約伯倫理 第 908 章

66. Whoever feeds on the pleasures of this life is separated from the understanding of eternal wisdom. — What is signified in this place by the name of the land, but the human soul? Of which the Psalmist says: 'My soul is unto thee as a land without water' (Ps. CXLIII, 6). But this wisdom cannot be found in the land of them that live pleasantly, because whosoever still feeds on the pleasures of this life is separated from the understanding of eternal wisdom. For if he truly had understanding, being cast out from the inward joys, he would mourn with the blindness of his exile over that into which he has fallen. For hence it is said through Solomon: 'He that addeth knowledge, addeth also sorrow' (Eccl.

I, 18), because the more a man begins to know what he has lost, the more he begins to mourn the sentence of his corruption which he has found. For he considers whence and whither he has fallen; that from the joys of paradise he has come to the tribulations of the present life, from the fellowships of the angels to the cares of necessities; he weighs in how many perils he now lies, who before scorned to stand without peril; he mourns the exile which, being condemned, he suffers, and sighs after the state of heavenly glory, which, secure, he might enjoy had he not willed to sin. Which the Psalmist well considering, says: 'I said in my dread: I am cast away from before thy eyes' (Ps. XXXI, 22).

For having contemplated the inward joys of the vision of God and the companionable throng of the angels who abide unfailingly, he turned his eyes back to the depths below and saw into what a state he had fallen—he who had been created for this end, that he might have stood among the heavenly beings. He weighed where he was, and lamented from what he had fallen; and he grieved that he had been cast forth from the sight of God's eyes, because, by comparison with that inmost light, he felt all the more grievously the darkness of the exile which he was enduring. Hence it is that he admits into his soul, from the present life, the consolation of nothing pleasant, saying: 'I refused to be comforted in my soul' (Ps. 76:3). For very often the rich of this world, when afflicted with weariness of mind, are wont to gaze upon the goods received in temporal fashion and to soothe their sorrow.

For when they feel themselves touched by some grief, they look upon their horses, they gaze at their vessels of gold and silver, they walk about their estates. And while they gladly draw their eyes across these temporal things, they overcome the sorrow that has risen in the soul. Wherefore Truth also says to them in the Gospel: 'Woe to you rich, who here have your consolation' (Luke 6:24). But the holy man, who mourns this—that he has fallen from eternal joys—admits no consolation from temporal things, saying: 'I refused to be comforted in my soul.' As if he plainly said: I who do not mourn for the loss of temporal goods, can by no means be consoled by the abundance of temporal goods. And to him, as though we who hear these things were to say: What then do you seek, you who refuse to be consoled in those things that are of the world?

At once he added: 'I remembered God, and was delighted' (Ps. 76:4). As if he plainly said: The abundance of earthly things does not refresh me, but the mere memory of my Author, whom I am not yet able to behold, delights me. This, then, is the bitterness of the wise: that while they are lifted up on high by hope, they lay down their mind upon no joys here. For hence it is written: 'The heart of the wise is where there is sadness, and the heart of fools where there is gladness' (Eccles. 7:5). Hence James says: 'Be wretched, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into sorrow' (James 4:9). Hence Truth himself bears witness through himself, saying: 'Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted' (Matt. 5:5).

Wisdom, therefore, cannot be found in the land of those who live pleasantly, because they are so much the more truly foolish in that, while losing greater things, they rejoice in the least. Hence Peter rebukes this same folly of the perverse, saying: 'Counting the pleasure of a day delights, spots and blemishes' (2 Pet. 2:13). Hence Solomon says: 'Laughter I accounted error, and to joy I said: Why art thou vainly deceived?' (Eccles. 2:2). Let the holy man therefore say concerning wisdom: 'Neither is it found in the land of them that live pleasantly'; for assuredly those who in this world live pleasantly are still so foolish that they do not even know this—whence they have fallen. There follows: