John Chrysostom, On "But in vain they are troubled"

In illud: Verumtamen frustra conturbatur

ON THE PROPHETIC SAYING, "Yet every living man is troubled in vain"; and concerning almsgiving.

55.559

1. A deep gulf also urges on a fisherman, when having cast his net, and enclosed a great catch of sea-creatures, he draws in the dragnet weary with its load; and a wooded hunting-ground a hunter, when having searched the mountains, and opened up a wooded peak, he returns with a splendid and rich catch. But if for those excited about profits and hunting the labor for these things is sweet, how much more so for the fishers of ecclesiastical gulfs, for whom the profit is not for a day, nor earthly, but the very kingdom of heaven itself is established? Come then, beloved, let us strike up the psalmic melody of the Davidic lyre, and following David, having denounced human worthlessness, let us say: Yet every living man is troubled in vain. He is troubled, and in the end he perishes; he is troubled, and before he is established he is swallowed up; like a fire he is kindled, and like stubble he is turned to ashes; like a whirlwind he is lifted up, and like dust he is dashed to the ground; like a flame he is fanned, and like smoke he is dispersed; like a flower he is in his prime, and like grass he is withered; like a cloud he is spread out, and like a drop he is diminished; like a bubble he swells up, and like a spark he is extinguished; he is troubled, and by his greed he gains a foul stench; he is troubled, and taking nothing from his turmoil, he departs. His are the troubles, and others' the luxuries; his are the labors, and others' the treasures; his are the cares, and others' the joys; his are the afflictions, and others' the enjoyments; his are the curses, and others' the comforts; his are the robberies, and others' the pleasures; with him is the groaning, and with others the gains; with him are the tears, and with others the money; he is punished in Hades, and others again revel in his things, singing psalms.

Yet every living man is troubled in vain. Man, the temporary loan of life, the unavoidable debt of death, the untamable animal by choice, the self-taught wickedness, the self-learned treachery, the one skilled in malice, the one resourceful in injustice, the one ready for avarice, the one insatiable in greed, the one clever in faithlessness, the bombastic spirit, the boastful audacity, the easily dissolved arrogance, the easily demolished loftiness, the easily captured venture, the stubborn clay, the seditious ash, the proud dust, the puffed-up ember, the easily extinguished spark, the easily faded flame, the easily agitated lamp, the wood ready to perish, the easily withered grass, the easily deadened green shoot, the easily consumed nature; he who threatens today, and dies tomorrow; he who is in wealth today, and in a tomb tomorrow; he who is in a diadem today, and in a sepulcher tomorrow; he who is in purple today, and in a funeral procession tomorrow; he who is among treasures today, and in a coffin tomorrow; he who is among flatterers today, and among worms tomorrow; he who is today, and is not tomorrow; he who is arrogant just now, and after a little while is lamented; he who in 55.560 prosperity is unbearable, and in adversity is inconsolable; he who is ignorant of himself, and meddles in things above him; he who does not know the present, and fantasizes about the future; he who is mortal by nature, and in his conceit, as he supposes, eternal; the readily available by-product of every sickness, the easily entered lodging-place of every passion, the indiscriminate daily training-ground of fevers, the receptive inn of every sorrow. Oh, how great is the tragedy of our worthlessness! Oh, how great is the triumph of human worthlessness!

In illud: Verumtamen frustra conturbatur

ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΠΡΟΦΗΤΙΚΟΝ ΡΗΤΟΝ ΤΟ ΛΕΓΟΝ, "Πλὴν μάτην ταράσσεται πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ζῶν"· καὶ περὶ ἐλεημοσύνης.

55.559

αʹ. Προτρέπεται καὶ κόλπος βύθιος ἁλιέα, ὅταν τὸ δίκτυον ῥίψας, καὶ πολλὴν τῶν ἐναλίων ἄγραν περιλαβὼν, κάμνουσαν τῷ φόρτῳ τὴν σαγήνην ἐφέλκηται· καὶ θηρατὴν ὕλη θηροτρόφος, ὅταν ὄρη διερευνήσας, καὶ κορυφὴν κατάκομον ἀναπτύξας, μετὰ λαμπρᾶς καὶ πλουσίας ἐπανέλθῃ τῆς ἄγρας. Εἰ δὲ τοῖς περὶ κέρδη καὶ θήραν ἐπτοημένοις γλυκὺς ὁ περὶ ταῦτα πόνος ὑπάρχει, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τοῖς τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν ἁλιεῦσι κόλπων, οἷς τὸ κέρδος οὐχ ἡμερινὸν, οὐδὲ πρόσγειον, ἀλλ' αὐτὴ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἡ βασιλεία καθέστηκε; Φέρε οὖν, ἀγαπητὲ, ∆αυϊδικῆς κιθάρας τὸ ψαλμικὸν ἀνακρούσωμεν μέλος, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην εὐτέλειαν στηλιτεύσαντες, εἴπωμεν· Πλὴν μάτην ταράσσεται πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ζῶν· Ταράσσεται, καὶ τὸ τέλος ἀπόλλυται· ταράσσεται, καὶ πρὶν καταστῆναι καταποθεῖται· ὡς πῦρ ἀνακαίεται, καὶ ὡς καλάμη ἀποτεφροῦται· ὡς θύελλα ἐπαίρεται, καὶ ὡς κόνις ἐδαφίζεται· ὡς φλὸξ ἀναῤῥιπίζεται, καὶ ὡς καπνὸς διαλύεται· ὡς ἄνθος ὡραΐζεται, καὶ ὡς χόρτος ξηραίνεται· ὡς νέφος ὑπεραπλοῦται, καὶ ὡς σταγὼν ἀπομειοῦται· ὡς πομφόλυξ ὀγκοῦται, καὶ ὡς σπινθὴρ ἀποσβέννυται· ταράσσεται, καὶ τῇ ἀπληστίᾳ κερδαίνει τὴν δυσωδίαν· ταράσσεται, καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ταραχῆς οὐδὲν λαμβάνων ἀπέρχεται. Αὐτοῦ αἱ ταραχαὶ, καὶ ἄλλων αἱ τρυφαί· αὐτοῦ οἱ πόνοι, καὶ ἄλλων οἱ θησαυροί· αὐτοῦ αἱ φροντίδες, καὶ ἄλλων αἱ εὐφροσύναι· αὐτοῦ αἱ θλίψεις, καὶ ἄλλων αἱ ἀπολαύσεις· αὐτοῦ αἱ κατάραι, καὶ ἄλλων αἱ θεραπεῖαι· αὐτοῦ αἱ ἁρπαγαὶ, καὶ ἄλλων αἱ ἡδοναί· παρ' αὐτῷ ὁ στεναγμὸς, καὶ παρ' ἑτέροις οἱ πλεονασμοί· παρ' αὐτῷ τὰ δάκρυα, καὶ παρ' ἑτέροις τὰ χρήματα· αὐτὸς ἐν ᾅδῃ κολάζεται, καὶ ἄλλοι πάλιν ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐντρυφῶσι ψάλλοντες.

Πλὴν μάτην ταράσσεται πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ζῶν. Ἄνθρωπος, τὸ τῆς ζωῆς πρόσκαιρον δάνεισμα, τὸ τοῦ θανάτου ἀνυπέρθετον ὄφλημα, τὸ ἐκ προαιρέσεως ἀδάμαστον ζῶον, τὸ αὐτοδίδακτον πονήρευμα, τὸ αὐτομαθὲς ἐπιβούλευμα, τὸ εὔτεχνον εἰς κακουργίαν, τὸ εὐμήχανον εἰς ἀδικίαν, τὸ ἕτοιμον εἰς πλεονεξίαν, τὸ ἀκόρεστον εἰς ἀπληστίαν, τὸ εὐφυὲς εἰς ἀπιστίαν, τὸ ὑπέρογκον πνεῦμα, τὸ μεγαλοῤῥῆμον θράσος, τὸ εὐδιάλυτον φρύαγμα, τὸ εὐκαθαίρετον ὕψωμα, τὸ εὐάλωτον τόλμημα, ὁ πηλὸς ὁ αὐθάδης, ἡ τέφρα ἡ στασιώδης, ἡ κόνις ἡ μεγαλόφρων, ἡ σποδὸς ἡ πεφυσιωμένη, ὁ σπινθὴρ ὁ εὐκατάσβεστος, ἡ φλὸξ ἡ εὐμάραντος, ὁ εὐρίπιστος λύχνος, τὸ ἑτοιμοφθόρον ξύλον, ὁ εὐξήραντος χόρτος, ἡ εὐνέκρωτος χλόη, ἡ εὐδαπάνητος φύσις· ὁ σήμερον ἀπειλῶν, καὶ αὔριον τελευτῶν· ὁ σήμερον ἐν πλούτῳ, καὶ αὔριον ἐν τάφῳ· ὁ σήμερον ἐν διαδήματι, καὶ αὔριον ἐν μνήματι· ὁ σήμερον ἐν πορφύρᾳ, καὶ αὔριον ἐν ἐκφορᾷ· ὁ σήμερον ἐν θησαυροῖς, καὶ αὔριον ἐν σοροῖς· ὁ σήμερον ἐν κόλαξι, καὶ αὔριον ἐν σκώληξιν· ὁ σήμερον ὢν, καὶ αὔριον μὴ ὤν· ὁ ἄρτι φρυαττόμενος, καὶ μετ' ὀλίγον θρηνούμενος· ὁ ἐν 55.560 εὐπραγίαις ἀφόρητος, καὶ ἐν δυσπραγίαις ἀπαραμύθητος· ὁ ἑαυτὸν ἀγνοῶν, καὶ τὰ ὑπὲρ αὐτὸν πολυπραγμονῶν· ὁ τὸ παρὸν οὐκ εἰδὼς, καὶ περὶ τῶν μελλόντων φανταζόμενος· ὁ φύσει θνητὸς, καὶ τῇ ἐπάρσει, ὡς νομίζει, αἰώνιος· τὸ πάσης ἀῤῥωστίας προκείμενον πάρεργον, τὸ παντὸς πάθους εὐδιάβατον καταγώγιον, τὸ τῶν πυρετῶν ἀδιάφορον καθημερινὸν γυμνάσιον, τὸ πάσης λύπης εὐπαράδεκτον πανδοχεῖον. Ὢ πόση τῆς ἡμετέρας εὐτελείας ἡ τραγῳδία! ὢ πόσος ὁ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης εὐτελείας θρίαμβος!