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such things lack nourishment because of the Providence extended everywhere. And he used a third argument for the same purpose, saying: Which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his span of life? If then you cannot do such a very little thing, why are you anxious about the rest? But if no one by his own care has ever devised an addition for himself to his body, nor yet to the appointed time of his life, would anyone who is anxious, being at the end of his life, be able to devise for himself the interval of a single day or the briefest period of an hour; why should one be anxious needlessly, when it is right to commit things to God and to await His will? For when He wills for us to grow, we grow, having been anxious about nothing; and when He wills for us to live and be long-lived, we will live and become old, having been anxious about nothing; but when He does not will for one to remain among the living, all human care is in vain. 24.560 And these things he ordained concerning food; and likewise he also advised concerning clothing, saying: Consider the lilies, how they grow, etc. Again, here too he concludes with an argument, persuading them to expect that clothing will in any case be given to them by God; for if anyone among men is ambitious for costly raiment and love of beauty, behold, he says, with your eyes, how God, the maker of the universe, extending his manifold wisdom even to the flowers that grow from the earth, has adorned these with all sorts of colors and ornaments, having transformed the earth, and the lifeless dust itself, and having changed its form with dyes much better than purple and gold, depositing in it the adornment from Himself in fine and lovely membranes; so that no luxurious king, not even Solomon himself, who among the ancients was cried up for wisdom and wealth and luxury, was found to have such beauty-loving art as to acquire a covering most similar to one of the beautiful flowers of the earth. Why then should one wonder, if He who in this way clothed the grass of the field, which is useful for nothing, whose end is destruction by fire, will also provide for you yourselves sensible clothing in the present life? -Thus, therefore, he commanded to disregard all things, and to lay claim to the kingdom alone; for to those not seeking the kingdom nor taking thought for virtue, none of the promised things will be; but these things will be readily at hand only for those who are anxious for the things of God, how they might please Him, and for those occupied with the search for better things; for to those anxious for the things dear to God, God will in turn be anxious. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. For by nature every man is disposed towards that for which he is zealous, and there has his whole mind where he has considered he possesses the benefit; for this reason also he brings in the argument that one must not treasure up on earth. For if someone, he says, has obtained his possessions and all his substance in the mortal life, having suspended all his hope upon the present affairs of life, of necessity, as though bound by so many fetters, he possesses his every calculation and his whole thought, which indeed he called heart, somewhere down near the earth, and there he is mixed up and wallows, where he has considered he possesses his treasure; but if, having been nurtured in heavenly teachings, he should do all things, having attached his aim above, and cast his hope upon the heavenly promises, taking no thought for gathering on earth, but pursuing the highest degree of poverty, and becoming wholly directed toward better things, and gathering all things in heaven, and there storing up his wealth, and being zealous to send all his substance ahead there; it is likely such a one would profit from this good hope, by making his own thought and calculation familiar with heavenly things; for where he has his treasure, there he will also have his thought; so that he seems to be sojourning on earth, and to be with men in body alone, but in power he is already pursuing the heavenly 24.561 pastimes; so that one must look up, and have his hopes where he has also gathered his treasure. And you likewise

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τὰ τοιαῦτα τροφῆς ἀπορεῖ διὰ τὴν πανταχοῦ ἐκτεταμένην Πρόνοιαν. Καὶ τρίτῳ συλλογισμῷ εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ ἐχρῆτο λέγων· Τίς δ' ἐξ ὑμῶν μεριμνῶν δύναται προσθεῖναι ἐπὶ τὴν ἡλικίαν αὐτοῦ πῆχυν ἕνα; Εἰ οὖν οὔτ' ἐλάχιστον δύνασθε, περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν τί μεριμνᾶτε; Ἀλλ' εἰ μηδεὶς οἰκείᾳ φροντίδι πώποτε προσθήκην ἑαυτῷ τοῦ σώματος ἐπενόησεν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῇ προθεσμίᾳ τοῦ τῆς ζωῆς χρόνου, μεριμνήσας τις οἷός τ' ἂν εἴη πρὸς τῇ τελευτῇ τοῦ βίου γενόμενος, ἡμέρας μιᾶς διάστημα ἢ καιρὸν βραχύτατον ὥρας ἑαυτῷ περινοῆσαι· τί χρὴ περιττῶς μεριμνᾷν, δέον ἐπιτρέψαντας τῷ Θεῷ τὴν αὐτοῦ βουλὴν περιμένειν; Βουληθέντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ αὔξειν ἡμᾶς, αὔξομεν, μηδὲν μεριμνήσαντες· καὶ βουληθέντος ἡμᾶς ζῇν καὶ μακροβίους εἶναι, ζησόμεθα καὶ πολυετεῖς γενησόμεθα, μηδὲν μεριμνήσαντες· μὴ βουλομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ παραμένειν τινὰ τῶν βίων, ματαία πᾶσα φροντὶς ἀνθρώπου. 24.560 Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τροφῆς διετάττετο· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ περὶ ἐνδύματος παρῄνει λέγων· Κατανοήσατε τὰ κρίνα πῶς αὐξάνει, κ. τ. λ. Πάλιν κἀνταῦθα μετὰ συλλογισμοῦ συνάγει, πείθων προσδοκᾷν πάντως ἔνδυμα παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῖς δοθήσεσθαι· εἰ γάρ τίς ἐστι φιλότιμος παρ' ἀνθρώποις ἐσθῆτι πολυτελεῖ καὶ φιλοκαλίᾳ, θεάσασθε, φησὶ, τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, ὡς ὁ τοῦ παντὸς ποιητὴς Θεὸς, μέχρι καὶ τῶν γῆς φυομένων ἀνθέων τὴν πολυποίκιλον αὐτοῦ σοφίαν ἐκτείνας, παντοίοις χρώμασί τε καὶ κοσμήμασι κατεκόσμησε ταῦτα, μετασχηματίσας μὲν τὴν γῆν, καὶ τὴν κόνιν αὐτὴν τὴν ἄψυχον, τό τε ταύτης μεταβαλὼν εἶδος, ἁλουργίδος τε καὶ χρυσοῦ πολὺ κρείττοσι βάμμασιν, ἐν ὑμέσι λεπτοῖς καὶ εὐανθέσι τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ κόσμον ἐν αὐτῇ καταθέμενος· ὡς μηδενὸς τρυφηλοῦ βασιλέως, μηδ' αὐτοῦ Σολομῶνος τοῦ παρὰ τοῖς παλαιοῖς ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ πλούτῳ καὶ τρυφῇ βοηθέντος τοσαύτην εὑρεθῆναι φιλόκαλον τέχνην, ὡς ἑνὶ τῶν ἀπὸ γῆς ὡραίων ἀνθέων ὁμοιότατον περίβλημα κτήσασθαι. Τί οὖν χρὴ θαυμάζειν, εἰ ὁ τὸν χόρτον τοῦ ἀγροῦ τὸν εἰς οὐδὲν χρήσιμον, οὗ τέλος ἡ διὰ πυρὸς φθορὰ, τοῦτον ἀμφιέσας τὸν τρόπον, καὶ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς ἐνδυμάτων αἰσθητῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος βίου προνοήσει; -Οὕτως οὖν ἁπάντων ὀλιγωρεῖν, μόνης δὲ τῆς βασιλείας μεταποιεῖσθαι προσέταττε· μὴ γὰρ ζητοῦσι τὴν βασιλεία μηδ' ἀρετῆς πρόνοιαν ποιουμένοις οὐδὲν τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ἔσται· μόνοις δὲ ταῦτ' ἐξ ἑτοίμου παρέσεσθαι τοῖς μεριμνῶσι τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅπως ἂν ἀρέσαιεν αὐτῷ, καὶ τοῖς περὶ τὴν ζήτησιν τῶν κρειττόνων ἠσχολημένοις· μεριμνῶσι γὰρ τὰ τῷ Θεῷ φίλα, ἀντιμεριμνήσειν τὸν Θεόν. Ὅπου γὰρ ὁ θησαυρὸς ὑμῶν, ἐκεῖ καὶ ἡ καρδία ὑμῶν ἔσται. Φυσικῶς γὰρ πᾶς ἄνθρωπος περὶ ὃ σπουδάζει διάκειται, κἀκεῖ πάντα τὸν νοῦν ἔχει ἔνθα κεκτῆσθαι τὴν ὠφέλειαν νενόμικε· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὸν λογισμὸν ἐπάγει τοῦ μὴ δεῖν ἐπὶ γῆς θησαυρίζειν. Εἰ μὲν γάρ τις, φησὶν, ἐν τῷ θνητῷ βίῳ τὰς κτήσεις καὶ πᾶσαν ὕπαρξιν συνείληχεν, ἀναρτήσας αὐτοῦ τὴν πᾶσαν ἐλπίδα ἐπὶ τὰ παρόντα τοῦ βίου πράγματα, ἐξ ἀνάγκης οἷα δὴ δεσμοῖς τοσούτοις πεπεδημένος, πάντα τὸν αὐτοῦ λογισμὸν καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν διάνοιαν, ἣν δὴ καρδίαν ὠνόμασε, κάτω που πρὸς τῇ γῇ κέκτηται, κἀκεῖ φύρεται καὶ καλινδεῖται, ἔνθα κεκτῆσθαι τὸν αὐτοῦ θησαυρὸν νενόμικεν· εἰ δὲ τοῖς οὐρανίοις μαθήμασιν ἐντραφεὶς πάντα πράττοι, τὸν αὐτοῦ σκοπὸν ἄνω προσαναρτήσας, καὶ τὴν ἐλπίδα ῥίψας ἐπὶ τὰς οὐρανίους ἐπαγγελίας, τοῦ μὲν συνάγειν ἐπὶ γῆς οὐδεμίαν ποιούμενος φροντίδα, τὴν ἄκραν δὲ μετιὼν ἀκτημοσύνην, καὶ ὅλος γινόμενος πρὸς τοῖς κρείττοσιν, ἐν οὐρανῷ τε πάντα συνάγειν, κἀκεῖ τὸν αὐτοῦ πλοῦτον ταμιεύεσθαι, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ὕπαρξιν ἐκεῖ προπέμπειν σπουδάζων· εἰκότως ὁ τοιοῦτος ὄνοιτ' ἂν ἐντεῦθεν τῆς ἀγαθῆς ἐλπίδος, τῷ τὴν διάνοιαν καὶ τὸν λογισμὸν οἰκειοῦν ἑαυτοῦ τοῖς οὐρανίοις· ἔνθα γὰρ ἔχει τὸν θησαυρὸν, ἐκεῖ καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν ἕξει· ὡς δοκεῖν μὲν ἐπὶ γῆς παρεπιδημεῖν, καὶ τῷ σώματι μόνῳ συνεῖναι ἀνθρώποις, τῇ δὲ δυνάμει τὰς οὐρανίους 24.561 ἤδη διατριβὰς μετιέναι· ὥστε ἄνω βλέπειν δεῖ, καὶ τὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχειν, ὅπου καὶ τὸν θησαυρὸν αὐτοῦ συναγήοχεν. Καὶ ὑμεῖς ὅμοιοι