An address to young people: Forum of Orthodox Youth of the Russian Orthodox Church

Dear friends

Participants of the Orthodox Youth Forum, your contemporaries, who enter a new century and a new millennium together with you, appeal to you!

There was a time when we didn't know God, we kept the Church out and were afraid to admit to ourselves that the unknown mystery of Orthodoxy draws us. We had been told that to be a believer meant to miss out on life's dynamic developments. We were afraid that Orthodox dogmas and canons would take away life's joy and deprive us of our liberty. But what we have understood today is that a servant is not only one who is bound by chains. The safest chains are those which are invisible, unnoticeable. The most horrible slavery is inner slavery. Brought up in an unbelieving world, blinded by the dogma of atheism, we did not even guess that the beauty of the spiritual world and the happiness of the life of the Church were right beside us. Christ is next to us and is knocking at the door of each person's heart. Ideology and publicity have been stealthily taking away our freedom. Somebody has been deciding for us what we are supposed to like and towards what aim we are supposed to strive. Somebody has been deciding for us that young people ought to prefer pepsi-cola. But it has suddenly come clear to us that the real choice lies not between pepsi and kvass but between Meaning and meaninglessness.

We were once disturbed by the question: surely my life is not the meaningless accumulation of things, and the consumption of products? Surely I am not a mayfly, non-existent before my birth, and soon to cease to exist, forever? Did non-existence bring me in to existence, only to wipe me out once again? And will the world even notice the disappearance of one more consumer, costumer, television viewer?
Today we are convinced that it is not like this.
The life of man is given meaning only by that which is greater than it. You can only live for those reasons, which you are not afraid to die for. We took one look at life with different eyes, and entered the Church.

And you, dear friend, do you wish to stay the same, without changing? To change oneself is more complex than to win wars or stir up a revolution. The wise men of the past used to say that the foolish man strives to change that which is outside of him, whilst a wise man strives to change what is within. Am I free from myself, from my passions and habits? A young person who inserts a needle into his vein, is he free? "He who commits sin is a slave to sin" (John 8:34). The Church has given us the possibility for repentance, for re-birth. By entering the Church, we have made a choice - to serve Eternity, not a passing moment, to search for joy, not that of the body, but the eternal joy of the soul.

As far as Church life is concerned - living in the Church is very hard. Just as our development in sport, science or arts is achieved through much effort, likewise spiritual growth is achieved with many labours. But this growth brings with it the joy of conversion. And believe us, not a single one of us would remain in the Church if we had not found there such joy, compared with which all worldly distractions are a pale and miserable shadow.

Yes, Christian commandments demand of us renunciations and restrictions. But while depriving us of sensual pleasure they enable us to find inner freedom and the knowledge of God. And what is more, Orthodoxy has given us the chance to be no longer strangers in our own land. Do you remember the song of Konsantin Kinchev: "I walk across my country towards the heavens …"? Instead of being "that country" to us, Russia has become ours. We have understood her faith, her sorrows and her fate. Orthodoxy has given us the heavens and returned the earth. We do not want to be rolling stones, rootless, nameless, with no motherland and no faith. We do not wish to be ashamed before our fellow Muslims, who have their faith and are proud of it and ready to struggle for it.

In answer to the superfluity of Hollywood mass-production, to world-wide 'macdonaldisation' and to the hypocrisy of American 'double standard' politics, we do not reply with extremist behaviour.

We simply acknowledge that we are Orthodox Christians. We have consciously chosen our path - "to serve God and each other, each with those gifts which he has received…" (1 Peter 4:10-11). And we call upon you to unite yourselves with us."