Oftentimes couples express to me their insecurity regarding the topic of childbearing, and they ask my opinion. Some only want one or two children, while others want to have many. It would, however, be to their advantage to leave the issue of childbearing to God—to entrust their lives to divine providence and not try to implement their own plan. They must have faith that God, Who cares for the birds of the air, will care much more for their children. There was once a sailor who married at eighteen years old. He was poor, and so was the girl he married. They rented a basement to live in. The girl also found a little work. In this way they lived quite sparingly. Just imagine it: for a table they used a leftover crate from some peaches they once bought. Later they began having children, living very frugally in order to raise them. And yet, little by little, they became prosperous homeowners.
Some people try to get everything else set up first and only afterwards think about children. They don’t consider God in the slightest. Again others say: “Life is hard today; one child is enough, for even him you’ll raise with difficulty”; and they don’t have other children. They don’t understand how greatly they sin with such an approach, not giving themselves over to God with faith. God is merciful: as soon as He sees that they can’t cope, it’s not hard for Him not to give them more children.
So many people go into marriage without considering that they should plan on having children and raising them in a Christian manner. They don’t want many children so they won’t have to be bothered; instead they have dogs and cats in their houses . . . They tell me that now in America, instead of having a dog at home, there is a kind of pig, which is very expensive and doesn’t grow so big. They’ve made it that way so as to be able to keep it in their homes. They don’t want to have children because it’s a pain to wash and care for them; but instead they’re cleaning piggies! At least a dog can keep watch. But to have pigs in your home? Unbelievable! In Australia I saw they had an old peoples’ home for dogs and cats…, and even a cemetery for animals! The way people are going they’ll start raising mice to make canned cat food to feed their cats with; they’ll raise rabbits and bunnies to can up into food to feed their dogs with, while other people are dying of hunger. Nowadays, if someone were to kill a dog, he might actually get into more trouble than if he were to kill another person. Of course, depending on what breed the dog was…where will it end!?…when in our day a man is worth less than a dog.
Translation by Fr. Luke Hartung from the book Family Life [in Greek], by Elder Paisios the Athonite, published by the Sacred Hesychastirion of St. John the Evangelist, Souroti, Greece (2002).
Human Logic and the Will of God for Childbearing
Oftentimes couples express to me their insecurity regarding the topic of childbearing, and they ask my opinion. Some only want one or two children, while others want to have many. It would, however, be to their advantage to leave the issue of childbearing to God—to entrust their lives to divine providence and not try to implement their own plan. They must have faith that God, Who cares for the birds of the air, will care much more for their children. There was once a sailor who married at eighteen years old. He was poor, and so was the girl he married. They rented a basement to live in. The girl also found a little work. In this way they lived quite sparingly. Just imagine it: for a table they used a leftover crate from some peaches they once bought. Later they began having children, living very frugally in order to raise them. And yet, little by little, they became prosperous homeowners.
Some people try to get everything else set up first and only afterwards think about children. They don’t consider God in the slightest. Again others say: “Life is hard today; one child is enough, for even him you’ll raise with difficulty”; and they don’t have other children. They don’t understand how greatly they sin with such an approach, not giving themselves over to God with faith. God is merciful: as soon as He sees that they can’t cope, it’s not hard for Him not to give them more children.
So many people go into marriage without considering that they should plan on having children and raising them in a Christian manner. They don’t want many children so they won’t have to be bothered; instead they have dogs and cats in their houses . . . They tell me that now in America, instead of having a dog at home, there is a kind of pig, which is very expensive and doesn’t grow so big. They’ve made it that way so as to be able to keep it in their homes. They don’t want to have children because it’s a pain to wash and care for them; but instead they’re cleaning piggies! At least a dog can keep watch. But to have pigs in your home? Unbelievable! In Australia I saw they had an old peoples’ home for dogs and cats…, and even a cemetery for animals! The way people are going they’ll start raising mice to make canned cat food to feed their cats with; they’ll raise rabbits and bunnies to can up into food to feed their dogs with, while other people are dying of hunger. Nowadays, if someone were to kill a dog, he might actually get into more trouble than if he were to kill another person. Of course, depending on what breed the dog was…where will it end!?…when in our day a man is worth less than a dog.
Translation by Fr. Luke Hartung from the book Family Life [in Greek], by Elder Paisios the Athonite, published by the Sacred Hesychastirion of St. John the Evangelist, Souroti, Greece (2002).