Posted by Christina on April 26, 2002 at 12:51:40:
In Reply to: Hey Panos what about this? posted by Nikos on April 25, 2002 at 22:04:42:
Before my good friend passed away last August at the age of 21 from leukemia, she wrote: "When I think of the whole of my twenty-one years of life and how quickly and vainly they have passed, what would have prevented me from living another fifty years in the same way? A whole lifetime is worthless, no matter how many years it consists of, if it is not lived as an investment in eternity." Her wisdom was certainly beyond her years.
The monastics have seen the Light of the Father and they have accepted them into their life. Is it a coincidence to you that these extremely intelligent people have turned to focus their lives entirely on God? They are praying for not only themselves, but for this world, which is in dire need of God's incredible mercy. Please do not ever say again that too much praying is a waste. Do not forget that our bodies are mortal, and when we pass from this life, what will have have to present ourselves so that we may hope to enter His Heavenly Kingdom?
Please do not think I am undermining the importance of education. I, myself, am working towards medical school and I hope to one day help those in need of my services. It is our duty in society to educate ourselves, and help fellow man. However, of upmost importance are our souls!
We should forever feel blessed for our spiritual leaders. If society's most intelligent people are studying theology, then I feel that I am in good hands.
Sincerely,
Christina
: I've been following the threads on this subject and have only one personal contribution. I don't have a problem with the Greek Orthodox church but it seems to me there was a terrible waste in the last 1700 years. Since the advent of Christian monasticism, I wonder how many hundreds, probably thousands of Greece's best and brightest men throughout history went and spent their lives in monasteries? Who knows how many Aristotles' and Platos' and Archimedes' spent their whole lives studying religious texts and praying for their salvation? And then, all these best and brightest of Greek men throughout the eons living and dying in monasteries, they didn't have any children did they so to pass on their geneticically-inherited intelligence and creativity. What a shame and what a loss. One could say that monasteries and the whole monastic tradition added to the 'vlakia' of the Greek peoples. I think this has been the biggest problem with the role of the Greek church in Greece - the loss of some of its best thinkers to the study of theology, what a shame.