"Don't be negligent, boys, lest you fall into the hands of thieves," counseled St. Joseph to his brotherhood. This short text is an ever-timely word from a God-bearing elder of our days.
The text featured in this recording is from "The Elder Joseph the Hesychast (1897-1959): Struggles - Experiences - Teachings" by Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, p. 195-198.
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When we asked about the chief cause of man's failure in his spiritual purpose, [St. Joseph] would reply that it was negligence. On one occasion I asked him how it was that the Fathers give self-esteem as the reason, and he replied, "Yes, that conspires against us too; but not all of us, only those it deceives. And again it affects only a few, because self-esteem corrupts treasures that have been amassed, while negligence does not even let you collect them. Negligence is like a drought in which nothing grows. Self-esteem damages those who have fruit, who have made some progress; whereas negligence harms everyone, because it impedes those who want to make a start, it stops those who have advanced, it does not allow the ignorant to learn, it prevents those who have gone astray from returning, it does not permit the fallen to get up - in general, negligence spells destruction for all those it holds captive.
Using the pretext of physical needs and weariness from the struggle, this deceiver makes itself credible; and like a conductive material, listlessness transmits us and hands us over to self-love, the more general enemy. Only a courageous soul grounded in faith and hope in God can overthrow this conspiracy. Otherwise, it is difficult for someone inexperienced to escape from these nets.
As a cure for negligence, the Elder recommended eschatological meditation in ascending and descending form: reward and punishment, the Kingdom of heaven and hell; and also calling to mind the honorable memory of those who have taken part in the struggle. The means of grace against negligence are prayer, tears and faith. Again, the Elder would recount many examples from the lives of earlier spiritual warriors who happened to be led astray by negligence and lost the record of spiritual progress which they had gained through great fervour and ascetic labour.
To wake us up in the morning he would always shout to us, 'Don't be negligent, boys, lest you fall into the hands of thieves.' He even regarded a pointless occupation as negligence, because he believed that this too could lead to the same bondage. As David says, 'Let not thy foot be moved, and He who keeps thee will not slumber' (Ps. 121:3, LXX); and again, 'If Thy law had not been my meditation, I should have perished in my humiliation' (Ps. 119:92, LXX).
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