Ascetical Works

Homily 20: Of Humility

HOMILY 20 Of Humility i\lOULD THAT MAN had abided in the glory which he possessed with God-he would have genuine instead of fictitious dignity. For he would be ennobled by the power of God, illumined with divine wisdom, and made joyful in the possession of eternal life and its blessings. But, because he ceased to desire divine glory in expectation of a better prize, and strove for the unattainable, he lost the good which it was in his power to possess. The surest salvation for him, the remedy of his ills, and the means of restoration to his original state is in practicing humility and not pretending that he may lay claim to any glory through his own efforts but seeking it from God. Thus will he make amends for his error, thus will he be cured of his malady, thus will he return to the observance of the holy precept which he has abandoned. For the Devil, having caused man's ruin by holding out to him the hope of false glory, ceases not to tempt him still by the same allurements and he devises innumerable schemes to this end. For instance, he represents a large fortune to him as a great good, so that man will regard it as a cause for boasting and expend effort to obtain it. Wealth, however, leads not to glory but to great peril. To build a fortune is to lay the foundation for avarice and the acquisition of money bears no relation to excellence of character. Rather, it blinds a man to no purpose, arouses vain conceit, and produces in his soul an effect something like an inflamed swelling. Now, a tumor combined with inflammation is neither 475 476 SAINT BASIL healthful nor beneficial to the body, but unwholesome, injurious , a source of danger, and a cause of death. Such an effect does pride engender in the soul. But money is not by any means the only instigator of arrogance. Men do not take pride only in the costly food and clothing which money buys, nor in setting luxurious tables with unnecessary extravagance, wearing superfluous ornaments , building and furnishing immense piles for their homes and adorning them with all sorts of finery, and attaching to their person great throngs of slaves as attendants and innumerabIes hordes of flatterers. [Not only by reason of wealth,] but also because of political honors, do men exalt themselves beyond what is due their nature. If the populace confer upon them a distinction, if it honor them with some office of authority , if an exceptional mark of dignity be voted in their favor by the people, thereupon, as though they had risen above human nature, they look upon themselves as well-nigh seated on the very clouds and regard the men beneath them as their footstool. They lord it over those who raised them to such honor and exalt themselves over the very ones at whose hands they received their sham distinctions. The position they occupy is entirely out of keeping with reason, for they possess a glory more unsubstantial than a dream. They are surrounded with a splendor more unreal than the phantoms of the night, since it comes into being or is swept away at the nod of the populace. A fool of this sort was that famous son of Solomon, youthful in years and younger still in wisdom, who threatened his people desiring a milder rule with an even harsher one and thereby destroyed his kingdom.1 By his threat, the very expedient whereby he hoped to be elevated to a more royal state, he was bereft of the dignity already his. Strength of arm, swiftness of foot, and comeliness of bodyliKings 12.4,14. OF HUMILITY 477 the spoils of sickness and the plunder of time-also awaken pride in man, unaware as he is that 'All ft.esh is grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the field. The grass is withered and the flower is fallen.'2 Such was the arrogance of the giants because of their strength.3 Such also was the God-defying pride of the witless Goliath.4 Such a one was Adonias, exulting in his beauty6 and Absalom, glorying in his luxuriant hair.6 Again, the goods which, of all man's possessions, appear to be the greatest and most enduring-wisdom and sagacity -these also are the causes...