Letter 106: Chrysostom urges Asyncritia and her companions to endure trials for the heavenly prize.

I know your love and the eager affection you have always shown us. I have continually wanted to write, but fear of the Isaurians has walled off every road and made letter-carriers hard to find. Whenever we do find them, we send you the greeting we owe. As usual, I urge you not to be disturbed by the constant trials that follow one after another. Merchants and sailors cross vast seas and face waves for the sake of a small cargo. Soldiers despise life itself for a perishable wage, struggling with hunger, long journeys, foreign service, and often a violent death, while gaining nothing lasting. When a heavenly prize is set before us, and when the reward after death is so much greater, what excuse is there for growing soft? Think on these things. Present affairs are smoke and a dream; all human prosperity is no better than spring leaves, appearing and withering at once. Rise above such arrows, and set your mind on finishing the narrow road that leads upward.

Ρʹ. Ἀσυγκριτίᾳ καὶ ταῖς σὺν αὐτῇ. Οἶδα τὴν ἀγάπην ὑμῶν καὶ τὴν διάθεσιν ἣν περὶ ἡμᾶς ἔχειν ἐσπουδάκατε. Καὶ συνεχῶς ἐβουλόμην ἐπιστέλλειν· ἀλλ' ὁ τῶν Ἰσαύρων φόβος, πᾶσαν ἀποτειχίσας ὁδὸν, οὐκ ἀφίησιν εὐπορεῖν τῶν πρὸς τοῦτο διακονησομένων ἡμῖν. Ἡνίκα γοῦν ἂν ἐπιτύχωμεν τούτων, τὴν ὀφειλομένην ἀποδιδόαμεν ὑμῖν πρόσρησιν, τὰ συνήθη παρακαλοῦντες ὑμᾶς, μηδὲν θορυβεῖσθαι μηδὲ ταράττεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν συνεχῶν τούτων καὶ ἐπαλλήλων πειρασμῶν. Εἰ γὰρ ἔμποροι καὶ ναῦται φορτίων ὀλίγων ἕνεκεν οὕτω μακρὰ διαβαίνουσι πελάγη, καὶ τοσούτων κατατολμῶσι κυμάτων· καὶ στρατιῶται δὲ καὶ αὐτῆς καταφρονοῦσι τῆς ζωῆς ὑπὲρ ἐπικήρου καὶ βραχέος μισθοῦ, καὶ ζῶντες μὲν καὶ λιμῷ μάχονται πολλάκις, καὶ ὁδοιπορίαις μακραῖς κατατείνονται, καὶ διηνεκῶς ἐπὶ τῆς ἀλλοτρίας διάγουσιν, ὕστερον δὲ καὶ ἄωρον καὶ βίαιον πολλοὶ τούτων ὑπομένουσι θάνατον, οὐδὲν ἐντεῦθεν οὐ μικρὸν, οὐ μέγα καρπωσάμενοι· ὅταν οὐράνιος ὁ ἆθλος προκέηται, καὶ μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν μείζων ἡ ἀντίδοσις καὶ πολλῷ πλείων, ποίας τεύξονται συγγνώμης οἱ καταμαλακιζόμενοι, καὶ μὴ καὶ αὐτῆς καταφρονοῦντες τῆς ζωῆς; Ταῦτ' οὖν ἅπαντα λογιζομένη, καὶ ὅτι καπνὸς τὰ παρόντα, καὶ ὄναρ, καὶ πᾶσα εὐημερία ἀνθρωπίνη φύλλων ἠρινῶν οὐδὲν ἄμεινον διάκειται, γινομένων τε ὁμοῦ καὶ μαραινομένων εὐθέως, ὑψηλοτέρα πάντων τῶν τοιούτων γίνου βελῶν. Ἔξεστι γὰρ, ἐὰν θέλῃς, καὶ τὴν βιωτικὴν καταπατῆσαι φαντασίαν. Ἓν σκόπει μόνον, ὅπως μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς σπουδῆς τὴν τεθλιμμένην ὁδὸν διανύσαι δυνηθῇς, τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀνάγουσαν.