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And when the time for assembly calls, let spiritual things and the gathering here be preferred above all, so that the things in our hands may be managed with security. 8.19 For if these things are our priority, we shall have no trouble in those other matters, as the philanthropic God provides us great ease in them; but if, neglecting spiritual things, we are zealous only for those other things and, taking no account of the soul, we are constantly occupied with the affairs of this life, we shall suffer the loss of these spiritual things and will have no advantage in those other matters. Therefore, let us not reverse the order, I beseech you, but knowing the goodness of our Master, let us yield all things to him and not exhaust ourselves with the cares of this life. For he who brought us from non-being into being through his own philanthropy will much more provide for us in all remaining things; “For,” he says, “your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things before you ask him.” 8.20 For this reason, he wishes us to be freed from all such care and to have all our leisure for spiritual things. For “Seek you,” he says, “the spiritual things, and I will provide you all bodily things with abundance.” From this all the just have also prospered. For it was from their virtue that this discourse of ours was brought forth; for we were saying that they, having received the promise of sensible things, sought intelligible ones; but we do the opposite of them and, having the promise of intelligible things, we gape after sensible ones. 8.21 For this reason, I beseech you, let us at least now, we who are in grace, imitate those who from their own nature and before the law, from the teaching lying in nature, were able to reach so great a height of virtue, and let us transfer all our zeal to the care of the soul and interchange our concerns and divide our anxiety, and let us undertake the care of the soul ourselves, since this is the most important thing in us; but let us yield all care and anxiety for the body to the common Master of all. 8.22 And this is a very great proof of his wisdom and ineffable philanthropy, that he entrusted to us the care of the greater part in us, I mean the soul, teaching us through the things themselves that he has made us with free will and has left it up to us and to our own judgment both to choose virtue and to desert to vice; but of all bodily things he himself promised to provide, wishing through this to turn human nature so that it might not trust in its own power nor think it can contribute anything to the constitution of the present life. 8.23 For this reason indeed he urges us, who are honored with reason and deemed worthy of so much attendance, to the imitation of irrational creatures and says: “Look at the birds of the air, that they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them,” as if he were saying: If I take such great care of the irrational birds as to provide all things for them unsown and unplowed, much more will I take greater care of you who are rational, if you should choose to prefer spiritual things to carnal ones. For if I brought forth these things and all creation for your sake, and yet I take such great providence for them, of how much care would I not deem you worthy, for whom all these things were also brought forth. 8.24 Let us have courage, therefore, I beseech you, in the promise of God, and let us direct our whole mind to the desire of spiritual things, and let us consider all things secondary to the enjoyment of things to come, so that we may both obtain present things with abundance and be able to be deemed worthy of the good things promised to us and be freed from the punishment in Gehenna. Let not all the time of the day be spent again by me in indolence and unprofitable pastimes and in corrupt assemblies and in banquets and daily drunkenness, let us not cause the things well gathered to flow away through subsequent negligence but with security

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Καὶ ἐπειδὰν καιρὸς συνάξεως καλῇ, πάντων προτιμάσθω τὰ πνευματικὰ καὶ ἡ ἐνταῦθα συνέλευσις, ἵνα καὶ τὰ ἐν χερσὶν ἡμῖν μετὰ ἀσφαλείας οἰκονομῆται. 8.19 Ἐὰν γὰρ ταῦτα ἡμῖν ᾗ προηγούμενα, ἐν ἐκείνοις οὐδένα ἕξομεν πόνον, τοῦ φιλανθρώπου Θεοῦ πολλὴν ἡμῖν τὴν εὐμάρειαν ἐν αὐτοῖς παρέχοντος· ἐὰν δὲ τῶν πνευματικῶν ἀμελοῦντες περὶ ἐκεῖνα μόνα σπουδάζωμεν καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς οὐδένα ποιούμενοι λόγον περὶ τὰ βιωτικὰ διηνεκῶς στρεφώμεθα, καὶ τούτων ὑπομενοῦμεν τὴν ζημίαν καὶ ἐν ἐκείνοις οὐδὲν πλέον ἕξομεν. Μὴ τοίνυν ἀντιστρέφωμεν τὴν τάξιν, παρακαλῶ, ἀλλ' εἰδότες τοῦ δεσπότου τοῦ ἡμετέρου τὴν ἀγαθότητα αὐτῷ πάντα παραχωρῶμεν καὶ μὴ κατατείνωμεν ἑαυτοὺς ταῖς βιωτικαῖς φροντίσιν. Ὁ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι ἡμᾶς παραγαγῶν διὰ τὴν οἰκείαν φιλανθρωπίαν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τὴν λοιπὴν ἅπασαν ἡμῖν παρέξει πρόνοιαν· «Οἶδε γάρ, φησίν, ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος ὅτι χρῄζετε τούτων ἁπάντων πρὸ τοῦ ὑμᾶς αἰτῆσαι αὐτόν.» 8.20 ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο βούλεται ἡμᾶς πάσης τοιαύτης ἀπηλλάχθαι φροντίδος καὶ περὶ τὰ πνευματικὰ ἅπασαν ἔχειν τὴν σχολήν. Ζήτει γὰρ σύ, φησί, τὰ πνευματικὰ κἀγώ σοι μετὰ δαψιλείας παρέξω πάντα τὰ σωματικά. Ἐντεῦθεν καὶ οἱ δίκαιοι πάντες εὐδοκίμησαν. Ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆς τούτων ἀρετῆς καὶ ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν οὗτος εἰς μέσον ἤχθη· ἐλέγομεν γὰρ ὅτι αἰσθητῶν ἐπαγγελίαν ἐκεῖνοι δεξάμενοι πραγμάτων τὰ νοητὰ ἐπεζήτουν· ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀπεναντίας ἐκείνοις πράττομεν καὶ νοητῶν ἐπαγγελίαν ἔχοντες περὶ τὰ αἰσθητὰ κεχήναμεν. 8.21 ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο, παρακαλῶ, κἂν νῦν γοῦν ἡμεῖς οἱ ἐν τῇ χάριτι, ἐκείνους μιμησώμεθα τοὺς οἴκοθεν καὶ πρὸ τοῦ νόμου ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν τῇ φύσει κειμένης διδασκαλίας πρὸς τοσοῦτον ἀρετῆς ὕψος φθάσαι δυνηθέντας, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν σπουδὴν μεταθῶμεν ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπιμέλειαν καὶ ἐναλλάξωμεν ἡμῶν τὰς φροντίδας καὶ καταμερίσωμεν τὴν μέριμναν καὶ τῆς μὲν ψυχῆς αὐτοὶ τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν ἀναδεξώμεθα, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ κυριώτερον ἐν ἡμῖν· τοῦ δὲ σώματος ἅπασαν τὴν φροντίδα καὶ τὴν μέριμναν τῷ κοινῷ πάντων δεσπότῃ παραχωρῶμεν. 8.22 Καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ τῆς αὐτοῦ σοφίας καὶ τῆς ἀφάτου φιλανθρωπίας τεκμήριον μέγιστον ὅτι τοῦ μείζονος ἐν ἡμῖν, τῆς ψυχῆς λέγω, τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν ἡμῖν ἐνεχείρισε διδάσκων ἡμᾶς δι' αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων ὅτι αὐτεξουσίους ἡμᾶς εἰργάσατο καὶ ἐφ' ἡμῖν εἶναι κατέλιπε καὶ τῇ γνώμῃ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ καὶ τὸ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἑλέσθαι καὶ τὸ πρὸς τὴν κακίαν αὐτομολῆσαι· τῶν δὲ σωματικῶν ἁπάντων αὐτὸς ὑπέσχετο τὴν πρόνοιαν παρέξειν, ἐντρέψαι βουλόμενος καὶ διὰ τούτου τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν φύσιν ὥστε μὴ τῇ οἰκείᾳ πεποιθέναι δυνάμει μηδὲ νομίζειν δύνασθαί τι συνεισφέρειν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ παρόντος βίου σύστασιν. 8.23 ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο ἡμᾶς τοὺς λόγῳ τετιμημένους καὶ τοσαύτης ἀξιωθέντας προσεδρείας ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ἀλόγων μίμησιν παρορμᾷ καί φησιν· «Ἐμβλέψατε εἰς τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὅτι οὐ σπείρουσιν οὐδὲ θερίζουσιν οὐδὲ συνάγουσιν εἰς ἀποθήκας καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τρέφει αὐτά», ὡσεὶ ἔλεγεν· Εἰ τῶν ἀλόγων τῶν πετεινῶν τοσαύτην ποιοῦμαι φροντίδα ὡς ἄσπαρτα καὶ ἀνήροτα αὐτοῖς ἅπαντα παρέχειν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὑμῶν τῶν λογικῶν πλείονα ποιήσομαι τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, εἰ τὰ πνευματικὰ τῶν σαρκικῶν προτιμῆσαι ἕλοισθε. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ταῦτα δι' ὑμᾶς παρήγαγον καὶ τὴν κτίσιν ἅπασαν, ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τούτων τοσαύτην ποιοῦμαι τὴν πρόνοιαν, πόσης οὐκ ἂν ὑμᾶς ἀξιώσω τῆς κηδεμονίας δι' οὓς καὶ ταῦτα ἅπαντα παρήχθη. 8.24 Θαρρῶμεν τοίνυν, παρακαλῶ, τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑποσχέσει καὶ ὅλην ἡμῶν τὴν διάνοιαν τείνωμεν περὶ τὸν τῶν πνευματικῶν πόθον καὶ δεύτερα πάντα ἡγώμεθα τῆς τῶν μελλόντων ἀπολαύσεως, ἵνα καὶ τῶν παρόντων μετὰ δαψιλείας ἐπιτύχωμεν καὶ τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ἡμῖν ἀγαθῶν ἀξιωθῆναι δυνηθῶμεν καὶ τῆς ἐν τῇ γεέννῃ τιμωρίας ἐλευθερωθῆναι. Μή μοι πάλιν εἰς ῥᾳθυμίαν καὶ ἀνονήτους διατριβὰς καὶ εἰς διεφθαρμένους συλλόγους καὶ εἰς συμπόσια καὶ μέθην καθημερινὴν ἅπας τῆς ἡμέρας ὁ καιρὸς καταναλισκέσθω, μὴ τὰ καλῶς συλλεγέντα διὰ τῆς μετὰ ταῦτα ἀμελείας διαρρυῆναι ποιήσωμεν ἀλλὰ μετὰ ἀσφαλείας