John Chrysostom, On 2 Timothy

if need be, and his soul, so as to obtain the good things to come, so as to be counted worthy to see the second coming with fitting state, with confidence, with glory and splendor. This is to love His appearing. He who loves His appearing will do everything so that even before that general one, the particular one may happen for him. And how is this possible, you say? Hear what Christ says: He who loves Me will keep My commandments, and I and the Father will come, and we will make our home with him. Consider how great it is that He who is to appear to all in common, promises to appear to us in particular. For We will come, He says, and make Our home with him. If anyone loves His appearing, he will do everything, so as to call Him to himself, and to have Him, so that the light may shine upon him. Let there be nothing unworthy of His presence, and quickly He will take up His lodging with us. It is called an "Epiphany" because it is a "appearing over," and a "rising from above." Therefore let us seek the things that are above, 62.654 and we shall quickly draw to us those rays. No one who stoops downward, and buries himself in the earth, will be able to see the light of the sun; no one who defiles himself with the things of this life will be able to see the Sun of righteousness; He does not appear to any of those who are wrapped up in these things. Rouse yourself a little, rouse yourself from the deep, from the billows of this life, if you wish to see the sun, if you wish to attain the appearing; if you attain this appearing of His, then you will see Him with much confidence. Be a philosopher now; let there not be in you a spirit of despair, lest it strike you fiercely and cast you down; let not your heart be stony, and darkness, lest you dash your ship there; let there be no deceit; for hidden reefs cause the most terrible shipwrecks. Do not nourish wild beasts, I mean the passions; for they are more fierce than wild beasts; do not trust in fleeting things, that you may be able to stand firm. No one stands on water, but all stand securely on a rock. The things of this life are water; Waters, it says, have come in even to my soul, as a torrent flowing by. The spiritual things are a rock; For on a rock, he says, you have raised my feet. The things of this life are mire and clay; let us draw ourselves up out of these; for thus we shall be able to attain the appearing of Christ. Whatever comes upon us, let us bear it; a sufficient comfort in all things is to suffer for Christ's sake; let us repeat this divine incantation, and the pain of the wound will cease. And how is it to suffer for Christ's sake, you say? Has someone slandered you for no reason, not for Christ's sake? if you bear it nobly, if you give thanks, if you pray for him, you do all these things for Christ's sake. If you curse, if you despair, if you attempt to retaliate, even if you are not able, it is not for Christ's sake, but you have suffered loss, and have been deprived of the fruit because of your own choice. For it is in our power both to gain from terrible things, and to be harmed; this happens not from the nature of the terrible things, but from our own choice. For instance: Job suffered so many things, he bore them thankfully, he was justified, not because he suffered, but because having suffered he bore it thankfully. Another, having suffered the same things, or rather not even the same things (for there is no one who has suffered such things, but far less), spoke ill, was vexed, cursed the whole world, was discontented with God? this man was judged and condemned, not because he had suffered, but because he blasphemed; and he blasphemed, not from the necessity of what happened—since if the necessity of what happened had caused this, Job would have had to blaspheme too; but if he, having suffered worse things, did no such thing, these things did not happen from this, but from the weakness of choice. We need, therefore, a strong soul, and nothing will appear difficult to us, just as when it is weak, there is nothing which is not difficult. From our own disposition all things become both bearable and unbearable; let us fortify this, and

δέοι, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν, ὥστε τῶν μελλόντων τυχεῖν ἀγαθῶν, ὥστε καταξιωθῆναι τὴν δευτέραν παρουσίαν μετὰ τοῦ προσήκοντος σχήματος ἰδεῖν, μετὰ παῤῥησίας, μετὰ δόξης καὶ λαμπρότητος. Τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀγαπᾷν τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν αὐτοῦ. Ὁ ἀγαπῶν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν, πάντα πράξει ὥστε καὶ πρὸ ἐκείνης τῆς καθολικῆς γενέσθαι αὐτῷ τὴν μερικήν. Καὶ πῶς ἔνι τοῦτο, φησίν; Ἄκουε τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγοντος· Ὁ ἀγαπῶν με τὰς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσει, καὶ πορευσόμεθα ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ, καὶ μονὴν παρ' αὐτῷ ποιήσομεν. Ἐννόησον δὲ ὅσον ἐστὶ τὸν κοινῇ πᾶσιν ἐπιφαίνεσθαι μέλλοντα, τοῦτον ἰδίᾳ ὑπισχνεῖσθαι ἐπιφανῆναι ἡμῖν. Ἐλευσόμεθα γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ μονὴν παρ' αὐτῷ ποιήσομεν. Εἴ τις ἀγαπᾷ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν αὐτοῦ, πάντα πράξει, ὥστε αὐτὸν καλέσαι πρὸς ἑαυτὸν, καὶ ἔχειν, ὥστε ἐπιλάμψαι αὐτῷ τὸ φῶς. Μηδὲν ἀνάξιον ἔστω τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ταχέως καταλύει παρ' ἡμῖν. Ἐπιφάνεια δὲ λέγεται διὰ τὸ ἐπάνω φαίνεσθαι, καὶ ἄνωθεν ἀνατέλλειν. Οὐκοῦν τὰ ἄνω 62.654 ζητῶμεν, καὶ ταχέως τὰς ἀκτῖνας ἐκείνας ἐπισπασόμεθα. Οὐδεὶς τῶν κάτω κυπτόντων, καὶ κατορυττόντων ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὴν γῆν, δυνήσεται τὸ ἡλιακὸν φῶς ἰδεῖν· οὐδεὶς τῶν καταμολυνόντων ἑαυτὸν τοῖς βιωτικοῖς πράγμασι, δυνήσεται τὸν ἥλιον τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἰδεῖν· οὐδενὶ ἐπιφαίνει τῶν τούτοις ἐνστρεφομένων. Ἀνάνηψον μικρὸν, ἀνάνηψον ἀπὸ τοῦ βάθους, ἀπὸ τοῦ κλύδωνος τοῦ βιωτικοῦ, εἰ βούλει τὸν ἥλιον ἰδεῖν, εἰ βούλει τῆς ἐπιφανείας τυχεῖν· ἂν τύχῃς αὐτοῦ τῆς ἐπιφανείας ταύτης, τότε αὐτὸν ὄψει μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς παῤῥησίας. Φιλοσόφησον νῦν· μὴ ἔστω παρὰ σοὶ πνεῦμα ἀπονοίας, ἵνα μή σε ῥαπίσῃ σφοδρῶς καὶ καταβάλῃ· μὴ ἔστω λελιθωμένη ἡ καρδία, καὶ σκότος, ἵνα μὴ προσαῤῥάξῃς ἐκεῖ τὸ πλοῖον· μὴ ἔστω τις δόλος· καὶ γὰρ αἱ ὕφαλοι ναυάγια ἐργάζονται χαλεπώτατα. Μὴ τρέφε θηρία, τὰ πάθη λέγω· θηρίων γὰρ ἐκεῖνα χαλεπώτερα· μὴ τοῖς ῥευστοῖς πράγμασι θάῤῥει, ἵνα δυνηθῇς ἑστάναι βεβαίως. Οὐδεὶς ἐπὶ ὕδατος ἵσταται, ἐπὶ δὲ πέτρας ἅπαντες ἀσφαλῶς ἵστανται. Ὕδωρ ἐστὶ τὰ βιωτικὰ πράγματα· Ἦλθον, φησὶν, ὕδατα ἕως ψυχῆς μου, ὡς χειμάῤῥους παραῤῥέων. Πέτρα ἐστὶ τὰ πνευματικά· Ἐν πέτρᾳ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὕψωσας τοὺς πόδας μου. Ἰλύς ἐστι καὶ πηλὸς τὰ βιωτικά· ἀνασπάσωμεν ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ τούτων· οὕτω γὰρ δυνησόμεθα τυχεῖν τῆς ἐπιφανείας τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Πᾶν ὃ ἐὰν ἐπέλθῃ, φέρωμεν· ἱκανὴ ἐν πᾶσι παραμυθία τὸ διὰ Χριστὸν παθεῖν· ταύτην τὴν θείαν ἐπῳδὴν ἐπιλέγωμεν, καὶ παύσεται τοῦ τραύματος ἡ ἀλγηδών. Καὶ πῶς διὰ Χριστὸν ἔστι παθεῖν, φησίν; Ἐσυκοφάντησέ σέ τις ἁπλῶς οὐ διὰ Χριστόν; ἂν ἐνέγκῃς γενναίως, ἐὰν εὐχαριστήσῃς, ἐὰν εὔξῃ ὑπὲρ ἐκείνου, ταῦτα πάντα διὰ Χριστὸν ποιεῖς. Ἂν καταράσῃ, ἂν ἀποδυσπετήσῃς, ἂν ἐπιχειρήσῃς ἀμύνασθαι, κἂν μὴ δυνηθῇς, οὐκ ἔστι διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν, ἀλλὰ ζημίαν ὑπήνεγκας, καὶ τοῦ καρποῦ ἀπεστέρησαι διὰ τὴν προαίρεσιν τὴν σήν. Ἐν ἡμῖν γάρ ἐστι καὶ κερδαίνειν ἐκ τῶν δεινῶν, καὶ βλάπτεσθαι· οὐ παρὰ τὴν φύσιν τῶν δεινῶν τοῦτο γίνεται, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν προαίρεσιν. Οἷόν τι λέγω· ἔπαθε τοσαῦτα ὁ Ἰὼβ, εὐχαρίστως ἤνεγκεν, ἐδικαιώθη, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ ἔπαθεν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ παθὼν εὐχαρίστως ἤνεγκεν. Ἕτερος τὰ αὐτὰ παθὼν, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ τὰ αὐτὰ (οὐδεὶς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ τοιαῦτα παθὼν, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ ἐλάττονα), ἐδυσφήμησεν, ἠγανάκτησε, κατηράσατο τῷ κόσμῳ παντὶ, ἐδυσχέρανε πρὸς τὸν Θεόν; οὗτος κατεκρίθη καὶ κατεδικάσθη, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ πέπονθεν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἐβλασφήμησεν· ἐβλασφήμησε δὲ, οὐ παρὰ τὴν ἀνάγκην τῶν συμβάντων ἐπεὶ εἰ ἡ ἀνάγκη τῶν συμβάντων τοῦτο ἐποίησεν, ἔδει καὶ τὸν Ἰὼβ βλασφημῆσαι· εἰ δὲ χαλεπώτερα παθὼν οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον εἰργάσατο, οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο ταῦτα συνέβη, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῆς προαιρέσεως. Ἰσχυρᾶς οὖν δεῖ ἡμῖν ψυχῆς, καὶ οὐδὲν ἡμῖν χαλεπὸν φανεῖται, ὥσπερ ἀσθενούσης, οὐδὲν ὅπερ οὐ χαλεπόν. Παρὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν διάθεσιν πάντα καὶ φορητὰ καὶ ἀφόρητα γίνεται· ταύτην ὀχυρώσωμεν, καὶ