Page:King Alfred's West-Saxon Version of Gregory's Pastoral Care (2).djvu/395

386 L. That those who desire worldly honour, and possess it prosperously, are to be admonished in one way; in another those who desire worldly honour, and when they have desired it, continue in it with great hardship and misfortune.

In one way are to be admonished those who prosperously attain all their worldly desires; in another way those who desire the joys and wealth of this world, and yet are kept from them by adverse misfortunes. Those who always attain what they desire in this world are to be admonished not to neglect, when they have attained it all, to seek him who helps them to it all; lest they love this exile more than their own country, and fix their affections on what is lent them here; and lest the comforts and pleasures of their journey seduce them, so that they forget whither they are bound; and lest, for the fair moon that they see by night, they despise the brightness of day and of the sun. They are also to be admonished not to believe that the pleasures and comforts which happen to them in this world are the rewards intended for them by God, but are the consolation of the miseries; while the rewards of the good we do are in the eternal life. Therefore we must fortify our minds against the flatteries of this world, lest we love them with our whole heart, and subject ourselves to them entirely. But he who does not overcome the prosperity he has here with prudence of mind, and love of the better life, makes of the flatteries of this transitory world his own eternal death. Therefore the prophet Ezekiel rebuked the people of Israel, and said that they would be destroyed and vanquished with prosperity, as the Idumæans were, because they rejoiced too much in the prosperity of this world. But the Lord rebuked them through the prophet, saying: "They made my land their inheritance with joy, and with all their heart and mind." From these words we can understand that they were very severely blamed, not because they rejoiced, but because they rejoiced with all their heart and mind. Of which Solomon said: "The folly of the young kills them, and the prosperity of fools destroys them." Of the same St. Paul spoke: "Let those who have be as if they had nothing, and