192 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY II. because thou thinkest thyself wretched, not for thy poverty. For thy poverty thou art to be thought happy. Why enviest thou the rich man ? Is it because he has subjected himself to many cares? to a harder slavery? because he is bound like a dog, with ten thousand chains namely, his riches ? Evening overtakes him, night overtakes him, but the season of rest is to him a time of trouble, of anguish, of pain, of anxiety. There is a noise : he straightway jumps up. Has his neighbor been plundered? He who has lost nothing cares more for it than the loser. For that man has lost once, but having endured the pain he lays aside his care ; but the other has it always with him. Night comes on, the haven of our ills, the solace of our woes, the medicine of our wounds. For they who are weighed down by excess of grief, often give no ear to their friends, to their relations, to their intimates, ofttimes not even to a father when he would give comfort, but take their very words amiss ; but when sleep bids them rest, none has the power to look him in the face. For worse than any burning does the bitterness of grief afflict our souls. And as the body, when parched and worn down by struggling against the violence of the sunbeams, is brought to a caravansary with many fountains, and the sooth ing of a gentle breeze, so does night hand over our soul to sleep. Yea, rather, I should say, not night nor sleep does this, but God, who knoweth our toil-worn race, has wrought this, while we have no compassion on ourselves, but, as though at enmity with ourselves, have devised a tyranny more powerful than natural want of rest the sleeplessness which comes of wealth. For it is said, " The anxieties of wealth drive away sleep." (Ecclus. xxxi. i.) See how great is the care of God. But He hath not com mitted rest to our will, nor our need of sleep to choice, but hath bound it up in the necessities of nature, that good may be done to us even against our wills. For to sleep is ofnature. But we, as mighty haters of ourselves, like enemies and persecutors of others, have devised a tyranny greater than this necessity of nature, that, namely, which comes of money. Has day dawned? Then such an one is in dread of the informers. Hath night overtaken him? He trembles at robbers. Is death at hand? The thought that he must leave his goods to others preys upon him worse than death. Hath he a son ? His desires are increased ; and then he fancies himself poor. Has he none ? His pains are greater. Deemest thou him blessed who is unable to receive pleasure from any quarter? Can you envy him thus tempest-tossed, while you yourself are placed in the quiet haven of poverty? Of a truth this is the imperfection of human nature ; that it bears not its good nobly, but casts insults on its very prosperity. And all this on earth ; but when we depart thither, listen what the rich man, who was lord of innumerable goods, as you say (since for my part I call not these things good, but indiffer ent), listen to what this lord of innumerable goods says, and of what he stands in need : " Father Abraham," he exclaims, " send Laz arus, that with the tip of his finger he may drop water on my tongue, for I am scorched in this flame." For even if that rich man had endured none of the things I have mentioned, if he had passed his whole life without dread and care why say I his whole life? rather that one moment (for it is a moment, our whole life is but one moment, compared with that eternity which has no end) if all things had turned out according to his desire ; must he not be pitied for these words, yea, rather, for this state of things ? Was not your table once deluged with wine? Now you are not master even of a drop of water, and that, too, in your greatest need. Did not you neglect that poor man full of sores ? But now you ask a sight of him, and no one gives leave. He lay at your gate ; but now in Abraham s bosom. You then lay under your lofty ceiling ; but now in the fire of hell. These things let the rich men hear. Yea, rather not the rich, but the pitiless. For not in that he was rich was he punished, but because he showed no pity ; for it is possible that a man who is at the same time rich and pitiful, should meet with every good. And for this cause the rich man s eyes were fixed on no one else, but on him alone, who then begged his alms ; that he might learn from memory of his former actions, that his punishment was just. Were there not ten thousand poor men who were righteous? But he, who then lay at his gate, alone is seen by him, to instruct him and us, how great a good it is to put no trust in riches. His poverty hindered not the one in obtaining the kingdom ; his riches helped not the other to avoid hell. Where is the point at which a man is poor? where is the point at which he is reduced to beggary? 1 He is not, he is not poor, who has nought, but he who desires many things ! He is not rich who has large posses sions, but he who stands in need of nothing. For what profit is there to possess the whole world, and yet live in greater despondency than he who has nothing? Their dispositions make men rich and poor, not the abundance or the want of money. Would you, who are a poor man, become rich? You may have your will, and no one can hinder you. Despise the world s 1 Or " Till when (lasts) poverty? Till when beggary? "