The Stewardship of the Soul

Will they be treasuries? And when he arrives at the allotted place, hearing, 'Render the account of your stewardship; show how you heard the commandments, how you dealt with fellow-slaves, either kindly and philanthropically or, on the contrary, greedily and tyrannically, striking, beating, and depriving them of the grain-measure of alms.'

If he is able to make the master appeased by proving himself a good servant, it would be well for him; but if on the contrary, there are no longer whips and rods there, nor dark mills and iron pedals, but unquenchable fire and eternal darkness never illuminated by light, and the gnashing of teeth, which the gospel has clearly revealed to us (Matt 25:30).

Therefore, if he never casts out from here as if they were strangers, let him waste the world and let pleasure remain unhindered according to every sense. But if these things will be accomplished, even if we do not enjoy them for long, let us fear, brothers, the transfer from this place, and let us live in the time of sojourning as the Lord commanded; let us not be carried away as debtors, but let us walk free, being led by a good conscience, carrying the books of the life's citizenship unsearchably.

That rich man was a bad steward of this life, whose land was fruitful, because regarding the abundance of fruits, man did not counsel anything good, but opening the desire of the stomach and the wide and insatiable bellies of greed, he allotted everything to his own enjoyment, saying, 'I will pull down my barns and build greater, and I will say to my soul: You have many good things laid up, rest, eat, drink, rejoice' (Luke 12:19-20). And while he was speaking, the one taking him arrived. A terrible fellow-slave came to snatch him away from the stewardship; and what is the profit of a love-of-money plan?

And these things were written vividly for our instruction. But what is the experience of life? Not every single day do these things cry out through works; I showed us the one healthy in the middle of the day becoming dead before the onset of evening; and the one strengthening himself in the evening, not grasping the morning ray; and another perishing in the midst of eating and living. Who then is so foolish, as not to realize that every day another comes of this place...

Are we being moved from our stewardship? But the good and faithful steward, having trusted in his own management, has a will such as Paul had. For he, when the Lord was not hurrying, hastened to him and desired the dismissal and was willing to relinquish the stewardship, saying in one way: 'Wretched am I a man, who will rescue me from this body of death?' (Rom 7:24) and again: 'For to me it is good to be dissolved and to be with Christ' (Phil 1:23). But the earthly man, whose mindset is truly kin to the oxen, laments such things helplessly at the transition, like this man in the parable: 'What shall I do, since my lord is taking the stewardship from me? I am not able to dig, and I am ashamed to beg' (Luke 12:48).

His grief is that of the idle and the lover of pleasure. For to wail at the departure is a reproach of having been added to the estate and of lamenting the passionate enjoyments of the flesh, while the inability toward the work of an idle life and a fallen state is an accusation. For if he had had a habit of love for labor, he would not have feared digging.

If we take the parable allegorically toward the spiritual, after this transition, there is neither working nor having time for increase. And because of this, let no one say: 'I am not able to dig.' For even if he is able, no one forgives. This life holds the agriculture of the commandments, while the one coming holds the enjoyment. So if you worked nothing here, the vines remained, and you care excessively about the spade; nor will you benefit yourself by having time.

And of this, a clear pattern is given to us by the foolish virgins; who, being in want of oil, shamelessly asked of the wise, but they gained nothing, but turned away uselessly; the Word showing that no one has used a different oil in the presence of the bridegroom, that is, a different oil to achieve for oneself private enjoyment. For each has wrapped his own conduct like a garment, whether bright and precious or cheap and resembling the rags of a pauper. And it is not possible to strip it off, nor to exchange it and change to another, nor to be beautified and adorned from a loan or use at the time of judgment. But each remains as he is in the truth, whether...