Parable: Paisios the Athonite on how to share plums correctly
Father Paisios said:
- There is human justice and there is Divine justice.
- And what is Divine justice?, they asked him.
Then the elder gave such an example:
- Imagine that a person came to visit a friend and they had ten plums. One of them ate eight plums and the other got two. Is it fair?
- No, all answered in unison, this is unfair!
Father Paisios continued:
- Ok. Now fancy the two friends had ten plums. They divided them equally, five by five, and ate them. Is that fair?
- Yes, that’s fair!, everybody said.
“But this is human justice,” said Father Paisios. Yet, there is Divine justice! Imagine that one of the friends who had ten plums, having guessed that the other loves them very much, said, “Do me a favor and eat these plums, I don’t really like them. And besides, they cause me a stomachache! I can just do with one.”
Give someone else what he wants, not a half but everything; give him the good, and leave yourself the bad. This will be Divine justice, concluded the elder.
Read also
A shrine in your pocket: Why Christians wore lead flasks around their necks
They walked thousands of miles on foot, risking their lives. Why was a cheap lead flask of oil valued more than gold – and how did it become the prototype of our modern “go-bag”?
Strangers in their own palaces: Why Eliot called Christmas a “bitter agony”
The holidays are over – and what remains is the hangover of everyday life. We unpack T. S. Eliot’s piercing poem about how hard it is to return to “normal” when you have seen God.
God in a “krysania”: Why, for Antonych, Bethlehem moved to the Carpathians
Lemko Magi, a golden nut–Moon in Mary’s palms, and the Lord riding in a sleigh. How Bohdan-Ihor Antonych turned Christmas from a biblical story into a personal experience for every Ukrainian.
Stories of the Early Church: The place of the laity
In antiquity, a community could drive out its bishop. Why did we lose that right and turn into powerless “extras”? This is the story of the great turning point of the third century.
Revolt in the caves: How Kyiv’s saints defeated princes without weapons
A prince threatened to bury them alive for tonsuring his boyars. A chronicle of the Lavra’s first conflict with the state – and why the monks were not afraid of exile.
Dawn Matins: why are the songs of Moses and Solomon sung in the church?
The sun rises, and the psalms are replaced by ancient hymns of victory. Why do Christians sing the songs of the Old Testament, and how did the morning service become a poetic encyclopedia?