Here are some words from Saint Augustine worth pondering:
“Christ did not
come down into the flesh that we might live softly; let us endure rather than
love the things present; manifest is the harm of adversity, deceitful is the
soft blandishment of prosperity. Fear the sea, even when it is a calm. On no
account let us hear in vain, “Let us lift up our hearts.” Why do we place
our hearts in the earth, when we see that the earth is being turned upside
down?
“…our God is
everywhere present, wholly everywhere; not confined to any place. He can be
present unperceived, and be absent without moving; when He exposes us to
adversities, it is either to prove our perfections or correct our
imperfections; and in return for our patient endurance of the sufferings of
time, He reserves for us an everlasting reward.
“But the
worshippers and admirers of pagan gods delight in imitating their scandalous
iniquities, and are in no way concerned that the republic be less depraved and
licentious. Only let it remain undefeated, they say, only let it flourish and
abound in resources; let it be glorious by its victories, or still better,
secure in peace; what else really matters? This is our concern, that every man
be able to increase his wealth so as to supply his daily prodigalities…
“Let the people
applaud not those who protect their interests, but those who provide them with
pleasure. Let no severe duty be commanded, no impurity forbidden. Let kings
estimate their prosperity, not by the righteousness, but by the servility of
their subjects…
“For certainly
your desire for peace, and prosperity, and plenty is not prompted by any
purpose of using these blessings honestly, that is to say, with moderation,
sobriety, temperance, and piety; for your purpose rather is to run riot in an
endless variety of drunken pleasures, and thus to generate from your prosperity
a moral pestilence which will prove a thousandfold more disastrous than the
fiercest enemies.”
Augustine
considers Scipio’s fear that the total destruction of Rome’s ancient enemy,
Carthage, would lead to the decline of the Republic. Augustine writes that
Scipio saw that “prosperity would corrupt and destroy you. He [Scipio] did not
consider that republic flourishing whose walls stand, but whose morals are in
ruins…Depraved by good fortune, and not chastened by adversity, what you
desire in the restoration of a peaceful and secure state, is not the
tranquility of the commonwealth, but the impunity of your own vicious luxury.
“Scipio wished
you to be hard pressed by an enemy, that you might not abandon yourselves to
luxurious manners; but so abandoned are you, that not even when crushed by the
enemy is your luxury repressed. You have missed the profit of your calamity;
you have been made most wretched, and have remained most profligate.”
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