Bios

Our life is amazing in all ways. From an early age, we  are absorbed by different interests, concerns, hobbies and games. We discover this world which requires finding the answers to many questions. First of them is, “Why?”. Later , many mistakes having been made, we can fix one more question, “ What if?”. Probably, one of the later questions is:“What do we live for?”.

The involvement in different events forms our life experience. What is experience? Perhaps, this is a sum of difficult mistakes. This paradigm is common for any period of life. At first sight, this bundle of questions, mistakes and successes seems to be tangled. All depends on an internal content. The quality of this content will help us understand what we live for. Very often we see people suffering from illness or grief. We can perceive it as being inevitable for people as a whole. We can display indignation that something happened tragically, criminally, not timely or accidentally. We can say to ourselves that it is good that it did not happen to us or to our family. Unfortunately, there is a space for gloating over another’s grief in our human nature. Fortunately, many people can feel the other’s pain in their hearts. This is a voice of empathy and desire to help suffering people. This voice comes out of the heart. This voice can answer many questions.

Finally, I have approached  the unusual story of an usual man. My name is Peter. I arrived in Canada four years ago. A routine became a part of my life. In the morning, I was happy to go to work. In the evening, I was happy to go home. On the Easter Monday, I went to church. Like a sinful man, I confessed and accepted the Blessed Sacrament. With filling grace, my life had been back to its usual direction. On the third day after  Easter, there happened to be an accident. A huge steel sheet weighing 800 lbs. fell on me. For a moment, it seemed to me as if I were  going to die. I was lying on the floor and calming down the guys I worked with. Strange as it may seem, I did not feel a fear.

Later on, at the hospital I heard one doctor saying to somebody about me , “He is lucky. It is a miracle that he survived”. After the shock, a pain got back to my body. I realized a horror of what could have happened. I had three neck bones broken and four spinal bones compressed. There appeared a new bundle consisting of doubts, fears, pain and desire to find a common answer. On my side there were several unshakeable pillars such as my faith and my family. There was a lot of tears from  my wife and children. Their tears washed away my pain. I have been living for the sake of my family.

My faith persuaded me that I was saved rather than punished. God brings us closer to the understanding suffering, grief, empathy and love through our own suffering. It is my own point of view, Besides, our life is full of different paradoxes. Healthy, cheerful people have the friends. They meet each other on many delightful occasions. This friendship has a pink color without being ready to be mixed with a dark one. My grief withdrew on the surface the slyness and insincerity of such idle friendship. It was very hard to be ignored by the close friends.

On the other hands, many people who were not close friends gave me their hearts full of empathy, help and prayers. Yes, prayers. In one of the Jerusalem’s churches people prayed for my health. In one of the Regina’s churches people prayed for me.

Perhaps, my story might show that our life has many surprises, paradoxes and  ways where people could be united by one rule and moral law to live for the sake of each other.