there's a lake of stew and of whiskey too https://sauna.writeas.com/ Sat, 11 Jul 2026 03:21:15 +0000 But if, alas there be one who is so wretched that he cannot come? https://sauna.writeas.com/but-if-alas-there-be-one-who-is-so-wretched-that-he-cannot-come?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[But if, alas there be one who is so wretched that he cannot come? Ah, a sigh is sufficient; your mere sighing for him is also to come hither. ]]> But if, alas there be one who is so wretched that he cannot come? Ah, a sigh is sufficient; your mere sighing for him is also to come hither.

]]> https://sauna.writeas.com/but-if-alas-there-be-one-who-is-so-wretched-that-he-cannot-come Thu, 04 Jun 2026 06:06:49 +0000 A strange thing happened to me in my dream. https://sauna.writeas.com/a-strange-thing-happened-to-me-in-my-dream?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[ A strange thing happened to me in my dream. I was rapt into the Seventh Heaven. There sat all the gods assembled. As a special dispensation I was granted the favor to have one wish. "Do you wish for youth," said Mercury, "or for beauty, or power, or a long life; or do you wish for the most beautiful woman, or any other of the many fine things we have in our treasure trove? Choose, but only one thing!" For a moment I was at a loss. Then I addressed the gods in this wise: "Most honorable contemporaries, I choose one thing—that I may always have the laughs on MY side." Not one god made answer, but all began to laugh. From this I concluded that my wish had been granted and thought that the gods knew how to express themselves with good taste: for it would surely have been inappropriate to answer gravely: your wish has been granted.]]> A strange thing happened to me in my dream. I was rapt into the Seventh Heaven. There sat all the gods assembled. As a special dispensation I was granted the favor to have one wish. “Do you wish for youth,” said Mercury, “or for beauty, or power, or a long life; or do you wish for the most beautiful woman, or any other of the many fine things we have in our treasure trove? Choose, but only one thing!” For a moment I was at a loss. Then I addressed the gods in this wise: “Most honorable contemporaries, I choose one thing—that I may always have the laughs on MY side.” Not one god made answer, but all began to laugh. From this I concluded that my wish had been granted and thought that the gods knew how to express themselves with good taste: for it would surely have been inappropriate to answer gravely: your wish has been granted.

]]> https://sauna.writeas.com/a-strange-thing-happened-to-me-in-my-dream Tue, 28 Apr 2026 03:33:19 +0000 And indeed, this is already earnestness—when it is properly understood, not as... https://sauna.writeas.com/and-indeed-this-is-already-earnestness-when-it-is-properly-understood-not-as?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[And indeed, this is already earnestness—when it is properly understood, not as by the dreaming poet or by the poet who lets nature dream of him—this: that out there with the lily and the bird you perceive that you are before God, which most often is quite entirely forgotten in talking and conversing with other people. For when just two of us talk together, even more so when we are ten or more, it is so easily forgotten that you and I, that we two, or that we ten, are before God. But the lily, who is the teacher, is profound. It does not involve itself with you at all; it keeps silent, and by keeping silent it wants to signify to you that you are before God, so that you remember that you are before God—so that you also might earnestly and in truth become silent before God.]]> And indeed, this is already earnestness—when it is properly understood, not as by the dreaming poet or by the poet who lets nature dream of him—this: that out there with the lily and the bird you perceive that you are before God, which most often is quite entirely forgotten in talking and conversing with other people.

For when just two of us talk together, even more so when we are ten or more, it is so easily forgotten that you and I, that we two, or that we ten, are before God. But the lily, who is the teacher, is profound. It does not involve itself with you at all; it keeps silent, and by keeping silent it wants to signify to you that you are before God, so that you remember that you are before God—so that you also might earnestly and in truth become silent before God.

]]> https://sauna.writeas.com/and-indeed-this-is-already-earnestness-when-it-is-properly-understood-not-as Thu, 23 Apr 2026 01:08:37 +0000 “Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness.” https://sauna.writeas.com/seek-first-gods-kingdom-and-his-righteousness?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[“Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness.” But what does it mean? What is it that I must do? What sort of effort is it of which it can be said that it seeks, that it aspires to, God’s kingdom? Shall I seek to secure a position that corresponds to my abilities and strengths, so that I can be effective in it? No, you shall first seek God’s kingdom. Shall I give all my fortune to the poor, then? No, first you shall seek God’s kingdom. Shall I go out and proclaim this teaching to the world, then? No, you shall first seek God’s kingdom. But then, in a certain sense, is there in fact nothing I shall do? Yes, quite true—in a certain sense there is nothing. You shall, in the deepest sense, make yourself nothing, become nothing before God, learn to keep silent. In this silence is the beginning, which is first to seek God’s kingdom. Thus, in a godly way, does one come, in a certain sense, backward to the beginning. The beginning is not that with which one begins but is that to which one comes, and one comes to it backward. Beginning is this art of becoming silent, for there is no art in keeping silent as nature is. And in the deepest sense, this becoming silent—silent before God—is the beginning of the fear of God; for as the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, so is silence the beginning of the fear of God.]]> “Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness.”

But what does it mean? What is it that I must do? What sort of effort is it of which it can be said that it seeks, that it aspires to, God’s kingdom?

Shall I seek to secure a position that corresponds to my abilities and strengths, so that I can be effective in it? No, you shall first seek God’s kingdom.

Shall I give all my fortune to the poor, then? No, first you shall seek God’s kingdom.

Shall I go out and proclaim this teaching to the world, then? No, you shall first seek God’s kingdom.

But then, in a certain sense, is there in fact nothing I shall do? Yes, quite true—in a certain sense there is nothing. You shall, in the deepest sense, make yourself nothing, become nothing before God, learn to keep silent. In this silence is the beginning, which is first to seek God’s kingdom.

Thus, in a godly way, does one come, in a certain sense, backward to the beginning. The beginning is not that with which one begins but is that to which one comes, and one comes to it backward.

Beginning is this art of becoming silent, for there is no art in keeping silent as nature is. And in the deepest sense, this becoming silent—silent before God—is the beginning of the fear of God; for as the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, so is silence the beginning of the fear of God.

]]> https://sauna.writeas.com/seek-first-gods-kingdom-and-his-righteousness Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:37:29 +0000 If people in this world understood how to treat feminine allure as... https://sauna.writeas.com/if-people-in-this-world-understood-how-to-treat-feminine-allure-as?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[If people in this world understood how to treat feminine allure as medicine—neither keeping it far away nor overindulging, neither shunning it completely nor becoming obsessed with it—they would find balance. Before approaching such wiles, one should think: 'This is medicine, not poison—why fear it?' And when indulging in it, one should reflect: 'This is medicine, not sustenance—why drown in it?]]> If people in this world understood how to treat feminine allure as medicine—neither keeping it far away nor overindulging, neither shunning it completely nor becoming obsessed with it—they would find balance. Before approaching such wiles, one should think: 'This is medicine, not poison—why fear it?' And when indulging in it, one should reflect: 'This is medicine, not sustenance—why drown in it?

]]> https://sauna.writeas.com/if-people-in-this-world-understood-how-to-treat-feminine-allure-as Tue, 18 Nov 2025 03:37:03 +0000 They have lost the country inside themselves and will never regain it outside. https://sauna.writeas.com/they-have-lost-the-country-inside-themselves-and-will-never-regain-it-outside?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[They have lost the country inside themselves and will never regain it outside.]]> They have lost the country inside themselves and will never regain it outside.

]]> https://sauna.writeas.com/they-have-lost-the-country-inside-themselves-and-will-never-regain-it-outside Wed, 29 Oct 2025 04:36:00 +0000 The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain,... https://sauna.writeas.com/the-sweetest-thing-in-all-my-life-has-been-the-longing-to-reach-the-mountain?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from — my country, the place where I ought to have been born. Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home? For indeed it now feels not like going, but like going back.]]> The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from — my country, the place where I ought to have been born. Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home? For indeed it now feels not like going, but like going back.

]]> https://sauna.writeas.com/the-sweetest-thing-in-all-my-life-has-been-the-longing-to-reach-the-mountain Mon, 30 Jun 2025 18:38:13 +0000 He had a high opinion of his own insight, a weakness excusable in him as he was... https://sauna.writeas.com/he-had-a-high-opinion-of-his-own-insight-a-weakness-excusable-in-him-as-he-was?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[He had a high opinion of his own insight, a weakness excusable in him as he was fifty, an age at which a clever man of the world of established position can hardly help taking himself rather seriously.]]> He had a high opinion of his own insight, a weakness excusable in him as he was fifty, an age at which a clever man of the world of established position can hardly help taking himself rather seriously.

]]> https://sauna.writeas.com/he-had-a-high-opinion-of-his-own-insight-a-weakness-excusable-in-him-as-he-was Wed, 07 May 2025 03:44:40 +0000 The Apostle Thomas said that he would not believe till he saw, but when he did... https://sauna.writeas.com/the-apostle-thomas-said-that-he-would-not-believe-till-he-saw-but-when-he-did?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[The Apostle Thomas said that he would not believe till he saw, but when he did see he said, "My Lord and my God!" Was it the miracle forced him to believe? Most likely not, but he believed solely because he desired to believe and possible he fully believed in his secret heart even when he said, "I do not believe till I see."]]> The Apostle Thomas said that he would not believe till he saw, but when he did see he said, “My Lord and my God!” Was it the miracle forced him to believe? Most likely not, but he believed solely because he desired to believe and possible he fully believed in his secret heart even when he said, “I do not believe till I see.”

]]> https://sauna.writeas.com/the-apostle-thomas-said-that-he-would-not-believe-till-he-saw-but-when-he-did Thu, 01 May 2025 05:27:11 +0000 “Well, brother, to make an end of it,” Grigory suddenly nodded at Alyosha, “go... https://sauna.writeas.com/well-brother-to-make-an-end-of-it-grigory-suddenly-nodded-at-alyosha-go?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[“Well, brother, to make an end of it,” Grigory suddenly nodded at Alyosha, “go and eat the pancakes. It’s an ancient tradition, pancakes, a festival food. Only, mind, don’t think too much”.]]> “Well, brother, to make an end of it,” Grigory suddenly nodded at Alyosha, “go and eat the pancakes. It’s an ancient tradition, pancakes, a festival food. Only, mind, don’t think too much”.

]]> https://sauna.writeas.com/well-brother-to-make-an-end-of-it-grigory-suddenly-nodded-at-alyosha-go Tue, 11 Mar 2025 05:07:15 +0000