Over the past year, I’ve been studying early Christian history and the Church Fathers. It’s been quite rewarding. One of the great pleasures of the World and Christian Imagination conference was browsing the table set up by Eighth Day Books. They specialize in works by the church fathers and other spiritual classics. I picked up a book of homily excerpts by John Chrysostom. Chrysostom lived in the 4th Century and served as a monk and as Patriarch of Constantinople. He was deposed and exiled because of his stance against the excesses of the imperial court and his defense of the poor. He was one of the great preachers in Christian history (his popular name “Chrysostom” means “golden mouthed”).
I’m finding Chyrsostom’s words on simplicity and justice deeply inspiring. Read on for a lovely excerpt from Chrysostom on owernship and possessions.
(Note — Chrystostom has been accused of anti-semitism, and a few of his sermons most unfortunately were used by the Nazis to support their evil philosophy. Apparently, there’s a debate about whether these accusations are correct; some well-known scholars aver that claims of anti-semitism against Chrysostom are false. One of the challenges in studying the Patristic period is that the rhetorical style of the day can sound strident to modern ears and much of the Fathers’ writing and sermonizing takes the form of polemics against the pagans who were claiming the Christian faith was antisocial and dangerous. The Fathers sometimes sound harsh when trying to distinguish the still-young Christian faith from the Jewish faith in this context. And, some of the Fathers likely did hold attitudes towards the Jews that thoughtful Christians today would condemn as wrong and inappropriate. Nevertheless, I think we can situate figures like Chrysostom in their historical context and mine the gems while rejecting the dross. Along with all Christians of good will and mature faith, I abhor all forms of anti-Semitism, and recognize my debt to and common bond with my friends of the Jewish faith.)
Go outside into a field. Ask yourself: “To whom does this field belong?” And you will reply to yourself: “It belongs to me” or “It belongs to so-and-so.” Then ask yourself: “To whom has this field belonged in the past?” If you know the history of that field, a list of names will appear in your mind. Then you will realize how little ownership means. That field has seen countless generations of people claiming ownership of it. Countless generations of feet have trod on it, have plowed its soil, and have sown and harvested grain. If the field were sentient, do you think it would feel owned by the person who claims ownership? Of course not. The field would feel that it owned itself and was welcoming the person who claimed ownership merely as a visitor. That is the way we should always think of ourselves on this earth: we are merely vistiors, here for a short span to learn virtue; then after that span we shall continue our journey toward the kingdom that lasts forever.
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