Look that you hedge your possession about with thorns, and bind up your silver and gold,
Read Chapter 28
Venerable Barsanuphius and John the Prophet
AD 600
If those who receive silver coins from the king conserve them with zeal and care, they will remain shiny and clean. If instead they neglect them, they will not only rust but also may soon be lost. For the wise man has said, "Lock up your gold and your silver." And I am not only telling you to bind it with a firm faith but also to seal it with humility and the patience of perseverance by which the one who perseveres is saved. What I am saying to you, by God"s permission, is an audacious thing. For the great mediator Jesus, Son of the blessed Father, distributor of the holy and life-giving Spirit says to you through me, who am least of all, "Your many sins are forgiven you," from birth up until this very minute. In receiving this great and inexpressible joy, you then love him with all your might, displaying fruit worthy of repentance, proclaiming with Saint Paul those melodious words, "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress, or hunger, or persecution, or nakedness, or danger, or fear or the sword?" And again, "Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughterhouse. But in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. I am confident that neither death, nor life, neither angels, nor principalities, nor authorities, nor things present or things future, neither powers, nor height, nor depth nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Make sure you not only meditate on these things in what you say but also in what you do. For Jesus says, "By your patience your soul is acquired." You have become worthy of a great dignity: perform great and worthy works of patience and thanksgiving through which come the expectation of perfection, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Think about these things continually and conscientiously, and you will taste their sweetness, as they become fragrant to your soul and the souls of those who are able to choose them. - "Book of Letters 115"
