A monk
came to his mentor and asked:
— Father,
I’ve been coming to you for so long. I’ve confessed my sins over and over
again. You have given me so much advice but I still cannot improve. What is the
use of my visits to you if I fall into the same sins again even after our
meetings?
The
spiritual father replied:
— My son,
take two pots — one empty and the other filled with honey.
The
disciple did so.
— And
now, — the elder ordered, — pour the honey from one pot to the other several
times.
And so he
did.
— Now
look at the empty pot and smell it.
The
disciple looked and smelled and said:
— Father,
the empty pot smells of honey and there is some honey on its bottom.
— This is
how, — the spiritual father said, — my instructions sink into your soul. If you
acquire at least some virtue in the course of your life, for Christ’s sake, the
Lord in his mercy will add up to it and save your soul to live in the paradise.
For a cook never puts pepper in a pot which smells of honey. Likewise, God will
not reject you if you only keep in your soul the basics of righteousness.
Air is
like God. It is always near, and you can’t see it. You learn how necessary it
is when you lack it.
Sun is
like God. It can both warm you up or burn you. You cannot look at it directly
without pain in your eyes. All living creatures are drawn to it. All living
creatures are fed by its power.
Sea is
like God. When it is transparent and tender, it is like a Big One being tender
towards a Small One. When it roars and seethes, you can’t argue with it.
A man is
like God when he provides for his family and is ready to fight for it. And when
he spares his words and seldom smiles.
A woman
is like God, too, when she breastfeeds and when she gets up to her crying baby
at night. When she dissolves in her children and breaks the habit of thinking
about herself.
There’s
so much in this world that is like God. Where do atheists come from?
Gagarin
journeyed to the outer space. The Soviet radio announced that “we have flown
into the space, and yet we haven’t seen God. Now we know for sure there is no
God.”
Upon some
consideration, a Christian retorted with, “Yes… seems you didn’t fly high
enough...”
A new ship was roaming the seas for several years. It was light, fast, and could withstand any storm. It was pleasant to look at. Suddenly, in spite of calm and sunny weather, it sank for no evident reason whatsoever. When divers set out to inspect it, it turned out that the bottom of the ship had been eaten away by wood worms. The worms had multiplied and devoured the wood. The small holes that they had made proved to be fatal for the huge vessel.
This is true of the soul, too. Even a single worm of passions, left unattended, can multiply a thousandfold, generating new vices, conquering all parts of one's soul and corroding its healthy tissues.
Dirty laundry
needs to be washed sooner or later. You can dump the dirty clothes into a huge
vat to postpone the unpleasant moment when you have to wash that huge pile. The
problem is that over time the dirt penetrates deeper into the fabric, and it
becomes harder to rub it off. You may have to boil the laundry, burn your
fingers and rub skin off your palms, and rub, rub, rub it as hard as you can…
Many days, many years. Imagine how many dirty shirts can one accumulate in her
lifetime? Alternatively, you can do the laundry as soon as your clothes become
dirty. While the spots are still new, you can wash them away with water. Other
spots will require soap. The deepest blemishes will require caustic alkali,
which irritates your eyes. Every laundress will tell you that grease and blood
are the most difficult kinds of dirt to wash. Our sins and bad actions are our
dirty laundry, and each of us is his own laundress. We have a unique
opportunity — great in some ways and bitter in other ways — not to accumulate
our sins throughout our entire lives, until the very last moment when our
actions will be judged, but to start compensating for them during our earthly
lives, i.e., during the time when it is still possible to change something. It
is a proper and reasonable way to go, so we shouldn’t be surprised when each
white stripe in our lives is followed by a black one: imagine what blackness
would await us after absolute whiteness?
An elder
told a brother, “The devil is your enemy, and you are a house. The enemy never
stops throwing all kinds of rubbish at you, trying to shove it onto you.
However, you must be diligent in throwing the rubbish away and keeping your
soul clean; if you become neglectful, your house will be filled up with the
rubbish and you won’t be able to get inside. From the very beginning, as soon
as the devil starts throwing his rubbish, you must collect it and throw it
away, so that your house remains clean thanks to the grace of Christ.
A young
disciple approached an elderly hermit and complained of being haunted by sinful
thoughts. The elder took him outdoors into the open field.
— Spread
out your lap… Open your bosom!
The
disciple obeyed him.
— Can you
stop the wind from blowing into your clothes?
— No, I
can’t!..
— The
same is also true with thoughts... We cannot stop their motion. We can only
prevent them from remaining permanently in our souls…
Source: https://azbyka.ru/days/
CONVERSATION