Let us try with all the power of our soul to cultivate a brotherly love beside humbleness and obedience. The selfish man doesn`t love as he should, doesn`t humble himself and he is not obedient. And this is exactly what the devil does. We should fulfill our service with all the power of our soul meditating that we serve God by this service and we help our brother and we struggle with indifference and idleness.
And God receives this struggle of ours with all His heart and deposits it in the celestial bank. And one day when we go to heaven we`ll find our reward there multiplied a thousandfold.
You know from the book The Ladder of saint John Climacus that parable of the holy monk whose tomb was gushing myrrh. And the holy abbot called the monks and ordered them to dig deep down where the saint body of the monk was buried. After they took out the earth they saw that the myrrh was gushing from under the feet of the monk which was a proof that he had had exerted many efforts for the monastery, for Christ, for the sake of obedience and his brothers. And God Who knew perfectly his ascetical endeavors came at the right moment to glorify him and to give the monks a good lesson to practice their ascetical struggle according to the law in the right way.
We read in the book of abba Dorotheus: abba Dorotheus when he was young at the monastery of abba Serida had the duty of nurse. He took care of the elders and had many chores to do. He toiled a lot and he was always in the middle of work. He once went to abba Barsanuphius, the recluse and told him:
`Abba, I am all day long busy with the elders and I can`t pray. O don`t find time at all to study. What will happen to me?`
And abba Barsanuphius answered:
`My son the duty you have did you take it yourself or we gave it to you?`
`No, geronda, you gave it to me.`
`Since we gave it to you, this duty is a remembrance of God and a following of Christ, an application of God`s commandment. Therefore you are not out of the spiritual sphere.
There was once a man who wanted to go to a big city. And when he arrived there he asked the inhabitants: `I want to go to this city. What way should I go?`
`Man, you are right in the city you are looking for and you are asking what way to go?` This is what happens with you my son (abba Barsanuphius told him) You follow God`s commandment and you ask yourself if the will of God is fulfilled by working at the infirmary?
Christ, the First Great Obedient, the New Adam triumphed against the Cross and death. He loved us and humbled Himself and He was obedient. He was not obedient for His personal salvation, His obedience came out of His love for the man.
He cut His own will correcting the mistake of the earthly Adam and He opened the gates of heaven to let the obedient ones enter His Kingdom
We have the duty to do the same. We are His disciples. We are called to follow Him faithfully. Let`s be humble and consider ourselves mere clay. What`s more humble than the clay and the dust? Let`s admit our nature meditating that the Unique God humbled Himself so much and we don`t humble not even our mind.
God endures the mistakes of all the men. Nothing is hidden to His eyes. All our deeds, thoughts, feelings are known to Him. He weighs all of them, He has all of them written and He will judge them all. We move and we live in God, we live in a mirror under a piercing light which registers everything and makes an account for every radiography. Few are those who follow His commandments. Most of the men disobey His will and sadden Him terribly and override everything is holy and pious. But He sees and endures all these. This long lasting lenience, the fact that He still allows the world to exist and doesn`t destroy it show His endless humbleness.
If we were in the place of God with our impulsiveness we would have destroyed thousands of worlds. But since God is wonderful in His humbleness His Holy Face still allows us to exist, still waits for us and still takes care of our salvation. He feeds us, He dresses us, He gives us a guardian angel, He gives us His Holy Eucharist, His Flesh and Blood, He prepares for us an endless Kingdom, He bears us when we deviate and He always receive us when we repent.
Excerpt from the book The Art of Salvation published by Evanghelismos.
