`Father, worries estrange us of God ?`
`Listen one thing from me: when a child is playing and he is absorbed by his toys he doesn’t realize if his father is beside him and comfort him. But if he interrupts his playing then he becomes aware of it. In the same way when we have worries we can’t feel God’s love. God gives, but we don’t feel that. Take care not to waste your precious powers in superfluous worries and vain things that will turn t dust one day. In this way you exhaust yourself physically and dissipate you mind in vain. And afterwards you give your yawns and tiredness to God during prayer and this is like the oblation brought by Cain with worries and sighs caused by the devil who will be next to you.
Let us not waste in vain the core of our powers, leaving only the skins for God. The worries take out all the marrow of our heart and doesn’t leave anything for Christ.
If you see that your mind is always running here and there and goes to your chores etc you have to understand that you don’t go well and worry that you estranged yourself of God. You have to understand that you are closer to things than to God, to the creation than to the Creator.
Many times a worldly satisfaction deceives even a monk unfortunately whan he does something. The man is created to do the good naturally because his Creator is good. But the monk strives to becme an angel. That’s why his work in the material matters must be limited to the bare necessities in order to work the spiritual ones. Then his joy springing from the spiritual fruits he gets will be a spiritual one and one like this will be fed and will feed plentifully.
When there are a lot of works and worries God is forgotten. Father Tihon said: `The pharaoh gave much work and food to the Israelis to make them forget about God.` In our times the devil made the men be absorbed by material things. A lot of work, a lot of food, to forget about God and in this way not to be able anymore to use their freedom to purify their souls. But fortunately there is something good coming out of this even if the devil doesn’t want it – the men don’t have the opportunity to sin as much as they would like.
Pious Paisios the Athonite, With pain and love for the man of nowadays, Collection Spiritual words, vol.1, Evanghelismos Publishing, Bucharest, 2012, p. 202-204.
