by St. Paisios of Mount Athos –
The more people distance themselves from a natural, simple life and embrace luxury, the more they suffer from anxiety. And as they distance themselves from God, they naturally cannot find rest in anything they do. This is why they go around restless; they even spin around the moon – like the belt of an engine spinning around the “crazy wheel” – since earth cannot contain all their restlessness.
Worldly stress is the result of worldly happiness, of worldly pleasures and self-indulgence. Educated externally and being full of anxiety, hundreds of people (even young children) are driven to psychoanalysis and psychiatrists. New psychiatric hospitals are being built and young psychiatrists go on for post-graduate studies. Many of them do not believe in God or accept the existence of the soul. How can these people help the human soul, when they themselves are full of anxiety? How can one feel truly comforted, if he does not believe in God and in the true and eternal life after death?
When man grasps the deeper meaning of this true life, stress goes away. Divine consolation comes and he is healed. If someone went to psychiatric hospitals and read the Abba (Father) Isaac to the patients, those who believe in God would get well, because they would come to understand the deeper meaning of life.
People try to calm themselves with tranquilizers or with the theories of yoga, and they neglect altogether the true serenity that comes when the soul is humble and God fills it with divine consolation. And imagine how all those tourists must suffer who come from other countries to Greece, and walk the streets in the hot summer sun, in the dusty and noisy streets! What great pressure they must feel inside, how stressed they must be if they need all this heat and noise to find comfort! It’s like their own selves are driving them away, and all they can see in this trouble is rest!
When we see a person who has everything be stressed, anxious and sad, we must know that God is missing from his life. In the end, even wealth will make people suffer, because the material goods cannot satisfy them. Theirs is a double affliction.
I know wealthy people who have everything and are miserable. They do not even have children but they are still miserable. They are too lazy to lie down or take a walk. “Fine,” I told someone, “since you have some free time, do something spiritual; read one of the Hours of prayer, read a passage from the Gospel.” “I cannot,” he said.
“Then,” I told him, “try doing something good; go to a hospital to visit some sick person.” “Why should I go all the way there,” he says, “what will become of it?” “Go help some poor person in your neighborhood.” “No,” he says, “that does not please me either.”
Can you believe that this person is miserable despite the fact that he has everything: free time, numerous houses and so on? Do you know how many people like this are in society?
And these people suffer to the point that they lose their mind. What a dreadful thing! And if they happen to be independently wealthy and do not work, then they are the most miserable of all. If they at least had a job they would feel somewhat better.
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Excerpts from the book Spiritual Counsels with Pain and Love Contemporary Man (Minor organizational edits to optimize readability and emphasize key points made by Chris Banescu.)
(Photo credit Pixabay)
I am currently reading the updated biography of St. Paisios, meditating upon his extraordinary life as I go. It’s a beautiful volume, not simply in terms of the fine quality of the book itself, but the radiance of holiness that seems to leap from every page. It was written by one of his disciples (with some editing assistance, I believe) and is truly a labor of love. Along with ‘Everyday Saints and Other Stories’ I think it is a must-read in the realm of contemporary Orthodox literature for the faithful.