HOW TO ANSWER THOSE WHO SAY THERE IS NO GOD

HOW TO ANSWER THOSE WHO SAY THERE IS

NO GOD

            If someone says to you that they do not believe in God, our response to them should be as follows: You are wrong, my friend.  It would be more correct for you to say that I do not have a God.  This is so because you know many people around you who believe in God and this is why they proclaim there is a God.  Therefore, do not say, there is no God.  You should confine yourself to saying that I have no God.  You are wrong when you say there is no God.  You speak like a blind person who says: there is no light in the world.  But in reality there is light. This light is everywhere.  The blind person unfortunately does not have sight.  And therefore it would be more proper for him to say that I cannot see and there is no light.

            You are wrong when you say there is no God because you speak like a beggar who says: “There is no gold in the world.”  But we know that gold exists and that it is found in the earth.  The beggar does not have any gold and therefore it would be proper for him to say I have no gold. 

            You are wrong in saying there is no God because you are like that wretched man of says “There is no goodness in the world while he should be saying; “I have not one ounce of goodness in me.”

            This is how you should respond to the person who says there is no God: It is wrong for you to tell people there is no God because when you are not aware of something, you do not know of its existence. But this does not mean that it does not exist and is nowhere to be found!

            When you say there is no God, my question to you is: who gave you the right to speak in behalf of the whole world?  Who gave you the permission to tell everyone in the world that they have your sickness, that everyone has your delusion?

            When you say to everyone in the world that there is no God you are warring against the truth. Those who do not want to live with God are few in number.  But even for those few, God exists for them.  He awaits them up until their very last breath upon this earth.  It is only when they do not repent of their sins, even at the last moment of their lives; only then God will cease to exist for them in the world to come. God will then erase their names from the book of life.

            It is for this reason, my friend, I beg you to tell those people who do not believe in God to repent for the good of their souls.  They should repent in order to be able to inherit the eternal blessings of heaven.  They should repent for Jesus shed tears for them on the Cross and He was grievously wounded for them and endured the Cross their sake.  Change your course in life and repent. Turn your life around.

These excerpts are taken from the book in Greek entitled “Life without God is Unbearable.” 

A MIRACLE THAT TOOK PLACE THREE MONTHS

AGO BY THE ELDER PAISIOS

Dear People,

            Remember the Elder Paisios fell asleep in the Lord on July 12, 1994 in Souroti, Greece.  He is buried on the grounds of a beautiful Monastery of nuns twenty kilometers outside of Thessaloniki. I and my wife have had the blessing of visiting his gravesite two times in our travels to Greece. In fact, during our second pilgrimage to his grave, a fellow pilgrim witnessed to us a profound miracle that the Elder performed in his life saving him from having to endure by-pass surgery on his heart.  In fact, I have recorded the whole dialogue of the miracle on video.  The following miracle happened three months ago on a highway leading from the city of Thermi to Thessaloniki, Greece.  It reveals to all of us who believe in the reality of life after death and the reality of Jesus, that dynamic life continues for all of us in the spiritual dimension. 

Translated from the Greek by:

+Fr. Constantine (Charles) J. Simones, Waterford, CT, USA, July 12, 2013.

            “The following miraculous event happened three months ago.  A traveler from the city of Thermi was on his way to Thessaloniki.  A monk on the side of the highway was thumbing a ride.  He stopped and the monk said to him: “Young man, would you please give me a ride to Thessaloniki?” “Of course, I will, get in.”  The driver was alone in the car. The monk sat in the front passenger seat next to the driver and the monk said to him almost immediately: “Costa, without ever having known him, “you have the beginning stages of cancer in your lungs.  You must go to the hospital immediately in order to get treatment.”  After saying these things, the monk suddenly disappeared.  The driver was shocked by this mysterious encounter.  The driver called a few people and told them what had happened to him on his trip to Thessaloniki.  His friends brought him a number of photographs of monks.  They asked him to identify the monk he picked up on the highway.  He immediately identified the Elder Paisios as the monk that he picked up.  He then went to the hospital.  The doctors took tests and determined in fact that he had the beginning stages of cancer in his lungs even though he had no symptoms or pain. 

            We see these miraculous encounters with holy people taking place all the time in Orthodox Christian environments such as Greece.  It is verifies to those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, that life continues after our physical deaths and Jesus truly vanquished death for all those who believe in Him.

ΤΑ ΠΡΩΤΕΙΑ ΘΑ ΔΟΘΟΥΝ ΣΤΗΝ ΟΜΟΡΦΙΑΝ ΤΗΣ

ΨΥΧΗΣ—Ο ΓΕΡΩΝ ΠΑΙΣΙΟΣ

            “Ή ψυχή πού συγκινείται άπό τές όμορφιές τού ύλικού κόσμου φανερώνει ότι ζή μέσα της ό μάταιος κόσμος, δι’αύτό έλκεται άπό τήν πλάσην καί όχι άπό τόν Πλάστην, άπό τόν πηλόν καί όχι άπό τόν Θεόν.  Δέν έχει σημασία έάν ό πηλός αύτός είναι καθαρός καί δέν έχει λάσπη άμαρτίας. Ή καρδιά, όταν έλκεται άπό κοσμικάς όμορφιάς, οί όποίες δέν είναι άμαρτωλές, άλλά δέν παύουν νά είναι μάταιες, νιώθει κοσμική χαρά τής ώρας, ή όποία δέν έχει θεϊκή παρηγοριά, φτερούργισμα έσωτερικό μέ άγαλλίαση πνευματική. Όταν όμως ό άνθρωπος άγαπά τήν πνευματικήν ώραιότητα, τότε γεμίζει καί όμορφαίνει ή ψυχή του.

            Άν γνώριζε ό άνθρωπος, καί ίδίως ό μοναχός, τήν έσωτερικήν άσχημίαν του, δέν θά έπεδίωκε έξωτερικάς όμορφιές.  Μέσα ή ψυχή έχει τόσους λεκέδες, τόσες μουντζούρες, καί θά κοιτάξωμεν λ.χ. τά ρούχα μας;  Πλένομεν τά ρούχα μας, τά σιδερώνομεν κιόλας καί είμαστε καθαροί, καί μέσα είμαστε .....μήν τά ρωτάς!  Γι’ αύτό, άν λάβη ύπ’ όψιν του κανείς τήν πνευματικήν άκαθαρσίαν πού έχει μέσα του, δέν θά καθήση τόσο σχολαστικά νά βγάλη καί τόν παραμικρόν λεκέ άπό τά ρούχα του, διατί αύτά είναι χίλιες φορές καθαρώτερα άπό τήν ψυχήν του. Άλλά, άν δέν έχη ύπ΄όψιν του ό άνθρωπος τήν πνευματικήν σαβούραν πού έχει μέσα του, ε, τότε κοιτάζει νά βγάλη σχολαστικάς καί τόν παραμικρό λεκέ.  Αύτό πού χρειάζεται, είναι νά στρέψη όλην τήν φροντίδα του στήν πνευματικήν καθαρότητα, στήν έσωτερικήν όμορφιάν καί όχι στήν έξωτερικήν.  Τά πρωτεία νά δοθούν στήν όμορφιάν τής ψυχήςς, στήν πνευματικήν όμορφιάν καί όχι στές μάταιες όμορφιές, διατί καί ό Κύριος μάς είπε: Όσα άξίζει μιά ψυχή, δέν άξίζει ό κόσμος ό όλος.”

Άγαπητοί μου έν Χριστώ Άδελφοί,

Έπειδή ή Όρθοδοξία μας έορτάζει τήν κοίμησιν τού μεγάλου άγίου τής έποχής μας τόν Όσιον Παϊσιον τήνς 12^ην Ίουλίου τό θεώρησα καλόν νά διαβάσωμεν κάτι άπό τό άγιόν του στόμα.  Τό παρακαλούμεν στήν έπέτειον τής κοιμήσεώς του καί έπειδή έχει μεγάλην παρισίαν ένώπιον τού Θεού νά προσεύχεται διά τάς άμαρτάις όλων μας ώστε νά μάς βοηθήση νά φθάσωμεν καί ήμείς έκεί πού εύρίσκεται αύτός σήμερον.

+Πρεσβ. Κων/νος Δ. Σιμώνης, Waterford, CT. USA, 12 Ίουλίου, 2013