"Elizaveta Iurievna Kuzmina-Karavaeva Skobtsova, later known as Mother Maria, was a Russian Orthodox religious thinker, poet and artist. Her multi-faceted legacy includes articles, poems, art, and drama. In the 1910s she was part of the literary milieu of St. Petersburg and was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. She fled Russia soon after the Bolsheviks' takeover and lived in Paris, where she became a nun. In 1935, she participated in organizing the so-called Orthodox Action, which was designed to help Russian immigrants in France. She and her fellow-workers from Orthodox Action opened a house for homeless and sick immigrants in Paris. During the Nazi occupation of the city, the house was transformed into a refuge for Jews and displaced persons. Mother Maria and her son were arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and died in the Ravensbruck camp in Germany. Mother Maria's selfless devotion to people and her death as a martyr will never be forgotten. In 2004, the Holy Synod confirmed the glorification of Mother Maria." - from Columbia University Libraries Special Collection link

Simple, Ordinary Kindness

Today is the reading of the Judgement in the Orthodox cycle.  The passage from Saint Matthew's Gospel telling us that those who feed Christ in the Poor are the ones who receive Eternal Reward.  Those who do not feed Christ in the Poor are sent off into damnation.

At some point we have to wrestle with our motives.  When we are new believers, it is expected that we will be in it for the reward.  But, having been believers for a while, we should start to do these things because we are asked.  And, ultimately because we recognize that they are the right things to do.

Along with this maturation we also develop a deeper understanding of the mundane.  We may be called to great and heroic deeds on occasion, but most of the time we are called to do each little thing we do with love.  Small, simple and ordinary things done with kindness bespeak a regularity and a steadiness in our compassion.  They reveal that our compassion is truly a part of our hearts.

Peace,

Tom +

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