“The bread you store up belongs to the hungry; the cloak that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor.” (Saint Basil the Great).
I have been thinking about the end of life. Not the end of all life – for I know that my soul is eternal and will live forever. But I have been reflecting on the end of this Earthly life.
This is not to say that I am depressed or upset or being negative in any way. Rather, this is to say that I am reflecting on the things that should be considered important in this world. After all, how can I prepare for the end of my life if I never allow myself to spend any time thinking about it and speaking to my Beloved about it.
And although so many people think to themselves that it is negative or horrible to reflect on the end of this earthly life, and so many of us try to stop ourselves from reflecting on it at all, I think that it is perhaps the most important thing to think about because it is the one thing that affects everything else…
Saint Basil the Great said, “The bread you store up belongs to the hungry; the cloak that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor.”
And I have been thinking about that as well. You see, although I am not planning to work hard and earn money and accumulate wealth for myself and my family, it seems at times that there is such a danger in the greed that can come into that behaviour. After all, it is one thing to earn enough money to ensure that my family live a comfortable life, and quite another to never be satisfied that enough is enough. There is an exquisite sort of torture – an unrest of the soul – that is caused by greed like that. There is an unrest when the soul cannot be satisfied with the blessings it has already received and is constantly prowling the world like ab hungry wolf seeking more…
The apostles were poor. They took nothing with them when they followed Christ and His commandments. Saint Timon, of the First Century, was mentioned by name in the Acts of the Apostles. Saint Timon was among the seventy disciples sent out by Christ to spread the news of God. Saint Timon was one of the original seven deacons appointed by the apostles to spread the Good News and minister to the early Church. Later, Timon was ordained a bishop by the Apostles. Saint Timon baptised many people and had the supernatural ability to heal the sick and cast out devils. Tradition tells us that Saint Timon was originally to be martyred by being thrown into a furnace, but God’s power caused him to be unharmed by this. Later he was martyred by crucifixion.
And he died with nothing – just as he had lived. And I have been thinking about that today – for it seems I am very greedy in comparison – very, very greedy…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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