It is impossible to imagine the cultural heritage to the fullest without oral folklore. Legends and tales transmitted literally by word of mouth were overgrown with new details and details, and this thread could be interrupted at any moment. Thanks to writing, we got the opportunity to preserve these most interesting examples of creativity, among which all sorts of sayings, sayings on various topics, proverbs about God, life and all kinds of aspects occupy a special place. If you analyze these laconic statements, you can quite accurately compile a collective portrait of a simple man of old times.
Reflection of religion in folk wisdom
It would be a mistake to believe that before the advent of Christianity in Russia there were no significant beliefs, although after the mass adoption of the Orthodox faith, the very word "god" began to automatically mean precisely a certain mystical person. To some extent, this is consistent with the Bible, where it is literally written, "may you have no other gods." But at the same time, a simple national deity even in this case is somewhat different from the canonical strict Father.
A little familiar attitude of the people may have come from pagan times, when a suitable idol was cut out from the first log that came across, and if he was guilty of something, did not send rains or did not help in the hunt, then you could easily get yourself a new one. The proverb “God saves God” perfectly illustrates a sober attitude to religion. Indeed, faith is wonderful, but if you sit down and do nothing but earnest prayers, you will hardly get anything good.
Proverbs Against the Bible
The very structure of all kinds of sayings in which God is touched surprisingly contradicts a well-known passage from the Holy Scriptures, where it is directly forbidden to mention the name of the Lord in vain. What is it about and what is this mysterious “in vain"? I mean "in the bustle," that is, in vain. If worldly life with its cares and passions was considered vain, then proverbs about God, which literally strewn Russian culture, come into conflict with this religious postulate. Can this be justified somehow?
From the point of view of an atheist, the words “god” or “lord” are more a designation of a position than a name. Similarly, you can say "boss" or "boss". However, deeply religious people may have objections. Why is it that the people, who are usually called the “God-bearer”, so frivolously created all kinds of sayings with his mention?
The opposition of church and faith
The schism between the official church and the faith can be evidenced by many sayings in which priests ridiculed. The image of a fat and stupid priest is not in vain wandering around fairy tales and fables. Why it happens? We have to admit that people are imperfect, including churchmen, and only priests who have fallen into the sin of pride can violently object to this.
Perhaps this partly explains somewhat familiar and frivolous sayings, for example, “God escaped along and across” - an ironic phrase that is usually reported on a whole complex of petty unfortunate coincidences. On the other hand, the proverb “whoever rises early, God serves” indicates that an active lifestyle will certainly turn out to be a success, and even the very universe will certainly contribute to this.
The logic of psychological health
Many wise sayings directly warn against falling into excessive mysticism. You may have heard of people who have gone so far into religion that they have ceased to care for loved ones, have brought families to poverty, and children to hungry faints. The measure is good in everything, and the proverb “hope in God, and don’t do anything wrong” clearly indicates that blessings are not poured from heaven if a person does nothing for his own well-being.
If priests called for a complete renunciation of worldliness, normal human logic immediately rebuffed, creating counterbalancing sayings. Everyone knows the statement about the fool who was forced to pray - the result was a broken forehead. Folk proverbs about God, like an instrument of reasonable moderation, somewhat corrected the excess mystical ardor.
Mocking folklore
Arguing from the point of view of the average clergyman, relying solely on dogma, popular sayings can be declared sacrilege. Is it worth it to blame people? Calling a higher power in everyday life, hardly anyone sets a goal to insult the faith, and when they say that “God is not Timoshka, he sees a little”, then this is more of a rhymed and veiled suggestion to think about your actions.
In the formation of the sayings, the same mechanisms took part that are now responsible for creating popular memes. In fact, these are phenomena of the same order: a brief and capacious information unit that carries a certain message. Therefore, the meaning of the proverb “safe God saves” can be traced without additional explanations - take care of yourself, and then nothing will happen to you. Of course, troubles occur with extremely cautious people, but no longer their fault.
Abridged prayers
An equally interesting variant of the appearance of religious sayings is a kind of attempt by ordinary people to somewhat reduce and humanize canonical prayer texts. The proverb “God will give” in this sense is very revealing and interesting. On the one hand, it implies that circumstances will turn out well and everything will go as planned. On the other hand, urging the Almighty to pay attention to the conceived business, we kind of give the plan under his protection.
But the saying "God will serve" means literally refusing any participation in other people's plans. Most often, they answered requests for some kind of material favor that they were not going to fulfill.
Harmonization of Proverbs and Faith
Do not think that sayings are certainly opposed to religion. Rather, they bring it closer to a simple person, making it clear and dear. Therefore, “grabbing God by the beard" is not a criminal disrespect, but rather an emotional expression of the degree of luck. All these sayings do not contradict each other, but mutually complement the picture of beliefs, linking them with real life.
Jesus once said: "Build a temple in your heart." What did he mean? This can be regarded as a literal desire not to build capital buildings for churches, because then comes the promise not to leave stone unturned, but most likely, we are talking about stagnant clumsy dogmas. Faith must be flexible and sincere, and this is perfectly illustrated by proverbs about God - apt, biting, sometimes a little familiar. In them, the Almighty appears not as some kind of mystical punisher, but as a real helper and patron, who understands the needs of ordinary people. It is easy and pleasant to believe in such a God with all your heart, turning to the light and dragging others along with you.