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Once I heard a wonderful question, “Do you have
anything worth telling God?” At ¬rst, I thought
about sins and repentance, but the question turned
out to be about something entirely di£erent. “And
what if God wishes to ask you about Earth, what
will you tell Him?” ¢en I realized. ¢e question is
about what we have accomplished, or where we
have been repeating, “¢at is something for me to
remember.” It is about what the distinguished
writer Ernest Hemingway called ‘the holiday, which
is always with you’. About our experiences, our
memories. For me, it is our travels with the
editorial team about the holy places. Each of those
places has le their mark on me, be it good or bad,
warm or cold, but it is a mark. ¢is project has
made each member of our team a little bit di£erent,
even changed someone’s entire life. Changed for the
better. We have become calmer, more con¬dent.
When we meet, we can simply sit there together in
silence, not because we have nothing to say to each
other, but because we have something to be silent
about together, feeling let in on a universal secret,
which has been revealed to us and makes us
happier. ¢is is what I wish to all our readers who
will decide to follow in our footsteps and visit the
places we have been to, the places that have been
¬lled with prayer for many a century.
Although, of course, visiting prayerful places is
only one step to self-improvement. My spiritual
teacher once told me that you need to have
a prayerful heart, which is up to each person to
accomplish individually. Holy places do not make
us holy, but they teach us to make ourselves better
on our way to God. Of course, I will also let you in
on one more secret mentioned in my stories.
When you come to a monastery, knowing nothing
about it, look for… a stalker rather than a map.
Look for someone who knows everything about
this place, whose words can make the silent
monastery walls come alive. This is the hardest
endeavor, therefore, to find a person like that —
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