As I have told you many times, it is one thing to uproot a small plant
(which can be plucked out easily), and it is another to uproot a large tree.
A certain great elder was with his disciples in a place where there
were both small and large cypress trees. The elder said to one of his
disciples, “Uproot this small cypress.” It was a tiny, young tree and the
brother uprooted it with just one hand. The elder then pointed out another
one a little larger than the first and said to him, “Remove this one as well.”
He rocked it back and forth with both hands, and he rooted it out. Again the
elder showed him another, still larger. The brother shook it for some time,
and after much effort and sweat he finally managed to uproot this one too.
The elder then showed him a very large one and, in spite of the fact that he
toiled at length and sweated a great deal, he could not uproot it. When the
elder saw that he did not have enough strength to remove it, he asked
another brother to get up and help him; thus, the two of them uprooted it
together. The elder then turned to the brothers and concluded, “It is the
same with the passions, brethren. While they are young, we can easily
uproot them, if we so desire. If, however, we consider them to be
insignificant and neglect them, they harden. And the more they harden, the
greater the effort and pain required. If they further develop and become
deeply rooted within us, then we can no longer dig them out alone, even if
we try very hard; unless we have help from certain saints who will assist
us, after God.”
Do you see how much power the words of the holy fathers contain?
The prophet teaches us similarly on this matter: “O daughter of Babylon,
thou wretched one, blessed is he who shall reward thee wherewith thou
hast rewarded us. Blessed is he who shall seize and dash thine infants
against the rock” (Ps. 136:8-9). In other words, he is saying, “blessed is the
person who right from the very onset will not allow your offspring (i.e. the
evil thoughts) to grow within him, and thus give way to evil and let it
materialize. On the contrary, while the thoughts are still weak—before they
have a chance to thrive and develop strength against him—, he quickly
grabs them and smashes them against the rock, which is Christ, and
destroys them by fleeing to Christ.
Behold how both the holy elders and the Holy Scriptures agree!
Behold how they bless the people who struggle to sever the passions while
they are still in their infancy, before they experience the pain and bitterness
of the passions. Let us, therefore, struggle eagerly my brothers, so we may
find mercy. Let us exert ourselves a little, and we will find a great deal of
rest and comfort.
Abba Dorotheos
