Gheronda these times are dominated by economic problems. We all aim to increase somehow our family incomes and when we succeed, we see that’s still not enough. The economic problems will always remain without solution.
Archimandrite Epiphanios: We have economic problems because we are insatiable. If we were satisfied with a little, there wouldn’t be any problem of this kind.
Greed generates a hopeless economic situation. We don’t get satisfied with what we have. We want more and more. What other better solution might be for the economic problems than getting satisfied with a little?
There’s a story saying that once an eagle saw floating near Niagara falls the carrion of an animal. The eagle swooped down on it and started to eat voraciously. The more it ate, the nearer it got to the waterfall. Then it suddenly noticed the danger. It tried to fly…But the water was icy and its claws had frozen, getting stuck in the carrion. The waterfall dragged the eagle into the depths and drowned it. Because of its greed to eat more, the eagle lost its life.
We usually chase or try to grab what seems more to us. But our Lord warned us:”Be on your guard against any kind of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12-15). Human life doesn’t depend on so many of the things that exist. We should learn to get satisfied with a little, according to the word of the Apostle: ”But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” (I Timothy 6-8)
Only two meters of land will be needed at the end of our life. And even if someone were rich, powerful and handsome, what would he get more than two meters of land? In the best case it will be built a very imposing grave for him. This will be his only gain!
Christianity does not create any damage at all for the economy, but even more than this, it offers the best solution. If all men listened to what Apostle Paul says and limited themselves to their bare necessities, without wishing a lot of unnecessary things, there would be no more economic problems. The best solution is given by the word of the Gospel. We should get satisfied with the bare necessities.
Nowadays, if it were posible, we’d like to have a house with swimming pool in the yard and a lot of dishes when it is organized a festive dinner. Why do we want such things? This waste of money for useless things, when other people are starving, is a big sin. But it’s also a waste of time; time that we could use for something better – for reading religious books, for visiting a sick person, any other thing that might please God. There are so many things we could do and we could give the saved money (of course by avoiding a pointless waste) to those who can hardly cover their basic vital needs.
Excerpt from – Archimandrite Epiphanios Theodoropoulos, Let us commend whole our life to Christ our God, Predania Publishing House, Bucharest, 2010
