“You are an experienced gardener, and you know how much work is required to grow even one vegetable. You wouldn’t leave even one plant without some attention. How, then, can we not labor on our soul, our unique treasure, which the grave itself cannot destroy?”
I.
To a nun who asks about the parable: The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven…The Lord said: The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman tookand hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. (Matt.13:33)
You would like to penetrate the mystery of these words, God loving sister.Indeed, there is a great spiritual mystery concealed in these words. To thecarnal mind this parable appears to be ridiculously simple. However, thisunderstanding, which comes from the Holy Spirit, is inaccessible to thecarnal mind, for one must penetrate the meaning of these words spiritually.And if one is to penetrate it spiritually, as the Holy Fathers did, thenthis parable appears as follows.
The leaven signifies the Holy Spirit; the woman signifies the human soul; totake and hide – this means to take from God and to place into oneself; thethree measures represent the three capacities of the soul: the mind, heart,and will; the meal represents all these three in their natural state; “tillthe whole was leavened,” signifies that all must be leavened, i.e.,penetrated by the Holy Spirit.
In other words, man’s soul, when it becomes worthy, receives from itsCreator His Spirit. And, having received It, holds It in the mind until themind becomes deified; he holds It in his heart until the heart becomesdeified, and he holds It in his will until the will becomes deified. Heholds It in these three “measures” simultaneously, until the whole soulbecomes deified. Then, when all is deified, it is enlightened and rises likeleavened dough. And thereby the soul becomes spiritually rich and holy. Thenthe soul is able to enliven the body as well, to give it rebirth andsanctify it. And is this not the Kingdom of Heaven? Is this not a marvelousparable?
Peace and grace to you from the Lord.
II.
To the monk Simeon concerning the use of “day” and “night” in Luke 17:30-34.In His sermon concerning the end of the world and His Second Coming, theLord Jesus Christ uses interchangeably the words “day” and “night.” Hecompares His second coming to the unexpectedness and speed of lightning:Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. And Hetells His listeners: In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop andhis belongings in the house, let him not come down to take them away. Andlater: in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall betaken, and the other shall be left…
He speaks about the same time but sometimes says “in that day,” and at othertimes, “in that night.” You ask, how can this be explained? All the wordsproceeding from the mouth of Christ are infallible; therefore, these wordsof His are likewise infallible.
In speaking of His “day,” He speaks about His Second Coming, while thewords, “that night,” signify the end of the world and the end of time. Thisoccurs at the same time – this separation between time and eternity, betweenthe death of time (its end) and the beginning of eternal life. When the sungrows dark, so that it no longer shines, and when the brilliant sign of theSon of Man appears in order to shine forever, then there will be no moretime. Time will disappear, and there will usher in the everlasting Day ofthe Lord, in which the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth alsoand the works that are therein shall be burned up (II Peter 3:10).
This will be the final meeting of day and night, and their final separationforever.
Therefore,
when it speaks about the final meeting of day and night and oftheir final separation, there is no difference in saying “this day,” or”this night.”
That which appears to us now to be contradictory or incomprehensible, whilethe course of time still indicates immutably now day, now night, thisexpression loses its contrariety on the threshold of that fateful divisionbetween temporality and eternity.
Peace be to you from God and blessing.
III.
To Khadzhi Jovanu, who asks, “What is most important for the salvation ofthe soul?”
I shall likewise ask you a question, my dear companion, and the answer yougive me will be your answer also.
And so, what is most important for a newborn child? Perhaps food, or warmth,or bathing, or care? Perhaps you will answer that he needs each of these. Infact, you will have to admit that all four are necessary for a child’sproper development.
So, too, the soul of a person who has awakened from the sleep of sin and isrepenting is like a newborn child. Let us recall what Christ said toNikodemos: Ye must be born again (John 3:7). A newborn soul needs to benourished with the teachings of Christ; it needs to be cleansed by fastingand prayer; it needs the warmth of love for its Creator, and it needs toprotect its thoughts and desires from all the arrows of destruction. Did notthe Saviour command us through His apostles: If you love Me, keep Mycommandments ? And He did not say to fulfill just one commandment, but tofulfill the commandments, i.e., all of them. Christ’s commandments – this isnot just one act, one labor, but many.
You are an experienced gardener, and you know how much work is required togrow even one vegetable. You wouldn’t leave even one plant without someattention. How, then, can we not labor on our soul, our unique treasure,which the grave itself cannot destroy?
You have acquired a garden in Jerusalem. This was not one of God’scommandments, and yet you undertook this labor out of love for God and forthe sake of your soul’s salvation. How, then, can we disdain even one of ourSaviour’s commandments as something inconsequential?
Peace and joy to you from the Lord.
From a Russian translation of the original Serbian by Nun Ioanna.