Everything that God allows is philanthropic

 "Geronda, why does God allow some misfortune to happen?"

 — There can be many reasons for this. In one case, God allows misfortune to come out of it, in the other case, for "pedagogical" purposes. Some receive retribution, others pay for their sins – nothing is lost. Know that everything that God allows is philanthropic, even, for example, the destruction of people. After all, God is "compassionate". Do you remember how many the prophet Elijah slain? [78] Three hundred priests of Baal! And he said to them, "Pray ye, and I will pray also. Whoever has a fire of its own accord has the true God." Then the priests of Baal began to cry out, "Hear us, O our God Baal, hear us." "Your god," the prophet Elijah says to them, "is busy with something and does not hear you. Come on, shout louder!" They continued to scream, and, as was their custom, cut their bodies with knives, so that their screams would be stronger in pain, and Baal would hear them. In the end, when they had achieved nothing, the prophet Elijah said, "Wet my wood," and then said to them, "Triple." The wood and the victim were poured with water - once, then again, again! They poured so much that the wood became damp and the water spread around the altar. As soon as the prophet Elijah prayed, fire descended from heaven and burned everything that was placed on the altar for sacrifice — along with the altar itself! "Seize the priests," the Prophet said to the people, "for they are seducing the people into idolatry." And then he slew all these false prophets.

Many people say, "Have mercy, but how could the prophet Elijah kill so many people?" However, the idolatrous priests had already deceived the entire people. It got to the point where the Prophet was forced to say that he was alone! Just think! But, in addition, the idolatrous priests suffered from their own wounds more than from the sword of the prophet Elijah, which put an end to their suffering. Their pain from self-torture was stronger. You see: everything that God allows is philanthropic, while the wounds that they inflicted on themselves were painful for them.

 "And why, Geronda, did God's punishment come so immediately in the Old Testament?"

 "The people of the Old Testament understood such a language, such a law. God was then the same as he is now, but the Old Testament law was intended for the people of that time, because they did not understand otherwise. Do not let the Old Testament law seem cruel and different from the Gospel. For that era, this law was beneficial. It was not the law that was cruel, it was that generation that was cruel. People today can, of course, commit even greater cruelties, but now at least they are able to understand it. Nowadays, as soon as you swing some lampada, people are in such awe! And in those days, God did all sorts of things! See: He smote Pharaoh with ten plagues to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, and dried up the Red Sea so that they could pass through it. During the day He gave them a cloud so that the sun would not burn them, and at night He gave them a pillar of fire to show them the way. And after all these miracles, they went so far as to ask for a golden calf to be made for them and began to worship it as God! [79] People today would never say that some calf could lead them to the Promised Land.

Today God is pushed to the last place

The good God gives us His rich blessings. Let us not show ingratitude and do not anger Him, for "the persecution of God is coming upon the children of disobedience"[80]. Let us not be such sons. People of our era have not survived either wars or famine. "Nor do we need God," they say, "either." They have everything and therefore value nothing. However, if hard times come, hunger or something like that, and they have nothing to eat, then they will properly understand the price of bread, and simple jam, and everything that they will then lose. If we do not praise God, then He allows some kind of trial to come, so that we appreciate what we have. If we value what we have, then God does not allow any evil to happen.

In the old days, when there were not all these many conveniences, when science had not yet made such great strides, people had to resort to God in all difficulties, and God helped them. Today, people go through life without God, plan one thing or another, hope for the fire department, then for boreholes, for the fifth, for the tenth... But what can people do without God? They will only bring the wrath of God upon themselves. You see: when it doesn't rain, people don't say, "Let's pray to God," but say, "Let's drill wells for wells." The bad thing is that because of all these technical means, not only non-believers, but even believers think so, and they slowly begin to forget about the power of God. Thankfully, God is patient with us. But people do not even understand that God cares for them.

Once several people came to me and began to say: "We do not need God: we have artesian wells." And this at a time when it is necessary more than ever to ask God to perform a special miracle — because people have already distorted nature with the works of their hands. Once I watched the clouds - they were carried by the wind here and there, they gathered in one place, then flew to another - then jumped up, then fell down... The wind rises and begins to disperse the rain clouds, and people, instead of saying, "Now God must perform a special miracle to hold them back," say, "We do not need God." Fortunately, God does not take our words seriously, otherwise we would have a hard time.

In search of water, people drill wells of artesian wells to a depth of one hundred to one hundred and fifty meters, but they do not find water. In the city of Nafplio[81] they drilled a well one hundred and eighty meters deep — and instead of fresh water, they dug up to sea water. Others decided to lead the river Elenos[82] to Athens. And in order to bring it to Athens, it will take ten years of work and huge expenses, but then this water will run out anyway. Men do not say sinners. Recently, when there was a drought, a politician came to a remote village and told the villagers that a sewage treatment system would be installed in their village so that they would have water to drink. And they treated this idea as something outstanding! And it is indecent to allow such things even in thoughts! Look at what people go to – they drink, excuse the expression, their own urine! If something like this is done in some big city where people have deviated from the (true) path, then well, there is at least some excuse for it, because the city is carried away by the worldly spirit. But when the inhabitants of a remote village are offered to purify and drink their own urine as a solution to the problem, and instead of turning their eyes to God, they say a single word, "I have sinned" and receive water from Him, they consider it a serious undertaking, it is frightening.

And in one Svyatogorsk monastery, they came up with the idea of planting pine trees, and then selling them for the paper industry. And God punished them – all the planted trees withered. Why, my brother, the Holy Mountain will become a manufacturer of napkins and toilet paper? Do you understand what is happening? And so they worked, planted trees, and everything that was planted withered. The wrath of God..

 "Geronda, did they realize their mistake?"

 "Oh, the fact of the matter is that no!" After that, they brought drilling rigs from Germany to pump water from the depths of the earth. As a result, the water that was there before also disappeared. You see where the mercantile approach to business can lead if spiritual sensitivity is lost! That is why reverence gradually disappears from monasticism. They do not understand that if there is no rain, then nothing will help - the water that still remains in the reservoirs will disappear. People use only logic, and God is relegated to the last place.