THE WORLDLY MIND

THE WORLDLY MIND

Soul-Profiting Stories From Monk Savas (disciple of Elder Ephraim of Filotheou) from a homily he delivered at Panagia Prousiotissa Monastery in Lawsonville, NC on Saturday, February 12, 2000.

The mindset of the world is the cause of much evil and suffering. The worldly mind is worse even than the devil himself, in that it kills the soul slowly. The cause of this is frequent exposure of our minds to the ways of the world.

Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain gave the analogy of the frog to demonstrate this. He explained that when you want to cook a frog, you do not directly throw it into a pot of boiling water. Rather, you gently place the frog into a pot of cool water set on a burner and slowly turn up the heat. Unknowingly the frog will adjust itself to the heat and without noticing will become cooked.

The worldly mind works the same upon us. The more we expose ourselves to its flames, the more silent our conscience becomes, and the more we are destroyed. Under such conditions, only a miracle can save us.

Atheologian from Africa once told the following fable: Once upon a time there was a cat who was chosen to become King of a particular forest. Overjoyed upon his election, the cat dropped everything he was doing and accepted the great honor. Dignitaries came and sat the cat upon a luxurious carriage, crowned him with a magnificently brilliant crown, and the distance. Immediately the cat sprung from his carriage and chased the mice into the dense forest, losing his way back to the procession and the once in a lifetime opportunity to become King.

This is how the worldly mind works. The cat forgot his higher calling by succumbing to his old nature, in turn forfeiting his glorious throne. The mice in the story are vainglory, money, lust, and the pride of life, that is, all those things which prevent us from becoming inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal salvation.

Amother and her young daughter asked Fr. Savas a question one time while he was visiting a monastery in Toronto. The mother had requested Fr. Savas to admonish her daughter that dancing and going to dances were a sin.

Fr. Savas responded: "No, dancing is not a sin." Delighted in her victory, the daughter affirmed to her mother that she can go to dances on the monk's word and that she will be fine. As a last word, Fr. Savas gave an analogy which he learned from Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain. He said that when you take a very wet sponge and place it next to a fire, of course the wet sponge will be fine due to its dampness. Eventually however the sponge will dry up after time and exposure to such heat, and burn.

So it is with frequent exposure to dances. Initially you will be fine. As time goes on, however, and you keep going to dances, you will experience many soul destroying desires and eventually give in. He advised the girl to attend these dances with her parents.

 Orthodox Heritage

Vol. 11, Issue 11-18

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