Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nikolai Vodnevsky
Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nikolai Vodnevsky. It is no exaggeration to say that this was a man who left a great spiritual legacy. His strength was in his simplicity. Anyone who met him remembers his unique charm, the basis of which was simplicity and openness.
A man who survived the war, went through captivity, DP camps, emigrant disenfranchisement, misunderstanding and arrogance of his brothers, the death of his wife and the funeral of his son, Nikolai Alexandrovich managed not to close, not to slam, instead he radiated kindness and smiling. Who but Vodnevsky could have written the lines:
Thank God for all the giving,
Thank God for all the suffering,
Thank God for the dark nights,
Days of success and days of failure…
Is it any wonder that his verses became songs. Christians, forced to live behind the Iron Curtain, sang these lines without the slightest idea of who the author was; handwritten verses that resonated in their hearts with warmth and worldly wisdom.
The clock on everyone’s hand
Counting the shards of days.
There are many important things in life
But time is the most precious
His life’s work was without any doubt the newspaper “Nashi Dney”. The world’s only Christian newspaper in Russian, published weekly from 1966 to the present time. “Spiritual bread” – that’s what Vodnevsky himself called it. And since the bread must be fresh, he joined the weekly exhausting marathon, which he ran to the end.
The magazine “Faith and Life”, numerous poetry collections, prose books and the famous “I want to know”, radio programs, articles, notes and sermons – in all of this you can see the unbridled desire, thirst to bring the message of the Gospel to every person.
The soul, like a bird, seeks bread,
And that bread is given to it by God.
There’s one road to heaven,
There are thousands of roads to perdition…
In his relentless work, the writer seemed to strive to stop on these thousands of roads of people going to perdition. Well and the unparalleled atmosphere of meetings in his house, understanding of colleagues with half a word, witty statements, jokes and simplicity (again) in communication with colleagues – no arrogance, sense of superiority, arrogance or stardom.
Such a spiritual harvest is not possible for everyone, but rather for a few. Nikolai Alexandrovich Vodnevsky, Nick Voden, undoubtedly belongs to these few. At the end of his life, I think, he was happy to listen to another verse, which became a song, sung by his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
I have much to thank the Creator for,
He’s taken away my sinful leprosy
Oh, let the praise of the Creator
Praise Him in poems and stories.
That’s why I want to love
Him more, more sincerely and more purely.
I have much to thank Christ for
He bought me a heavenly home…
Source:facebook.com
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