Wild ass, type offreedomfrom worldly cares. 399
which the Truth says in the Gospel, / sluUl declare to you Book
plainly ofMy Father, For the Son in truth plainly declares y, ^'
of the Father ; because, as we have said before, in that He 25.
is the Word, He enlightens us by the nature of the Godhead.
For men seek not then for the words of teachers, which are
streamlets, as it were, from the tongue of man, when they are
themselves already derived from the fount of Truth Itself.
After much then had been said, undea* the figurative
bending down of hinds, concerning the virtue of teachers,
His words are now directed to the conduct of those,
who seek for the secresy of retired conversation ; to whom,
since they obtain their very rest of cessation by the Divine
aid, and not by their own strength, it is said by the Lord
;
Ver. 5. Who hath sent out the wild assfree, and who hath
loosed his bands?
50. Understand, Except Myself. For the wild ass, who xv.
dwells in solitude, signifies, not inaptly, the life of those who
dwell far removed from the crowds of people. And it is
fitly also called free, because great is the drudgery of secular
pursuits, with which the mind is grievously wearied, though
it toil therein of its own accord. And to be freed from the
condition of this slavery is no longer to desire any thing in
this world. For prosperity while sought for, and adversities
also while dreaded, oppress, as it were, with a kind of servile
yoke. But if any one has but once freed the neck of his
mind from the dominion of temporal desires, he enjoys
already a kind of liberty even in this life, whilst he is affected
by no longing for happiness, and is constrained by no dread
of adversity. The Lord beheld this heavy yoke of slavery
set hard on the necks of worldly men, when Pie was saying,
Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, a^za'Mat.ii,
/ will refresh you. TakeMy yoke upon you, and learn of^^—-^^^-
Me; for 1 am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find
rest unto your soids: for My yoke is sweet, andMy burden
light. For it is, as we have said, a rough yoke, and
weight of heavy bondage, to be subject to temporal concerns,
to court the things of earth, to retain things which are gliding
away, to wish to stand in things which stand not, to seek
after passing objects, but yet to be unwilling to pass away
with what are passing. For while all things, contrary to