I could not resist…I translated this short story for my non-Greek friends (apologies to the author if he did not mean it in this way 😉 )
Once upon a time, there was a small island, and all the feelings lived there.
There lived Happiness, Sadness,Knowledge, and all other feelings.
One day they all found out that the island would sink, prepared their boats and started to leave.
Love was the only one who stayed behind. She wanted to endure until the last minute. When the island finally starting sinking, Love decided to ask for help.
First she sees Wealth, who was passing by in a shining yacht. She asked: “Wealth, can you take me with you?”
Wealth replied: “I can’t Love, I have gold and bronze on my boat, and there is no room for you”.
Love then decided to ask Arrogance, who was also passing by in a beautiful boat. “Please help me”, Love said.
“I can’t help you Love. You are wet and you will get my beautiful boat dirty”, answered Arrogance.
Sadness was a little further down, so Love decided to ask her too. “Sadness let me come with you”. Sadness said, “Oh Love, I am so sad I want to be left alone”.
Happiness also passed by, but she was too happy to notice Love.
Suddenly, a voice was heard. “Love, come this way, I will take you with me!” It was a very old man, whom Love did not know. But she was so grateful, she forgot to ask his name.
When they reached the land safely, the old man left. Love who knew how much she owed to the old man, asked Knowledge:
“Knowledge who helped me?”
“Time”, replied Knowledge.
“Time?”, asked Love. “Why?”
Then Knowledge smiled, and with profound wisdom replied:
“Because only Time can understand how much importance Love has”.
Μέσα στο στρίμωγμα ο άνθρωπος αποκτά τις αρετές. Αν όχι την υπομονή, την αγάπη, τη μακροθυμία, τη συγχωρητικότητα, τουλάχιστον τη μεγίστη και μητέρα αυτών: την ταπείνωση• την αρετή που ανοίγει τον παράδεισο. Και βέβαια αυτό συμβαίνει διότι μέσα στις δυσκολίες και στις αναποδιές, βλέπει ο άνθρωπος πόσο αδύνατος είναι. Όταν μας γίνονται όλα τα θελήματα και ικανοποιούνται όλα τα σχέδιά μας, ο Θεός ετοιμάζει ένα σχέδιο που θα μας συντρίψει και θα μας στριμώξει. Αυτό συμβαίνει κυρίως σε πεισματάρηδες και εγωιστές και σε όσους τα βάζουν με τον Θεό. Να περίπου πως σκέφτεται ο Θεός: «Αφού επιμένει ο άνθρωπος να ικανοποιεί τα θελήματά του, ασ’ τον. Καλύτερα να φτύνει αργότερα τον εαυτό του παρά τον Δημιουργό του. Εγώ αποσύρομαι προσωρινά».
Έτσι ο Θεός τραβιέται πίσω, αφήνει τον άνθρωπο να «ξεδιψάσει» τα σχέδιά του και μετά του συντρίβει τον εγωισμό με απρόβλεπτα γεγονότα και δυσάρεστα. Όσο περισσότερο ικανοποιείς το εγωιστικό, φιλήδονο και φιλόδοξο θέλημα και σχέδιο σου, τόσο αυξάνεις το «συντριπτικό» θέλημα του Θεού, που αργά η γρήγορα θα έρθει στη ζωή σου. Έτσι λειτουργεί ο πνευματικός νόμος. «Πας ο υψών εαυτόν ταπεινωθήσεται» (Λουκ. ιδ 11). Η συντριβή που προσφέρει ο Θεός δεν σχετίζεται με τη διάλυση του ανθρώπου, αλλά με το σπάσιμο του εγωισμού του, αφού ο παράδεισος χωρεί μόνο συντετριμμένες και ταπεινές καρδιές. Όταν ο Θεός θέλει να προστατέψει έναν ευαίσθητο, αγαθό και μαλακό άνθρωπο από το «συντριπτικό» για τον εγωισμό μας θέλημά Του, βάζει εμπόδια στο δικό μας εγωιστικό θέλημα.
I could not resist…I translated this short story for my non-Greek friends (apologies to the author if he did not mean it in this way 😉 )
Once upon a time, there was a small island, and all the feelings lived there.
There lived Happiness, Sadness,Knowledge, and all other feelings.
One day they all found out that the island would sink, prepared their boats and started to leave.
Love was the only one who stayed behind. She wanted to endure until the last minute. When the island finally starting sinking, Love decided to ask for help.
First she sees Wealth, who was passing by in a shining yacht. She asked: “Wealth, can you take me with you?”
Wealth replied: “I can’t Love, I have gold and bronze on my boat, and there is no room for you”.
Love then decided to ask Arrogance, who was also passing by in a beautiful boat. “Please help me”, Love said.
“I can’t help you Love. You are wet and you will get my beautiful boat dirty”, answered Arrogance.
Sadness was a little further down, so Love decided to ask her too. “Sadness let me come with you”. Sadness said, “Oh Love, I am so sad I want to be left alone”.
Happiness also passed by, but she was too happy to notice Love.
Suddenly, a voice was heard. “Love, come this way, I will take you with me!” It was a very old man, whom Love did not know. But she was so grateful, she forgot to ask his name.
When they reached the land safely, the old man left. Love who knew how much she owed to the old man, asked Knowledge:
“Knowledge who helped me?”
“Time”, replied Knowledge.
“Time?”, asked Love. “Why?”
Then Knowledge smiled, and with profound wisdom replied:
“Because only Time can understand how much importance Love has”.