On Love of the Poor 1 part 2/2

snatch something away from the fire, lay it up far from the flame that feeds below;

give a little, from him from whom you have the greater part;

give even the whole, to the one who has freely given you all things

For this too is to receive: to be given to God;

however much you bring in, that which remains is always the greater;

and you will give nothing of your own, since all things are from God

And just as it is not possible to overtake one's own shadow, which withdraws just as far as we advance, and always keeps the same distance ahead;

nor for the stature of the body to exceed the head, which is always set above the body;

so also it is not possible, by what we give, to outdo God

For we give nothing that lies outside what is his, nor anything beyond his own generosity

Know whence you have your being, your breathing, your understanding — and, greatest of all, your knowledge of God; your hope of the kingdom of heaven, your equal honor with the angels, your vision of glory — now indeed as in a mirror and in riddles, but then more perfect and purer.

To become a son of God, a fellow-heir with Christ, and — if I may dare to say it — a god yourself? Whence come all these things to you, and from whom? Or, to speak of small things, the things that are seen — who gave you the beauty of heaven to look upon, the course of the sun, the circuit of the moon, the multitude of stars, and, in all these, as in a lyre, the harmony and order maintained alike throughout — the changes of the seasons, the alterations of the times, the cycles of the years, the equal division of day and night, the produce of the earth, the diffusion of the air, the expanses of the sea both loosed and standing still, the depths of rivers, the currents of the winds? Who gave the rains, farming, food, arts, dwellings, laws, forms of government, a civilized life, kinship with one's own kind? Whence comes it to you that of the animals some are tamed and yoked to your service, while others are given over for your food? Who established you as lord and king of all things on earth? Who — that I need not speak of each thing — bestowed on you everything in which man excels over the rest? Is it not he who now, before all things and in place of all things, asks of you love of humankind? Are we then not ashamed, if, having received so much from him, and hoping for still more, we shall not bring to God even this one thing — love of humankind? Nay, he separated us from the beasts, and by reason alone honored us above all others on earth.

But shall we make beasts of ourselves, and are we so corrupted by luxury, or gone mad, or — I do not know what to call it — that together with the barley-cake and the bran, which perhaps we have gotten by ill means, we shall also imagine ourselves better than they in nature? And as if, according to the old myths, there once existed a race of giants distinct from the rest of mankind...

By no means, O friends and brothers — let us not become evil stewards of what has been given to us, lest we hear Peter saying:

"Be ashamed, you who hold what belongs to others, and imitate the equality of God, and no one will be poor."

Let us not weary ourselves treasuring up and guarding wealth while others weary themselves in poverty, lest the divine Amos reproach and bitterly threaten us, on the one hand, in these words:

"'When will the month be past, that we may sell...'"

"'and the sabbath, that we may open our storehouses?'" — and what follows this, by which he holds forth the wrath of God against those who deal in great and small weights.

on the other hand, the blessed Micah rebukes — perhaps this very luxury, since satiety breeds insolence — the wanton reveling upon ivory couches, the being enervated by the finest ointments, the fattening on tender calves from the herds and kids from the flocks, the clapping to the sound of instruments, and, still more, the supposing that any of this is stable and enduring;

though perhaps he counts these things not so terrible as this — that in their luxury they feel nothing at the ruin of Joseph.

for this is what he adds to his indictment of their surfeit:

may this not befall us now, nor may we so indulge in luxury as to despise the love of humankind that comes from God, who is displeased at these things — even if he does not bring his wrath upon sinners immediately, nor together with the sin itself.

Let us imitate the highest and first law of God, who sends rain on the just and on sinners alike, and makes his sun rise on all in like manner;

and spread the earth out freely for all land-dwelling creatures, together with springs, and rivers, and forests;

the air for the winged creatures, and water for those whose life is lived in the water, and bestowed on all alike, without stint, the first means of life — not held fast by any lordship, not circumscribed by law, not divided off by boundaries;

but set these same things forth as common to all and abundant, and none the poorer for being shared.

thus honoring the equal dignity of nature with the equality of his gift, and displaying the wealth of his own goodness.

But men, having buried away gold and silver, and whatever clothing is soft and beyond need, and the translucent stones, or whatever else of that kind — things that are tokens of war, and faction, and the earliest tyranny — thereafter lift up their brows in folly, and shut off their mercy from their unfortunate kin, unwilling even to help the necessities of others out of their own superfluity (O what boorishness!

O what perversity!) — not even considering this one thing, if nothing else: that poverty and wealth, and freedom (so-called) and slavery, and names of that sort, came upon the human race only later, like certain common maladies that entered together with evil, and are indeed contrivances of that same evil.

"But from the beginning," it says, "it was not so."

Rather, he who fashioned man from the beginning left him free and self-determining, bound only by the law of the commandment, and rich in the delight of paradise;

and this he willed and granted also to the rest of the human race, through the one who was the first seed.

Freedom and wealth consisted solely in the keeping of the commandment;

and true poverty and slavery consisted in its transgression.

But from the time when envies and strifes and the deceitful tyranny of the serpent — ever dragging us down by the allurement of pleasure, and setting the more insolent against the weaker — came in, kinship was torn apart into estrangements of names, and greed cut up the nobility of nature, taking to itself law as an ally of its dominion.

But you, I beg you, look to the original equality of law, not to the later division;

not the law of him who seized power, but the law of him who created.

Help nature according to your power; honor the ancient freedom; have reverence for yourself; cover over the dishonor of the race; give aid to the disease; bring comfort to the want:

you who are strong in health, you who are rich — supply the need of the sick, the need of the poor;

you who have not stumbled, the need of him who has fallen and is broken;

you who are of good cheer, the need of him who is downcast;

you who prosper on the right hand, the need of him who labors under adversity on the left.

For it is not you who look to another's hands, but others who look to yours.

Be rich not in abundance alone, but also in piety;

not in gold alone, but also in virtue — or rather, in virtue alone.

Become more honorable than your neighbor by showing yourself more kind;

become a god to the unfortunate, imitating the mercy of God.

For in nothing does man possess God so much as in doing good;

and even though one man may do good on a greater scale, and another on a lesser, each, I think, does so according to his own capacity.

He created, and, having dissolved, he gathers together again;

he showed mercy in the greatest matters: giving over all the law and the prophets, and before these, the unwritten natural law, an examiner of those who transgress; rebuking, admonishing, instructing us as a tutor;

and finally, giving himself up as a ransom for the life of the world;

bestowing apostles, evangelists, teachers, pastors, healings, wonders, the return to life, the dissolution of death, a trophy of victory over him who had conquered, the covenant in shadow, the covenant in truth, the distributions of the Holy Spirit, the mystery of the new salvation.

(for God has made you rich in these things too, should you be willing) — do not refrain from doing good to the needy even in these.

Rather, first and foremost give to him who asks of you, and even before you are asked, showing mercy the whole day long and lending the word, and diligently exacting repayment of the loan together with the interest of the benefit conferred on the one who received it,

which he always adds to the word, increasing for himself, little by little, the seeds of piety.

But if not that, then at least the secondary and lesser things, whatever lies within your power:

give aid; reach out food; reach out a rag; bring forward medicine; bind up wounds; ask something about the misfortune; speak wise words about endurance; take courage; draw near;

you will in no way become worse off in yourself because of this;

you will in no way partake of the disease, even though the excessively delicate suppose that you will, deceived by empty words;

rather, they put forward this excuse for their own — whether it be caution or impiety — as a defense, taking refuge in cowardice as though fleeing to something great and wise.

Of this let both reasoned arguments persuade you, and the sons of physicians, and the attendants who dwell together with these patients as their caregivers, none of whom, in approaching such persons, has ever yet come to harm.

You, then, O servant of Christ, lover of God, and lover of humankind, even if the matter is fearful and worthy of suspicion, suffer nothing ignoble;

let compassion conquer cowardice, let the fear of God conquer softness;

let piety take its stand before reasonings that cling to the flesh;

do not overlook, do not pass by your brother, do not turn away from him as from an accursed thing, as from a pollution, as from something else to be shunned and forbidden;

he is your own member, even if he is bent low by misfortune.

The poor man has been left in your charge, as to God — even if you pass him by all too magnanimously; for perhaps by these words I may put you to shame.

Before you lies an occasion for love of humankind, even if the stranger's estrangement alienates you from doing him good.

Every man who sails is near to shipwreck, and all the more so, the more boldly he sails;

and every man clothed in a body is near to the ills of the body, and all the more so, the more uprightly he walks and does not look at those lying prostrate before him.

While you sail with a favoring wind, give your hand to the shipwrecked man;

while you are in good health and rich, help the one who suffers ill.

Do not wait to learn on your own person how great an evil inhumanity is, and how great a good it is to have your heart of compassion opened to those in need.

Do not wish that God should lift up his hand against the haughty, and against those who pass the poor by.

Be instructed in these things through the misfortunes of others;

give something, even a small thing, to the one in need;

for it is not a small thing to him who lacks everything — nor, indeed, is it small to God, if it is given according to your ability.

mercy offered from the soul is a great remedy for the unfortunate;

and genuine fellow-suffering greatly lightens misfortune.

Man, O man, is not held by you in less honor than the beast which, having fallen into a pit or gone astray, the law commands you to raise up and lead back.

If it also conceals something else, more secret and deeper still — as many things of the Law's depth and twofold sense do — this is not mine to know, but belongs to the Spirit who searches and knows all things.

But what I myself grasp, so far as belongs to my own argument, is that it trains us, by love of humankind shown toward small things, for the more perfect and greater love.

For how much more is owed to those of our own kind and of equal honor — that love which is exacted even for irrational creatures? (29)

These, then, are the teachings of reason, of the law, and of the most temperate among men, for whom doing good is more honorable than receiving good, and mercy is more eagerly pursued than gain.

But what would you say of those wise among us? For I forbear to speak of those outside the faith, who, having found gods to champion their passions, assign the foremost place to Hermes the god of Gain —

indeed — and what is worse than this — they even hold it lawful, in honor of certain demons, and among certain nations, to commit murder; inhumanity is for them a part of piety; and in such sacrifices they themselves take delight, and suppose their gods do likewise, becoming, being wicked, the wicked priests and initiates of wicked gods.

they reproach bitterly, and press the insult further; they philosophize about empty and vain things; they cry out, in truth, from the earth, and speak into the air — not into ears well able to understand, and accustomed to divine teachings — and they dare to say:

'From God comes their misery; from God comes our prosperity.'

'And who am I, to overturn the decree of God, and to appear kinder than God? Let them toil, let them suffer, let them be unfortunate.'

And here alone do they show themselves lovers of God — where it is a matter of guarding their coins, and playing the reckless youth against the wretched.

That they do not, in fact, believe their own prosperity to be from God, they make plain by what they say.

For who, knowing God to be the giver of what he possesses, would think in such a way about those in need? For it belongs to one and the same disposition both to have something from God and to use what one has according to God's will.

But whether their affliction, too, comes from God is not yet clear, so long as matter itself, of its own accord, also carries disorder within it, as in a flowing current.

And who knows whether the one is punished for wickedness, while the other is exalted as one approved?

Or is it not rather the opposite — the one exalted on account of wickedness, the other tested through virtue? The one lifted up the higher, that he may fall the more grievously, being allowed first to let his wickedness break out fully, like some disease, so that he may be punished the more justly?

while the other is afflicted contrary to his reputation, so that, like gold tried in the furnace, whatever small trace of wickedness he still holds, he may melt it away.

For no one is entirely pure from defilement — not, at any rate, within created nature, as we have heard — even if he appears the more approved.

For I find in the divine Scripture a mystery of this very kind:

and it would take too long to enumerate all the utterances of the Spirit that lead me to this conclusion.

But who could measure the sand of the seas, the drops of rain, and the length of the deep? And who could trace out the depth of God's wisdom over all things, by which he has made all things and governs them in the manner he himself both wills and knows? It is enough, according to the divine Apostle, merely to marvel at its inscrutability and its incomprehensibility, and pass on.

'O the depth of the riches, and the wisdom, and the knowledge of God!'

'How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!'

And, 'Who has known the mind of the Lord?' 'But who has attained to the utmost bounds of his wisdom?' says Job.

'Who is wise, and will understand these things,' and will not measure, by what cannot be grasped, that which is beyond measuring? (31)

Let another, then, be bold and high-minded about these matters — or rather, let there be no one such.

But I, for my part, hesitate to attribute the resulting punishment wholly to wickedness, or the resulting relief wholly to piety;

but there are times when it does serve some useful purpose — wickedness being checked through the hardship of the wicked, or virtue being made a smooth path through the good fortune of the better;

but this is not always so, nor in every case; rather, it belongs properly to the age to come, in which some will receive the prizes of virtue, and others the penalties of wickedness.

'For these,' it says, 'shall rise to the resurrection of life, and these to the resurrection of judgment.'

But the things of this present life belong to a different order, a different economy, all bearing you onward toward that end — there being with God, assuredly, some regularity even in what seems to us irregularity;

just as in a body there are projections and hollows, greater and lesser parts, and in the earth there are elevations and depressions, out of which, through their mutual relation, beauty is both formed and perceived;

since even what appears, for the time being, disorderly and irregular in the material a craftsman works — this too would prove highly skillful, once he arranges it fittingly toward the completion of some work;

then it too is grasped and acknowledged by us, once we behold the finished beauty of the completed work.

But he is not unskilled, as we are; nor are these things governed in disorder simply because their reason is not known to us.

But if we must take some image of our condition, we are not far removed from those who are seasick and reeling, who imagine everything around them to be spinning, while it is they themselves who are spinning;

so too do these, of whom our argument speaks —

suppose there to be no God, whenever they grow dizzy at one of the things that happen;

whereas one ought rather to labor over the reasoning of it — since truth will perhaps be granted to diligence — or to philosophize on these matters together with those wiser and more spiritual than oneself, since this too is a single gift, and knowledge is not given to all; or to pursue such wisdom through purity of life, and to seek wisdom from Wisdom itself.

But they — O what ignorance! — turn instead to the easier course, and falsely charge the universe with irrationality, themselves not understanding its reason;

and so they are wise through ignorance, or — so to speak — through a wisdom that is excessive, unwise and without understanding.

From this some have made dogmas of chance and spontaneity — notions truly spontaneous and haphazardly fashioned themselves;

while others devised a certain dominion of the stars — irrational and indissoluble — weaving our affairs however they please, or rather, being themselves compelled even in that very weaving;

and the conjunctions and retreats of certain planets and fixed stars, and a movement that holds sway over the whole.

And others, bringing to the wretched race of men whatever each had imagined, introduced these notions — dividing up, under various opinions and names, whatever of Providence lay beyond their reach and observation.

There are also those who have condemned Providence for a great poverty of resources, supposing that the realms above us are governed by it, but shrinking from bringing it down as far as ourselves, who stand most in need of it — as though afraid that, by benefiting more, they might make the Benefactor appear the more excellent, or that God might grow weary of doing good to greater numbers.

But let these, as I have said, be cast aside — since reason has already, and rightly, anticipated and refuted them.

'For,' it says, 'their foolish heart was made futile;'

'professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God' — having dishonored, with certain myths and shadows, the Providence that runs through all things.

But let us ourselves not spin such fantastic tales, if reason means anything at all to us, who are rational beings and servants of the Word;

nor let us give assent to those who hold such opinions, even should their tongues run nimbly through absurd arguments and doctrines, and delight us with novelty.

But let us believe that God is the maker and creator of all things;

for how could the universe have come into being, had not someone given it substance and fitted it together? And let us likewise affirm Providence, which holds and binds this universe together;

since it is necessary that whoever is the maker of these things should also be their provident caretaker;

otherwise the universe, carried along by chance like a ship in a storm, would at once be dissolved and torn apart through the disorder of matter, and be brought back to its original confusion and disarray.

And let us accept that our own Maker — whether you wish to call him maker or fashioner — presides especially over our affairs;

even if our life is conducted through contrary circumstances — perhaps, indeed, for reasons unknown to us — so that, through what is hard to contemplate, we may marvel at that reason which surpasses all things.

Since whatever is easily grasped is altogether easy to despise,

whereas what lies beyond us, the more difficult it is to attain, the more wondrous it becomes;

and everything that eludes our grasp exercises our longing all the more.

Let us therefore not rise up in scorn against poverty, as though it were altogether abhorrent and condemned, a lot to be hated;

but let us learn also that it is senseless to disdain health whose fruit is sin, and to honor disease as holy, revering those who have conquered through suffering — lest perhaps some Job, too, lies hidden among the sick, far more to be revered than those in health, though he scrape at his discharge, though he suffer night and day exposed beneath the open sky, straitened by his affliction, and by his wife, and by his friends;

and let us praise it as a thankworthy and philosophic thing — that by which Lazarus is saved, and grows rich in the repose of Abraham's bosom.

But to me it seems, for this reason too, that love of humankind is a necessity, and compassion toward those in need, so that we may silence those who hold such opinions on these matters, and not give way to empty words, thereby legislating cruelty against ourselves;

but above all, let us revere the commandment, and the example.

What is the commandment? Consider its persistence, and its genuineness.

For it is not that those inspired by the Spirit spoke of those in need but once, or even twice, and then had done with it;

nor did some speak of it while others did not, or some more and others less, as though it concerned nothing of great importance, nor among the most urgent matters; but rather all of them, each with earnest zeal, either first, or among the first things, laid this charge upon us, at one time exhorting, at another threatening, at another reproaching;

and there are times, too, when they commend those who fulfill it well, so that by the constancy of their reminder they might make the commandment truly effective.

'For the misery of the poor, and the sighing of the needy, now will I arise,' he says; 'says the Lord.'

Who does not fear the Lord when he rises up? And, 'Arise, O Lord my God; let your hand be lifted up.'

Let us pray against such an exaltation, and let us not wish to see his hand raised up against the disobedient, and still more let loose upon the more hardened.

'And he did not forget the cry of the poor;'

And, 'The poor shall not be forgotten forever;'

and, 'His eyes look upon the poor' — which is greater and more sovereign than the eyelid — 'but his eyelids examine the sons of men;'

that being, one might say, the lesser and secondary oversight.

These things are said on behalf of the poor and needy who are wronged.

But let even this too goad you toward love of humankind.

For those whose wronging carries so weighty an account, clearly the favor is all the greater when they are treated well.

For if he who dishonors the poor provokes the one who made him, then he who cherishes the work honors the Maker.

'The poor and the rich met one another; the Lord made them both;'

do not suppose that the one is merely poor and the other rich, so that you might rise up all the more against the poor;

for it is not clear whether such a division is from God;

'but both alike,' he says, 'are God's handiwork,' even if outward things are unequal.

Let this move you with reverence toward compassion and brotherly love, so that when you are lifted up by those outward things, you may be restrained by this consideration, and become more moderate than you would otherwise be.

What further? 'He who has mercy on the poor lends to God,' it says.

Who does not accept such a debtor, who will repay the loan in due season together with its yield? And again:

'By acts of mercy and by faithfulness sins are purged away.'

Let us then be purified by showing mercy; let us wash away, with this excellent herb, the filth and stains of our souls;

and let us be made white — some as wool, others as snow — according to the measure of our compassion.

If then there is in you no bruise, nor wound, nor festering sore, nor any leprosy of the soul, or mark of infection, or bright spot — things which the law cleansed but slightly, yet which need Christ to heal them —

yet do you at least revere him who was wounded and made sick on our behalf;

and you will show him reverence, if you prove yourself kind and full of love for humankind toward a member of Christ.

But if perhaps the robber and tyrant of our souls has wounded you so grievously — whether going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, or catching you unarmed and unprepared somewhere else — that you might fittingly say those words:

'My wounds grew foul and festered because of my folly;'

if you are in such a state that you do not even seek the cure, nor know the way of your healing — alas indeed for the wound, and for the misery that runs so deep!

you are incurably ill: come to the Healer, entreat him, heal your wounds by means of his wounds; acquire the like by the like — or rather, be healed of the greater wounds by the lesser.

and, 'Your faith has saved you;'

and all the words of loving-kindness will be yours, if only he sees you showing love toward those who suffer.

'Blessed,' he says, 'are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.'

Mercy occupies no insignificant place among the beatitudes.

And, 'Blessed is he who has regard for the poor and needy;'

and, 'A good man is he who shows pity and lends;'

and, 'The righteous man shows mercy and lends all the day long.'

Let us seize the blessing; let us be called men of understanding; let us become good men.

Let not even night interrupt your mercy.

'Come again, and tomorrow I will give to you;'

let nothing intervene between the impulse and the good deed;

this alone we may say: love of humankind admits of no delay.

For 'he who shows mercy,' it says, 'let him do it with cheerfulness;'

and the good is doubled for you by your readiness.

For what comes from grief, or from necessity, is graceless and unadorned.

Beneficence should be celebrated, not lamented.

'If you take away the bond,' he says, 'and the pointing of the hand' — by which I mean pettiness and scrutiny, or rather, hesitation — 'and the word of murmuring, what will come to pass?' As though it were some great and marvelous thing!

What sort, and how great, is the reward for this!

'Your light shall break forth like the morning, and your healing shall speedily spring up;'

Who then does not long for light and healing? [XXXIX]

I also revere Christ's money-box, which exhorts us toward the feeding of the poor;

and the concord of Paul and Peter, in that, having divided the Gospel between them, they made the poor their common concern;

and the perfection of the young man, defined and made law in the giving of his possessions to the poor.

Do you suppose that love of humankind is not a necessity for you, but a matter of choice? Not a law, but mere exhortation? I myself also greatly wished this to be so, and used to suppose it;

but the left hand frightens me, and the goats, and the things for which they are reproached by him who set them there;

not because they had plundered, nor because they had robbed, or committed adultery, or done any other of the forbidden things — for which they were condemned to that rank — but because they did not tend to Christ through those in need.

If then you obey me at all, servants of Christ, and brothers, and fellow-heirs, while there is yet time, let us visit Christ, let us tend Christ, let us feed Christ, let us clothe Christ, let us gather Christ in, let us honor Christ;

not only at table, as some do;

nor only at the tomb, as Joseph of Arimathea did;

nor only with what pertains to burial, as Nicodemus did, who loved Christ by halves;

nor only with gold and frankincense and myrrh, as the magi did before the events already mentioned.