Letter 105: Chrysostom consoles Chalcidia in trial and frames present suffering as a journey toward the true homeland.

May God reward you, both here and in the age to come, for your reverence, honor, and genuine love toward us. I know clearly that you have shown this disposition from the beginning. Though I am separated from you by so long a road and am surrounded here by many troubles, the desolation of the place, constant dangers, repeated attacks by bandits, and a scarcity of physicians, none of these things prevents me from remembering your diligence. The love I have had from the beginning for you and your household remains in bloom, unwithered by time or distance. I urge you, with your usual good sense and piety, to bear everything that happens nobly. From your earliest years until now you have passed through many kinds of trials, and you know how to win the prize of endurance. If this present trial is greater than the ones before, the crown is greater too. Let none of these dreadful events disturb you. The higher the waves rise, the greater the profit and the more splendid the reward. The sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. This life is a journey. Its pleasant things and its painful things both pass by; neither remains fixed. Travelers do not settle in meadows, nor do they despair in ravines. They pass through both and hasten toward their homeland. Do the same. Do not be dazzled by present brightness or crushed by present sorrow. Keep your eyes on one thing: reaching our common homeland with confidence.

ΡΕʹ. Χαλκιδίᾳ. Ὁ Θεός σοι τὸν μισθὸν δῴη καὶ ἐνταῦθα, καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι τῆς περὶ ἡμᾶς αἰδοῦς, καὶ τιμῆς, καὶ γνησίας ἀγάπης. Οὐδὲ γὰρ νῦν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνωθεν, καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς οἶδα σαφῶς, ὅπως περὶ ἡμᾶς διατεθῆναι ἐσπούδακας. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐκ τοσούτου καθήμενος διαστήματος, καὶ πολλῷ τῆς ὁδοῦ εἰργόμενος τῷ μέσῳ, καὶ ἐν πολλαῖς ὢν ἐνταῦθα θλίψεσι, διά τε τὴν ἐρημίαν τοῦ χωρίου τούτου, διά τε τοὺς συνεχεῖς κινδύνους, καὶ τὰς ἐπαλλήλους τῶν λῃστῶν ἐφόδους, διά τε τὴν ἰατρῶν σπάνιν, οὐδενὶ τούτων κωλύομαι μεμνῆσθαί σου διηνεκῶς τῆς ἐμμελείας· ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀγάπην, ἣν ἐξ ἀρχῆς καὶ περὶ σὲ καὶ περὶ τὸν οἶκόν σου ἔσχηκα, ταύτην ἀκμάζουσαν διατηρῶ καὶ νῦν, οὐδὲν οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ χρόνου, οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ μήκους τῆς ὁδοῦ μαραίνεσθαι αὐτὴν ἀφείς. Τοιοῦτον γάρ ἐστι τὸ ἀγαπᾷν γνησίως. Καί σε παρακαλῶ κατὰ τὴν σύνεσίν σου καὶ τὴν εὐλάβειαν, φέρειν τὰ συμπίπτοντα ἅπαντα γενναίως. Οἶσθα γὰρ ὅτι ἐκ πρώτης ἡλικίας μέχρι τοῦ νῦν διὰ ποικίλων καὶ παντοδαπῶν σχεδὸν ὥδευσας πειρασμῶν, καὶ δύνασαι μετ' εὐκολίας τὸν τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἆθλον ἀγωνίζεσθαι, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἠγωνίσω πολλάκις, καὶ λαμπροὺς ὑπὲρ τούτων σεαυτῇ προαπέθου τοὺς στεφάνους. Εἰ δὲ μείζων οὗτος τῶν παρελθόντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ στέφανος πλείων. Μηδὲν οὖν σε ταραττέτω τῶν ἐπαγομένων δεινῶν· ἀλλ' ὅσῳπερ ἂν αὔξηται τὰ κύματα, καὶ μεῖζον γένηται τὸ κλυδώνιον, τοσούτῳ μείζονα ἀνάμενε τὴν ἐμπορίαν, καὶ πολλῷ πλείονα τὰ ἔπαθλα τῶν ἱδρώτων, καὶ μείζονα, καὶ λαμπρότερα. Οὐ γὰρ ἄξια τὰ παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν δόξαν ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι εἰς ἡμᾶς. Ὁδὸς γὰρ τὰ παρόντα, καὶ τὰ χρηστὰ, καὶ τὰ λυπηρὰ τοῦ βίου τούτου, καὶ ἑκάτερα ὁμοίως παροδεύεται, καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτῶν πάγιον, οὐδὲ βεβηκὸς, ἀλλὰ μιμεῖται τὴν φύσιν, ὁμοῦ τε φαινόμενα, καὶ παρατρέχοντα. Καθάπερ οὖν ὁδῖται καὶ ὁδοιπόροι ἄν τε διὰ λειμώνων ὁδεύωσιν, ἄν τε διὰ φαράγγων, οὐδεμίαν οὐδὲ ἐντεῦθεν καρποῦνται τὴν ἡδονὴν, οὐδὲ ἐκεῖθεν ὑπομένουσι λύπην· ὁδῖται γάρ εἰσιν, οὐχὶ πολῖται, ἑκάτερα παρατρέχοντες, καὶ πρὸς τὴν πατρίδα τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἐπειγόμενοι· οὕτω παρακαλῶ καὶ ὑμᾶς μήτε πρὸς τὰ φαιδρὰ τοῦ παρόντος κεχηνέναι βίου, μήτε ὑπὸ τῶν λυπηρῶν καταβαπτίζεσθαι, ἀλλ' ἓν μόνον σκοπεῖν, ὅπως εἰς τὴν κοινὴν ἁπάντων ἡμῶν πατρίδα μετὰ πολλῆς παραγένησθε τῆς παῤῥησίας. Ἐπειδήπερ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ μένον καὶ πεπηγὸς καὶ ἀθάνατον ἀγαθὸν, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα πάντα, ἄνθος χόρτου καὶ καπνὸς, καὶ εἴ τι τούτων εὐτελέστερον.