290 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY VII. very same things which Christ hath ; and through all his Epistles, the tenor is this, to show that in all things they are partakers with Him. There fore he uses the terms, Head, and Body, and does everything to convey this to them. If therefore we shall then be manifested, let us not grieve, when we enjoy not honor : if this life be not life, but it be hidden, we ought to live this life as though dead. " Then shall ye also," he saith, "with Him be manifested in glory." " In glory," he said, not merely " mani fested." For the pearl too is hidden so long as it is within the oyster. If then we be treated with insult, let us not grieve ; or whatever it be we suffer ; for this life is not our life, we are strangers and sojourners. " For ye died," he saith. Who is so witless, as for a corpse, dead and buried, either to buy servants, or build houses, or prepare costly raiment? None. Neither then do ye ; but as we seek one thing only, namely, that we be not in a naked state, so here too let us seek one thing and no more. Our first man is buried : buried not in earth, but in water ; not death-destroyed, but buried by death s destroyer, not by the law of nature, but by the governing command that is stronger than nature. For what has been done by nature, may perchance be undone ; but what has been done by His command, never. Nothing is more blessed than this burial, whereat all are rejoicing, both Angels, and men, and the Lord of Angels. At this burial, no need is there of vestments, nor of coffin, nor of anything else of that kind. Wouldest thou see the symbol of this? I will show thee a pool wherein the one was buried, the other raised ; in the Red Sea the Egyptians were sunk beneath it, but the Israelites went up from out of it ; in the same act he buries the one, generates the other. Marvel not that generation and destruction take place in Baptism ; for, tell me, dissolving and cementing, are they not opposite? It is evident to all. Such is the effect of fire; for fire dissolves and destroys wax, but it cements together metallic earth, and works it into gold. So in truth here also, the force of the fire, hav ing obliterated the statue of wax, has displayed a golden one in its stead ; for in truth before the Bath we were of clay, but after it of gold. Whence is this evident? Hear him saying, " The first man is of the earth, earthy, the sec ond man is the Lord from heaven." (i Cor. xv. 47.) I spoke of a difference as great as that between clay and gold ; but greater still do I find the difference between heavenly and earthy ; not so widely do clay and gold differ, as do things earthy and heavenly. Waxen we were, and clay-formed. For the flame of lust did much more melt us, than fire doth wax, and any chance temptation did far rather shatter us than a stone doth things of clay. And, if ye will, let us give an outline of the former life, and see whether all was not earth and water, and full of fluctuation and dust, and instability, and flow ing away. And if ye will, let us scrutinize not the former things, but the present, and see whether we shall not find everything that is, mere dust and water. For what wilt thou tell me of? authority and power? for nothing in this present life is thought to be more enviable than these. But sooner may one find the dust when on the air stationary, than these things ; especially now. For to whom are they not under subjectioa? To those who are lovers of them ; to eunuchs ; to those who will do anything for the sake of money ; to the passions of the populace ; to the wrath of the more powerful. He who was yesterday up high on his tribunal, 1 who had his heralds shouting with thrilling voice, and many to run before, and haughtily clear the way for him through the forum, is to-day mean and low, and of all those things bereft and bare,.like dust blast-driven, like a stream that hath passed by. And like as the dust is raised by our feet, so truly are magistracies also produced by those who are engaged about money, and in the whole of life have the rank and condition of feet; and like as the dust when it is raised occupies a large portion of the air, though itself be but a small body, so too doth power ; and like as the dust blindeth the eyes, so too doth the pride of power bedim the eyes of the understanding. But what ? Wilt thou that we examine that object of many prayers, wealth? Come, let us examine it in its several parts. It hath luxury, it hath honors, it hath power. First then, if thou wilt, let us examine luxury. Is it not dust ? yea, rather, it goeth by swifter than dust, for the pleasure of luxurious living reacheth only to the tongue, and when the belly is filled, not to the tongue even. But, saith one, honors are of themselves pleasant things. Yet what can be less pleasant than that same honor, when it is rendered with a view to money? When it is not from free choice and with a readiness of mind, it is not thou that reapest the honor, but thy wealth. So that this very thing makes the man of wealth, most of all men, dishonored. For, tell me ; suppose all men honored thee, who hadst a friend ; the while confessing that thou, to be sure, wert good for nothing, but that they were compelled to honor thee on his account ; could they possibly in any other way have so dishonored thee ? So that our wealth is the cause of dishonor to us, seeing it is more honored than are its very possessors, and a 1 Montfaucon thinks this refers to Eutropius, whose disgrace occasioned two Homilies of St. Chrys. Ben. t. iii. This is ques tioned in the recent Paris Edition.