БЕДНОСТЬ

They [people], as soon as they see one rich and another poor, immediately take up arms against His Providence. What are you doing, man? And Paul did not allow you to judge a servant like you, saying this: “Therefore do not judge in any way before the time, until the Lord comes” (1 Cor. 4:5); and you bring the Lord to judgment, demand from Him an account of [His] deeds, and do not tremble, are you not afraid? What kind of forgiveness, tell me, will you receive, what kind of justification, when every day and hour you see so many proofs of His Providence, and because of the apparent inequality in the division of wealth and poverty, you condemn, and unfairly, the order in the universe? Meanwhile, if you were to examine this very phenomenon with the proper disposition and attentive thought, then even in the complete absence of any other evidence of God’s Providence, wealth and poverty itself would prove it very clearly. In fact: destroy poverty - and you will destroy the whole order in life and upset our life: then there will be no shipbuilder, no helmsman, no farmer, no house builder, no weaver, no shoemaker, no carpenter, no blacksmith, no tanner, no baker and none of the similar artisans, and without them everything will be upset with us. Now poverty serves as the best teacher for each of them, as if sitting with each of them and even against their will, urging them to work. And if everyone were rich, then everyone would live in idleness, and then everything would be upset and perish. But, besides what has been said, it is easy to turn against these people the very things they say. What, tell me, do you blame God’s Providence for? Is it that one has more money and the other less? What if we prove that all people have the most necessary things, which are much more important and form the basis of our lives, equally? Will you then recognize the Providence of God? [Recognizing this] is absolutely necessary. In fact, if you use as evidence of the invalidity of Providence only the fact that not everyone equally has one thing, that is, money, then when it is proven that they still use not just one thing, and, moreover, such an unimportant one, but very many and much more important ones, then you will obviously be forced to recognize God’s Providence. Let us therefore talk about what sustains our life, examine it with precision, and see whether in this the rich have an advantage over the poor. A rich man, for example, drinks Fasian [wine] and many other similar drinks, skillfully composed and prepared with great sophistication. But the sources of water are open to everyone equally - both rich and poor. Perhaps you chuckled when you heard about such equality? But consider how much better, more necessary and healthier water is than any wine, and then you will change your mind and know the true wealth of the poor. If you destroy the wine, it will not do much harm to anyone, except the sick. But if someone blocks the sources of water and destroys this element, he will destroy our entire life and destroy all arts; We will not then be able to live even two days, but immediately we will all die a pitiful and most painful death. So, the things that are necessary and form the basis of our life are available to the poor no less, even, to say something surprising, even more than to the rich. It is known that many rich people, due to the disorder of the body that occurs in them from luxury, for the most part cannot drink water; and the poor man freely enjoys this moisture throughout his life, resorting to sources of water, as if to sources of honey, and receiving from there true, pure pleasure. What about fire? Is it not more necessary than countless treasures and all human wealth? But this treasure is equally open for use by both rich and poor. And air, so necessary for our life, and sunlight - is it more accessible to the rich and less available to the poor? Do the former see the light with four, and the latter with only two eyes? After all, this cannot be said. This means that both the rich and the poor are destined to enjoy this in equal measure, or, better to say, here too one can find a greater advantage on the side of the poor, due to the fact that they have more vivid feelings, sharper vision and more perfect powers of perception. That is why they receive significant pleasure and more joy and pleasure from viewing nature. And not only in these elements, but also in everything else that nature gives us, one can see the equality [of the poor with the rich] or, better, the advantage of the poor [over the rich]. Thus, sleep, which is more pleasant, and more necessary, and healthier than any food, is usually easier for the poor than for the rich, and not only easier, but also stronger. These latter, because they have a lot of fun, eat when there is no hunger, drink when there is no thirst, and sleep when you don’t want to sleep, in the end they find no pleasure in anything, because the pleasantness for us of this or that thing depends not so much on its properties as on our need for it and its use. It is not as pleasant to drink sweet and fragrant wine as it is pleasant to drink water when you are thirsty; It’s not as [pleasant] to eat sweet pies as it is to eat when you’re hungry; It is not as [pleasant] to sleep on a soft bed as to sleep when one is sleepy, and all this happens more among the poor than among the rich. And what concerns physical health and well-being in general, doesn’t this belong equally to the rich and the poor? Can anyone say or prove that some of the poor are sick, while the rich are always in good health? On the contrary, it can be seen that the poor are rarely subject to incurable diseases, but among the rich they affect the whole body. Gout and headaches, relaxation and incurable disorder of the nerves, malignant and harmful relaxations of all kinds usually most torment these people who live luxuriously and anoint themselves with aromas, and not those who toil, work and earn the necessary food for themselves with daily labor (1). It’s bad to not be poor, but it’s bad not to want to be poor. Do not consider poverty an evil, and it will not be an evil for you. The cause of fear lies not in the essence of the thing itself, but only in the opinion of pampered people. However, I would even be ashamed if I only said about poverty that it is not evil. If you think more carefully, you will even find it a source of countless benefits; and when someone would offer you leadership, some kind of civil power, wealth, pleasures, then he would offer you poverty and give you the freedom to choose what you want - you would immediately choose poverty if you knew its value. I know that many people laugh at these words; but we are not embarrassed, we ask you to be patient, and you will soon agree with us. Poverty, in my opinion, is like a modest, innocent, beautiful maiden, while selfishness is like a bestial wife, the monstrous Scylla, Hydra and other similar monsters invented by fable-makers. Do not present to me those who condemn poverty, but present to me those who have become famous through poverty. Elijah, brought up in poverty, was delighted with that blissful admiration; Elisha became famous for it; John was in poverty, and all the other apostles were in poverty. With their wealth, Achaab, Jezebel, Gehazi, Judah, Nero and Caiaphas perished. If you wish, let’s look not only at those who were glorified in poverty, but let’s also look at the very beauty of this virgin. Her gaze is pure, bright and calm, while the eyes of selfishness are sometimes filled with malice, sometimes they express satiety with pleasure, sometimes they become cloudy from intemperance. This is not the look of poverty: it is meek, clear, friendly, affectionate, pleasant, and expresses neither hatred nor disgust towards anyone. Where there is money, there is opportunity for enmity and countless feuds; in the same way, the lips of selfishness are filled with insults, vanity, excessive pride, curses and flattery. But poverty has healthy lips and tongue, always filled with gratitude, reverence, meek, kind, submissive words, approval and praise. Do you want to know the slimness of her figure? It is incomparably higher and more majestic than wealth. And if many run away from it, then don’t be surprised: crazy people run away from other virtues. But you say: the poor are offended by the rich? Again you speak in praise of poverty. Who is blessed, tell me - the one who offends, or the one who is offended? Obviously, blessed is he who is offended. But the love of money forces one to offend, and poverty makes one endure insults. The poor man, you say, is starving? And Paul was hungry and had nothing to satisfy his hunger. Does the poor have no safe haven? And the Son of man had no place to lay his head. Do you see how far the dignity of poverty extends, where it places you, how it makes you like men, and how it makes you imitators of the Lord himself? If it were good to have gold, then Christ, Who gave untold blessings to His disciples, would have given it to them too. He not only did not give it to them, but forbade them to have it. That is why Peter is not only not ashamed of poverty, but even boasts of it, saying: “I have no silver and gold; and what I have I give to you” (Acts 3:6). Who among us would not like to say such words? Of course, everything would be - maybe someone will say. So despise silver, despise gold. But will I receive the strength of Peter, you say, when I neglect wealth? Tell me what made Peter blessed: was it that he healed the lame? Not at all, but the fact that he did not have wealth and through this he reached heaven. Many of those who performed miracles were cast into Gehenna; on the contrary, those who despised wealth received the Kingdom of Heaven (7). Let us not consider poverty to be any evil. Poverty teaches us wisdom, patience, and all kinds of wisdom. After all, Lazarus lived in poverty and yet was crowned; and Jacob desired to have only bread; and Joseph was in extreme poverty and was not only a slave, but also a prisoner, and yet, therefore, we are even more surprised at him. We praise him not so much when he distributed wheat, but when he was in prison - not so much when he was in chains, not when he sat on the throne, but when he was subjected to intrigues and was sold. So, imagining all this and thinking about the crowns woven by these exploits, let us be amazed not at wealth and honors, not at pleasures and dominion, but at poverty, fetters, fetters and patience for the sake of virtue. The end of the first is filled with confusion and anxiety, and their possession is connected with present life only; and the fruit of the latter is heaven and heavenly blessings, [which] no eye has seen, no ear has heard (1 Cor. 2:9) (9). As a result of poverty, you should not consider yourself unhappy, since it gives us the opportunity to give alms more conveniently. He who has a lot is held back by both arrogance and the desire to acquire more, and he who has little is freed from the torment of both of these passions, and therefore finds more opportunities to do good. He easily goes to prison, visits the sick, gives a cup of cold water, but the rich man, arrogant with his wealth, will not allow himself to do this. So, do not complain about poverty, because poverty gives you a greater opportunity to gain heaven. Even though you have nothing, you have a compassionate heart, and for this you will be rewarded. That is why Paul commanded: “Weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15) and treat prisoners as if we were with them in bonds (Heb. 13:3). Having many sympathizers brings some comfort not only to those who are crying, but also to those in other difficult circumstances; sometimes one word can strengthen the dejected no less than money. And God commanded to give money to those in need not only to help them in poverty, but also to teach us compassion for the misfortunes of our neighbors. And the lover of money is hated not only because he despises those living in poverty, but also because he himself gets used to cruelty and inhumanity, and he who despises money for the poor is kind because he is merciful and humane. And Christ, when he pleases the merciful, pleases and praises not just those who give monetary alms, but those who do it with a good disposition. So, let us have such zeal for works of mercy, and all good things will follow. He who has a philanthropic and merciful disposition, if he has money, will distribute it if he sees someone in misfortune, will begin to cry and shed tears if he meets an offended person, will intercede, if he finds someone in need, will give him a hand. Having a treasure of blessings - a humane and merciful soul, he will pour out from it everything necessary for the brothers and receive all the rewards prepared by God. And in order for us to achieve them, first of all, let us take care to make our hearts meek (11). You might be interested in: