Chrysostom
Beloved of All
When you ask for driving protection, you do well, yet remember that the true safety is not in this world’s fleeting things. Even as the flood came suddenly upon those who ate and drank and married in Noah’s day, so our lives hang by a thread. The only safe pasture is Christ Himself, where no one can snatch us out. So pray not merely for your son’s bodily protection, but above all that he may abide in Him who is the light; for if seeing this world’s light is something, being with Jesus is far greater.
I join you in those silent requests, but I also exhort you: do not neglect the building of a church, as it were, in your own home. It is not enough to have a bath or a market; make your estate a place of constant prayers, hymns, and the Oblation each Lord’s Day. Maintain the teacher, the deacon, the priestly body as you are able, for what blessing is richer than that God should taste the first fruits of your goods and that your household becomes a place where the Savior is honored? Then your son will be trained not just for the road but for the age to come.
And as for those things you hold in silence, know that God is not ignorant. Yet He often withholds or takes away what we cling to, that we may lean on Him alone. Do not call Him to account or raise curious questions about His ways. When the righteous man was bid to slay his son, he obeyed without debating. So accept whatever He lays upon you, and let your faith be a harbor where you sail in safety, not by questioning the steersman but by committing yourself wholly to the ship of the Church. Be sober, then, and wakeful. Travel the narrow way with confidence in Jesus our guide, and He will keep your going out and your coming in, both now and forever. Amen.
I join you in those silent requests, but I also exhort you: do not neglect the building of a church, as it were, in your own home. It is not enough to have a bath or a market; make your estate a place of constant prayers, hymns, and the Oblation each Lord’s Day. Maintain the teacher, the deacon, the priestly body as you are able, for what blessing is richer than that God should taste the first fruits of your goods and that your household becomes a place where the Savior is honored? Then your son will be trained not just for the road but for the age to come.
And as for those things you hold in silence, know that God is not ignorant. Yet He often withholds or takes away what we cling to, that we may lean on Him alone. Do not call Him to account or raise curious questions about His ways. When the righteous man was bid to slay his son, he obeyed without debating. So accept whatever He lays upon you, and let your faith be a harbor where you sail in safety, not by questioning the steersman but by committing yourself wholly to the ship of the Church. Be sober, then, and wakeful. Travel the narrow way with confidence in Jesus our guide, and He will keep your going out and your coming in, both now and forever. Amen.
