink of a brilliant military career, striving for perfection in everything. His turn away from the world happened after a bitter love disappointment, but his pride was also a factor: he wanted to demonstrate his moral superiority over others. He sought refuge in religion, returning to his long-forgotten childlike faith.

In the monastery, he regretted this decision, but he held onto it with obedience. His life was dedicated to work and prayer. In the third year, he was consecrated as a monk under the name Father Sergius. Since he still couldn't shed his pride, he thought he needed solitude and became a hermit.

After six years of hermit life, he felt he lacked enough faith for the struggle against doubt and lascivious thoughts. He didn't understand the purpose of all the world's beauty if those things were sinful, and he had to renounce them. The reputation of the "holy" man spread in the vicinity, and he thought he couldn't deny himself to his fellow humans, still led by his vanity. He began to heal the sick, living for people, not for the service of God. It was as if he had been turned inside out: his inner life was destroyed, replaced by the external. Over time, he realized this life was self-deception, and he gave up the hermit life, going on a wandering journey.

Abandoned and lonely again, thoughts of suicide haunted him until an angel in his dream told him he would learn about his sins and redemption from a peasant woman.

Pasenyka was a poor woman but rejoiced in giving and felt ashamed if she could give only a little. Her life was perpetual work. The wanderer learned from this life: he lived for people under the guise of God, while Pasenyka lived for God, imagining that she lived for people.

Understanding this, he wandered from village to village, asking for bread and shelter for the love of Christ, meanwhile preaching the Gospel to the people. God began to manifest slowly in him; he humbly accepted the 20 kopecks thrown by a French traveler, and his pride broke at that moment. Finally, he served in Siberia, worked in a peasant's vegetable garden, taught children, and cared for the sick.

The work's philosophical world unfolds through the stages of Father Sergius's life, representing various phases of his spiritual transformation and struggles. His journey goes from secular vanities through the vanity of sanctity to a life of service. His personality moves from temporary values toward the eternal.

By giving up his privileged life, he continues to think of himself as exceptional for a long time until he realizes that one can act correctly not by standing out but by merging into the good. His spiritual doubts lead him to Gospel knowledge.

The power of sensuality also plays a significant role in his life. However, for those who believe in perfection, they must be able to control their body and soul, freeing themselves from the world of vanity, pride, the desire for glory, and physical and spiritual temptations.

The writer incorporated all his previous ideas into the work. Faith in perfection, family happiness; turning away from the world by divine inspiration; hopeless struggle with sensuality, sin; idealizing peasant religiosity; serving people as the ultimate solution.

We can agree with Tolstoy's conclusion: "There is no peace for those who live among people for worldly goals, nor for those who live alone for spiritual purposes. Peace can only be found by serving God among people."