Seeking And Finding And Losing

Καιρὸς γάρ, φησί, τοῦ μακρυνθῆναι ἀπὸ περιλήψεως. Ὁ πρὸς τὴν ἀρετὴν οἰκειωθεὶς τῆς πρὸς τὴν κακίαν σχέσεως ἠλλοτρίωται. Tίς γὰρ κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος ἢ Χριστῷ πρὸς Βελιάρ; ἢ πῶς δυνατόν ἐστι δυσὶ κυρίοις ἐναντίοις δουλεύοντα εὔνουν ἀμφοτέροις γενέσθαι; ἡ γὰρ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀγάπη μῖσος τοῦ ἑτέρου ἐποίησεν. Ὅταν οὖν ἡ ἀγαπητικὴ διάθεσις περιφυῇ τῷ καλῷ, τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τὸ εὔκαιρον, ἐπηκολούθησε πάντως ἡ πρὸς τὸ ἀντικείμενον ἀλλοτρίωσις. Eἰ ἀληθῶς τὴν σωφροσύνην ἠγάπησας, ἐμίσησας πάντως τὸ ἀντικείμενον. Eἰ πρὸς τὴν καθαρότητα βλέπεις ἐρωτικῶς, ἐβδελύξω δηλονότι τὴν τοῦ βορβόρου δυσωδίαν. Eἰ τῷ ἀγαθῷ προσεκολλήθης, ἐμακρύνθης πάντως τῆς τοῦ πονηροῦ προσκολλήσεως. Eἰ δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πλούτου περιβολὴν ἄγοι τις τὸ τῆς περιλήψεως σημαινόμενον, δείκνυσι καὶ οὗτος ὁ λόγος, ποῖον πλοῦτον ἀγαθόν ἐστι προσπεριβάλλεσθαι καὶ ποίων κτημάτων περιβολὴν ἀποπέμπεσθαι. Oἶδα θησαυρὸν σπουδαζόμενον τὸν κεκρυμμένον ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ, οὐχὶ τὸν πᾶσι φαινόμενον. Oἶδα πάλιν πλοῦτον ἀτιμαζόμενον, οὐ τὸν ἐλπιζόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς προφαινόμενον. Διδάσκει τοῦτο ἡ τοῦ ἀποστόλου φωνὴ λέγουσα· Μὴ σκοπούντων ἡμῶν τὰ βλεπόμενα, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα· τὰ γὰρ βλεπόμενα πρόσκαιρα, τὰ δὲ μὴ βλεπόμενα αἰώνια. Eἰ ταῦτα νενοήκαμεν, καὶ τὸν ἐφεξῆς λόγον διὰ τούτων νενοηκότες ἐσόμεθα. Καιρὸς γάρ, φησί, τοῦ ζητῆσαι καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀπολέσαι. Ὁ γὰρ νοήσας διὰ τῶν ἐξετασθέντων, τίνων προσήκει μακρύνειν ἑαυτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς περιλήψεως καὶ τίσι συνάπτεσθαι, γνοίη ἄν, τί τε προσήκει ζητεῖν καὶ τίνων ἡ ἀπώλεια κέρδος ἐστίν. Καιρὸς γάρ, φησί, τοῦ ζητῆσαι καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀπολέσαι. Tί τοίνυν ἐστίν, ὅ με ζητῆσαι χρή, ὥστε ἐπιτυχεῖν τοῦ καιροῦ τοῦ καθήκοντος; Ἀλλὰ τί μὲν ζητεῖσθαι δέον ἡ προφητεία δείκνυσι λέγουσα· Ζητήσατε τὸν Kύριον καὶ κραταιώθητε· καὶ πάλιν· Ζητήσατε τὸν Kύριον καὶ ἐν τῷ εὑρίσκειν αὐτὸν ἐπικαλέσασθε, καὶ Εὐφρανθήτω καρδία ζητούντων τὸν Kύριον. Ἔγνων τοίνυν διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων, ὅπερ ζητῆσαι χρή, οὗ ἡ εὕρεσίς ἐστιν αὐτὸ τὸ ἀεὶ ζητεῖν. Oὐ γὰρ ἄλλο τί ἐστι τὸ ζητεῖν καὶ ἄλλο τὸ εὑρίσκειν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ ζητῆσαι κέρδος αὐτὸ τὸ ζητῆσαί ἐστι. Βούλει καὶ τὴν εὐκαιρίαν μαθεῖν, τίς ὁ καιρὸς τοῦ ζητεῖν τὸν Kύριον; Συντόμως λέγω· ὁ βίος ὅλος. Ἐπὶ τούτου γὰρ μόνου εἷς καιρὸς τῆς σπουδῆς ἐστιν ἡ ζωὴ πᾶσα. Oὐ γὰρ ἀποτεταγμένῳ τινὶ καιρῷ καὶ χρόνῳ ἀφωρισμένῳ τὸ ζητεῖν τὸν κύριον ἀγαθόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μηδὲ ὅλως διαλείπειν ἀεὶ ζητοῦντα τοῦτό ἐστιν ἡ ἀληθὴς εὐκαιρία. Οἱ γὰρ ὀφθαλμοί μου, φησί, διὰ παντὸς πρὸς τὸν Kύριον. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἐπιμελῶς ἐρευνᾷ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς τὸ ζητούμενον, οὐδεμίαν ἄνεσιν ἑαυτῷ διδοὺς οὐδέ τι διάλειμμα τῆς τοῦ ζητουμένου κατανοήσεως; Tῇ γὰρ τοῦ ∆ιὰ παντὸς προσθήκῃ τὸ διηνεκές τε καὶ ἀδιάλειπτον τῆς σπουδῆς ἐνεδείξατο. Ὡσαύτως δὲ νοήσωμεν καὶ τὸν τοῦ ἀπολέσαι καιρόν, κέρδος εἶναι κρίνοντες τὸ ἀπολέσαι ἐκεῖνο, οὗ ἡ ὕπαρξις ζημία τῷ ἔχοντι γίνεται. Kακὸν κτῆμα ἡ φιλαργυρία· οὐκοῦν ἀπολέσωμεν. Πονηρὸν ἀπόθετον ἡ μνησικακία· οὐκοῦν προώμεθα. Ὀλέθριον κτῆμα ἡ ἀκόλαστος ἐπιθυμία· τούτου μάλιστα πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων πτωχεύσωμεν, ἵνα διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης πτωχείας τὴν βασιλείαν κερδήσωμεν. Μακάριοι γὰρ οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, δηλαδὴ οἱ τοῦ τοιούτου πλούτου πενόμενοι καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα τὰ πονηρὰ τοῦ διαβόλου κειμήλια. Mακαριώτερον μὲν τὸ μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχήν τινα κτήσασθαι, ἵνα καθόλου ἀκτήμονες τῶν μολυνόντων γενώμεθα. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τον Ἐκκλησιασην, Ὁμιλια Ζ’ Source: Migne PG 44.717d-721a

'There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.' 1 He who is a friend of virtue is hostile to evil. 'What fellowship does light have with darkness or Christ with Belial?' 2 How is it possible to serve two opposing masters and be well disposed to both? For the love of one generates hate for the other. 3 When, then, we lovingly cleave to the beautiful, and this is what is appropriate, so there follows utter estrangement to what is opposed. If you truly loved temperance, you would revile its opposite. If you lovingly looked on purity, you would abhor the stench of filth. If you cleaved to the good, you would certainly distance yourself from clinging to evil. And if anyone associates the meaning of this embrace with the embrace of wealth, this speech indicates how rich is this good which we should embrace and the embrace of those possessions we should be rid of. I know that treasure hidden in the field for which we should long is not apparent to everyone. 4 Again I know of wealth that should be disgraceful, that one should not hope for, but it is most evident to the eye. The Apostle teaches this, saying 'Let us not look to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are transient but the things that are unseen are eternal.' 5 If we have understood these words, we will see their meaning by what now follows. 'There is a time to seek and a time to lose.' By what we have examined, knowing how to distance ourselves from embracing and how to cleave, we can know both what it befits us to seek and the benefit we gain from losing. 'There is a time to seek and a time to lose.' What, then, must I seek so that it is the appropriate time? But what needs to be sought the prophecy reveals, saying, 'Seek the Lord and be strengthened.' And again, 'Seek the Lord and when you find Him, call upon Him,' and, 'Let the heart rejoice that seeks the Lord.' 6 By these things let it be understood that we must seek and that discovery is a constant search. For it is not one thing to seek and another to find, but the gain obtained from our seeking is to seek further. Do you wish to learn the appropriate time to seek the Lord? To be brief: Your whole life. This alone is the right time to be zealously seeking. The appropiate time has no limit, and there is no restriction of time for the good of seeking the Lord, for the true appropriate time is always to be seeking, without interruption. It says, 'My eyes are always on the Lord' 7 Do you see how diligently the eye searches for what is sought? It never allows itself rest nor pauses from trying to grasp what it seeks. This 'always' set down here declares the need for continuity and unceasing zeal. Likewise let us consider the time for losing as gain, judging that the loss is a gain if the thing that we have is a defect. Avarice is a wicked possession we should lose. The memory of past wickedness we should cast away. Unbridled lust is a ruinous possession, and this especially before all others we should be poor in, that we might gain the kingdom of poverty. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit,' 8 clearly those who have nothing of such wealth, nor any wicked thing of the devil's other treasures. But one is even more blessed not to begin to seek to possess, so that we might be stripped of corruptions. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On Ecclesiastes, from Homily 7 1 Eccles 3.5 2 2 Cor 6.14-15 3 Mt 6.24 4 Mt 13.44 5 2 Cor 4.18 6 Ps 104.4, Is 55.6, Ps 104.3 7 Ps 24.15 8 Mt 5.3