So we no longer pursue plainness and simplicity of life. We no longer
value stillness, which helps to free us from past defilement, but
prefer a whole host of things which distract us uselessly from our true
goal. Rivalry over material possessions has made us forget the counsel
of the Lord, who urged us to take no thought for earthly things, but to
seek only the kingdom of heaven (cf. Matt. 6:33).
Deliberately doing the
opposite, we have disregarded the Lord’s commandment, trusting in
ourselves and not in His protection. For He says: ‘Behold the fowls of
the air: for they do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your
heavenly Father feeds them’ (Matt. 6:26); and again: ‘Consider the
lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not toil or spin’ (Matt.
6:28). When He sent the apostles out to declare the good news to their
fellow men. He even forbade them to carry wallet, purse or staff, and
told them to be content with His promise: ‘The workman is worthy of his
food’ (Matt. 10:10). This promise is to be trusted far more than our own
resources.
Despite all this we go on accumulating as much land as we can, and we
buy up flocks of sheep, fine oxen and fat donkeys – the sheep to supply
us with wool, the oxen to plough and provide food for us and fodder for
themselves and for the other animals, the donkeys to transport from
foreign lands the goods and luxuries which our own country lacks. We
also select the crafts which give the highest return, even though they
absorb all our attention and leave no time for the remembrance of God.
It is as if we accused God of being incapable of providing for us, or
ourselves of being unable to fulfill the commitments of our calling. Even
if we do not admit this. openly, our actions condemn us; for we show
approval of the ways of worldly men by engaging in the same pursuits,
and perhaps working at them even harder than they do.
+ St. Neilos the Ascetic, “Ascetic Discourse,” The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Vol. 1)
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