M. Moscow Compound of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra . 2003. 165s. What is this art the art of living? The author of the present book, Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin), gives an unexpected answer to this question, from which many, perhaps, will at the first moment become uncomfortable. The art of living is, according to his point of view, in the ability to ... die. Yes, indeed, to die is for the world, for the sin that reigns in it, for the passions that have enslaved our heart. Many things must distinguish a Christian from people who do not know God and who live without God. But one of the most fundamental differences is in relation to the question of life and death .. For the unbeliever, death is the last line beyond which there is no longer anything........... For a Christian, the boundary separating time from eternity, life brief and ghostly from the infinite and true. If the life of this world is really so short, if it is filled with sorrows, if there is no real, lasting happiness in it, then why did a loving, merciful Lord give it to us? So that, knowing how meaningless it is in itself, we would seek the meaning of our existence outside it ...... So that they may know that it is a time of repentance, not joy and pleasure, a time of doing, not a time of recompense. In order that we may see ourselves as travelers on the road to eternity, on the road on which we must seek and truly find God. Here on earth, our eternal destiny is decided. It is not decided by God, but by us .. The Lord is infinite Wisdom, ineffable, unimaginable Love. By His love He desires to save each and every one of us. By His wisdom He knows how to do it. It is up to us to accept this salvation or reject it.