spiritual teaching
What is the history of the human race? A history of falls and rises, a history of the wavering of human thoughts, family and social life, and a history of the falls of kingdoms and peoples, individual cities and institutions. And what picture does our time present? A picture of the falls of all societies. What is the reason for such weakness of minds, classes, and institutions, deliberately gathering to establish a wavering state and, meanwhile, still wavering; where is the cause of darkness, weakness, and decline? In unbelief, in falling away from God, from God's wise instructions, in relying on one's own blind reason, in following one's own passions. And rightly so—without God, without the mind of God, without the law of God, without the Church of God, which is the pillar and ground of truth, societies cannot stand firm, and their institutions cannot have a firm support, and therefore they all fall apart, for it is said: Without Me you can do nothing.St. Righteous John of Kronstadt