Dr. Serhii Krymsky on solemn peace of mind
New Year and Christmas Eve are [for the Eastern Orthodox believers] the best time to ponder over things eternal, the inexhaustible sources of kindness in every soul. After all, this is the sense of our being. The Day asked Dr. Serhii Krymsky, Ph.D. (Philosophy), a noted scholar, a man with encyclopedic knowledge who has worthily contributed to this periodical for many years, to share his thoughts on the eve of these festive occasions. I spoke with Dr. Krymsky on St. Nicholas’ Day that actually starts the New Year and Christmas festivities, when we are joyously anticipating Christmas, in an atmosphere that leads one’s mind in directions other than rational reflection and traditional newspaper genres, so I hope the reader will respond to the following not as just another interview but as something akin to festive meditation and good wishes.
Dr. Krymsky: “Saint Paul, addressing people on Christmas Eve, said he wished them love and quiet soul.
Concurring with this, we will have in mind that quiet of our consciousness which is the only way to communicate with divine forces; that quietude which is not intruded upon by political rhetoric or buzzing and babbling cell phones; that love that sees the sense of life in making at least another fellow human happy. This is also about earthly feelings reaching for Heaven, feelings that give people real inspiration. A poet wrote, ‘May your mind be kind, /May your heart be wise.’
“This standpoint allows us to pin our hopes on good people as our partners. Any ideas, even the most attractive ones, can be used in different ways, including bad ways, whereas virtues inherent in good people resist all attempts to use them egotistically. Kind-hearted people are loved by children and praised by Bach’s cantatas and Vedel’s religious concertos. Some of these people become saints who are the pillars of life in any daily manifestations.You will wonder if it isn’t naive to rely on help from good people who have experienced two world wars, the Holodomor, Nazism, and Stalinist terror. However, in this complicated 21st century naivete can acquire the strength of grass that breaks through the asphalt in spring.
“This self-asserting power of life can explain Dostoevsky’s statement that mankind will defend itself at the Last Judgment with the novel Don Quixote which shows how the tender heart of the Knight of the Rueful Countenance defeats even death. While dying, he hears the voice of Princess Dulcinea del Toboso and she is not an apparition but the princess of his dreams. She tells Don Quixote that, despite all his defeats, he is a living example for her. She implores him not to die and say a few words in his knight’s language, that this will make her happy for the rest of her life.
“The knight’s kind heart is the essence of the Ukrainian nation’s cardiocentrism that has allowed it to form its destiny in any dramatic circumstances and overcome danger in any historical ordeals.”
