A group of little children were playing. They were running about, picking flowers, singing, and rejoicing, because the grace of God made them happy. Then they saw a monk who was crying.
"Look," they said to him, "the Lord decorated the heavens with stars and the earth with rivers and gardens; hawks fly high above the clouds and enjoy the beauty of nature; birds sing beautifully in the fields, but you, a monk, sit in your cell and do not see the whole beauty of God. You just sit and cry. What are you crying about in your little cell, when the sun is shining, the world is full of beauty, and there is joy everywhere on earth?"
"Children," replied the monk, "you do not understand my tears. My soul cries for you because you do not know God, Who created all this beauty. My soul knows Him, and I want all of you to know Him, too. That is why I am sorrowful, and with tears I pray to God for you, that you would also come to know the Lord through the Holy Spirit."
"What does it mean, to come to know the Lord through the Holy Spirit?" "You cannot know God with your mind. But when you read the Holy Scriptures, where the Holy Spirit dwells, it will delight you, and so you will come to know God and will serve Him with joy day and night. When you know God, the desire to think only about the things of this world will leave you, and your soul will strive to see the glory of God in the heavens."
"But we like flowers, and we love playing and having fun."
"You love roaming through the fields and picking flowers; you love singing and listening to the chirping of birds. But there is something much more wonderful than all this in the heavens: Paradise, where the Lord lives with the angels and the saints. In Paradise there is also rejoicing and singing of songs- but another, better kind. And when the soul hears those songs, it can never forget them, and earthly songs no longer attract it."
"But we love to sing."
"Sing, my children, to the Lord through the Holy Spirit. Sing in humility and love."
"Still, we don't understand why it is you are crying."
"O Lord, send down Thy grace upon the children of the earth, children whom Thou lovest. Grant them to love Thee through the Holy Spirit, and teach them to glorify Thee.
"With tears I beseech Thee: hearken to my prayer, and grant everyone to come to know Thy glory through the Holy Spirit."
"Children, love God like the angels love Him in the heavens."
"We have never seen God. How can we love Him?"
"My beloved children, think always of God: that He loves you and gave you life in order that you might live with Him forever and bask in His love."
"How can we know that God loves us?"
"Love is recognized by its fruit, my children. When we are in the love of God, we fear sin, there is peace and joy in the soul, we want to remember God all the time, we want to pray, and there are good thoughts in the soul."
"How can we find out what kind of thoughts dwell in us, and which of them are good and which are bad?"
"So that you can tell good thoughts from bad thoughts, you have to keep your mind pure in God."
"We do not understand how we can keep our mind in God, when we have never seen God and do not know Him. And what does a pure mind mean?"
"My children, think about the fact that God sees you, even though you don't see Him. Keep this thought in mind, and you will always walk before the eyes of God. Although it is a small love, when you keep my word, it will grow into a big love, and then, through the Holy Spirit, you will come to know what it is that I am telling you and all that you do not yet understand."
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