Is it, then, a lie?

 Is it, then, a lie?

You said, Lord, that You are Love. Yet around me, hatred reigns.

Is the power of love, then, a lie?

You said, Lord, that You are the Light. Darkness reigns around me. Is the significance of light, then, a lie?

You said, Lord, that You are the Way. Yet very few around me follow You. Is the true Way, then, a lie?

You said, Lord, "My peace I give to you." Yet around me, we see no true peace—neither in hearts, nor between individuals, nor, on a grand scale, between nations. Wars cease in some parts of the earth only to ignite new conflagrations elsewhere, with all the terrible consequences such situations entail. Is the offer of Your peace, then, a lie?

You said, Lord, that You are the Truth. Around me, I see the lie worshipped with a kind of frenzy.

Is the allure of truth, then, a lie?

You said, Lord, "Behold, I am with you... until the end of the age." Yet, the people around me live as if You never existed at all, as if You never set foot on our earth. And everything seems to show that You are the Great Absent One. Is our faith, then, a lie? Is it all a tragic delusion—as some proclaim with fanaticism and by every possible means?

My child,

I did not come to force upon anyone all that you mention and all that I proclaimed through word and deed; I said categorically: "Whoever wishes to come after Me... let him follow Me." "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him." Even to those who accepted My invitation, I said—prompted by the departure of some who had rejected Me—"Do you also wish to go away?" Free from Me. I do not want anyone to follow Me by compulsion, but freely. How, then, could you not see the things you mention to Me, given that people do not wish to follow Me?

How could the things you observe not exist?

Indeed, Lord! These doubts are voiced by those who do not believe in You, Lord; that is why they deem unattainable the very things You both embody and impart. Indeed, You never sought to impose them. You asked that we follow You freely—those of us who wish to do so. Yet, for those of us who follow You freely and with all our hearts, we taste the blessings You offer and experience Your presence within us, wholeheartedly embracing the word of Your Grace. No matter how hard the world strives for these things without You, it will never taste them as realities during its fleeting earthly sojourn.

Therefore, I can never, in any way, accept these expressions of doubt, my Lord! I fervently beseech You: "Lord, increase our faith! Increase our faith! Increase our faith"—a faith steadfast and unshakable in Your all-holy Person and in all that You have assured us once and for all!

(From Father Eusebius’s book *Katoptrismoi* [Reflections])