John Chrysostom, On Strength of Soul

Foreseeing the unkindness, he did not blunt his affection; for the sun ought not to fail to shine because of those who are blind to its rays. For this reason, also foreknowing the transgression, he made his love for humanity rise; and foreseeing the future, he did not take away the honor, and knowing beforehand the insolence, he did not withhold his grace, taking delight in those being formed, that at least for a time he might unlearn insatiability, and might give occasion to God for a second gift toward an eternal beginning. For death is a terrible way to be taught moderation from greed. For what benefit of insatiable creation is there for the one who will shortly lie dead? For one traversing life as a road, the carrying of superfluous burdens is futile. For we possess life as a road, not as a fatherland. Thus the Lord calls it in the Gospels: Be agreeable with your adversary while you are on the way with him.

The designation of life as a road is reasonable; for life is measured out like a road in distances; it is a temporary inn for the rich and the poor; a short-lived rest for those passing through. For our days pass by like a shadow. Where are the first years of our life? It passed like the phantasm of a shadow, it ran by like the shading of a figure. What is the span of our remaining life? Suppose a long and honored life, a life of a hundred years; or if you wish, grant it a tripling of years, and you will not grant permanence to any of these worldly things; even if one is honored with wealth, even if one is awash in luxury, even if one shines with the height of thrones, even if one possesses whatever other splendors of life. For all things are like the withering of flowers, all are subject to mournful succession, being indeed fragile, even in the season when they flourish. For there is a constant struggle with dangers. Wealth worries about robberies, luxury is endangered by diseases, authorities by changes; and after wrestling with manifold dangers and being worn out by countless anxieties, one has death kept in store for him, an unbreakable adversary, not confined by places, not flattered by gifts, not moved by lamentations, a sudden plunderer. The one yesterday in 64.477 wealth, today is suddenly in the tomb; the one yesterday at a luxurious banquet, today is in the list of the dead; the one yesterday on thrones, the day after in swaddling clothes; the one yesterday among flatterers, shortly after among worms. Where is the joy of the counted purses?

Where is the boast of the income from possessions? Where is the difference between a rich and a poor dead man? Where is the distinction between a king and a beggar? The successor of both is death, the conclusion for each is the grave. Except for burial clothes, no one has company. Well done, the voice of Paul: Great gain, he says, is godliness with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, it is clear that we can take nothing out. An irrefutable argument for contentment, in that none of the things acquired go out with their acquirers; for, he says, we will be able to take nothing out. Why, he says, do you take with you things you do not transport? Why do you hold on to things that cannot be held? The end of self-sufficiency is unprofitable for those who have acquired it. For whatever a man may gather, it will end in shelter and food for him, and life is the heir of all the rest. But we, the possessors, are beguiled by wills, bestowing by writing things which we are not strong enough to take; pretending to release things which it is not possible to hold, since, if it were possible to hold them, we would not have yielded them to another. And the prologue of the will declares its mind: "May it be," it says, "that I live and be master of my own things." The writing expresses the voice of one who is grasping a prayer and conceding, and he prays against the effect of the writing; "May it be that I live and be master of my own things." Not even at our last gasp do we abandon our love for money; "but if," it says, "I should suffer the human fate, I wish for there to be heirs."

There will be an heir even if you do not wish it; nature has arranged for you to be inherited from even against your will. Even if you do not write an heir for your money, the money will find an heir; even if you leave it to no one, you will be able to take out nothing of what you have acquired. I do not say this as if making a will is a bad thing; for a prophet also advises a man somewhere: Set in order the things concerning your house

προβλέπων μὲν τὸ ἄγνωμον, τὸ φίλτρον οὐκ ἤμβλυνεν· οὐ γὰρ ἔδει μὴ λάμψαι τὸν ἥλιον διὰ τοὺς πρὸς τὴν ἀκτῖνα τυφλούς· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ προειδὼς τὴν παράβασιν, τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ἀνέτελλεν· καὶ προορῶν τὸ μέλλον, τὴν τιμὴν οὐκ ἀνεῖλεν, καὶ προγιγνώσκων τὴν ὕβριν, οὐ κατέσχεν τὴν χάριν, φιλοκαλῶν πλαττομένους, ἵνα κἂν ὡς πρόσκαιρος ἀπομάθῃ τὸ ἄπληστον, καὶ δῷ πρόφασιν τῷ Θεῷ δευτέρου δώρου πρὸς ἀρχὴν ἀϊδίου. ∆εινὸν γὰρ εἰς ἀπληστίας σωφρονισμὸν τελευτή. Τῷ γὰρ μετὰ μικρὸν κεισομένῳ τῆς ἀπλήστου τίς ὄνησις κτίσεως; Τῷ τὸν βίον ὡς ὁδὸν διϊόντι ἡ τῶν περιττῶν ἀχθοφορία ματαία. Ὁδὸν γὰρ τὸν βίον, οὐ πατρίδα κεκτήμεθα. Οὕτως αὐτὸν ὁ Κύριος ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις καλῶν· Ἴσθι εὐνοῶν τῷ ἀντιδίκῳ σου ἕως ὅτου εἶ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ μετ' αὐτοῦ.

Εὔλογος ἡ τῆς ὁδοῦ προσηγορία τῷ βίῳ· μεμέτρηται γὰρ ζωὴ ὥσπερ ὁδὸς διαστήμασιν· πρόσκαιρόν ἐστιν πλουτούντων καὶ πτωχῶν πανδοχεῖον· ὀλιγοχρόνιος παρερχομένων ἀνάπαυσις· Αἱ ἡμέραι γὰρ ἡμῶν ὡς σκιὰ παράγουσιν. Ποῦ τὰ πρῶτα τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἔτη; Παρῆλθεν ὡς σκιᾶς φαντασία, διέδραμεν ὡς σχήματος σκίασμα. Πόσον ἡμῖν τῆς ὑπολοίπου ζωῆς τὸ διάστημα; Τίθει πολυετίαν φιλότιμον, ἑκατοντοῦτιν ζωήν· εἰ δὲ βούλει, τριπλασίασιν δὸς ἔτεσιν, καὶ οὐδενὶ τῶν βιωτικῶν τούτων παρέξῃ τὸ μόνιμον· κἂν πλούτῳ φιλοτιμῆται, κἂν τρυφῇ περικλύζηται, κἂν θρόνων ὑψηλότητι λάμπῃ, κἂν ὅ τι οὖν τῶν τοῦ βίου συμπεριφέρῃ λαμπρῶν. Πάντα γὰρ τοῖς τῶν ἀνθέων μαρασμοῖς ἐοικότα, πάντα διαδοχῆς θρηνώδους ὑπεύθυνα, σαθρὰ μὲν ὄντα, καὶ καθ' ὃν θάλλει καιρόν· ἔχει γὰρ κινδύνων διὰ παντὸς ἀγωνίαν. Ὁ πλοῦτος μεριμνᾷ τὰς λῃστείας, ἡ τρυφὴ κινδυνώδης ταῖς νόσοις, μεταβολαὶ ταῖς δυναστείαις· καὶ παλαίσας πολυτρόποις κινδύνοις καὶ μυρίοις ἐκτακεὶς μεριμνήμασιν, ἔχει θάνατον αὐτῷ φυλαττόμενον, ἀντίπαλον ἄῤῥηκτον, ἀπερίγραφον τόποις, ἀκολάκευτον δώροις, ἀδυσώπητον θρήνοις, αἰφνίδιον ἅρπαγα. Ὁ χθὲς ἐν 64.477 πλούτῳ, σήμερον ἐξαπίνης ἐν τάφῳ· ὁ χθὲς ἐν συμποσίῳ τρυφῆς, σήμερον ἐν καταλόγῳ νεκρῶν· ὁ χθὲς ἐν τοῖς θρόνοις, τῇ μετὰ ταύτην ἐν σπαργάνοις· ὁ χθὲς ἐν τοῖς κόλαξι, μετὰ μικρὸν ἐν τοῖς σκώληξι. Ποῦ τῶν ἀριθμουμένων ἡ χαρὰ βαλαντίων;

Ποῦ τῆς προσόδου τῶν κτημάτων ὁ κόμπος; Ποῦ πλουσίου καὶ πενομένου νεκροῦ τὸ διάφορον; Ποῦ βασιλέως καὶ προσαίτου τὸ μέσον; Ἀμφοτέρων ὁ διάδοχος θάνατος, ἑκατέρου τὸ συμπέρασμα τάφος· πλὴν ἐνταφίων οὐδενὶ συνοδία Εὖγε τῆς Παύλου φωνῆς· Πορισμὸς, φησὶν, μέγας ἡ εὐσέβεια μετὰ αὐταρκείας· οὐδὲν γὰρ εἰσηνέγκαμεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, δῆλον, ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐξενεγκεῖν τι δυνάμεθα. Ἄμαχος συλλογισμὸς αὐταρκείας, τῷ μηδὲν τῶν κτηθέντων συνεξιέναι τοῖς κτήτορσιν· οὐδὲν γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐξενεγκεῖν δυνησόμεθα. Τί, φησὶν, ἃ μὴ μετάγεις, συνεξάγεις; Τί κατέχεις τὰ μὴ κρατούμενα; Τὸ πέρας τῆς αὐταρκείας τοῖς κτησαμένοις ἀνόνητον. Ὅσα γὰρ ἂν συλλέξειεν ἄνθρωπος, εἰς σκέπην αὐτῷ καὶ τροφὴν τελευτήσει, τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν ἁπάντων κληρονόμος ὁ βίος. Ψυχαγωγούμεθα δὲ ταῖς διαθήκαις οἱ κτήτορες, ἃ λαβεῖν οὐκ ἰσχύομεν, χαριζόμενοι γράμμασιν· ἃ κατέχειν οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀφιέναι δοκοῦντες, ὡς, εἴγε κατέχειν ἦν, οὐκ ἂν ἐξέστημεν ἄλλῳ. Καὶ δηλοῖ τὴν γνώμην τῆς διαθήκης ὁ πρόλογος· εἴη μέν με, φησὶν, ζῇν, καὶ κυριεύειν με τῶν ἐμῶν. Εὐχὴν περισφίγγοντος καὶ παραχωροῦντος φωνῇ γράφει τὸ γράμμα καὶ τοῦ γράμματος τὸ ἔργον ἀπεύχεται· εἴη μέν με ζῇν, καὶ κυριεύειν με τῶν ἐμῶν. Οὐδὲ ψυχοῤῥαγοῦντες τοῦ τῶν χρημάτων ἀφιστάμεθα φίλτρου· ἂν δέ τι, φησὶν, τὸν κατ' ἄνθρωπον πάθω, βούλομαι εἶναι κληρονόμους.

Κληρονομεῖ κἂν μὴ βούλει· ἡ φύσις σε καὶ ἄκοντα κληρονομεῖσθαι διέθετο. Κἂν σὺ τοῖς χρήμασι κληρονόμον μὴ γράψῃς, εὑρήσει κληρονόμον τὰ χρήματα· κἂν μηδενὶ καταλίπῃς, οὐδὲν ἐξενεγκεῖν ὧν ἐκτήσω δυνήσῃ. Οὐχ ὡς φαῦλον τὸ διατίθεσθαι λέγω· παραινεῖ γάρ που καὶ προφήτης ἀνθρώπῳ· Τάξαι περὶ τοῦ οἴκου