Remember your end, and let enmity cease; remember corruption and death, and abide in the commandments.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Sirach 28:6 Go To Wisdom of Sirach 28
Venerable Barsanuphius and John the Prophet
AD 600
If one reminds himself that his soul is mortal and therefore strives to do good, is this not a voluntary gain? It is good to remind oneself of death, for thus one recognizes his own mortality and comes to realize that mortals will not live forever. For someone who is not eternal must surely abandon this world, even if by force. Therefore by continually remembering one"s mortality the individual learns to do good according to his own free will. Thus, when one sees mortality before his eyes and does what is good, this is not the same as the one who is continually meditating on it and chooses to do good; rather, if it is out of impending fear of death, then what one does is out of necessity.
