Good Calculations by St. Paisios

 

From the book " Old Paisios " by the Hieromonk Christodoulou Agioreitou

Several years ago I went down to Athens for some work and was hosted at the home of a Christian brother. The house was close to a main road so there was a lot of noise. In the evening, this brother told me that because of all the fuss, he could not close an eye at night, as a result of which his nerves are broken and he is taking sedative pills. After we had eaten, they gave me a room to go and rest, and pointing to it, he said :

- Elder, here is the room, but I don't know if you will close an eye with this noise of cars, which can be heard from the street.

After the night passed and I came out of my room, this brother said to me :

- I didn't blink an eye, Elder from the commotion ; what did you do ?

Then I said to him :

- Never, not even on the Mount, have I slept so well and for so long.

- Elder, he said to me, how is this possible ?

Then I told him what happened to me from the moment I entered the room. (At that time the war was going on in Vietnam and every day we heard bad news from the war there and I prayed for God to help).

- When I entered the room I went and knelt in front of the bed. I rested my hands and head on the bed and began to pray for those who are fighting and dying in Vietnam. The noise of the cars could be heard below, but I, because my mind was in Vietnam, transformed with my imagination the sound of the cars and imagined the tanks, the noise they make when they pass, I imagined them spreading death down there, they tear down houses, etc. From under the road now and then a motorcyclist passed by with a multi-cubic engine, making an excessively loud noise, causing the windows to rattle. I immediately imagined the planes flying over Vietnam and bombing and seeing little children and old men being mercilessly killed.I was seized with a sweet complaint and I was crying about the whole situation there and feeling sorry for myself, that I was in a nice room with a nicely made bed, that I had eaten well and generally had no problems. And while I wept over them and had a very great peace of mind, I fell asleep on my knees, and slept there in the night, without any interruption of my sleep. So, since my thoughts were with those who were suffering in Vietnam, I didn't mind the noise of the cars.

This is how you should do it : Assume with your calculation that there is a war going on outside and while everyone is being killed, their properties are destroyed, their houses are demolished or they die of hunger, they have you in a luxurious house closed, you eat, you drink, they pay you, you are not in danger, you only hear the noise of those who are fighting and in this way it becomes a reason for you to praise God and not be forced to take sedative pills ; the solution is only one : " good thinking " .