W: LP: LG: FD: BK: more from Zosima

More from the life of elder Zosima on the subject of servants & masters:

When Zosima was still an officer in the Russian Army, at a period of pride and stress just before his change of heart (brought about at a time when facing a question of life & death leading up to duel instigated by Zosima himself), he struck his servant-soldier (an army private serving as his orderly) across the face for something petty. When he had his change of heart, he had apologized. Years later, after he had become a monk:

…I met one day, in the provincial capital of K----, my former orderly, Afanasy. It was then already eight years since I had parted with him. He saw me by chance in the marketplace, recognized me, ran over to me, and God, how delighted he was to see me! He rushed up to me: “My dear master, is it you? Can it really be you?” He took me home. He had left the army by then, was married, and had two small children. They supported themselves by hawking wares in the marketplace. His room was poor, but clean, joyful. He sat me down, lit the samovar, sent for his wife, as if my appearance was somehow a festive occasion. He brought the children to me: “Bless them, father.” “Is it for me to bless them?” I replied. “I am a simple and humble monk, I shall pray to God for them; and for you, Afanasy Pavlovich, I have prayed to God always, every day, since that very day, for I tell you, it all came about because of you.” And I explained it to him as far as I could. And what do you think: the man looked at me and still could not imagine that I, his former master, an officer, could be there before him as I was, and dressed as I was. He even wept. “Why are you weeping?” I said to him. “Better rejoice for me in your soul, my dear my unforgettable man, for my path is a bright and joyful one.” He did not say much, but kept sighing and shaking his head over me tenderly. “And where is your wealth?” he asked. “I gave it to the monastery,” I replied, “we live in common.” After tea I was saying good-bye to them when he suddenly produced fifty kopecks as a donation to the monastery, and then slipped another fifty kopecks hurriedly into my hand: “This is for you, father, maybe you’ll need it in your travels and wanderings.” I accepted his fifty kopecks, bowed to him and his wife, and left rejoicing, thinking as I went: “Here are the two of us, he at home and I on the road, both no doubt sighing and smiling joyfully, in the gladness of our hearts, shaking our heads when we recall how God granted us this meeting.” I never saw him again after that. I was his master, and he was my servant, and now, as we kissed each other lovingly and in spiritual tenderness, a great human communion took place between us. I have given it much thought, and now I reason thus: Is it so far beyond reach of the mind that this great and openhearted communion might in due time take place everywhere among our Russian people?

…as a young man, I would often get angry with servants…And then suddenly there shone on me my dear brother’s thought…”Am I worthy, such as I am, that another should serve me, and that, because he is poor and untaught, I should order him about?” And I marveled then that the simplest, most self-evident thoughts should come so late to our minds. The world cannot do without servants, but see to it that your servant is freer in spirit than if he were not a servant. And why can I not be the servant of my servant, and in such wise that he even sees it, and without any pride on my part, or any disbelief on his? Why can my servant not be like my own kin, so that I may finally receive him into my family, and rejoice for it? This may be accomplished even now, but it will serve as the foundation for the magnificent communion of mankind in the future, when a man will not seek servants for himself, and will not wish to turn his fellow man into servants, as now, but on the contrary, will wish with all his strength to become himself the servant of all, in accordance with the Gospel. And is it only a dream, that in the end man will find his joy in deeds of enlightenment and mercy alone and not in cruel pleasures as now—in gluttony, fornication, ostentation, boasting, and envious rivalry with one another?

--but then the skeptic asks:


…when will the time come, and does it look as if it will ever come?
But I think that with Christ we shall bring about this great deed.

--the godless revolutionary wants to set up this communion of mankind, but without God, and Zosima says from Brothers Karamasov:

They hope to make a just order for themselves, but, having rejected Christ, they will end by drenching the earth with blood, for blood calls to blood, and he who draws the sword will perish by the sword. And were it not for Christ’s covenant, they would annihilate one another down to the last two men on earth. And these last two, in their pride, would not be able to restrain each other either, so that the last would annihilate the next to last, and then himself as well.

Historical note: All the various flavors of socialism are responsible for at least 100,000,000 (thats one hundred million) deaths in the twentieth century alone, by conservative estimates.