With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man: The Spiritual Counsels of St. Paisios the Athonite - Volume 1

The New Generation - Part 4 of 18

“Young people of today resemble new engines whose oil is frozen. The oil has to be warmed, in order for the engine to start; there is no other way. Many young men, with troubled souls, come to my Kalyvi - it is not just one or two - and they ask me: ‘What shall I do, Father? How shall I send my time? I am bored.’ ‘Find a job, my son!’ ‘I have money; I do not need to work,’ he tells me. ‘But,’ I reply, ‘the Apostle Paul says, “If anyone will not work, let him not eat” [II Tim. 3:10]. You must work in order to eat, even if you have money. Work helps a man thaw out the oil in his engine. To work is to create. It gives you joy, and takes away your stress and boredom. So, my son, this is what you should do: find a job that you like enough to get started. Just give it a try, and you will see the difference.