At the beginning of time, tangalaki, as the devil was called by venerable Paisios the Athonite, gathered with his servants and decided to play a prank to men.
One of them said:
”What would you say if we made some fun of people, robbing them of something?”
”And what can we steal from them?”
After they thought for a long time, the youngest one said:
”Let’s steal their happiness. The problem is where could we hide it so that they won’t find it?”
”Let’s hide it, one of them proposed, on the top of the highest mountain.”
” No, said another. Men have a huge power. Somebody could find it and then everybody would know where to look for it.”
”Then let’s hide it in the depths of the sea”, another devil suggested.
”No, cause they have ultramodern submarines and they would find it very quickly.”
”Let’s hide it on another planet.”
”Spaceships come and go one after the other. They will find it and will pique themselves like some great conquerors.”
A devil who sat quietly and weighed carefully each proposal said in the end:
”I think there is a place where people would never look for it.”
They all startled and looking at one another they asked:
”Where is that place?”
”Deep inside their souls. There we will hide happiness. Men will be so busy seeking it outside that they would never find it.”
All the devils agreed.
Since then man spends his life seeking happiness, without knowing that it lies within himself.
”The kingdom of God is within you”[1]
[1] Luke 17, 21.
