A pious layman
came to Abba Pimen. Other brethren who wanted to listen to the father’s stories
were also there. The elder told to the layman, “Tell us something as a
guidance”. The man wanted to refuse, but finally the elder made him speak: “I
cannot retell the wisdom of the Scripture well, - the man said, - but I’d like to tell you a
proverb. A man told to his friend: “I’d like to see the king. Come with me”.
The friend answered: “I will go a half of the way with you”. The man spoke to
his second friend: “Come with me and bring me to the king”. The friend replied:
“I will bring you to the royal palace”. Then the man addressed his third
friend: “Come with me to see the king”. “Let us go then, - his friend said, - I
will bring you to the palace, we will come in and I will tell the king about
you and introduce you to him”.
The brethren
asked about the meaning of that proverb. The layman explained: “The first
friend is asceticism, which shows you the right way; the second friend is
purity, which reaches heavens; the third friend is almsgiving, which boldly
brings you to the King Himself, Who is God.”
A man bought
a new large and beautiful house. There was also a garden where various fruit
trees grew. Everything was neat and nice there. However, next to him an envious
neighbor lived, who always tried to bring the man down. Often he threw trash in front
of the gates of the man’s house or tried to do any other dirt on the man. One day the man woke up in a good mood and came out on the porch. He saw a bucket of
slops standing there. The man took the bucket, threw out the rubbish and washed the
bucket until it shined. Then he gathered the largest apples from his
garden in it and went to his neighbor. When the neighbor heard someone knocking the
door, he thought gloatingly: “Finally, I’ve put him out!” The neighbor opened
the door hoping for a quarrel, but the man handed him a bucked with apples and
said: “Whatever one is rich in, one shares with others”.
Once the
disciples came to the elder and asked him: “Why is it so that evil tendencies
can easily enslave a person in contrast to good ones, which are difficult to
stick to?”
- What will
happen if we leave a good seed to lie under the sun, but bury a bad one in the
ground? – the elder asked.
- The good seed
will die without soil, while the bad seed will grow and turn into a weak sprout
which will give bad fruits, – the disciples answered.
- People act in
the same way. Instead of doing good secretly and grow good fruits deep in
their soul, they reveal their good deeds in public and thus they spoil them. At
the same time, people hide their sins deep in their soul so that no one can see
them. There they grow and kill a person right in his heart. So, you should be
wise and remember about this.
A woman
complains to a priest:
- Father, different evil
thoughts come to my mind all the time. I just don't know how to cope with them.
The priest
smiles:
- If two people
come to you – a good one and a bad one – then whom is it easier to make go
away?
- The good one,
- she woman replied.
- So, it is much
easier to scare off a good thought, while it is rather difficult to get rid of
bad ones. This is why we need to ask God: “Lord, help me!” And then they
disappear…
I asked God
to take my pride off, but God said no. He said that pride is not just taken off, but one must get rid of it.
I asked God to
heal my bedridden daughter, but God said no. Her soul is in safety, while her
body will die anyway.
I asked God to
grant me patience, but God said no. He said that patience appears when one goes
through sufferings – it is not given, but earned.
I asked God to
make me happy, but God said no. He said that He only gives blessings, but it
depends on me whether I will be happy or not.
I asked God to
save me from pain, but God said no. He said that sufferings turn people from
their secular problems and bring them to Him.
I asked God to
help my spirit grow, but God said no. He said that my spirit must grow on its
own.
I asked God to
teach me how to love other people as much as He loves them. “Finally, - said the
Lord, - you have understood what you need to ask for”.
I asked for
strength, and God gave me sufferings to make me stronger.
I asked for wisdom,
and God gave me problems, over which I had to break my head.
I asked for courage,
and God gave me threats.
I asked for
love, and God gave me unhappy people who needed my help.
I asked for
wealth, and God gave me opportunities.
I got nothing I
wanted to get, but I got everything I needed. God heard my prayers.
A disciple
came to his teacher and asked him:
- How can I become
supersensual enough to see God, hear Him and talk to Him?
The teacher
said:
- You will hear
God, when you manage to make yourself enter the place, where no living thing
dwells, at least for a minute.
- Is it far or
not? – The disciple asked.
- It is in you. If you manage to stop your
thoughts and desires for a moment, you will hear inexpressible words of God, -
the teacher said.
- How can I
hear God’s speech, when I do not think or speak?
- When you do neither
think on your own nor desire on your own; when your will and your mind become
calm and passively give themselves to perception of the Eternal Word and
Spirit; when your soul spreads its wings above what is temporal; when you lock
your imagination and feelings with divert thinking – then Eternal Hearing,
Sight and Speech will appear in you, and God will see and hear through you. You
will become the organ of His Spirit, and avoid God will speak in you and
whisper to your Spirit, and your Spirit will hear His voice. Blessed are you if
you can avoid self-thinking and self-pitying, if you can stop the wheel of your
imagination and feelings because there is nothing but your own hearing and
desire, what prevent you from seeing and hearing God.
A pious and
kind nobleman lived in Petersburg. He had a big house and a lot of friends. Unfortunately,
he fell out of favor with the sovereign.
He was slandered and brought to justice. He was about to be sent to prison. The
poor nobleman fell sick because of his grief. All his friends turned their
backs on him.
At that time,
Fr. Nazarius, a strict ascetic from Valaam, came to Petersburg. He knew the
unhappy nobleman and came to him to comfort him in his sorrows. The unhappy
wife of the nobleman threw herself at the elder’s feet and prayed: “Father, pray
for that my husband’s case has a favorable outcome”.
“Well, - the
elder said, - of course, we should pray to God. But we also have to ask people
close to the sovereign for their application. Give me some money and I will ask
them for you”. They gave gold to the Elder: “No, - he said, - it doesn’t suit.
Don’t you have coppers or silver?” They gave him both, and Fr. Nazarius left.
Later at night
he came back to the nobleman and said: “All the people close to the tsar
promised to ask for you. Be calm and wait for good news”. Indeed, the elder was
still near the nobleman’s bed, when the man received a news: the case was favorably
closed. The good news made the nobleman happy and he felt better then. He began
to thank the elder and asked who of the close to tsar helped to solve that
issue because he wanted to know for whom he needed to pray most. Then it
revealed that Fr. Nazarius had not visited those people. Instead of that he had
been walking along the streets of the city and gave money to poor people. “Thank
God, - the elder said, - for He, Merciful, accepted the prayers of the poor and
pleased the sovereign to examine your case once again. Do not forget about the
nobles of the Lord – the poop, who are our benefactors. Their prayer can do a
lot before the Throne of the Lord”.
Translated
from: https://azbyka.ru/days/
CONVERSATION