We share with people that which we possess ourselves

http://www.mospat.ru/ru/2012/11/25/news76409/

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D. Kogan: .... What do you think, is it necessary to influence the youth so that they would attend churches, so that they would go to concert halls, to theatres, museums, or should this process be a matter of personal choice for each person, a sum of his own ideas and understanding of the world?

Metropolitan Hilarion: Looking at us from the sidelines, a few people think that the Church is preoccupied with attracting young people because it wants to increase its numbers, and that a musician worries about the hall being full so that there would be income from ticket sales. But I am convinced that our main motivation is to share with people that which we were fortunate enough to obtain in this life, that which we were imparted. We will take your example. You are a third generation musician. Your grandfather is the great violinist Leonid Kogan. I listened to him as a young boy. His name was known to everyone in our country. Today you are fulfilling that very same mission, you are continuing the work of your father, your grandfather, you are sharing with people that which you obtained from them and that which you received yourself in the process of your formation. You, of course, want to convey this to the largest number of people as possible. You do this because the music which you perform and which you translate for people bears positive news. The task we are fulfilling is similar to a great degree. We share with people that which we possess ourselves. We tell people what is the meaning of life, but not because we want to impose something, but because we ourselves have come to this –through our parents, through our spiritual formation, mostly through our own life experience. Sometimes people ask us: “And how will you prove the existence of God?” We in no way can prove it. We can only refer to the experience of our own personal life. Life has taught me that there is a God. Thousands of times I have been convinced of the fact that God helps me. I can tell this to other people: whoever wants will believe, whoever does not want to will not believe.

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Metropolitan Hilarion: According to the teaching of the Church, God created man in His image and likeness. And this image of God in man is expressed, among other things, through the creative act: when the Lord sent Adam to paradise, He said: “Here is paradise for you, so that you would cultivate it” (Cf. Genesis 2:15). All was already accomplished there, all was prepared, but man needed to be the creator. He comes into this world not simply to pass some kind of segment of time and leave, - he comes in order to bring something into this world. I think the absolute significance of creative achievements is found in this. And the general task of people of the Church and people of culture is to propagandize the legacy of great composers, artists, thinkers, writers, poets, to attract to this legacy the maximum number of people.

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Metropolitan Hilarion: .... For me, music is one of the forms of preaching. I think that a priest should use all available means to preach. If he finished art school and loves to draw, it means he can in addition to his usual service, in addition to the sermons he preaches at church services, use these talents. A priest, and every Christian, can preach by all means available to him and in all languages in which he is fluent. Music is a language, moreover a very powerful language, very strong, and with the help of this language you can convey that which in words you will never convey. You can convey to the listeners the energetic charge you have if, when you write music, you put yourself wholly into it. I invested in that music not only my heart and soul, but also, of course, my experience of the Church. The idea included relaying the atmosphere of the church, the atmosphere of the church services of Passion Week to the stage of the concert hall, to give to people who do not go to church regularly the possibility of feeling that atmosphere, to become familiar with it, to give to churchly people who regularly attend church, but, perhaps, do not know very well the services of Passion Week, the possibility of experiencing at a new level these texts and most importantly – to experience the story of the Passions of Christ.

D. Kogan: So it is possible to say that the educational aspect is clearly evident here?

Metropolitan Hilarion: The educational aspect is a missionary aspect. All my life is devoted to bringing people to Christ, His teaching and His image. And I am glad if through the aid of musical art I manage to bring this image to people.

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