One or the Other
They are connected to one another but they are extreme opposites. They are linked but at the same time inextricably separate. One and the Other can never exist and simultaneously coexist. One or the Other. If there is One, the Other disappears. If the Other is present, One is not. If the Other is known, One is unknown. If One is known, the Other is unknown. If One is present, the Other is absent. If the Other is present, One is absent. If One is close, the Other cannot be found. If the Other is near, One is far away. If One sings, the Other is silent. If the Other cries out, One has been made mute. One announces, the Other denounces. One opens, the Other closes. One reveals, the Other shades. One makes the impossible possible, the Other makes the possible impossible. One unifies, the Other separates. One proposes, the Other expects. One is from the One, the Other is from the Other.
Literally, Jesus says: If you do not metanoète-change your thought you will all likewise apolèisthe-perish.
Metanoète, "change your mind, opinion, way of thinking," comes from the Greek verb metanoèo, composed of the preposition metà, "against, conversely, differently, through" and the verb noèo, "I mean, I understand, I comprehend," which in turn derives from the noun nòus, "mind, thought, intelligence, understanding, judging." Nòus is the mind's capacity to conceive thoughts, to elaborate concepts, and to formulate judgments. Metanoète, change one's mind-nòus, is by far the spiritual activity most solicited and proposed by Jesus in order to live the Gospel and to live in joy. If we could summarize the gospel in two words, these would be change mind, both in the sense to change, to modify a mental orientation, as well as to silence the mind to permit the Spirit to speak.
Apolèisthe, "perish" comes from the Greek verb apòllumi, "I bring to ruin, I break down, I destroy, I lose, I vanish, I perish"; "I reduce it to nothing, I nullify, I consume, I disrupt", formed by the intensive preposition apò joined to òllumi, "I make it perish, I waste." It does not mean then just to die, but to be destroyed, brought to ruin, be lost, nullified. Destruction, nullification is the fate of those who do not choose to spiritually evolve through an inner change.
Metanoèo is One. Apòllumi is the Other.
Either Metanoèo, spiritual and psychological inner change, or Apòllumi, destruction, nullification. Either interior change in God or destruction. One or the Other.