Seven Parables and Stories for the Week: Issue 15
Abba Poemen: Water is soft but a rock is
hard; however, if there is a water pipe above the rock, water drops leave a
trail in the rock little by little. Similarly, God’s Word is soft, and our
hearts are hard; however, if one hears the Word of God often, his heart opens
up to accept the fear of God. (St Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), Otechnik)
The Reason asked a man why he wasn’t
afraid of sinning.
– Everyone does it! – the man was
surprised.
– Would you like to share everyone’s
fate when they stand the trial on the Judgment Day?
The man looked at the Reason and for
the first time in his life thought about the fate that awaited him… (Monk
Barnabas (Sanin))
There was a tree that came up with the
idea that roots weren’t necessary for its survival.
– Why do I need them? They are black
and dirty, and they prevent me from going wherever I want to!
The tree pulled itself out of the
ground and broke free from its roots. Now it could go wherever it wanted to and
do whatever it pleased.
The only problem was that without
roots, it soon dried up and perished.
The tree wasn’t even aware that its
entire life and strength was in its roots. (Monk Barnabas (Sanin))
There was a man who saw a bottle of
holy water, which had not gone bad in a decade, and said:
– It’s an accident, a lucky combination
of various factors.
Another man saw that bottle of holy
water and aired his opinion:
– It’s quackery. It’s a fake!
The third man did not utter a word.
He simply took a glass of the holy
water, made the sign of the cross, and drank the water in awe. (Monk
Barnabas (Sanin))
A man started reading his evening
prayers.
His legs were swelling. He had had a
very hard day.
So he decided to sit on a chair and
read the prayers.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
It was his neighbor who had gone
fishing and was returning home.
They stood by the door and spent two
hours talking about fishing.
Finally, the neighbor left, and the man
went back to prayer.
He continued reading the evening
prayers.
At first, he was standing but then he
sat on the chair.
He was too tired to stand during
prayer, wasn’t he? (Monk
Barnabas (Sanin))
A woman approached a priest after a
Liturgy.
“Father, I love you so very much!” she
exclaimed.
The priest paused and then… spat in her
face!
“How dare you!” the female parishioner
screamed, “I’ll sue you!”
“Hey,” the priest replied, “where’s
your love now?”
“Christ loves ALL OF US even today,
after we crucified him.”
A woman was reading the Book of
Malachi:
When she was reading Chapter 3, she was
puzzled by verse 3, “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”
(Mal. 3:3).
She decided to pay a visit to a
silversmith and to watch him do his job. She did not tell the silversmith what
caused her interest; she said it was out of sheer curiosity that she came to
his workshop. The silversmith was working. He was heating up a piece of silver
by holding it above the fire. He explained that this was how silver is
purified: it is heated to a high temperature so as to burn out all pollutants.
The woman recalled the verse and thought that the Lord purified us with fire
like a silversmith. She asked the silversmith:
— So you have to sit here until the
purification process is over?
— Yes, I do. Moreover, I must keep an
eye on the silver all the time: if I hold the metal in the fire for too long,
it will be unusable.
The woman paused to think and then
asked the artisan:
— How do you know when the silver is
pure enough?
The silversmith smiled and replied:
— Oh, that’s easy. The silver is ready
as soon as I can see my face in it.
Translated from: https://azbyka.ru/days/
