Seeking the Heights

ΚΥΡ. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ, φησὶ, τὴν χεῖρα βαλὼν ἐπ’ ἄροτον, καὶ στραφεὶς εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, εὕθετός ἐστιν εἰς τὴν Βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν· ἔχεσθαι δὲ δεῖν τῆς εἰς σωτηρίαν ὁδοῦ, μὴ τῇδε κάκεῖσε περισπωμένους, καὶ φαντασίας ἐώλοις κοσμικῶν ἐπιθυμιῶμ' ἐλαφρὸν καὶ εὐδιαῥῥίπιστον νοῦν, ἀλλ’ ἐντελὴ τε καὶ ἄῦπνον, καὶ εἰς εὐθυ βλέπειν ἀει μεμελετηκότα, τηροῦντας ἐμ ἑαυτοῖς. Καὶ τὸ ἔτι μεῖζον ἐρῶ· φησὶ γὰρ ὁ ἄγγελος ούχ ὅτι χρη ἤδη μόνον αὐτὸν ἀμεταστρεπτὶ ποιεῖσθαι τὴν βάδισιν· προσετίθει δὲ χρησίμως τὸ Μὴ στῇς ἐν πάσῃ τῇ περιχώρῳ. Εἰς τὸ ὅρος σώζου, μὴποτε συμπαραληφθῇς. ΠΑΛΛ. Καὶ τί ἄν Βούλοιτο δηλοῠν τὸ Μὴ στῇς ἐν πάσῃ τῇ περιχώρῳ; ΚΥΡ. Τὸ οἴμαι νωθρόν τε καὶ ἀδρανὲς εἰς τὸ δεῖν ἐξίπτασθαι τοῦ κακοῦ σφαλερόν τε καὶ ἐπιζήμιον. Ἄριστον οὖν παρακελευσμάτων τὸ, 'Μὴ στῇς ἐν πάσῃ τῇ περιχώρῳ,' τοῦτ’ ἔστιν, ἐν μηδενὶ τρόπῳ φαυλότητος διαμελλήσας ἁλῷς, ἄνιθι δὲ μᾶλλον, ὥσπερ εἰς ὅρος, εἰς ἐξῃρημένην τινὰ καὶ περίοπτον ζωὴν, οὐδεν ἔχουσαν τὸ χαμαιῥῥιφὲς, ἀλλ’ ἐν ὑψηλῇ τε καὶ ἐπηρμένῃ διαπρέπουσαν ἀρετῇ, καὶ ἀπηλλαγμένῃ φρονήματος τοῦ χθαμαλωτάτου, τοῠτ’ ἔστιν τοῦ ἐπιγείου καὶ σαρκικοῦ. Γέγραπται γὰρ, ὅτι 'Τοῦ Θεοῦ οἱ κραταιοὶ τῆς γῆς σφόδρα ἐπήρθησαν.' Ἄνωτάτω γὰρ τῶν ἐπιγείων τὸ ἁγιοπρεπές ἐστι φρόνημα. 'Καὶ νεοττοὶ τὰ ὑψηλὰ πέτονται,' κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, εἴπερ ἔχουσι καθάπερ εἰς ὄρος ἐν οὔρανῷ τὸ πολίτευμα, καὶ μεταποιοῦνται πατρίδος τῆς ἄνω. Γράφει δὲ που καὶ Παῦλος· 'Τὰ ἄνω ζητεῖτε, μὴ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.' ΠΑΛΛ. Ὁρος οὐν ἄρα τὸ νοητὸν, ἡ ἐν ἀγαισμῷ ζωὴ, καὶ τῆς ἐξαιρέτου πολιτείας τὸ ὑπερτενὲς, νοουμένης που κάτω τῆς ἐν ἀκαθαρσίαις καὶ φιλαμαρτήμονος, καὶ τοῖς ἐπιγείοις ἐντετηγμένης. Ἅγιος Κυριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐν Πνευματι Καὶ Ἀληθειᾳ Προσκυνησεως

Cyril: 'No one,' he says, ' who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is worthy of the kingdom of heaven.' One must hold to the way of salvation, lest one be turned to evil and the vacuous imagines of worldly desires should drive the soul, but firm and sleepless we should always take care to look at the direct way, holding it within us. And indeed better I should say what the angel said to Lot, that one should not only refrain from looking back on the way but one should go forward with a will, that is, ' Do not stand in any place. To the saving mountain go, lest you are taken with them.' Palladius:And what does this mean 'Do not stand in any place'? Cyril: I think that it means that it is necessary to fly from sluggishness and indolence that we may be secure from evil. Best then is the exhortation, ' Do not stand in any region,' that is, do not be taken in any type of baseness, but rather ascend the mountain to the excellent visible life which those thrown down upon the earth do not have, but on the heights in well prepared virtue be eminent, far apart from those of low thoughts, that is, the worldly and the carnal. For it is written that ' By God the strong of the earth are lifted up.' For those with thoughts turned to sanctity are high above the worldly. 'And the young fly in the heights' according to Scripture, since for those on the mountain their city is in heaven and they choose the fatherland above. As it was written by Paul, ' Seek things above, not the things of the earth.' Palladius: Then the spiritual mountain is the holy life and the city set apart is for the chosen, while below are thoughts set in impurity and love of sin, and this is the meaning of the worldly. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, On Worshiping in Spirit and Truth