One morning, I received a call by the taxi call center directing me to a nearby shore. When I arrived at the address, I saw a very elderly man slowly coming towards the taxi accompanied up to the door by his daughter. When this elderly man entered inside and sat in front, he made a very good impression on me. His smile, his courteousness, his entire demeanor drew my attention. He also had an appetite for discussion during our trip since the route was quite long. We were heading to some village where his summer house was. Thus, with the appetite to talk and much time at our disposal, we discussed various social matters. In the beginning, I politely asked him about his field of work. From what this man was saying, I realized that he must have been very educated.
“I am a doctor Mr. Thanasi, but I have been retired for many years. I spent most of my life in an operating room. I also had my own clinic on such and such street; do you remember it?”
“Although I was born in 1961, I remember something about it.”
“So, as a scholar, I loved medicine very much, and I loved mankind. In my zeal and thirst for knowledge, God granted me on top of material wealth, an invention in the surgical field which made my name very well known. Patients would visit me not only from all over Greece, but also from abroad. I worked many hours and on quite a few nights, one would find me with the lancet in my hand. Sometimes, I would even sleep in the clinic because I would be too tired to return to my home. I considered it my duty to help my fellow man over and above everything else.”
“Doctor, please allow me to tell you that I am so pleased that we have met.”
“The feeling is mutual Thanasi, and I am sincere in saying this; by the way, I am also interested to find out your educational level because I have the feeling that you are not just a taxi driver.”
“I am an elementary school graduate, I replied.”
“Thanasi, I understand that you are trying to be humble, but please, tell me the truth, what did you major in?”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“Well, I am sorry, but I don’t believe you.”
“Then, you will allow me to tell you a very true story from my childhood which is a little comical, and then I am certain that you will believe me. When I was little, the greatest nightmare for me was school and education. Just imagine, it took me eight years to finish that wretched elementary school. During the last grade, I was already shaving. I was a foot taller than the other children. So in all these eight years, I don’t remember, even once, answering my teacher correctly on the verbal quiz on the daily lesson. Every day in class, I would try to hide behind my fellow students. I didn't want my teacher to see me, so she wouldn’t call me up to the blackboard for the daily lesson drill. Every time I was called up to the blackboard, I was not only clueless of the daily lesson, but I didn’t even know what subject we were on, whether it was geography, history or religion.
In order to hide very well behind the back of the student who was in front of me, who was also hiding behind the one in front of him, I would whisper to him, “Hey, don’t move and don’t bend down." He, would then turn and tell me, “What are you saying you dunce? You want me to be punished instead?”[1] And despite my hiding attempts, my name would be called out loud and clear to walk towards the board and to demonstrate my knowledge of the daily lesson in that class. The mere announcement of my name was enough to make my legs tremble.
I will never forget during one of these times, when I was standing for quite a while at the board and I would say, “Today we will learn about our fatherland." I stopped for about five minutes, and then again, “Today we talk about our fatherland," since I didn’t know what else to say. So I turned and saw the teacher’s gaze. She was looking at me from above her glasses and gritting her teeth. In that nasty voice of hers she said, “You deafened us." I barely kept from soiling myself. The children were bursting with laughter, and the whip would fall like a storm. As you can understand, doctor, from the frequency of the daily beatings, when I heard my name, I would no longer go to the board. Instead, I would make the trip shorter by going straight to the desk to reap what was due. So what do you say, now, do you believe me?”
The doctor broke out in laughter and said, “Thanasi, you are a riot, truly awesome,” and he continued to laugh. We both laughed very much, and while we spent some time discussing much about the fruitless public educational systems, I wanted to shift the conversation a bit towards spiritual matters, before our arrival.
I had this good persisting thought working inside of me: I wonder, if this good doctor, and very dear elderly man, who must be nearing his nineties, is ready for heaven? Thus, after a brief prayer, and the use of much discretion, I shifted the conversation towards this area. By the grace of God, the doctor was very open for spiritual conversation. Furthermore, he told me, “Thanasi, I see that you are very religious.”
“The Scribes and the Pharisees were religious as well, but they remained outside the kingdom. You, doctor, are you are you in good standing with the church?” I asked.
“Yes, I don’t have a problem, although I didn’t have much time over the years for church attendance. I had, however, my own way all these years, to approach and to believe in Christ.”
“Would you mind sharing your way with me, doctor, so I can understand?”
“Let me tell you; every time I was faced with a difficult operation, I would spend some time in the room adjacent to the operating room, which I had transformed as my own personal chapel. I would kneel, pray extensively and lift my hands, to ask Christ to help me and my patient.”
Oh, my friends, when I heard the doctor speaking like this, I was overflowing with joy, especially since it is not very common to hear such words from the mouths of today’s doctors. Unfortunately this joy did not last very long because when we focused the conversation more directly to the area of repentance, confession, Holy Communion, the doctor was not on board. He became increasingly defensive and justifying himself and said, “What area of my life do I need to repent for, and why do I need to go to confession? I don’t remember having done anything evil. Thanasi, please listen so you can see where I ‘m coming from. I have my own philosophy in matters of faith, and I have held on to it throughout my life.”
I replied, “Doctor, it is not a matter of philosophy. Here we are dealing with matters of faith. There are many philosophers, but there is only one Savior.”
He came back with, “Please consider that being older than you, I may know something more.”
I added: “It is not a matter of age, either. It is about the teachings of the Gospel which calls one to sincere repentance and confession so he or she may properly prepare to often partake with reverence of the Body and the Blood of our Christ,” I replied.
“No, Thanasi, I don’t agree with repentance and confession. Furthermore, I don’t feel the need to repent for anything nor to go to confession.”
“Very well, since you don’t agree with repentance [and since you happen to be wiser than me], tonight when I go home, I will open the New Testament, and wherever I encounter the word repentance, I will draw a smudge or better yet, rip the page out, which means that I will remove over 100 pages from the New Testament. What do you say?”
“Well, now, I didn’t mean it like that!”
“Doctor, since you don’t agree with it, and I don’t agree with it, we can wipe it out with one stroke of the pen so it’s no longer there to reprove us.”
“Now just a minute Thanasi, so I can get things straight. To begin with, why must I go to a physical church? Isn’t the Church of God everywhere? Furthermore, why must I have any dealings with a priest? That’s what I could not understand all these years. Why should I go to the priest?”
“Doctor, please allow me to ask you, are you married?”
“Why, what are you saying now? I have grandchildren.”
“Great! Where did your marriage ceremony take place?”
“What, do you mean where did it take place? We went to church, where else?”
“Ohhh! So, you went to church, in front of a priest. Doctor, why the church and not the patio on the flat roof of your house? What would the church possibly have more so than your roof top patio? You could call fifty, one hundred friends, open a few bottles of wine, play some music, and have someone from your group bless the crowns. What more could the priest offer you? Everything would be just fine. So, why did you go to a church, and why did you go to a priest? I would like you to answer me. Moreover, when you baptized your children, and your grandchildren, where did you go? I will tell you, my doctor. You went to the church. But why the church? Why didn’t you stay at your home, fill your bathtub with water, and have someone dip the children three times and why not thirteen times since these things don’t have much significance? Someone could slap a little oil on them, and everything would be just fine. So, what more could the priest do for you that you couldn’t take care of yourself. Furthermore, for you to understand it better, the next time my stomach hurts, and I choose to go to a plumber, what would you think? Oh, my doctor, my doctor, for all sacraments, we go to a priest, but when it is time for repentance and confession, we are so quick to say “Why should I go to a priest?”
I am very much afraid, that many of us, due to the great egotism and pride we have, will not only be separated with houses, land, money, stocks and bonds, taxis, and clinics, but worst of all, we are in danger of being separated with Christ eternally. My dear doctor, as a man of high education, I would like you to consider eternity [without Christ]! The loss of Christ! God forbid!
My friend , in a few minutes as you enter your home, stand before your iconostasis, and ask the saints there, “My saints, did any of you reach sainthood without holy confession and shedding tears of repentance? And I'm certain the answer will come to you soon enough.” At that point, the doctor refrained from asking me any other questions. Seemingly perplexed, he lowered his head, and remained silent.
And my last words were, “My doctor, forgive me, but you forgot one thing in your life. You have been holding the surgical scalpel in your hand for so many years, and it has healed thousands of people, it has performed some miraculous healings, but it never occurred to you to turn it inside of you to make your own incision, your own personal surgery in order to excise your spiritual maladies. As you understand, I’m referring to the spiritual lancet, which hurts even more.”
Here, my friends, these words finally touched a sensitive chord in the doctor. As his tears began to flow, he tried to apologize and I said, “No, my doctor, don’t apologize because these tears are the most beautiful tears Christ has been waiting from you for ninety years now.” “My dear Lord, how could I possibly describe the indescribable? He cried and sobbed like a child and in this spiritual wailing, he turned and said to me, “My dear Thanasi, Christ sent you my way today!”
My God! My God! What beautiful words! What a beautiful outcome! What beautiful moments. These special blessings will stay with me for the rest of my life! In the last couple of miles our relationship became completely different. He asked me to come by two days later to take him to a good spiritual father if I happen to know of one.
I said, “My doctor, I have a wonderful spiritual father for you, full of meekness and love. By the way, have you ever been to confession?
“I have never confessed, my dear Thanasi, ever.”
“Nor have you communed?”
“Not even once.”
Oh, my dear Lord, a ninety year old man who never communed even once after his infant baptism.
When I left, I immediately called Father Thomas, because Father Triantafyllos was not available. I gave him a brief account of the events, and precisely what transpired with our dear doctor, and Father Thomas asked me, “Are you speaking about the world-renown doctor who had the clinic on such and such street?”
“Yes, father, do you know him?”
“What are you saying, Thanasi? All of Greece and Europe knows him. Please bring him; just call me a few minutes before you come.”
“It will be my pleasure,” I said and I was flying with untold joy. Sure enough, I drove with my private car to the doctor’s house to pick him up, and we had a soul-benefitting conversation on the way concerning confession. I wanted to prepare him so that he understood that repentance needs to precede confession. Among other things, I said, “Confession, my doctor is not merely a pronouncement of a list of sins; it must be accompanied with pain of soul, and compunction, it is an acknowledgment of our sinfulness, just like the prodigal son’s.”
The doctor was accepting and understanding everything I was telling him, without any objection. Thus we finally ascended the stairs of the church, and we arrived at the confessional to find many people waiting and most of them young students. Of course, they immediately requested that we go ahead of them, understanding that an elderly man could not remain standing for a long time. Father received the doctor with much joy and love. While my elderly friend was in the confessional, I was praying through the inner depths of my soul. I was asking our sweetest Jesus to enlighten and soften this heart, regardless of my sinfulness. The devil had trapped his heart in the passion of self justification for 90 years, and I prayed and wished for both of us to be together again, not just here on earth, but in heaven for all eternity.
In a few minutes, the door opened and I apprehensively went to receive our elderly doctor. Father Thomas smiled and told me, “Everything is fine, Thanasi. Everything is fine. He may commune whenever he wants.” “Glory to Thee our Lord, glory to Thee." My joy was complete. I thanked the student who had given us his turn telling him, “May the Panaghia reward you for your kindness!” His eyes glowed with emotion. As we were exiting the church, the doctor was very happy and told me, “My dear Thanasi, you don’t know what the father told me.”
“What did he tell you?”
“To begin with, when I entered, he immediately recognized me. He knew me from the days I ran the clinic. As soon as I entered, he told me, “Come, my doctor, come, because we are colleagues.”
“Really, my father, are you a doctor as well, I asked?”
“Yes, I am a doctor of the soul, as a priest of the Most High, and you are a doctor of the body.
This helped us to connect, and from there we progressed into confession and the prayer of absolution.”
“Didn’t I tell you that father is wonderful? He is full of meekness and love.”
We continued our joyous discussion in the car, and in a few minutes we arrived outside his home. I offered to give him a ride to Church so we could take Holy Communion together next Sunday morning, but out of courteousness and humility, he didn’t accept my offer. As we bade each other farewell with much joy, the elderly gentleman, deeply touched by the day’s events, reiterated, “My dear Thanasi, I know and fully understand that Christ sent you on my path. From here on, I know the way.”
I escorted him to the door of his house, and after we exchanged a warm handshake, I wished him “the joy and eternity of paradise." Even though I knew where his house was, I never saw the doctor again. I had the sense that my mission had come to an end. Now that I’m sitting and narrating this event, years later, I would like to say to him the same thing over again, “Doctor, may you abide in the joy and blessings of paradise, and please remember us in your prayers.”
[1] Corporal punishment was the rule in those decades.
Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4)
"By taking one small step at a time, and nobody not thinking that in one big step we are going to get any place, we can walk straight to the Kingdom of Heaven––and there is no reason for any of us to fall away from that ."
Fr. Seraphim Rose
Παλιά, θυμάμαι, πήγαιναν οι γονείς στα χωράφια και πολλές φορές μας άφηναν στην γειτόνισσα να μας προσέχη μαζί με τα παιδιά τα δικά της. Αλλά τότε ήταν ισορροπημένα τα παιδιά.
Μια ματιά έριχνε η γειτόνισσα και έκανε τις δουλειές της και εμείς παίζαμε ήσυχα. Έτσι και ο Χριστός, η Παναγία, οι Άγιοι παλιά με μια ματιά παρακολουθούσαν τον κόσμο. Σήμερα και ο Χριστός και η Παναγία και οι Άγιοι τον έναν πιάνουν από ΄δω, τον άλλον από ΄κει, γιατί οι άνθρωποι δεν είναι ισορροπημένοι.
Τώρα είναι μια κατάσταση ...; Θεός φυλάξοι! Σαν μια μητέρα να έχη δυό-τρία προβληματικά παιδιά, το ένα λίγο χαζούλικο, το άλλο λίγο αλλοίθωρο, το άλλο λίγο ανάποδο, να έχη και κανά-δυό της γειτόνισσας να τα προσέχη, και το ένα να ανεβαίνη ψηλά και να κινδυνεύη να πέση κάτω, το άλλο να παίρνη το μαχαίρι να κόψη τον λαιμό του, το άλλο να παή να κάνη κακό στο άλλο, και αυτή συνέχεια να βρίσκεται σε εγρήγορση, να τα παρακολουθή, και εκείνα να μην καταλαβαίνουν την αγωνία της.
Έτσι και ο κόσμος δεν καταλαβαίνη την βοήθεια του Θεού. Με τόσα επικίνδυνα μέσα πού υπάρχουν σήμερα θα είχε σακατευθή, αν δεν βοηθούσε ο Θεός. Αλλά έχουμε και Πατέρα τον Θεό και Μάνα την Παναγία και αδέλφια τους Αγίους και τους Αγγέλους, πού μας προστατεύουν.
Πόσο μισεί ο διάβολος το ανθρώπινο γένος και θέλει να το εξαφανίση! Και εμείς ξεχνούμε με ποιόν παλεύουμε. Να ξέρατε πόσες φορές ο διάβολος τύλιξε την γη με την ουρά του, για να την καταστρέψη! Δεν τον αφήνει όμως ο Θεός, του χαλάει τα σχέδια. Και το κακό που πάει να κάνη το ταγκαλάκι, ο Θεός το αξιοποιεί και βγάζει μεγάλο καλό. Ο διάβολος τώρα οργώνει, ο Χριστός όμως θα σπείρη τελικά".
Αγιος Παϊσιος
http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2013/07/blog-post_8488.html
Once the Elder was invited on board a frigate that had come from St. Petersburg. The captain of the frigate was a man quite learned, highly educated; he had been sent to America by Imperial command to inspect all the colonies. With the captain were some 25 officers, likewise educated men. In this company there sat a desert-dwelling monk of small stature, in an old garment, who by his wise conversation brought all his listeners to such a state that they did not know how to answer him. The captain himself related: "We were speechless fools before him!"
Father Herman gave them all one common question: "What do you, gentlemen, love above all, and what would each of you wish for his happiness?" Diverse answers followed. One desired wealth, one glory, one a beautiful wife, one a fine ship which he should command, and so on in this fashion. "Is it not true," said Father Herman at this, "that all your various desires can be reduced to one - that each of you desires that which, in his understanding, he considers best and most worthy of love?" "Yes, it is so," they all replied. "Well, then, tell me," he continued, "can there be anything better, higher above everything, more surpassing everything and in general more worthy of love, than our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who created us, perfectly adorned us, gave life to all, supports all, nourishes and loves all, who Himself is love and more excellent than all men? Should not a person then love God high above all and desire and seek Him more than all else?" All began to say: "Well, yes! That is understood! That speaks for itself!"
"And do you love God?" the Elder then asked. All replied: "Of course, we love God. How can one not love God?" "And I, sinful one, for more than forty years have been striving to love God, and cannot say that I perfectly love Him," answered Father Herman; then he began to show how a person should love God. "If we love someone," he said, "we always think of him, strive to please him, day and night our heart is occupied with this subject. Is it thus that you, gentlemen, love God? Do you often turn to Him, do you always think of Him, do you always pray to Him, and fulfill His holy commandments?" It had to be acknowledged that they did not! "For our good, for our happiness," concluded the Elder, "at least let us make a promise to ourselves, that from this day, from this hour, from this very moment we shall strive to love God above all, and fulfill His holy will!"
Behold what an intelligent, superb conversation Father Herman conducted in society; without doubt this conversation must have imprinted itself on the hearts of his listeners for their whole life!
http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2013/07/saint-herman-of-alaska-on-love-for-god.html
«Αλλ' ακόμη δεν ανέφερα το αποκορύφωμα των κακών, ούτε το κυριώτερον μέρος της συμφοράς απεκάλυψα, διότι πολλάκις, που ητοιμάσθην να το ειπώ εκοκκίνησα, πολλάκις δε εντράπηκα.
Ποίον λοιπόν είναι αυτό; Διότι πρέπει πλέον να το αποτολμήσωμεν να το είπωμεν. Αλλωστε θα ήτο μεγάλη ανανδρία, ενώ πρόκειται να εκριζώσωμεν κάτι κακόν, να μη τολμώμεν ούτε καν να ομιλήσωμεν δι' αυτό, ωσάν να πρόκειται η σιωπή να ιατρεύση αφ' εαυτής την ασθένειαν. Δεν θα σιωπήσωμεν λοιπόν, και αν ακόμη πρόκειται μυριάκις να εντραπώμεν και να κοκκινίσωμεν.
Διότι και ο ιατρός, προκειμένου να καθαρίση την μολυσμένην πληγήν, θα παραιτηθή από του να χρησιμοποίηση τον σίδηρον, και να βυθίση τα δάκτυλά του εις τον πυθμένα του τραύματος; Λοιπόν, ούτε και ημείς πρόκειται να σταματήσωμεν τον λόγον αυτόν, καθ' όσον η μόλυνσις είναι χειροτέρα. Ποίον λοιπόν είναι το κακόν;
Κάποιος παράδοξος και παράνομος πόθος εισήλθεν εις την ζωήν μας. Επέπεσεν ασθένεια βαρεία και αθεράπευτος και ενέσκηψε πανώλης χειροτέρα όλων' επενοήθη κάποια νέα και φοβερά παρανομία, διότι ανατρέπονται όχι μόνον οι ανθρώπινοι, αλλά και οι φυσικοί νόμοι. Κατήντησε λοιπόν μικρόν πράγμα η πορνεία θεωρουμένη ως συνήθης ασέλγεια.
Και όπως εις τας οδύνας, το τυραννικώτερον πάθος, όταν επέλθη, καλύπτει την εντύπωσιν του προηγουμένου, έτσι και το υπερβολικόν μέγεθος αυτής της ύβρεως κάμνει το ανυπόφορον, να μη φαίνεται πλέον ως ανυπόφορον, δηλαδή την ακολασίαν περί την γυναίκα.
Διότι φαίνεται ότι είναι ευχάριστον το να ημπορέση να διαφύγη κανείς από τα δίκτυα αυτά και κινδυνεύει εις το εξής να γίνη περιττόν το γυναικείον φύλον, εφ' όσον οι νέοι αναπληρώνουν αντί εκείνων, όλα τα εις εκείνας ανήκοντα.
Και δεν είναι μόνον αυτό το κακόν, αλλ' ότι με πολλήν ελευθερίαν αποτολμάται τοιαύτη ακολασία και ενομιμοποιήθη η παρανομία. Κανείς λοιπόν δεν φοβείται και δεν τρέμει. Κανείς δεν εντρέπεται ούτε κοκκινίζει, αλλά και υπερηφανεύεται δια την γελοίαν αυτήν πράξιν και θεωρούνται παράφρονες οι σώφρονες και ότι δήθεν παραπλανώνται οι νουθετούντες' και αν μεν τύχη να είναι κατώτεροι σωματικώς, δέρονται, αν δε είναι ισχυρότεροι χλευάζονται, καταγελώνται, περιλούονται με μυριάδας εμπαιγμούς.
Εις τίποτε δεν ωφελούν τα δικαστήρια, ούτε οι νόμοι, ούτε οι παιδαγωγοί, ούτε οι πατέρες, ούτε οι υπηρέται, ούτε οι διδάσκαλοι.
Διότι άλλους μεν κατώρθωσαν να διαφθείρουν δια χρημάτων, αυτοί δε ενδιαφέρονται πως να αποκτήσουν μισθόν. Εξ εκείνων δε που είναι φρονιμώτεροι και φροντίζουν δια την σωτηρίαν αυτών, που τους έχουν εμπιστευθή, άλλοι μεν πολύ ευκόλως αποκοιμίζονται και εξαπατώνται, άλλοι δε φοβούνται την δύναμιν των ανηθίκων.
Αλλωστε ευκολώτερον θα ηδύνατο να γλυτώση κάποιος, ο οποίος έχει γίνει ύποπτος ότι εποφθαλμιά το βασιλικόν αξίωμα, παρά να ξεφύγη από τα χέρια των μιαρών εκείνων, αν προσπαθήση να αρπάξη από αυτούς τα παιδιά.
Ετσι, ωσάν εις μεγάλην ερημίαν, μέσα εις τας πόλεις οι αρσενικοί με αρσενικούς διαπράττουν την ακολασίαν. Εάν δε μερικοί έχουν ξεφύγει τας παγίδας αυτάς, δυσκόλως θα αποφύγουν όμως την κακήν φήμην αυτών, οι οποίοι διαπράττουν τας ασχήμιας αυτάς.
Πρώτον μεν, διότι είναι πάρα πολύ ολίγοι και κατ' αυτόν τον τρόπον ευκόλως θα ημπορούσαν να κρύπτωνται ανάμεσα εις το πλήθος των κακών, δεύτερον δε, διότι και οι ίδιοι οι μιαροί και οι μολυσμένοι εκείνοι δαίμονες, επειδή δεν ημπορούν κατ' άλλον τρόπον να βλάψουν αυτούς οι οποίοι τους περιεφρόνησαν, προσπαθούν να τους τιμωρήσουν δια του τρόπου αυτού.
Διότι, αφού δεν ημπόρεσαν να τους πλήξουν θανασίμως ούτε να εγγίσουν την ιδίαν την ψυχήν των, επιχειρούν λοιπόν να πληγώσουν τουλάχιστον τον διάκοσμον της σωφροσύνης των, τον οποίον λαμβάνουν από την κοινωνίαν και να καταστρέψουν την καλήν υπόληψίν των.
Διά τούτο και ήκουσα ότι πολλοί παραξενεύονται, πως ακόμη και σήμερον δεν έβρεξε άλλην πυρίνην βροχήν, πως δεν έπαθεν η πόλις μας αυτά, που έπαθον τα Σόδομα ενώ είναι αξία διά πολύ σκληροτέραν τιμωρίαν, καθόσον δεν εσωφρονίσθη ούτε με τα κακά εκείνων;
Αλλά μολονότι λοιπόν η χώρα εκείνη επί δύο χιλιάδες έτη βοά δια της όψεώς της λαμπρότερον και από φωνήν, προς όλην την οικουμένην, δια να μη αποτολμήση παρόμοιον αμάρτημα, όχι μόνον δε εμειώθη η τάσις των δια την αμαρτίαν αυτήν, αλλά και περισσότερον αυθάδεις έγιναν, ωσάν να φιλονεικούν και μάχωνται με τον Θεόν και προσπαθούν να αποδείξουν εμπράκτως ότι τόσον περισσότερον θα είναι προσκεκολλημένοι εις τα κακά αυτά, όσον περισσότερον τους απειλεί.
Πώς λοιπόν δεν έγινε τίποτε τέτοιο, ενώ τα μεν Σοδομιτικά αμαρτήματα διαπράττονται, όμως, δεν επιβάλλονται αι τιμωρίαι των Σοδόμων; Επειδή τους αναμένει άλλο πυρ καυστικώτερον και τιμωρία ατελεύτητος. Αλλωστε και εκείνοι, ενώ διέπραξαν πολύ βαρύτερα αμαρτήματα από τους καταστραφέντας δια του κατακλυσμού, εννοώ τους μετέπειτα, καμμία τέτοια ραγδαία βροχή, δεν έγινε μετά από εκείνον.
Και εδώ πάλιν ο λόγος είναι ο ίδιος. Διατί τάχα οι πρώτοι άνθρωποι, όταν ούτε δικαστήρια υπήρχον, ούτε φόβος υπήρχε από τους άρχοντας, ούτε νόμος να τους απειλή, ούτε όμιλος προφητών δια να τους επαναφέρη εις τάξιν, ούτε φόβος κολάσεως, ούτε ελπίς βασιλείας αιωνίου, ούτε άλλη γνώσις αληθείας, ούτε και τα θαύματα, που ημπορούν να αναστήσουν και τους λίθους, πώς λοιπόν αυτοί, που δεν απήλαυσαν τίποτε από αυτά, ετιμωρήθησαν τόσον αυστηρά διά τας αμαρτίας των και αυτοί, που έχουν συμμετάσχει εις όλα αυτά και ζουν μέσα εις τόσον φόβον και θείων και ανθρωπίνων δικαστηρίων, δεν ετιμωρήθησαν ακόμη μέχρι σήμερον με τας αυτάς τιμωρίας, ενώ είναι άξιοι σκληροτέρας τιμωρίας;
Αρα, δεν είναι ευνόητον και εις ένα παιδί, ότι τους επιφυλάσσεται αυστηροτέρα τιμωρία; Διότι, εάν εμείς οργιζώμεθα έτσι και αγανακτώμεν, ο Θεός, που φροντίζει δι' όλα και ιδιαιτέρως δια το ανθρώπινον γένος και αποστρέφεται και μισεί σφοδρώς την κακίαν, πώς θα ηνείχετο να αποτολμώνται αυτά χωρίς τιμωρίαν;
Δέν είναι έτσι, όχι! Αλλά θα επιφέρη επ' αυτών την παντοδύναμον χείρα του και την αφόρητον πληγήν και την οδύνην των βασανιστηρίων εκείνων, που είναι τόσον φοβερά, ώστε αι συμφοραί των Σοδόμων συγκρινόμενοι προς αυτά, θα θεωρούνται αστείαι.
Διότι ποίους βαρβάρους δεν εξεπέρασαν, ποίον γένος θηρίων, δια της μιαράς αυτής σαρκικής μίξεως; Υπάρχει εις μερικά από τα άλογα ζώα μεγάλη γενετήσιος ορμή και επιθυμία ασυγκράτητος, που δεν διαφέρει καθόλου από την τρέλλαν. Αλλ' όμως, δεν γνωρίζουν τον έρωτα αυτόν του αρσενικού προς το αρσενικόν, αλλά στέκονται εις τα όρια, που έθεσεν η φύσις. Και αν ακόμη μυριάκις κοχλάζει μέσα των το πάθος, όμως, δεν ανατρέπουν τους νόμους της φύσεως.
Οι δήθεν, όμως, λογικοί, που εγνώρισαν την θείαν διδασκαλίαν και διδάσκουν εις άλλους τι πρέπει και τι δεν πρέπει να κάμνουν και ήκουσαν Γραφάς, που κατήλθον από τον ουρανόν, συνάπτουν σχέσεις όχι τόσον ελευθέρως με τας πόρνας, όσον με τους νέους. Ωσάν να μη είναι ακριβώς άνθρωποι, μήτε να υπάρχη η πρόνοια του Θεού, η οποία τιμωρει τας παρανομίας, αλλά ωσάν σκότος, που κατέλαβε τα πάντα και κανείς πλέον ούτε βλέπει αυτά ούτε τα ακούει, τοιουτοτρόπως αποτολμούν τα πάντα, και μάλιστα με τόσην μεγάλην μανίαν. Οι δε πατέρες των διαφθειρομένων παιδιών υπομένουν αυτά σιωπηλώς και δεν εξαφανίζονται μαζί με αυτά, ούτε σκέπτονται καμμίαν διόρθωσιν του κακού.
Διότι και εάν έπρεπε να μεταφέρουν τα παιδιά των εξορία εις ξένην χώραν εξ αιτίας του πάθους αυτού, είτε εις την θάλασσαν, είτε εις τας νήσους, είτε εις απάτητον γην, είτε εις την υπεράνω ημών οικουμένην, δεν θα έπρεπε να κάνουν το παν και να προσπαθήσουν, ώστε να μη συρθούν αυταί αι αισχρότητες;
Και αν υπάρχη κάπου ένα χωρίον προσβληθέν από ασθένειαν και μάλιστα χολέραν, δεν θα μεταφέρωμεν από εκεί τους υιούς και αν ακόμη πρόκειται να κερδίσουν εκεί πολλά και η υγεία των είναι αρίστη; Τώρα δε, όμως, που τόση διαφθορά υπάρχει παντού, όχι μόνον σύρομεν αυτούς προς τα βάραθρα αυτά, αλλά απομακρύνομεν και αυτούς, που θέλουν να τους απαλλάξουν, ωσάν καταστροφείς.
Και πόσης οργής άξια δεν είναι αυτά και πόσων κεραυνών, όταν το μεν λεκτικόν αυτών προσπαθούμεν να το διορθώσωμεν και να τα καθαρίσωμεν δια της κοσμικής σοφίας, την δε ψυχήν, που κείται μέσα εις τον βόρβορον της ασελγείας και σαπίζει διαρκώς, όχι μόνον παραμελούμεν, αλλά και όταν θέλη να ανορθωθή, την εμποδίζωμεν;
Ακόμη λοιπόν θα τολμήση να ειπή κανείς ότι είναι δυνατόν αυτοί, που είναι τόσον βυθισμένοι εις τοιαύτας αμαρτίας να σωθούν; Από πού; Διότι αυτοί, που διέφυγον την μανίαν των ακολάστων (είναι δε ολίγοι αυτοί), τους τυραννικούς εκείνους έρωτας, που διαφθείρουν τα πάντα, όμως, δεν διαφεύγουν τον πόθον του πλούτου και της δόξης.
Οι περισσότεροι, όμως, και από τα ίδια αυτά πάθη και από τα πάθη της ασελγείας καταλαμβάνονται με μεγαλυτέραν ορμήν. Επειτα θέλοντες να τους καλλιεργήσωμεν την ευγλωττίαν, δεν απορρίπτομεν μόνον τα εμποδίζοντα την παίδευσιν, αλλά δημιουργούμεν και τα συντελούντα διορίζοντες και παιδαγωγούς και διδασκάλους και χρήματα δαπανώντες και απαλλάσσοντες αυτούς από τας άλλας ασχολίας και τονίζοντες εις αυτούς τακτικώτερον απ' όσον οι παιδοτρίβαι εις τους Ολυμπιακούς αγώνας αφ' ενός μεν δε την πενίαν λόγω της απαιδευσίας και αφ' ετέρου τον πλούτον, που αποκτά κανείς από την μόρφωσιν και πράττοντες και λέγοντες το παν και μόνοι μας και με άλλους, ώστε να τους οδηγήσωμεν εις το τέλος της εν λόγω παιδείας και παρά ταύτα πολλάκις ούτε έτσι το επιτυγχάνομεν.
Νομίζομεν δε ότι θα προκύψη καλλιέργεια συμπεριφοράς και ορθότητος αρίστου βίου, ενώ υπάρχουν τόσον πολλά, που την διακόπτουν; Και τί χειρότερον θα ηδύνατο να γίνη από τον παραλογισμόν αυτόν;
Το μεν ευκολώτερον δηλαδή να γίνεται αντικείμενον τόσον μεγάλης τιμής και επιμελείας, ωσάν να μη είναι δυνατόν χωρίς αυτήν να κατορθωθή ποτέ αυτό, εκείνο δε που είναι δυσκολώτερον, τούτο να νομίζωμεν ότι θα μας έλθη ενώ κοιμούμεθα, ως να ήτο κάτι από τα ευτελή και μηδαμινά; Διότι η παίδευσις της ψυχής είναι έργον τόσον δυσκολώτερον και επιπλέον, όσον το να πράττη κανείς από το να λέγη και όσον τα έργα είναι κοπιαστικώτερα των λόγων.
Και ποίαν ανάγκην έχουν τα παιδιά μας, λέγει, από την φιλοσοφίαν και ορθότητα βίου; Πράγματι αυτό είναι· αυτό είναι εκείνο, που κατέστρεψε τα πάντα, ότι δηλαδή πράγμα τόσον αναγκαίον, που συγκρατεί την ζωήν μας, θεωρείται περιττόν και πάρεργον. Κανείς δεν θα έλεγε, εάν έβλεπε τον υιόν του να ασθενή κατά το σώμα, ποίαν ανάγκην έχει από καθαράν και ακριβή υγείαν;
(«Απαντα Χρυσοστόμου», 13ος τόμος, έκδοση «Ωφελίμου βιβλίου»)
πηγη
“Alison was witness to incidents which indicated how Eugene was “going crazy” and trying to “break the bonds” without really knowing how to do so. She recalls the night when Eugene and John’s argument about God came to a head. John, Eugene, Alison, and a few others had gone to the top of Mount Baldy, another local meeting place of the group of friends.
Everyone became drunk with wine, except Alison. “John was crying and ranting about how he had to give up women for God.” Alison recall, “and Eugene became totally disgusted with the whole scene.”
Then something unexpected happened. Eugene stood up and began shouting at John. “There is no God!” he bellowed. “Your God is a fable! If there was a God, He wouldn’t torment his followers. You believe that God is having fun sticking pins in people. Such a God does not exist!”
In his drunken rage, Eugene proceeded to pour win over John’s head, saying, “I’m John the Baptist!” Then, raising a fist to heaven from the top of the mountain, he cursed God and dared Him to damn him to hell. “See! Nothing happened,” he cried, looking at the distraught Alison with wild eyes. The others took this as some kind of joke, but Alison could see in it Eugene’s horrible struggle with God. In his despair, it seemed worth being damned forever by God’s wrath, if only he could empirically know that God existed – rather than remain in a stagnant state of indifference. If God did damn him to hell, at least then he would, for that blissfull instant, feel God’s touch and know for sure that He was reachable.”
In this excerpt, we see Eugene’s (Father Seraphim) passion to find God through his struggle with Him. He is so desperate to feel God that he doesn’t care if he damns him to hell forever, he just wants to feel his touch. Most of us would think that, this is no way to find God, but that is the same passion that later made God reveal himself to Eugene. As Alison once quoted, “God often isolates those whom He chooses, so that we have nowhere to turn except to Him, and then He reveals Himself to us.” Let the same passion that filled Eugene’s heart, fill our hearts too. –
Father Seraphim Rose
http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2013/07/god-often-isolates-those-whom-he-chooses.html
The main mission of the Church is to heal a person. In other words, when a person becomes part of the Church is healed if he follows the therapeutic regime which aims to assist him to return to the natural state which God gave him when He had created him.
After the fall of our forefathers, our nature was corrupted. When man severed his relationship with the Lord after disobeying His command, all his mental and physical capacities were immediately corrupted and perverted; his mind turned away from its unbreakable communication with the Lord, which was his natural state, towards the creation and matter, passions and sin. From that moment sickness and perversion entered man’s nature.
This is the reality of the fall, the sin of the forefathers, namely the hereditary sickness which passes on from one generation to another because we are natural descendents of our forefathers. Thus, each man has inherited this condition of spiritual sickness; the perversion of his nature.
Jesus Christ is called the ‘New Adam’, because He enters history at a certain point in time and accomplishes a mission. Christ’s mission was not so much to hand over the Gospel, namely His teachings, neither to give us a book called ‘Gospel’, but to give us Himself. In other words, just as we have inherited the sickness of our nature through the first Adam, Jesus offers us Himself, so that through the baptism we unite with Him, become one with Him, and then through the Holy Eucharist we acquire the capacity to unite with Him organically and ontologically (actually). This means that the actual unity with the Body and Blood of Jesus flows into our being, into our soul and our body. This is the reason why we become children of God and why the Church exists. The Church would have no reason to exist if it did not administer the holy mysteries, particularly the mystery of the Holy Eucharist.
The Church is not an institution aiming to increase its followers for various reasons. It is the place where man is healed spiritually and is given the opportunity to unite with Jesus Christ. However, man needs to follow a certain therapeutic treatment called ‘askesis’. It entails obeying all of the Lord’s commands handed over to us by Jesus in the Gospel. Jesus’ commands are the medication which treats our sickness. In fact, the Lord shouldn’t have given us any commands since He had created us in His image; His commands are inherent in our nature and our conscience reminds us about them. Nevertheless, as the holy fathers say, the Lord did give us the appropriate medication to cancel out wickedness.
A sick man goes to the doctor and receives a certain treatment, not because the doctor impinges on his freedom or his dignity, but because his advice if heeded, may cure him. If he doesn’t follow the doctor’s instructions his illness will persist and may even cause his death. In the same way the Lord’s commandments act as a therapeutic treatment.
There are many commands and on the outset it seems difficult for someone to remember and obey all of them. Nevertheless, the most essential command is one and has to do with our entire being. It is: “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your entire mind and with all your strength.’ And it goes on ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. This part is the result and the evidence of our genuine love towards the Lord. In other words, it is not possible for someone who does not love God, to love himself, his neighbor, nature or the rest of the creation. Therefore, all the commandments have a common mission; they converge on the love towards the Lord. This is the natural state of man; this is how the Lord created him, namely, to move towards the Lord with a loving force. This is easy to understand since as the Scriptures say ‘The Lord is love’. But we must appreciate that we are not moving towards an idea, namely ‘love’, but towards a person.
The Church moves man towards a personal meeting with the specific, personal God. In other words, the Church is the place which develops man as a person and not as an individual (an ‘individual’ means someone who is engrossed in his self). That is, it smashes his individualism, develops him as a person and turns him into someone who for the most part has a personal relationship with the Lord. This is also the main difference between the Orthodox Church and eastern religions which speak about a vague and faceless deity. This is the reason why prayer differs from meditation. Prayer is a personal motion towards a personal God; meditation is an impersonal motion from one man to another through the invocation of a vague deity.
The personal motion towards the Lord presupposes that the Lord also moves towards man. Since God is love, it follows that man, who has been created in the image of God, is also love. This loving motion enables man to come out of his self and offer himself to another person, just as Jesus did when He ‘emptied Himself’.
When man empties himself he meets the Lord in a loving union which is totally personal and totally fulfilling for man as a whole. Man’s union with the Lord does not only take place on a mental, philosophical, metaphysical or psychological level. It is a perfect union at all levels. We ought to understand these things if we are to appreciate our true mission in this world. Therefore, by understanding the numerous commandments, we also understand why we ought to obey them.
In other words, the Church is not the sum of certain commandments and laws but it is the place with a specific mission. The Saints of our Church, all the children of the Church who are indeed living children of God and of the Church, prove that what the Church says and promises is true. These people have followed the treatment offered by the Church and became the temple of the Holy Spirit and the chosen vessel of the Lord. Namely the Holy Spirit is present inside them. Indeed there are several such people who are experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit inside their souls. They know what ‘grace’ means.
When dealing with the reality of our worship, along with all the preconditions and evidence presented by the lives of our saints, we are faced with the entire range of the spiritual struggle. In other words, we understand why all these things happen, why the commandments are given, why askesis and the spiritual regime are necessary and what happens with the presence of Jesus and with the existence of the Church. Thus we understand what will happen to us. The only matter which still needs to be resolved is how to practically begin the process of our relationship with God, how to find Him and how to taste all the things promised by the Church.
The Lord does not discriminate. He does not offer His mercy to one but not to the other, neither does He give gifts to one but not to the other. There are no ‘chosen ones’ for the Lord. The Lord gives to each one the same grace and the same love. It is man who regulates his relationship with the Lord. Man is free to love the Lord absolutely. One may love Him a lot, another very little and yet some may hate Him.
Nevertheless, one has to be aware of his own intentions; he ought to be able to say that he will remain steadfast in his faith even though the Lord sometimes seems to leave him alone in his struggles. In other words, one must never lose heart. He ought to recognize that this mission is not up to him but it is a task accomplished by the Lord. Jesus said to His disciples: ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you’ (John 15, 16). The disciples may have offered their good intention, but unless the Lord was present with His grace to strengthen them, they could not have accomplished a single thing.
Bearing in mind the Lord’s presence we ought to wage our struggle with immense courage. One of the weapons the enemy uses is trying to prevent us from dealing with our sins and passions with courage and zeal.
The Lord offers us a medicine to help us with this process. It is the medicine of repentance in the face of the Lord. This means that one ought to repent not as someone who feels guilty, but as one who is the son of the Lord. Neither any trespass nor the devil are able to take away from us the privilege of being children of the Lord. Thus we may stand before the Lord and say: ‘Indeed, I have sinned; I have been misled. Nevertheless, I have not denied You and I am still seeking my deliverance’.
People ought not to be miserable inside the Church, because they have been called by the Lord to become gods through grace. This means that a person who lives the life of the Church becomes lord and not a miserable man. This is how the Lord makes him. The Saints, instead of feeling depressed, placed great emphasis on repentance because it made them feel children of the Lord. Repentance was like a life-giving force which led them straight to the throne of their Father.
In the Church there is no place for disappointment neither for backtracking, no matter what happens. Nevertheless, when someone begins his spiritual life, the enemy may succeed in stealing his soul and his heart, enslaving him into worldly matters and causing him to drop his first love towards the Lord.
Therefore, let us not be enslaved by the affairs of this world despite all our responsibilities and duties. Our heart must only move towards the Lord.
The end
Excerpts from a homily by the Metropolitan of Limassol, Athanasios, published in the ‘Paraklisi’ magazine, March 2012.
(Ο Γέροντας θυμάται τα παιδικά του χρόνια).
Στο τραπέζι καθόμασταν όλοι μαζί. Κάναμε πρώτα προσευχή και υστέρα αρχίζαμε να τρώμε. Αν άρχιζε κανείς να τρώει, πριν ευλογηθεί το τραπέζι, λέγαμε: «αυτός πόρνευσε».
Την έλλειψη εγκράτειας την θεωρούσαμε πορνεία.
Είναι διάλυση της οικογενείας να έρχεται ο καθένας στο σπίτι, οποία ώρα θέλει, και να τρώει μόνος του χωρίς να υπάρχει λόγος.
Υ.Γ
Εσείς γέροντα την έλλειψη της εγκράτειας στο φαγητό τη θεωρούσατε πορνεία
Όσοι από εμάς θεωρούμε την πορνεία αρετή, άλλά και τα κουσούρια τα ονομάσαμε υπέρβαση και απελευθέρωση σε τι σειρά αρετής κατατασσόμαστε;
Αν αυτό που τότε λέγατε εσείς ήταν το αποκορύφωμα της εγκράτειας, αυτό που τώρα κάποιοι λένε από εμάς είναι προφανως το αποκορύφωμα... της διαφθοράς!
Αγιος Παϊσιος
I was looking at you when you woke up this morning. I was expecting you to tell me one or two things, thanking me for everything that was happening to you, asking for my assistance for whatever you were about to do today.
I realized that you were very busy trying to find what to wear for work. I was hoping that you would find a few moments to tell me ‘good morning’!
But you were very busy. To help you see that I was near you, I had created the colorful sky and the songs of the birds. What a pity! You didn’t even notice my presence, not even then.
I was looking at you being in a hurry for work and was again waiting for you. I suspected that because you were busy you didn’t have time to say a few words to Me, even then.
When you returned from work, I saw how tired you were and how stressed and sent you some rain to relieve you from the day’s stress. I thought that by making this favor to you, you would remember Me.
Instead, being tired, you swore at Me. I so much wished that you would have wanted to talk to Me.
Still the day was not over yet. You switched on the TV and watched your favorite program. I was waiting. Then you had dinner with your loved ones and once again you didn’t remember Me.
Seeing you so exhausted, I understood your need for silence and turned off the sky’s brilliance so you could get some rest, but I didn’t turn the sky into a dark pitch. I turned on innumerable stars for you. They were so beautiful… it’s a pity you didn’t see them… never mind!
Do you really realize that I am here for you; I have more patience that you can ever imagine. I want to demonstrate this, so that you tell those around you.I love you so much that I am putting up with you.
Any moment now, you will wake up again. All I can do is to love you and hope that today at least you will give me some of your time…
Your loving Father
The Lord of Infinite Love.
Η προσευχή της Εκκλησίας έχει τόσο μεγάλη δύναμη, ώστε και αν ακόμη είμαστε πιο άφωνοι και από τις πέτρες, θα μπορούσε να κάνει τη γλώσσα μας πιο ελαφρά από το φτερό. Διότι, όπως ο ζέφυρος όταν φυσάει στα πανιά του πλοίου το κάνει να τρέχει πιο γρήγορα από το βέλος, έτσι και η προσευχή της Εκκλησίας όταν πέσει στη γλώσσα αυτού που την λέει, κινεί τον λόγο δυνατότερο από τον ζέφυρο.
Πόση τιμή δε έχει το πράγμα, να είναι κάποιος άνθρωπος και να συνομιλεί με το Θεό, όλοι το γνωρίζουν, αλλά να δείξουν με λόγια το μέγεθός της δεν μπορούν οι πολλοί, διότι αυτή η τιμή ξεπερνά και των Αγγέλων τη μεγαλοπρέπεια. Αυτό το γνωρίζουν οι ίδιοι οι Άγγελοι, αφού φαίνονται πως έφερναν τις δεήσεις των Προφητών στο Θεό, τους ύμνους και τις λατρείες στο Δεσπότη με φόβο πολύ, έχοντας και τα πόδια σκεπασμένα από την μεγάλη ευλάβεια.
Αλλά αν εκείνοι που πετούν και δεν ησυχάζουν καθόλου δείχνουν το φόβο που έχουν, τούτο μου φαίνεται ότι το κάνουν για να εκπαιδεύουν εμάς στον καιρό της προσευχής να λησμονούμε την ανθρώπινη φύση· και με την προθυμία και τον φόβο που έχουμε, να μη βλέπουμε, ούτε να φανταζόμαστε κανένα πράγμα τούτου του κόσμου, αλλά να μας φαίνεται πως είμαστε μεταξύ των Αγγέλων και προσφέρουμε τη λατρεία που προσφέρουν κι εκείνοι. Διότι όλα τα άλλα, τα δικά μας, είναι πολύ χωρισμένα από τα δικά τους· και η φύση και ο τρόπος ζωής και η σοφία και η φροντίδα και ό,τι άλλο· η προσευχή όμως είναι κοινό έργο των Αγγέλων και των ανθρώπων.
Αυτή η προσευχή σε ξεχωρίζει από τα άλογα ζώα, αυτή η προσευχή σε κάνει σύντροφο των Αγγέλων αυτή μπορεί γρήγορα να σε ανεβάσει στη δική τους πολιτεία, στη ζωή, στη δίαιτα, και την τιμή και την συγγένεια, και τη σύνεση και τη σοφία, και να σε κάνει να φροντίζεις όλη σου τη ζωή να βρίσκεσαι σε προσευχές και στη λατρεία του Θεού.
