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Daily St. Maximos the Confessor

edited August 2014 in Off-Topic
Somebody put me on a list to get these daily quotes. Here's what I got yesterday. English and Greek. At least it looks like Greek to me!


18. The self-indulgent person loves wealth because it enables him to live comfortably; the person full of self-esteem loves it because through it he can gain the esteem of others; the person who lacks faith loves it because, fearful of starvation, old age, disease, or exile, he can save it or hoard it. He puts his trust in wealth rather than in God, the Creator who provides for all creation, down to the least of living things.

Philokalia, volume II, page 85
Περί ἀγάπης Τρίτη εκατοντάς.

ιη΄. Ὁ μέν φιλήδονος ἀγαπᾷ ἀργύριον, ἵνα δι᾿ αὐτῦ τρυφήσῃ· ὁ δέ κενόδοξος, ἵνα δι᾿ αὐτοῦ δοξασθῇ· ὁ δέ ἄπιστος, ἵνα κρύψῃ καί φυλάξῃ, λιμόν φοβούμενος, ἤ γῆρας ἤ νόσον ἤ ξενιτείαν· καί ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ μᾶλλον ἐλπίζει, ἤ ἐπί τῷ Θεῷ τῷ πάσης κτίσεως δημιουργῷ, καί προνοητῇ, ἕως τῶν ἐσχάτων καί μικροτάτων ζώων.

Comments

  • Put me down for self-indulgent, lacks faith and trusts in wealth. But my self esteem is fine - I think.
  • edited August 2014
    Put me in the self indulgent camp too. I love wealth/money because (and probably more than anyone on this board) I saw the other side. It was years of extreme poverty - minimum wage jobs, no money for food/monthly rent, having to always pawn my TV, living in bug infested basement apartments, to mention just a few. You can put your trust in God all you want (and I am a pretty religious guy) but in the end it is up to you and you only whether you succeed or fail in the monetary realm.

    Edit: I am also thankful I didn't listen to one of the nitwits on this board (whose posts I actually enjoy) who forever pontificates about the futility of trying to beat the market. Had I believed that mainstream way of thinking I would now be trying to supplement my meager Social Security payments with some minimum wage job in my old age.
  • Junkster said:

    I love wealth/money because (and probably more than anyone on this board) I saw the other side. It was years of extreme poverty - minimum wage jobs, no money for food/monthly rent, having to always pawn my TV, living in bug infested basement apartments, to mention just a few.

    Amen.
  • edited August 2014
    Junkster- "nitwit" might be a bit strong, but "mule-like" certainly fits pretty well. (Then again, who ever heard of a pedantic mule?)
  • Giggle. I flunked Greek and needed (and got) an exemption in order to move on, scholastically. Stupid requirement, along with the Hebrew. There are scholars who are expert at that stuff. Makes more sense to trust them, and evaluate and choose translations in ENGLISH that mean something to English-speakers. Like investing, it's both a science and an art....

    Money? I'm doing this stuff for the sake of wife and son and extended family, after I'm gone. Capitalism is the only game in town. Turns my stomach. Mom still giggles (84 years old) remembering me telling her that I didn't need the bath towel she was offering me. "I've already got one." That was a long time ago, yet the simplicity of Francis of Assisi is still my Model. No joke. From where I sit, Consumerism has us by the balls. And everyone seems to be ENJOYING it. Ah, but I'm always the odd one out.:)
  • edited August 2014
    Ah, good old Hedonism
    Quite sure this arrived shortly after the first woman and man touched one another.
    Then next, came the marketing folks to profit from all of the tendencies of hedonism.
    The end result has been and will remain, consumerism.
    Pretty simple stuff, eh?
    I will remain in the middle somewhere and attempt to gather profits from the "tendencies".

    Respectfully,
    Catch
  • Might be better to enjoy the "tendencies" while you still can. You can always enjoy the profits later.
  • Hawkeye Pierce: "No, Sir! I didn't steal that Jeep. See? It's right out there."
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