What is Reddit's opinion of Friend of the Bridegroom: On the Orthodox Veneration of the Forerunner?

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You should read this book

https://www.amazon.com/Friend-Bridegroom-Orthodox-Veneration-Forerunner/dp/0802849792#:~:text=Written%20by%20Sergius%20Bulgakov%2C%20the,birth%2C%20his%20preaching%20of%20repentance%2C

It describes the state you are experiencing in biblical language and gives insight into the proper way to maneuver through what many call the dark knight of the soul.

Ultimately you are in the position of John the Baptist when he was in prison.

Let's keep in mind work is good. We are called to work by the bible and traditionally prayer has been undestood to be a form of work (liturgy).

To avoid being self righteous, I'd suggest following the example of Mary the Mother of God and John the Baptist/Friend of the Bridegroom.

Both of them understood the notion that for Christ to become more we are to become less. They are good images for use to contemplate and lives to study to aid the task of gaining humility in life, prayer, and work.

This book is a really good study on this

https://www.amazon.com/Friend-Bridegroom-Orthodox-Veneration-Forerunner/dp/0802849792#:~:text=Written%20by%20Sergius%20Bulgakov%2C%20the,birth%2C%20his%20preaching%20of%20repentance%2C

Remember we are called by the bible to pray without ceasing, so our prayer is to be our work and our work should be our prayer.

The introduction will give you an idea what other books by him you might want

https://www.amazon.com/Friend-Bridegroom-Orthodox-Veneration-Forerunner/dp/0802849792#:~:text=Written%20by%20Sergius%20Bulgakov%2C%20the,birth%2C%20his%20preaching%20of%20repentance%2C

I'm glad to hear that and I'll keep you in my prayers.

This book specifically speaks of the dark night of the soul and you might find it helpful. Its about how John the Baptist has been understood in scripture and the liturgical tradition of the early Church in the Byzantine world. John the Baptist is only the friend of the Bridgegroom. The Baptist is only a mirror or a reference point pointing to God and nothing else. John the Forerunner is the essence of becoming less so He can become more as the Epistles teach.

https://www.amazon.com/Friend-Bridegroom-Orthodox-Veneration-Forerunner/dp/0802849792

I'd also really suggest this seminar series by an Eastern Orthodox priest and scholar with Oxford and Aberdeen universities. Its a study on early Christanity and how the first two centuries going into the third were defined by martyrdom. Even if Christians weren't martyred, living the life of the martyr is what defined their lives. After the Roman persecutions ended, marriage and monasticism became the primary avenues through which the gospel lived, but both marriage and monasticism would be taught to be the same way of martyrdom.

So I would suggest learning to live the life of a martyr like the first Christians is how you can change the meaning of your past and the trajectory of your future and that is true if you practice martyrdom through marriage, monasticism, or any thing else.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKq32hROtQW6dxdY94eROREfcSNeVFcHo

I'd also suggest this sermon by an Eastern Orthodox Christian from Appalachia as he is a man with a history of mental health issues and has learned to see Christ crucified in his suffering and the suffering of others.

https://youtu.be/zM15-NwN59w

Ultimately I think this freedom and liberty is found in seeing Christ crucified and glorified in all things.

https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/series/christianity_and_the_one_storey_universe

If you ever want other suggestions or have other questions, feel free to ask me or over at r/OrthodoxChristianity

When the disciples of John the Baptist meet with Jesus and asked if he is the Messiah, he also remained silent in reference to their trial by merely remaining silent as you say and witnessing to the witness of the time rather than trying to get us to discern the truth of Himself through rhetoric.

>When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

>Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

>Matthew 11:2‭-‬6

I assume though you are thinking about the trial scenes of Jesus before Pilate though. Which is an interesting point to bring up that compliments the point I brought up which I got from fr Sergius Bulgakov Friend of the Bridgegroom.

https://www.amazon.com/Friend-Bridegroom-Orthodox-Veneration-Forerunner/dp/0802849792#:~:text=Written%20by%20Sergius%20Bulgakov%2C%20the,birth%2C%20his%20preaching%20of%20repentance%2C