There is no way to joke with God. I will tell you a story from my life when I asceticized in the Holy Trinity Lavra in Sergiev Posad. In Soviet times, various agents were sent to the monks, who asked the monks how they felt about the power of the USSR and the Communist Party.
There was a informant in the monastery — a young girl Tamara, who, in order to gain confidence in the inhabitants of the monastery, and then report them to the KGB, posed as a demoniac.
My friend was engaged in his work in the altar and hears a terrible squeal in the temple. Came out and sees Tamara, who turns in some convulsions before the icon. The monk came up and said, “I know you.” Why are you pretending to be crazy? I saw you on the third day and yesterday, you were healthy. And she screams even more, wriggles.
Then the ponomar said, «Tamarka, I’ll check you out now.» I have an icon in my altar. I’m going to bring this icon to you. If you fall in front of her and scream, you’re demonic, if not, you’re healthy. The ponomar took a tray on which the prosphorus were carried out, covered it with a towel, walked up to the girl and said: «Here is this icon, kiss her.» Tamara immediately began to scream, fell to the ground, began to wriggle. Then he says, «Tamarka, now I’ve caught you saying you’re a liar.» This is not a holiday icon, this is a tray.” I took off my towel and showed her…
But the story didn’t end there. After a while, this girl became obsessed. She no longer fell or wriggled, but suffered greatly. I believe that the suffering she had already endured had actually cleansed her of sin.
You can’t joke with God. We can joke with each other. We can have good jokes or bad ones. No jokes can be made with God. Because a joke with God, sooner or later, becomes a reality.
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry
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