Source: Orthodox Teaching of the Elders
March 10, 2018
Tape recording of Saint Paisios of Mount Athos where he asks himself essential questions about the spiritual life of the contemporary Christians.
St. Paisios:
“About God, what do most Christians know today?
About faith, what do people believe today?
About obedience, who do people obey today, God or devil?
About work, where do Christians work today? In the vineyard of God or in the works of devil?
We have to talk about thoughts.
Today, where are the thoughts of every man? Where are our thoughts?
Another topic is joy.
Everyone desires joy and many people look for it in places where there is no joy… Some people look for joy in lust, some in eating and drinking, some others in revelries, others in money, some others in splurge… They seek to find joy, but is there joy in those things? Is there joy in the wallet, as much as full it is? How many people have many wallets full of money but still they don’t have joy?
Another topic is the peace of soul.
Is there any peace today? Take a look in the society! Wars, lawsuits, quarrels, altercations, at home, in families, everywhere there is discontent and altercation, where is the peace?
Another topic is prayer.
Who wishes for good things and prays today?
Another topic is the time of our life that God gave us and unfortunately this time runs out unavailingly and unexploited.
There are a lot of topics to talk about, desire, anger, will, patience, verbosity…
Unfortunately, today most of man’s life is spent with unnecessary words.
About disregard, envy, despair, silence…
I wish from all my heart, all the people to accept with joy the words of the Gospel, which were written for us, for all humankind, so everyone to be saved… for no one to perish and all together to stand in His Heavenly Kingdom and glorify Him with His holy angels and all the saints… Amen.”
