In the office of a young KGB officer, a Christian was subjected to severe interrogation. After many unsuccessful attempts to persuade him to cooperate, the officer offered a frank conversation.
Let's be clear, he said. - What did your God give you, whom you serve so fanatically? ..
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Monk price
One smuggler, fearing police raids, approached a very famous monk with a request to hide smuggled goods in a monastery. He counted on the fact that the police would not suspect the priest - he had an impeccable reputation.
The monk reacted to such a request with indignation and demanded that the person immediately leave the monastery...
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Kingdom of chains
Once upon a time there lived a blacksmith in one kingdom. He learned to make chains so beautiful that he eventually began to wear them on himself. This innovation was liked by other blacksmiths. Then other people began to put chains on themselves, and even the king and the nobility. The king issued a special decree on the universal wearing of chains. Children in schools were taught how to wear chains...
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Hooligan in the temple
Once, a young man of large build entered the temple during a service, whose face showed evil intentions. He went ahead of everyone, sat down on a bench and, lounging, began to peel seeds and swear loudly. There was a sermon, a priest was standing behind the pulpit...
Evening comes, darkness falls on the city and the children go to their beds to fall asleep sweetly. But before enjoying pleasant dreams, every child likes to listen to fairy tales that will remain in your heart for life. Then why not combine business with pleasure and read to your child at night useful and instructive parables for children.
The parable is short story which contains the wisdom of our ancestors. Often, parables for children are instructive stories on some moral topic. Previously, they were used as one of the ways to raise children, since they are understandable to every child, easy to remember and as close to reality as possible. Thus, parables differ from fables, which are very allegorical and not always clear to young listeners. Children's parables tell about friendship, family and family values about good and evil, about God and much more.
Biblical and Orthodox parables for children
For centuries, the Bible has been the most famous book in the world. It's not only sacred texts for Christians, but greatest monument cultural heritage humanity. Biblical parables are found on the pages of the Old and New Testaments. Of course, it will be difficult for young children to understand all the sacred meaning that is hidden in biblical texts, but with the help of parents, the child will be able to understand them. The most famous Orthodox parables for children are the parables “ About the prodigal son”, “ About the publican and the Pharisee”, which tell children about mercy and forgiveness, the parable “ About the Good Samaritan”, which teaches kids kindness and compassion, and many others. Jesus Christ very often communicated with his followers through parables, since they help to understand the meaning of all that is hidden.
Short parables for children
Some children, especially very young ones, do not like long stories, it is much easier for them to understand short texts, with simple conclusions. In this case, you can short parables for children to read to a child every evening. And each time an instructive and interesting story which will remain in memory.
We especially recommend friendship parables for children- for example, the parable of the nails. Very often children say something evil and bad to their friends and relatives. This parable will help them understand how important it is to appreciate loved ones and not offend them with careless words.
Children's parables about good and evil are probably the most useful for our younger generation. After all, the child does not have life experience, so it is difficult for him to distinguish bad from good, good from evil, white from black. It is necessary to teach the baby such basic concepts, and parables about good and evil for children will be most useful. We recommend reading: " Good fox", "Grandfather and death".
Parables can teach everything. The most important and useful little stories are parables about family and family values, because there is nothing more important in our life. It is especially useful for children to read parables about a mother, about love, about good and bad, about truth and lies.
Teach and educate your child early childhood, then in the future it will grow up good and kind person responsive to the suffering of others, merciful and honest. Only in this way will our world become kinder and cleaner!
A few parables from the collections:
According to the book: Desert Fathers: A collection of Christian parables and legends.
From the series of books "101 parables".
ONE HERMIT
came to complain to the elder that every day from nine in the morning he felt a strange hunger in his solitude. Although in the monastery where he used to live, he managed to spend several days without food.
“Don’t be surprised at this, my son,” the elder answered him. - There is no one in the desert who would be a witness to your fasts and who would support and feed you with praises. Previously, vanity served you as food in the monastery, and the pleasure that you experienced, being distinguished from others by your abstinence, was sweeter than dinner for you.
INVITED ONCE
the holy elder for advice in order to decide how to punish the sinning monk. But the elder refused to go to the council. The brothers argued and argued, but, having not come up with a worthy punishment, they decided to go to the elder themselves.
The old man saw this, he shouldered a holey sandbag and went out to meet them.
- Where are you going? - asks the elder brethren.
- I'm coming to you for advice.
Why did you take the sandbag with you?
- How do you know that there is sand in the bag?
- So look back. Your bag is leaky, and sand is pouring out of it.
“It’s not sand, it’s my sins that are falling behind me,” the elder told them. - But I don’t even look back at them, but I go to judge other people’s sins.
The monks understood what the elder meant and forgave their brother.
AT ONE START
asked:
- How do you have the patience to be alone in this abandoned corner of the earth?
He replied:
- I'm never alone. I always have an interlocutor - the Lord. When I want Him to speak to me, I read Holy Scripture. And when I want to talk to Him myself, I pray.
WHEN TO ONE
The disciple came to the elder with a confession of sins, he always said to him:
- Get up!
But I've gotten up and down many times.
- Get up again!
- How long will I fall and get up?
- Until death overtakes you - fallen or risen, - the elder answered him.
According to the book: There was a man ...: A collection of Christian parables and legends.
From the series of books "101 parables".
The fisherman was transporting one person on a boat. The passenger hurried the fisherman:
- Hurry, I'm late for work!
And then he saw that on one oar it was written "pray", and on the other - "work".
- Why is this? - he asked.
- For memory - the fisherman answered. - In order not to forget that we must pray and work.
“Well, it’s understandable to work, everyone needs it, but praying,” the man waved his hand, “is not necessary. No one needs it, why waste time praying.
- No need? - asked the fisherman and pulled out of the water an oar with the inscription "pray", and he began to row with one oar. The boat circled in place.
- You see, what work without prayer. We are spinning in one place and no movement forward.
From this it is clear: in order to sail successfully on the stormy sea of life, you must firmly hold two oars in your hands: pray and work.
A drought happened in ONE CITY. Summer was in full swing, and the city priest called everyone to the temple in the morning to pray for rain. The whole city came, and the whole city laughed at one child - the child came with an umbrella. Everyone laughed and said:
- Fool, why did you bring an umbrella? You lose, there is no rain.
- And I thought that if you pray, then it will rain, - the child answered.
In the HOUSE of some rich people, they stopped praying before meals. One day a priest came to visit them. The table was laid very elegantly, the best dishes were taken out and the best drinks were served. The family sat down at the table. Everyone looked at the priest and thought that he would pray before eating. But the priest said:
- The father of the family should pray at the table, because he is the first prayer book in the family.
There was an unpleasant silence, because no one in this family prayed. The father cleared his throat and said: “You know, dear father, we don’t pray, because the prayer before meals always repeats the same thing. Prayers out of habit are empty talk. These repetitions are every day, every year, so we no longer pray.
The priest looked at everyone in surprise, but then a seven-year-old girl said:
- Dad, don't I need to come to you every morning and say " good morning"?
A man was walking along the beach. Everything around was dotted with algae, small fish and starfish washed ashore after a terrible storm.
Suddenly he saw a little girl. She bent down to the ground, took something, and then threw it into the sea.
- Why are you doing it? the man asked. You can't help them all! Too many of them!
“Perhaps,” the girl replied, throwing another one as far as possible into the sea. starfish. But for her, I did everything I could.
Two people were standing on the side of the road and talking about something.
A drunkard passed by them and said to himself:
- Probably, they are now agreeing to go to the cellar together to drink wine.
And the drunkard, forgetting about all his affairs, hurried to the tavern.
A fornicator passed by those who were talking and thought:
- Here are people, not afraid of publicity, conspiring in the middle of broad daylight for carnal pleasures. Why am I worse?
Having changed his route, the fornicator went to the den of debauchery.
The righteous man passed by and said to himself:
- People have found time and have a good conversation, leaving the fuss. But I, a sinner, have not chosen an hour for the third day to visit a sick neighbor.
And the righteous man, putting aside all his worries, hastened to support kind word sick.
So righteous people they see the good in everything, and for the slaves of vice the whole world is a temptation to sin.
ONE HAIRDRESSER, while cutting a client's hair, talked to him about God:
- If God exists, why so many sick people? Where do homeless children and unjust wars come from? If He really existed, there would be no suffering, no pain. It's hard to imagine loving god, which allows all of this. Therefore, I personally do not believe in its existence.
Then the client said to the hairdresser:
- You know what I'll say? There are no hairdressers.
- How it is? - the hairdresser was surprised. - One of them is now in front of you.
- Not! the client exclaimed. “They don’t exist, otherwise there wouldn’t be as many overgrown and unshaven people as the man walking down the street over there.
- Well, dear man, it's not about hairdressers! It's just that people don't come to me.
- In fact of the matter! the client confirmed. - And I'm talking about the same thing: God exists. It's just that people don't seek Him and don't come to Him. That is why there is so much pain and suffering in the world.
According to St. Basil the Great, the word "Parable" comes from the word "flow" - "come" and means a short instructive story, a travel saying that serves as a guide to the path, guides a person on the paths of life, giving him the means to a prosperous flow along these paths.
We present to the attention of our readers the joy of the sages - a selection of Christian parables that will help them understand their faith and build their spiritual life correctly:
1. Novice and elder
One day an old monk and a young novice were returning to their monastery. Their path was crossed by a river, which, due to the rains, overflowed very strongly. A young woman was standing on the shore, who also needed to cross to the opposite shore, but she could not do without outside help.
The vow strictly forbade the monks to touch women, and the novice defiantly turned away from her. The elder approached the woman, took her in his arms and carried her across the river.
For the rest of the journey, the companions remained silent, but at the very monastery, the young novice, condemning, turned to his experienced brother: “How could you touch a woman!? You made a vow! Will you be able to calmly enter the gates of our monastery after this?”
The elder answered this: “Strange, having transferred the woman, I left her there, by the stream, and you still carry her with you - in your heart and thoughts.”
2. Mind or heart?
One old man asked another:
“What do you think, brother, which is better to follow, the mind or the heart?”
“Heart,” he replies.
- And on what basis?
— On the simple ground that the heart shows us our duty, and the mind provides reasons to shirk from its fulfillment.
3. Passion
One day, two young men came to a holy elder and asked: “Tell us, father, how to fight bad inclinations and eradicate bad habits?”
To this, the hermit said to one of the young men: "Tear out this sprout." The bush was tiny, and the young man tore it out easily, with one hand.
After that, the elder said again: “My friend, now tear out this tree.” The young man did this too, but with difficulty and effort: the bush was much higher and stronger than the first.
Then the elder said for the third time: "Now try to pull out this tree." The young man hugged his trunk and tried to fulfill the command, but in vain. He called his brother, and the two of them tried to at least shake the tree, but in vain. The tree is deeply rooted in the ground.
Then the elder said to the brothers: “My children, evil inclinations and habits are like these trees. If they are not yet deeply rooted in our heart, then one firm will is enough to exterminate them. But once they have grown strong and taken root, it is almost impossible to deal with them. Eradicate the evil in yourself before it develops into something more.”
4. Different students
One elder had a student who was distinguished by obedience and at the same time was a good scribe. The elder loved him for his obedience. The elder also had eleven other disciples, and they began to grieve that the elder loved the scribe more than they did.
Hearing their murmuring, the other elders began to reproach the abba. Then he led them to the cells of his disciples.
- Brother! Come here soon! I need you,” the abba repeated, knocking on each door in turn.
But none of the students was in a hurry to open it: someone at that moment was singing psalms and did not want to be interrupted, another was weaving ropes and was afraid to spoil his needlework because of his haste.
Finally, the turn came to the scribe. Abba only softly knocked on the door and called his name. At the same moment the door swung open, and a monk appeared on the threshold with a pen in his hand.
- Tell me, fathers, where do you see my other students? asked the abba.
Then he entered the cell, took the notebook and saw that the student had just begun to write new letter, but ran to open the teacher, not even finishing it.
Then the elders said:
“It is fair that you love him, abba. And we all love him, and God loves him.
5. Judgment
One married couple moved to new apartment. In the morning, the wife looked out the window and, seeing a neighbor hanging out the washed clothes, she said to her husband:
“Look how dirty her laundry is, she probably doesn’t know how to wash it.”
This happened every time the neighbor hung out the linen, the wife was surprised at how dirty it was. One day, waking up and looking out the window, she exclaimed:
- The linen is clean today! ...Finally, the neighbor learned to wash.
“No,” said the husband, “I just got up early today and washed your glass…
6. Be able to rejoice
One woman had two sons. The elder was selling umbrellas. The younger one dyed fabrics. When the sun was shining, no one bought umbrellas from the eldest son, and when it rained, the fabrics of the youngest son did not dry. This made the woman very sad, and her life became sad.
One day she met wise man and he gave her advice. Since then, when the sun was shining, she was happy for her younger son, who successfully dried his fabrics, and when it rained, she was happy for her older son, from whom everyone bought umbrellas. And life got better.
7. Heaven and Hell
One Monk really wanted to know what Heaven is and what Hell is, he prayed to God that the best way understand this and pondered for a long time.
Once, when he fell asleep during his painful thoughts, he had a dream that he was in Hell.
The monk looked around and saw: people were sitting in front of cauldrons of food. All exhausted and hungry. Everyone has a spoon with a long handle in their hands. Each person easily scoops them out of the cauldron, but cannot get into the mouth with a spoon - the length of the handle is longer than the length of the arm.
Suddenly the picture changes and the monk finds himself in Paradise. And everything is the same there - people with long-handled spoons are sitting near cauldrons with stew, but their faces are beaming with happiness!
The monk took a closer look and understood why: the inhabitants of paradise fed each other ...
8. About respect for elders
Lived in the same family an old man. His eyes were blind, his hearing dulled, his knees trembled. He could hardly hold a spoon in his hands and while eating he often spilled soup on the tablecloth, and sometimes some of the food fell out of his mouth.
The son and his wife were very annoyed at the sight of the infirmity of the elderly parent and began to put him in a corner behind the stove while eating, and the food was served to him in an old saucer ... From there, the old man looked sadly at the beautifully laid rich table, and his eyes became moist.
Once he was so worried that he could not hold the saucer of food, it fell to the floor and broke. The young mistress began to scold the elderly father of the family, and he silently bore the insults, sighing bitterly.
Later, the wife persuaded her husband to buy his father a cheap wooden bowl. Now he had to eat from it.
Once, when the parents were sitting at the table, their four-year-old son entered the room with a wooden deck in his hands.
- What do you want to do? the father asked.
"Wooden trough," answered the little one. You will eat from it when I grow up!
The answer of the child so struck the father and mother that they fell on their knees before the aged father and confessed for their disrespect.
9. Pots
A monk once came to his mentor and said:
- Father, how many times I go to you, I repent of my sins, how many times you instructed me with advice, but I cannot correct myself. What use is it for me to come to you, if after our conversations I again fall into my sins?
Ava replied:
“My son, take two clay pots, one with honey and the other empty.
The student did just that.
“And now,” the teacher said, “pour the honey several times from one pot to another.
The student obeyed...
“Now, son, look at the empty pot and smell it.
The student looked, sniffed and said:
“Father, the empty pot smells like honey, and there, on the bottom, there is some thick honey left.
“That's it,” the teacher said, “and my instructions settle in your soul. If for the sake of Christ you acquire at least a part of the virtues in your life, then the Lord, by His mercy, will make up for their deficiency and save your soul for life in paradise. For even an earthly mistress does not pour pepper into a pot that smells of honey. So God will not reject you if you keep in your soul at least the beginnings of righteousness!
10. Difficult moments
One day a man had a dream. He dreamed that he was walking along a sandy shore, and next to him was the Lord. Pictures from his life flashed in the sky, and after each of them he noticed two chains of footprints in the sand: one from his feet, the other from the feet of the Lord.
As the last picture of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. And saw that often along it life path there was only one line of footprints. He also noticed that these were the most difficult and unhappy times in his life ...
Then he became very sad and began to murmur against the Lord:
“Didn’t You tell me: if I follow Your path, You will not leave me. But I noticed that at the very hard times of my life, only one chain of footprints stretched across the sand. Why did You leave me when I needed You the most?
The Lord replied:
- My son! I love you very much and will never leave you. When there were sorrows and trials in your life, only one chain of footprints stretched along the road. But this is because then I carried you in my arms ...
Andrey Segeda
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Christian parables are an expression of the basic ideas of Christianity - a doctrine that originated in the 1st century AD. e. in Palestine. The basis of Christianity is a combination of several assumptions, the most important of which is that the entire human race, being born in the original sin of Adam and Eve, is sinful and therefore needs to be saved, and every person carries in himself from birth the grain of this sin and must redeem him before God. How to seek this path of salvation is suggested to us christian parables. It's amazing how easily they are perceived by readers. It is noteworthy that, unlike many parables based on other teachings, in Christian parables you will not find edifying moralizing.
No matter how trite it may sound, but from Christian parables it emanates exactly goodness, and the meaning of the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself” lies in each of them. They are filled with mercy, compassion and love for all living things. However, here the reader will discover an ironic mockery of human greed, bragging and stupidity in a light, but still perceptible form.
Christian parables have an amazing structure. First, the reader is asked a question, to which he himself gives the answer. It is quite obvious that the question is one, but the answers will be given by different readers, of course, different from each other. Each subsequent reading of the same parable opens us more and more new horizons of human existence.
Like many parables from other cultures, Christian parables position human existence as suffering. Before we can be delivered and fall into the hands of the Lord, we must drink the full cup of suffering. Reading these parables, we involuntarily begin to think about how we live, how we relate to people close to us, to older and just passing acquaintances or passers-by. In parables, we can learn the truth that even a casual, in your opinion, passerby must be treated with respect, because “the ways of the Lord are inscrutable” and perhaps after a while your life or the life of your child will depend on this passerby.
It is also interesting that the same parable can give us answers to different questions, for example, the parable "Human Ways". Christian parables are the result of the experience of generations. The wise men who lived their lives and made many mistakes, having drawn the appropriate conclusions, set it down to us on paper in a simple and interesting form advice, and how to dispose of this source, everyone decides for himself.
Unfortunately, the modern picture of the world dictates false values to us, placing material goods above all else. The parable of the prodigal son illustrates this truth perfectly. Here we see all the suffering that every sinner goes through. We often get too carried away with the pleasures available to us. own desires. However, having achieved everything we wanted, while passing “over our heads”, we begin to feel emptiness inside. In order to overcome it, we return to the origins - in Father's house. Only here unconditional understanding and help awaits us, so now we have to go all the way anew from the beginning to the very end.
The parable of the prodigal son is for all time, its value will not be lost for a very long time, and more than one generation will find answers to their questions in it. Christian parables so subtly expose dark sides human essence that we do not need direct reference to them. The characters in many ways resemble ourselves, and we involuntarily come to the conclusion that we are ashamed of this or that act. What we read, as it were, by itself suggests us the idea of the need to correct or, conversely, forgive the person who hurt us.
To date, the program of many general education schools provides for the study of Christian parables by schoolchildren, and this is no accident. The inquisitive mind of children is looking for answers to their questions. It may be difficult for parents to find words or they simply do not have enough time for intimate conversations, so reading parables can calm the mind of a child and give him some clarifications about human life.
Wise Christian Parables
So, we have already decided that one of the main goals of Christian parables is to tell a person how to find the path of salvation. Precisely suggest, not specify. This is very a fine line, since human nature in many cases reacts negatively to direct pointers. The wisdom of Christian parables lies in directing a person to the true path.
Reading the parables, we begin to realize that every deed will surely have some kind of consequence, and, as you know, a person is rewarded according to his deserts. At the same time, kindness must come from the heart, and it must be sincere, which means that a swindler who transferred an old lady across the road, but nevertheless continued to deceive people, will not receive atonement for his sins.
Wise Christian parables teach us that the path to the true perfect goal is thorny and full of obstacles. The parable “The Closest Way to God” tells how something that is of no value, as a rule, always lies on the surface.
It is worth noting that in Christian parables there is also a certain element of intimidation, fear of God and his punishment. This, again, to the question that for any impious deed, punishment will follow. At the same time, a bad deed cannot be hidden, since God is omnipresent and sees everything, he sees both torment and good deeds and rewards them. Reading, for example, the parable “God is everywhere,” we begin to understand that all our deeds will be, if I may say so, taken into account, and that by asking from the bottom of our hearts and, of course, making efforts to this, we can count on the help of the Almighty.
In parables, we can see another hidden meaning. true faith in God - this is not a daily visit to church, worship of icons, unquestioning observance of fasts, and so on. You may not do all this, but for pious thoughts, good deeds and love for your neighbors, the Almighty will undoubtedly reward you.
Parables also teach us to love ourselves. What is this love? The fact that we do not exchange for anger, envy, foul language and gossip. Lead a proper lifestyle, work hard, take care of the family, help those in need - we do all this, first of all, for our own sake. Only when a person realizes this simple truth will salvation be revealed to him.
Among other things, a truly noble person, with pure thoughts, tends to constantly doubt. In these doubts, we often lose ourselves, and even worse, we can come to the wrong decisions. Perhaps the age-old wisdom of Christian parables is able to return the light of truth to us?
Christian wisdom in parables
Christian wisdom in parables is subtle, but at the same time very deep. We must love our neighbors, respect them, and through this respect and love we learn to love ourselves. let's try in simple words explain how it happens. For example, imagine yourself in the role of a baker, try to bake your buns and bread as if you were baking them for yourself, for your children and parents. In a similar way you have to relate to everything you take on and how you conduct yourself in everyday life.
Day after day, by doing to others the way you would like them to do to you, constantly putting yourself in the place of another and trying on "someone else's shoes", you cease to be an egoist. But it is our ego that is the source of all failures and unjustified hopes. Ego is what prevents us from opening our heart and letting love in.
In Christian parables, we often encounter a situation when an angel descends from heaven to help a person, or when the voice of God himself gives advice to the hero. All this indicates that our physical body inextricably linked with the spiritual world.
Christian parables are lively vivid narratives, both truthful and striking in their deep wisdom and hidden meaning. That is why we remember many of them from childhood, only at the very mention of the concept of “parable”, images of the father and the prodigal son, Christ, the sage and the old man and so on emerge in our minds.
Read Christian parables, teach your children to read this, make such reading kind family tradition, and then their wisdom will undoubtedly be revealed to you, and an inquisitive mind will find answers to all exciting questions.
