A man came to an old man (monk) and watching his ultimate benevolence asked: “You’re so wise, you’re always in a good mood, never malicious. Help me to be like that, too.”
The old man agreed and asked the man to bring potatoes and a transparent sack – “If you get bitter at someone (get hurt) and hide the insult,” said the old man, “take potato, write on it the name of the man that you had a conflict with, and put that potato in the sack. ”
– “And that’s all?,” in doubt asked the man. – “No,” replied the old man. “You should always carry that sack with you.. And whenever you insult someone, add another potato in the bag. The man agreed. It’s been a while. His bag was filled up with lots of potatoes and became quite heavy. It was very uncomfortable to constantly carry it with him. Besides, the potatoes he had placed at the very beginning became depraved. Some potatoes germinated, some cracked apart and gave a sharp unpleasant odour.
Then the man went back to the old man and said: “It is impossible to carry this bag with me. First it became too heavy, and second potatoes became depraved. Can you offer me something else?”
But the old man replied: “The same happens in the human soul. Only we do not notice it immediately. The processes turn into habits, habits into a character that begets bad vices. I just gave you an opportunity to observe the whole process from the side. Whenever you decide to get offended, or contrary to insult someone else, just consider whether you need that burden.”
Source: Вистина, Гласник на Преспанско – пелагониската епархија, 83, Битола, 2014
