By Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol
(Excerpt from a recorded lecture.)
(Excerpt from a recorded lecture.)
We will all hear what Christ our God said to the rich man:
"Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have prepared?"
This reminds me of some of our brethren, who live with visions of wars and disasters, and they ask about them and they want to learn - and now they even go on the internet to see - if there will be a war!
Why do they need to know if there will be a war?
In order to buy food! In order to store food in their homes!
One time someone came to Elder Paisios, and asked him, "Is a war coming?"
He replied: "Why do you ask?"
"In order to buy food, Elder," he said.
"What food?" asked the Elder.
"Well, you know, milk, macaroni..." the man said.
To this the Elder replied: "Man, you are lost! When a war comes, will you go off and drink your milk? What nonsense are these things? And you will base your hope on the milk you gather in your basement? How many days will you even drink this milk? And how many days will the pastitsio last with the macaroni you will gather? What appetite will you have to do these things? And first and foremost, who told you that you will be around to even enjoy them?"
This stupidity of the world is the stupidity of all of us, which describes us in many ways.
Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
"Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have prepared?"
This reminds me of some of our brethren, who live with visions of wars and disasters, and they ask about them and they want to learn - and now they even go on the internet to see - if there will be a war!
Why do they need to know if there will be a war?
In order to buy food! In order to store food in their homes!
One time someone came to Elder Paisios, and asked him, "Is a war coming?"
He replied: "Why do you ask?"
"In order to buy food, Elder," he said.
"What food?" asked the Elder.
"Well, you know, milk, macaroni..." the man said.
To this the Elder replied: "Man, you are lost! When a war comes, will you go off and drink your milk? What nonsense are these things? And you will base your hope on the milk you gather in your basement? How many days will you even drink this milk? And how many days will the pastitsio last with the macaroni you will gather? What appetite will you have to do these things? And first and foremost, who told you that you will be around to even enjoy them?"
This stupidity of the world is the stupidity of all of us, which describes us in many ways.
Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
