5.

Do the words sting? This is what I desire, that you should suffer the pain caused by the words, in order to be delivered from the disgrace caused by the actions. For there are some too far colder than these, who are not even ashamed at the things spoken of, nay, who even put together¹ a long argument in defense of the action. If you ask them who was Amos or Obadiah, or what is the number of the Prophets or Apostles, they cannot even open their mouth but for horses and charioteers, they compose excuses more cleverly than sophists or rhetoricians, and after all this, they say, "What is the harm? what is the loss?" This is what I groan for, that ye do not so much as know that the action is a loss, nor have a sense of its evils. God hath given to thee an appointed space of life for serving Him, and dost thou while thou spendest it vainly, and at random, and on nothing useful, still ask, "What loss is there?" If thou hast spent a little money to no purpose, thou callest it a loss: when thou spendest whole days of thine upon the devil's pageants, thinkest thou that thou art doing nothing wrong? Thou oughtest to spend all thy life in supplications² and prayers, whereas thou wastest thy life and substance³ heedlessly, and to thine own hurt, on shouts, and uproar, and shameful words, and fighting, and unseasonable pleasure, and actions performed by trickery, and after all this thou askest, "What is the loss?" not knowing thou shouldest be lavish of anything rather than time.⁴ Gold, if thou shalt have spent, thou mayest get again; but if thou lose time, thou shalt hardly recover that. Little is dealt out to us in this present life; if therefore we employ it not as we ought, what shall we say when we depart "there"? For tell me, if thou hadst commanded one of thy sons to learn some art, and then he had continually stayed at home, or even passed his time somewhere else, would not the teacher reject him? Would he not say to thee, "Thou hast made an agreement with me, and appointed a time; if now thy son will not spend this time with me but in other places, how shall I produce him to thee as a scholar?"⁵ Thus also we must speak. For God will say also to us, "I gave you time to learn this art of piety, wherefore have ye foolishly and uselessly wasted that time? Why did ye neither go constantly to the teacher, nor give heed to his words?" For to show that piety is an art, hear what the Prophet saith, "Come, ye children, hearken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord." (Ps. xxxiv. 11.) And again, "Blessed is the man whom Thou instructest, Lord, and teachest him out of Thy Law." (Ps. xciv. 12.) When therefore thou hast spent this time in vain, what excuse wilt thou have? "And why," saith some one, "did He deal out to us but little time?" O senselessness and ingratitude! That for which thou wert most bounden to give thanks to Him, for that He hath cut short thy labors and abridged thy toils, and made the rest long and everlasting, for this dost thou find fault, and art discontented?

But I know not how we have brought our discourse to this point, and have made it so long; we must therefore shorten it now. For this too is a part of our wretchedness, that here if the discourse be long, we all become careless, while there⁶ they begin at noon, and retire by torch and lamp light. However, that we be not always chiding, we now entreat and beseech you, grant this favor to us and⁷ to yourselves; and getting free from all other matters, to these let us rivet ourselves. So shall we gain from you joy and gladness, and honor on your account, and a recompense for these labors; while ye will reap all the reward, because having been aforetime so madly riveted to the stage, ye tore yourselves away, through fear of God, and by our exhortations, from that malady, and brake your bonds, and hastened unto God. Nor is it "there" alone that ye shall receive your reward, but "here" also ye shall enjoy pure pleasure. Such a thing is virtue; besides giving us crowns in heaven, even here it maketh life pleasant to us. Let us then be persuaded by what has been said, that we may obtain the blessings both here and hereafter, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom and with whom, to the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory, now and ever and world without end. Amen.