Many are interested in solving “hot” topics in their minds. We are interested in how Elijah was lifted up to heaven with the chariot of fire, how is the vision of paradise, the angels, the creation of the world, and other things like this.
The Holy Fathers of the Church knew of such issues from experience, but trying to explain such matters is like trying to explain the green light to a blind man.
We would say to him that light is more or less the electromagnetic radiation with a spectrum of wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres. When this wavelength is between 500 and 570 nanometers, then we have what we call green light.
When the blind man will hear us, he will rejoice saying “Glory to God! I now know what green light is.” However, the actual experience of the green light is quite different from the above definition.
In the same manner, the Holy Fathers didn’t try to describe their otherworldly experiences—they just noted them down in order to give us courage and to reveal to us what awaits us in the after life.
They focused much more on how to succeed in having an actual experience of the fact which they described. This is the thing on which we should focus: to do the actual deeds in order to be able to experience heaven, and not only to sit in our armchairs discussing about them—because we will never reach to true knowledge, which stems only from actual experience.
The Holy Bible is a theological book—its purpose is to cure and save our souls. However, the Bible is above our science, not underneath it. The authors of the books from the Bible were enlightened by the Holy Spirit and had the above experiences, thus when we don’t understand something from there, we should say that the problem is with “us” and we must struggle in order to raise our spiritual level. Then, we will not only understand the Holy Bible but we will also see God. And, because of our great joy, we will treat everything else as secondary.
The photos are from the litany held with the occasion of the feast of Saint Elijah
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