One winter day, around eighty people came to me: from students to directors. They were crying and asking if they could study Theology. The situation in the world is unusual. Everyone is searching for something, without most of them knowing what they are looking for. Some search for truth with a mandolin. Others seek Christ with wild music.
“Indeed, Father, the world is truly searching for truth. So many people come and stand for hours, waiting.”
“Among the signs of the times is this: that the world seeks help from me, the wretched one. I see nothing good in myself, and I am amazed at what people find that makes them come running to me. I am a pumpkin with a watermelon rind.”
In our days, they eat the pumpkin like a watermelon because it has a watermelon rind. They start from the farthest corner of the world, not even sure if they will find me or not. I am disgusted by myself, and the world pains me as well. What have we come to! In what state has the world reached! The prophet Isaiah says that there will come a time when people will find someone wearing a garment and say to him, “Come, let us make you king.” May God have mercy on us!
When I read Psalm 28, which is for those who are in peril on the sea, I say, “My God, and the earth, the whole world, has become worse than the sea because it spiritually drowns the world.” And when desperate people come, I read them Psalms 93 and 36: “The God of victories, the Lord God of victories, has spoken boldly. Rise up, O one who judges the earth, render punishment to the proud… They have oppressed your people, O Lord, and afflicted your heritage… But the Lord has been my refuge, and my God the rock of my hope.” These Psalms bring great comfort. Even if they were to cast just one glance toward Heaven, things would change. But you see, today people do not think of God. That is why you do not find a connection, you cannot understand.
I continuously pray to God to raise true Christians and grant them long life so that they can help the world. Let us pray for God to enlighten and raise others, young and pure individuals, to emerge as leaders because those of today are destroying the world. The younger ones may lack experience, but they are not false or cunning. Let us pray for God to illuminate not only those in the Church but also those in positions of governance, that they may have the fear of God and be able to speak up. Even a single enlightened word can change a situation. But if I were to say something foolish, the whole state could crush it. A good decision is an act of kindness for the world. A bad decision is a catastrophe. I am not only referring to the material misfortunes that people suffer, such as famine. Spiritual unhappiness is even greater. Prayer will greatly help Christ to enlighten them to some extent. Christ takes the screwdriver, makes a small turn, a slight adjustment… and everything is fine, everything falls into place. When God enlightens certain individuals, then slowly but surely, evil degrades itself, because evil destroys itself but God. In the end, things will return to their natural state. I see that many who hold high positions understand; they feel the pain and make efforts. I am particularly glad about this.
[1] Isaiah 3:6. [2] Saint Arsenius of Cappadocia would read this Psalm for those who are in peril on the sea. [3] The nickname “Maccabee” was given to Judah, the leader of the Jewish rebellion (166 BC), which took place during the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the ruler of the Seleucid Empire. According to the most probable opinion, it would mean “the one who crushes enemies with a hammer.” The same epithet was given to Judah’s descendants. The Maccabees distinguished themselves through their struggles for the ancestral faith and political freedom (See the Old Testament, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, and 3 Maccabees).Excerpt from With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man – Elder Paisios of Mount Athos, Evangelismos Publishing.
