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Parables from the book
Parables About the Elder Zosima
Parable about Prayer, Repentance, and Miracles Performed by God
“When someone has stumbled and
is trying to get up —
God certainly holds out a helping Hand.
But if this person keeps lying down —
God has to wait.
The help comes when the one
who is looking for salvation
works tirelessly.”
Ngomo
There once was an elder named Zosima who lived in a monastery. And a rumor had circulated that miraculous healings happened by his prayers.
A lot of people came from distant places to ask for his help.
And the monastic brethren were proud that their monastery had such an elder.
But there were also many who envied him, thinking: “Why does God not hear our prayers no matter how much we pray? We make so many bows, but all in vain! Yet, God, for some reason, accepts the prayers of this elder…”
Once, a young novice decided to find out how Zosima performed wonders and why God listened to him. He thought that since the elder was kind, he might teach him…
He came to the elder and asked:
“Why do your prayers perform miracles, but ours don’t? Teach me your secrets! What if you die suddenly, who will glorify our monastery then?!”
The elder looked kindly at him and said:
“It’s hard to explain… I would say that I don’t pray at all…
“It’s just necessary to kindle in the human heart a light similar to that of a candle or of an icon-lamp!
“This light originates from love.
“And one can expand this light of the soul to immense sizes, like the light of the Sun!
“And then, the Great Light of the Holy Spirit appears and is ready to help! And when I am in that Divine Living Light, I can see everything, as if there were no walls of my cell and as if there were no towers of the monastery. And inside this Light, every human body can be seen through and through and every soul can be understood, regardless of distance.
“It happens like this: I just need to start saying the words of a prayer addressed to the Holy Spirit, and It comes! The Light of God begins to flow like a river and embraces everything with Itself!
“This Light understands the love of the heart, not the words muttered by a person!
“You ask how miracles occur… When I, as a soul, merge with this Light, I can no longer distinguish where my love is from where God’s Love is!
“And in the River of this Light, there are numerous Arms. It seems that they are mine and yet, at the same time, not completely mine …
“I see those Arms of God That do His Work! Just as the arms of a ploughman or cook do their work, so do the similar Arms of the Holy Spirit work!
“It is these Arms That can heal. And, if the Holy Spirit wants, I can — with these Arms — cleanse filth and diseases from people’s bodies. But if the Holy Spirit does not want this, then I can’t move even a fingertip.
“Inside this Light of God, I can see diseases in the body of a sick person and I can see vices in a soul.
“However, not every soul can be cleansed, and not everyone can be helped…
“A soul needs to be taught to love first! Otherwise, later, it may become a debtor to God for that miracle!”
… Zosima said this and smiled gently.
But the young novice, in fright of the elder, fell to his knees and touched his forehead to the floor… Then, crossing himself devoutly, he jumped out of the cell…
Zosima sighed quietly: once again, it seemed that the man, about whom God had spoken, had not yet come… This novice did not want to know about the warmth of the heart or about the spiritual heart love…
So many years had passed already since Zosima started looking for a worthy disciple…
* * *
A lot of people with questions came to the elder Zosima.
He tried to help everyone, not only through healing their bodies or through giving advice on how to resolve this or that problem in life but, more importantly, through correcting the path of the soul before the Face of the Lord.
One day, a rich merchant came to him and asked him to heal his little daughter, saying:
“I’m desperate! You are my last hope, holy elder! Help me! My child is dying!”
Zosima answered:
“It is not I who heals! It is the Lord Who helps each soul!
“How does the Lord help? He helps, among other ways, through people that live on the Earth.
“Have you heard about Jesus Christ? Through Him, God has helped many people.
“But, through you, has God helped anyone?”
“I’m a sinner, holy elder, I’ve never even thought about this in that way!… All my thoughts have been only about my profits and benefits…”
“So — think now!
“And always ponder ahead on what the Lord wants from you!
“Now go home, your daughter will be well again!
“And build a free hospital with your money. Call good doctors there to work for God!
“Also, when your daughter has recovered fully — bring her to me!”
… Wiping his tears, the merchant began to thank him.
The elder said to him kindly:
“Hurry to do in your life that good which you forgot about!
“And remember this for the future! Otherwise, something worse may happen!
“God has helped you — and now you should help others!
“And learn to understand what is good and how it’s possible to do it!
“Maybe, your words and actions will be a helping Hand of God stretched to others! God does good and miracles through the kindness of many people!”
* * *
Time passed, and the merchant brought his healed little daughter to the elder.
The girl came to the cell but forgot how she had been taught to express her gratitude and just said:
“Was it you who cured me, Grandpa? Thank you! I was very, very sick but now I am very healthy!”
“Good day to you, my child! But it was not I who healed you; it was God! So, you should thank Him always!”
“Yes, I know! God — He is kind!” — the girl nodded.
“Yes! And now you can learn to be kind too, like God! Try to do this!
“Can you hear how your heart is beating in your chest? It is God reminding you that a soul is created for love and kindness!
“So, learn to be gentle and friendly towards everyone! And learn to help everyone — even in small ways!
“While you are little, your help might not be too big; however, it is still very important! And when you grow up, you will be able to help many people!”
“I understand this now, Grandpa! For a long time, I felt very, very bad; but now, I feel good! And I will try to do good for others too!”
The girl ran up to the elder Zosima and embraced him.
… Many years had passed since then, but the girl never forgot that a life on the Earth is given to us by God to cultivate love and give this love to others! And, through this, she opened her spiritual heart and expanded it more and more! And she lived embracing everything and everyone with her love-care.
* * *
Once, a middle-aged woman came to the cell of the elder Zosima. She was crying and pleading:
“Give me back the love of my only son! I’ve dedicated all my life to him, giving him everything that he ever wanted! But he grew up, and now he doesn’t even want to remember me!… I have been left alone! I feel so bitter because of how little gratitude he has repaid me for everything that I have done for him! I can’t hold back my resentment, I can’t stop being sad!…”
“Don’t grieve! Think back: did you love your son in the way that God wants us to love people?
“If children receive only material help from their parents and are not taught to care for others, then these children forget quickly the good done for them and grow ungrateful!
“Love does not consist only in providing pleasure for someone!
“Pleasure is not always useful for a soul! And what is useful — is not always pleasant!
“Doing what is good, is not the same as giving a person immediately what he or she wants!
“It is wrong to just indulge others in their desires! This harms that soul and does not benefit it!
“Everyone should not only give love to others but also awaken in them a desire to give love and do good! We should also teach them to restrain from using angry words and help them learn to say only kind ones!
“You brought up your son badly! You spoiled him, pandering to his whims! You turned him away from love by your everyday reproaches and boring admonitions! You turned him away from the good commandments!
“Now I tell you these sad words, which are like bitter medicine, in order to help you to understand your mistakes and try to rectify them!”
The woman sobbed even more:
“Will God forgive me for my sins?!”
“Forgiveness comes when we have realized what was sinful in us, and have changed ourselves and corrected the consequences of our wrong actions!
“Only after having changed ourselves first, can we make better something around us!
“There is some hope for you now! Soon, your son will come to you and ask for your advice and help. He fell in love with a widow; she is much older than he is. She has a child from her previous husband. Through this love, God wants to help your son learn to care not about himself only, but about others!
“It’s not easy to change oneself… It’s not easy to transform one’s small love into a great all-embracing love!
“The happiness of the child who is growing with that woman should turn into a happiness for all of you!”
… He said this — and the woman went home with a slight hope and with thoughts about the most important things…
* * *
This is how the Elder Zosima talked with people.
But it also happened sometimes, that he did not let people with nefarious intentions even enter his cell…
And this caused those people to wonder if this refusal by the holy elder meant that God, too, was refusing them because of their unjust lives…
And due to this, they became afraid of their uncleanness and changed. And if such people came again looking — this time sincerely — for the advice of the elder about how to atone for their sins, Zosima received them kindly and gave them some simple and clear advice.
“Yet to fulfill this advice, people had to transform themselves, that is, they had to stop living idly and start working diligently by the soul and by the body. To work by the soul meant to cultivate love in oneself and eliminate anger, hatred, jealousy, and sadness. To work by the body meant to try to make the lives of others at least a little bit better.
Even for those who were in despair, Zosima found supporting words that brought them to their senses:
“There is no sin or vice which a person can’t get rid of!
“Even if someone has suffered a spiritual fall, God is always ready to help them if they want to get back up!
“A disease or other problem in life is given to us for the healing of the soul and of the body! Diseases and troubles are needed to enlighten those who do not understand the Plan of God for them. These things make possible the purification of souls!
“We are weak and infirm in this world while we haven’t known the Love of God. This Love is the greatest Power in the universe and can be near us and in us always!
“How good it would be if everyone lived with the Love of Christ in his or her spiritual heart!…”
* * *
Once, a man came to the elder Zosima. He was neither young nor old. He had a strong body and was a strong soul. But he had gotten lost in the midst of matters that did not bring satisfaction to the soul. Since his youth, he had dreamed about something great and noble… He boldly lived fighting for the truth… But he did not always understand what was the truth and what was not… And many of his plans failed… And many times, he became aware that he was not doing what he should be doing… That is why it was hard for him to live now, and he did not know how or for what reason to live further…
The man told his story to the elder Zosima. It was similar to the stories of many others whom the elder usually listened to… Nevertheless, there was a great difference: this man cared not about himself but tried to live for others, helping others!
“This is how almost my entire life has passed… I wished to do so many things, and I dreamed about many beautiful things… But, in the end, it turned out that everything was in vain: I haven’t changed anything, and I haven’t really helped anyone… And now, I don’t know how to live further… Teach me if you can…” — with these words the traveler finished his story.
“All that wasn’t in vain! Through what you did in your life, you became wiser and stronger! In this way, God led you to Himself!
“So, are you ready now to devote your whole life to the Lord alone?”
… At this point, Zosima began telling this man about the purpose of human life, about the Great Divine Love…
The man stayed with the elder. He learned from Zosima the silence of the heart, in which the fire of love is kindled. He also learned to merge with the Holy Spirit and to do everything, being in conscious Unity with God and as Service for Him…
* * *
Did the elder Zosima manage to help many people? Only God knows… But the Power of God was in his words. And the advice that he gave stayed in each person’s memory for a long time. People directed their sights of the soul to God and they directed their actions towards helping other people. And through this, God was able to participate in their lives.
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