John Chrysostom, To the People of Antioch

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of precision, and let us look around on all sides lest any harm, lest any danger from the counsel, or the honor, or the service happen to us, and let us not run to it quickly and thoughtlessly. For if there were only one or two snares, it would be an easy guard; but now Solomon, wishing to show their multitude, hear what he says: Know that you walk in the midst of snares. He did not say, "You walk beside snares," but, "In the midst of snares." On either side of us are the pits, on either side the deceits. Someone went into the marketplace, saw an enemy, was inflamed by the mere sight; he saw a prosperous friend, he envied him; he saw a poor man, he despised and overlooked him; he saw a rich man, and he was jealous; he saw someone being wronged, he was vexed; he saw someone doing wrong, he was annoyed; he saw a beautiful woman, he was caught. Do you see how many snares there are, beloved? For this reason he says: 49.157 Know that you walk in the midst of snares. And in the house there are snares, and at the table snares, and in gatherings snares. Often someone thoughtlessly, trusting among friends, has uttered some of those words that ought not to be brought forth, and brought about such danger as to overturn an entire household.

3. Therefore, let us examine matters from all sides with precision. Often a wife has become a snare to those not paying attention, often children, often friends, often neighbors. And for what reason, you say, are there so many snares? So that we may not fly low, but may seek the things that are above. For birds, as long as they cut through the high air, are not quickly caught; so also you, as long as you look to the things above, will not easily be caught, neither by a snare, nor by any other plot. The devil is a fowler; therefore, become higher than his reeds. The one who has ascended to the height will no longer wonder at anything of the affairs of this life; but just as, when we run up to the summit of the mountains, the city and the walls seem small to us, and the men walking on the earth appear to us like ants; so when you ascend to the high thought of philosophy, nothing on the earth will be able to astound you, but all things will appear small, both wealth, and glory, and power, and honor, and anything else of that kind, when you look upon the things in heaven; just as to Paul then all things appeared small, and the splendors of the present life more useless than dead things. For this reason he also cried out, saying: The world has been crucified to me; for this reason he also exhorted us, saying: Set your minds on things above. Above? What do you mean, tell me? where the sun is, where the moon is? No, he says. But where? where the angels are, where the archangels are, where the cherubim and the seraphim are? No, he says. But where? Where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Let us therefore be persuaded, and let us continually consider this, that just as for a sparrow caught by a snare there is no benefit from its wings, but it flutters idly and in vain; so also for you there is no benefit from your reasonings, if you are caught with force by evil desire, but however much you may leap about, you have been caught. For this reason sparrows have wings, so that they may escape the snares; for this reason human beings have reasonings, so that they may escape sins. What pardon then shall we have, or what defense, when we are more foolish than irrational animals? For a sparrow, having once been caught in a snare and then having escaped, and a deer having fallen into a net and run away, will with difficulty be caught again by the same things; for to each one experience becomes a teacher of safety. But we, having often been caught by the same things, fall into the same things, and we who have been honored with reason do not even imitate the provident and careful nature of the irrational animals. How many times then, having seen a woman, have we suffered countless terrible things after returning home, having received the desire, and been pained for many days, but yet we are not made sober-minded, but scarcely having healed the former wound, we fall into the same things again, and are caught by the same things, and for a brief pleasure of sight, we endure a certain continual and long-lasting pain. But if we learn 49.158 to say this continually

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ἀκριβείας, καὶ περισκοπῶμεν πάντοθεν μή πού τις βλάβη, μή πού τις κίνδυνος ἀπὸ τῆς συμβουλῆς, ἢ τῆς τιμῆς, ἢ τῆς θεραπείας ἡμῖν ἐγγίνηται, καὶ μὴ ταχέως καὶ ἀπερισκέπτως ἐπιτρέχωμεν. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ μία καὶ δύο μόνον ἦσαν αἱ παγίδες, εὔκολος ἦν ἡ φυλακή· νῦν δὲ τὸ πλῆθος αὐτῶν ἐνδείξασθαι βουλόμενος ὁ Σολομὼν, ἄκουσον πῶς φησιν· Ἐπίγνωθι, ὅτι ἐν μέσῳ παγίδων διαβαίνεις· οὐκ εἶπεν, ὅτι Παρὰ παγίδας διαβαίνεις, ἀλλ' Ἐν μέσῳ παγίδων. Ἑκατέρωθεν ἡμῖν τὰ βάραθρα, ἑκατέρωθεν οἱ δόλοι. Ἐνέβαλέ τις εἰς ἀγορὰν, εἶδεν ἐχθρὸν, ἐφλέγμανεν ἀπὸ τῆς ὄψεως μόνης· εἶδε φίλον εὐδοκιμοῦντα, ἐβάσκηνεν· εἶδε πένητα, κατεφρόνησε καὶ ὑπερεῖδεν· εἶδε πλούσιον, καὶ ἐφθόνησεν· εἶδέ τινα ἐπηρεαζόμενον, ἀπεδυσπέτησεν· εἶδέ τινα ἐπηρεάζοντα, ἐδυσχέρανεν· εἶδε γυναῖκα εὔμορφον, ἑάλω. Εἶδες πόσαι αἱ παγίδες, ἀγαπητέ; ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν· 49.157 Ἐπίγνωθι, ὅτι ἐν μέσῳ παγίδων διαβαίνεις. Καὶ ἐν οἰκίᾳ παγίδες, καὶ ἐπὶ τραπέζης παγίδες, καὶ ἐπὶ συλλόγων παγίδες. Πολλάκις ἀπερισκέπτως τις μεταξὺ φίλων θαῤῥῶν ἐφθέγξατό τι τῶν οὐκ ὀφειλόντων ἐξενεχθῆναι ῥημάτων, καὶ κίνδυνον ἤνεγκε τοσοῦτον, ὥστε ὁλόκληρον ἀνατρέψαι τὴν οἰκίαν.

γʹ. Πανταχόθεν τοίνυν διερευνώμεθα τὰ πράγματα μετὰ ἀκριβείας. Πολλάκις καὶ γυνὴ γέγονε παγὶς τοῖς μὴ προσέχουσι, πολλάκις παιδία, πολλάκις φίλοι, πολλάκις γείτονες. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν τοσαῦται παγίδες, φησίν; Ἵνα μὴ κάτωθεν πετώμεθα, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἄνω ζητῶμεν. Καὶ γὰρ τὰ πετεινὰ, ἕως ἂν τὸν ὑψηλὸν ἀέρα τέμνῃ, οὐ ταχέως ἁλίσκεται· οὕτω καὶ σὺ, ἕως ἂν πρὸς τὰ ἄνω βλέπῃς, οὔτε ὑπὸ παγίδος, οὔτε ὑφ' ἑτέρας τινὸς ἁλώσῃ ῥᾳδίως ἐπιβουλῆς. Ἰξευτής ἐστιν ὁ διάβολος· γενοῦ τοίνυν τῶν ἐκείνου καλάμων ὑψηλότερος. Ὁ πρὸς τὸ ὕψος ἀναβὰς οὐκέτι οὐδὲν θαυμάσεται τῶν βιωτικῶν πραγμάτων· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ, ἐπειδὰν εἰς τὴν κορυφὴν ἀναδράμωμεν τῶν ὀρῶν, μικρὰ καὶ ἡ πόλις ἡμῖν εἶναι δοκεῖ καὶ τὰ τείχη, καὶ μυρμήκων δίκην ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς οἱ ἄνδρες ἡμῖν βαδίζοντες φαίνονται· οὕτως ἐπειδὰν ἐπὶ τὴν ὑψηλὴν ἔννοιαν τῆς φιλοσοφίας ἀνέλθῃς, οὐδέν σε τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐκπλῆξαι δυνήσεται, ἀλλὰ μικρὰ πάντα φανεῖται, καὶ πλοῦτος, καὶ δόξα, καὶ δυναστεία, καὶ τιμὴ καὶ εἴ τι τοιοῦτον ἕτερον, ὅταν τὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς βλέπῃς· καθάπερ οὖν καὶ Παύλῳ μικρὰ πάντα ἐφαίνετο, καὶ νεκρῶν ἀχρηστότερα τὰ λαμπρὰ τοῦ παρόντος βίου. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐβόα λέγων· Ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμῖν παρῄνει λέγων· Τὰ ἄνω φρονεῖτε. Ἄνω; ποῖα λέγεις, εἰπέ μοι; ὅπου ἥλιος, ὅπου σελήνη; Οὐχὶ, φησίν. Ἀλλὰ ποῦ; ὅπου ἄγγελοι, ὅπου ἀρχάγγελοι, ὅπου τὰ χερουβὶμ καὶ τὰ σεραφίμ; Οὐχὶ, φησίν. Ἀλλὰ ποῦ; Ὅπου ὁ Χριστός ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ καθήμενος. Πειθώμεθα τοίνυν, κἀκεῖνο διηνεκῶς λογιζώμεθα, ὅτι καθάπερ τῷ στρουθίῳ ὄφελος οὐδὲν τῶν πτερῶν ὑπὸ τῆς παγίδος ἁλόντι, ἀλλ' εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην πτερύσσεται· οὕτω καὶ σοὶ τῶν λογισμῶν οὐδὲν ὄφελος, ἐὰν κατὰ κράτος ὑπὸ τῆς πονηρᾶς ἐπιθυμίας ἁλῷς, ἀλλ' ὅσα ἂν σκιρτήσῃς, ἑάλως. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πτερὰ τοῖς στρουθίοις, ἵνα ἐκφύγῃ τὰς παγίδας· διὰ τοῦτο λογισμοὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἵνα ἐκφύγωσι τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. Τίνα οὖν ἕξομεν συγγνώμην, τίνα δὲ ἀπολογίαν, ὅταν τῶν ἀλόγων ὦμεν ἀνοητότεροι; Ὁ μὲν γὰρ στρουθὸς ἅπαξ ἁλοὺς ὑπὸ παγίδος, εἶτα διαφυγὼν, καὶ ἔλαφος δὲ εἰς δίκτυον ἐμπεσοῦσα καὶ διαδρᾶσα, δυσκόλως ἁλώσονται πάλιν τοῖς αὐτοῖς· ἑκάστῳ γὰρ ἡ πεῖρα διδάσκαλος ἀσφαλείας γίνεται. Ἡμεῖς δὲ πολλάκις τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἁλόντες, τοῖς αὐτοῖς περιπίπτομεν, καὶ οὐδὲ τῶν ἀλόγων τὸ προνοητικὸν καὶ μεμεριμνημένον οἱ λόγῳ τιμηθέντες μιμούμεθα. Ποσάκις οὖν ἰδόντες γυναῖκα, μυρία ἐπάθομεν δεινὰ οἴκαδε ἀναχωρήσαντες, καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν δεξάμενοι, καὶ ἐπὶ πολλαῖς ὀδυνηθέντες ἡμέραις, ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐ σωφρονιζόμεθα, ἀλλὰ μόλις τὸ πρότερον θεραπεύσαντες ἕλκος, πάλιν τοῖς αὐτοῖς περιπίπτομεν, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ἁλισκόμεθα, καὶ διὰ βραχεῖαν ἡδονὴν ὄψεως, διηνεκῆ τινα καὶ χρόνιον ὑπομένομεν ὀδύνην. Ἀλλ' ἐὰν μάθωμεν 49.158 συνεχῶς ταύτην ἐπιλέγειν