One day....

One day a novice came to an elder and said:
"Abba, I spend six weeks in fasting and study the Old and New Testaments every day."
The elder replied:
- Is it anyhow that poverty is like abundance?
- No.
"Is dishonor like praise?"
- No.
- Enemies as friends?
- No.
"Then," says the elder, "go and work, you have nothing."