Do you know, my child.

 

  Prayers by the Lake

 

                                                                                                                                St. Nikolai Velimirovich, Bishop of Ochrid

                                 Do you know, my child…

Do you know, my child why the clouds are closed when the fields are thirsty for rain, and why they open, when the fields have no desire for rain?

 

Nature has been confused by the wickedness of men, and has abandoned its order.

 

Do you know, my child, why the fields produce heavy fruit in the springtime, and yield a barren harvest in the summer?

 

Because the daughters of men have hated the fruit of their womb, and kill it while it is still in blossom.

 

Do you know, my child, why the springs have gone dry, and why the fruits of the earth no longer have the sweetness that they used to have?

 

Because of the sin of man, from which infirmity has invaded all of nature.

 

Do you know, my child, why a victorious nation suffers defeats as a result of its own disunity and discord, and eats bread made bitter by tears and malice?

 

Because it conquered the bloodthirsty enemies around itself, but failed to conquer those within itself.

 

Do you know, my child, how a mother can feed her children without nourishing them?

 

By not singing a song of love to them while nursing them, but a song of hatred towards a neighbor.

 

Do you know, my child, why people have become ugly and have lost the beauty of their ancestors?

 

Because they have cast away the image of God, which fashions the beauty of that image out of the soul within, and removes the mask of earth.

 

Do you know, my child, why diseases and dreadful epidemics have multiplied?

 

Because men have begun to look upon good health as an abduction of nature and not as a gift from God. And what is abducted with difficulty must with double difficulty be protected.

 

Do you know, my child, why people fight over earthly territory, and are not ashamed to be on the same level as moles?

 

Because the world has sprouted through their heart, and their eyes see only what is growing in the heart; and because, my child, their sin has made them too weak to struggle for heaven.

 

Do not cry, my child, the Lord will soon return and set everything right.

 

Prayers by the Lake, XXXVII, by St. Nikolai Velimirovic of Ochrid and Zhicha

Written at Lake Ohrid 1921-1922.