At the Feet of the Fathers: St. John Chrysostom on the Smoke of Worldly Cares

At the Feet of the Fathers

Monday, August 7, 2023

St. John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom (c. AD  347 – September 14 AD 407) was an important early Church father who served as archbishop of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). He is known for his preaching, public speaking, his stand against abuses both among secular authorities and in the church, and his Divine Liturgy used to this day in Eastern Orthodoxy. The name Chrysostom means "golden-mouthed" in Greek and was given to him for his celebrated eloquence. Chrysostom was one of the most prolific authors in the early Christian Church.

Avoid the Smoke of Worldly Cares

Even your bodily eyes are always weeping when they have to be surrounded by smoke. But when they are in clear air—in a meadow, in fountains, and in gardens—they become more acute and more healthy.

The soul’s eye is like that, too. If it feeds in the meadows of spiritual oracles, it will be clear and piercing and very acute. But if it leaves and goes into the smoke of the things of this life, it will weep without end and wail both now and hereafter.

Indeed, the things of this life are like smoke. And this is why someone once said, "My days pass away like smoke" (Psalm 102:3). He was referring, of course, to how short they were, but I would say we should take what he said not only in that sense but also as referring to their murkiness. For nothing hurts and dims the eye of the soul so much as a crowd of worldly anxieties and a swarm of desires. These are the wood that feeds the smoke.

- St. John Chrysostom, Homily 2 on Matthew, 9