So this life of ours here on earth determines our eternity, like flipping a coin: paradise or hell! ( Elder Ephraim of Arizona )

Raise your mind to the dread judgment seat of Christ,what defence shall we give on the day of judgment when our deeds are judged? 

How frightening is the hour in which the soul waits full of fear to hear the decision regarding where it will go to dwell eternally! 

The word “eternity” is frightful! To understand in part what eternity means, I shall give you an example. Imagine that the whole earth is one big piece of granite, and every thousand years a bird comes to sharpen its beak on this rock. When the entire rock is worn away by the bird sharpening its beak, then we shall have some faint notion of what eternity means—not that we have actually understood eternity, immortality, or life without end! 

So this life of ours here on earth determines our eternity, like flipping a coin: paradise or hell! Therefore, how much caution must we have!


Elder Ephraim of Arizona

Man comes into the light of this world crying, he passes his life in weeping and sorrows, and he leaves the world in tears and pain. ( Elder Ephraim of Arizona )

Man comes into the light of this world crying, he passes his life in weeping and sorrows, and he leaves the world in tears and pain. O vanity of vanities! 

The dream vanishes, and man awakens into the reality of the true life. No one notices how this vain life flows by, the years pass, the months roll by, the hours disappear, the moments slip by imperceptibly, and then without any warning, the telegram comes: “Put your house in order, for you will die; you will live no longer!” (Is. 38:1 ). 

Then the deception is uncovered, and a person dying realizes what an important role the world played for him. He feels regret and distress; he yearns for the time that is gone; he would give all his wealth to buy one day in order to repent and receive communion. Unfortunately, though, not one favor is given to him. Previously, time was at his disposal for years; he, however, wasted it in business, in bars, in cinemas, and in every shameful desire. 

Wise is the merchant who realized the deceit of this temporal life, became wise, and sent his merchandise to heaven before the fair of life ended, in order to find it there in the treasuries of the heavenly city of God with accrued interest and dividends. 

Blessed is that wise man, for he will live the painless and blessed life unto the ages of ages, while the unwise, the drunkards, the greedy, the lovers of money, the lewd, the murderers, and the rest of my fellow-sinners , of whom I am the first, will be thrown into the furnace of unquenchable fire! Now that the sun is shining and the day casts its sweet light upon us, let us walk quickly along the road of our correction, before the night of the future afterlife overtakes us, at which time we shall no longer be able to walk. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2 ), cries the Apostle Paul in his immortal words.

Elder Ephraim of Arizona

Our precious time rolls by and disappears before our eyes... ( Elder Ephraim of Arizona )

The years roll by and pass, and day by day each one of us draws closer and closer to the end of this life. Our precious time rolls by and disappears before our eyes, without our realizing, of course, what is escaping us unnoticed. For if the little child knew the worth of gold, he would not prefer to have a cheap candy instead. Doesn’t this also hold true for people, and above all for me? 

When our Lord comes at the appointed time to judge the world; when the heavens are rolled up like a piece of paper, and the earth, which has been thoroughly defiled by those dwelling upon it, is renewed; when the sun, the moon, and the stars fall like autumn leaves; when the trumpet resounds throughout the entire world, and the scattered dry bones are reconstructed and flesh and life come upon them (vid. EZ. 37:1-14 ); when the ranks of the angels will gather in the vastness of heaven in honor of the fearful Judge Who is to come; when small clouds rise up from the infinite multitude of resurrected people and lift upon themselves the holy and saved people to meet the Lord in the air, then those who have remained below and see all these things will weep most bitterly and beat their breasts in despair, reflecting that they wasted their precious time here in pleasures, in drunkenness, in acquiring wealth, in illicit deeds, in avarice, and in every sin, which now condemn them to this most pitiful and lamentable condition of theirs. 

Will they not pathetically seek to have a little time to run to the poor, to the sick, and to every destitute person, so that they also might hear the sweet voice of the Lord saying to them, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you… for I was hungry and you gave Me food… I was naked and you clothed Me, etc.”? (Mt. 25:34-36 ). At some time in their lives they heard these things. 

However, in Hades there is no repentance. For this reason, the utmost despair will seize them. They will seek death; they will have a burning desire for it to deliver them from their boundless sufferings, but unfortunately they will not find it, for everything will have already been transformed into immortality! (All this holds true for me….).

Elder Ephraim of Arizona

Be careful, my child; do not let time pass fruitlessly and without improvement in your soul, for death comes like a thief. ( Elder Ephraim of Arizona )

Be careful, my child; do not let time pass fruitlessly and without improvement in your soul, for death comes like a thief.

 

 Woe to us if it finds us in a state of sloth and laziness , then the mountains and hills will need to weep for us; then we shall be found empty of good works, and Hades will shepherd us eternally! 

 

My child, why should we suffer such a lamentable shipwreck when we are able, with God’s help, to avoid it and be rescued at the saving harbor of the kingdom of God! I know that we have to wrestle with formidable enemies and that the labor is great. But with God, that is, with the power of God ,everything gives way when man’s will and strength cooperate with it.

Elder Ephraim of Arizona

How frightening is the question of where each person’s soul will end up!

 

How frightening is the question of where each person’s soul will end up! 

 

Oh, how much do forgetfulness and indolence lead us astray—and me, first! If we think about it, it is terrifying to ponder whether we shall achieve our goal or not. Man’s entire being is overcome by trembling when he carefully considers what will happen in the end! 

What judgment will be for me, who has been conceived in iniquities? (cf. Ps. 50:5 ). Be merciful, be merciful upon me, my sweetest Jesus! Upon Thy compassions I cast my soul’s despair.



Elder Ephraim of Arizona

Τake care of your soul, my child. ( Elder Ephraim of Arizona )

Τake care of your soul, my child. Read the Fathers; pray with the beloved little prayer, which will fortify the foundation of your soul. Meditate on death, which is something that will most definitely come to us. Ah, death! The cup of death is extremely bitter for the soul when it powerfully separates the soul from the body. How much regret we shall feel then for everything we have done out of carelessness and laziness! Our conscience will torment us as a foretaste of hell. So why should we let the pleasure of sin defeat us, for which we shall pay with much pain and no cure? Man, with a dual nature, the elect and unique creation of God, is born on this planet, the earth, and gradually he dies physically some day, completely incapable of keeping himself alive. Conceit blows him up like a balloon, only to die because of just one illness. He has no power over himself. Without realizing it, he is governed by another’s will and command, while he is led away involuntarily, completely helpless to resist. What are you, O man, that you boast and brag, imagining outrageous things about yourself? Behold, an invisible microbe attacks you, and at once you feel ill, fall sick, and go to your grave. O conceited mortal, you see that death is coming and that you will depart to an unknown land and yield to it with no ability to object. Are you able to refuse, to resist, to escape what is going to happen to you at that fearsome hour? Not at all! Total helplessness. Then why do you boast, O man of clay, you helpless, wretched, useless one? What do you own that God has not given you? Can’t He take it from you whenever He wants? Yes. Then bend your neck, humble yourself, and thus you will be saved.

Elder Ephraim of Arizona

Man comes into the light of this world crying, he passes his life in weeping and sorrows, and he leaves the world in tears and pain.

Man comes into the light of this world crying, he passes his life in weeping and sorrows, and he leaves the world in tears and pain. O vanity of vanities! The dream vanishes, and man awakens into the reality of the true life. No one notices how this vain life flows by—the years pass, the months roll by, the hours disappear, the moments slip by imperceptibly, and then without any warning, the telegram comes: “Put your house in order, for you will die; you will live no longer!” (Is. 38:1 ). Then the deception is uncovered, and a person dying realizes what an important role the world played for him. He feels regret and distress; he yearns for the time that is gone; he would give all his wealth to buy one day in order to repent and receive communion. Unfortunately, though, not one favor is given to him. Previously, time was at his disposal for years; he, however, wasted it in business, in bars, in cinemas, and in every shameful desire. Wise is the merchant who realized the deceit of this temporal life, became wise, and sent his merchandise to heaven before the fair of life ended, in order to find it there in the treasuries of the heavenly city of God with accrued interest and dividends. Blessed is that wise man, for he will live the painless and blessed life unto the ages of ages, while the unwise, the drunkards, the greedy, the lovers of money, the lewd, the murderers, and the rest of my fellow-sinners—of whom I am the first—will be thrown into the furnace of unquenchable fire! Now that the sun is shining and the day casts its sweet light upon us, let us walk quickly along the road of our correction, before the night of the future afterlife overtakes us, at which time we shall no longer be able to walk. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2 ), cries the Apostle Paul in his immortal words.

Elder Ephraim of Arizona

Only godly works, that is, whatever works were done for the love of God, will never burn out, but will shine for a person so that he may ascend the path to reach the throne of God.

Take a look at death, my child, which reaps everyone. All human things melt and burn out like a candle. Only godly works—that is, whatever works were done for the love of God—will never burn out, but will shine for a person so that he may ascend the path to reach the throne of God. Work the deeds of salvation, even if it takes great effort. Everything will be counted as a struggle, as ascesis, and as resistance to the devil, and your due reward will be definitely given to you. Compel yourself. Bear in mind your departure, your death, the toll-houses, and the fearsome judgment of God. Think about hell and the damned, my child. Count yourself as one of them also, and then all your sorrows will seem like nothing to you, and a sweet consolation will come upon your entire soul.

Elder Ephraim of Arizona

The mercy of God supports all of us .....

Be attentive, my child, that you not judge any soul. For God permits the one who judges his neighbor to fall, so that he learns to have sympathy for his weak brother. The mercy of God supports all of us, but if we become proud, God will remove His grace and we shall become worse than the others.

 It is one thing to condemn someone and another to be fought by thoughts of condemnation. To condemn is a terrible passion, but to be fought by such thoughts and to fight back—this is an occasion for crowns.

Elder Ephraim of Arizona