ON AVOIDING DISTRACTION
by Saint Basil the Great
It is against the nature of things for one to become a master in metal working by practicing the potter's art, and athletic crowns are not won by enthusiasm for playing the flute. As each kind of mastery demands its own specific and appropriate training, so the discipline for pleasing God in accordance with the Gospel of Christ is practiced by detaching oneself from the cares of the world and by complete withdrawal from its distractions.
Therefore does the Apostle, although allowing marriage and deeming it worthy of blessing, oppose to it his own preoccupation with the concerns of God, as if these two interests could not be compatible, saying, [ St. John 14:17 ] He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife. [ 1 Cor. 7:3233 ] In the same manner, the Lord also bore witness to the guileless and single hearted attitude of His disciples, when He said, 'You are not of this world. [ St. John 15:19 ] On the other hand, He declared that it is impossible for the world to have knowledge of God or even to receive the Holy Spirit, saying, 'Just Father, this world hath not known thee' and 'the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive.' [ St. John 14:17 ]
Whoever, therefore, would be truly a follower of God must sever the bonds of attachment to this life, and this is done through complete separation from and forgetfulness of old habits. Unless we wrest ourselves from both fleshly ties and worldly society, being transported, as it were, to another world in our manner of living, as the Apostle said: 'But our conversation is in heaven, [ Phil. 3:20 ] it is impossible for us to achieve our goal of pleasing God, inasmuch as the Lord said specifically: 'So likewise every one of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth cannot be my disciple.' [ St. Luke 14:33 ] And having done this, we should watch over our heart with all vigilance [ Prov. 4:23 ] not only to avoid ever losing the thought of God or sullying the memory of His wonders by vain imaginations, but also in order to carry about the holy thought of God stamped upon our souls as an ineffaceable seal by continuous and pure recollection. In this way, we shall excel in the love of God which at the same time animates us to the observance of the Lord's commands, and by this, in turn, love itself will be lastingly and indestructibly preserved. The Lord proves this by saying on one occasion: 'If you love me, keep my commandments, [ St. John 14:15 ] and again: 'If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love,' [ St. John 15:10 ] and with still greater importunity: 'as I have kept my Father's commandments and do abide in his love. [ St. John 15:10 ] ' By these words He teaches us always to place before ourselves as our goal, in undertaking a task, the will of Him who has enjoined the work, and to direct our effort toward Him, as He says in another place: 'I came down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me, the Father.' [ St. John 6:38 ]
As the secular arts are directed toward certain specific aims and adapt their particular activities to these aims, so also, inasmuch as our actions have as their rule and guide the keeping of the commandments in a manner pleasing to God, it is impossible to do this with exactitude unless it be done as He wills who gave [the commandments]. And by our painstaking zeal to do the will of God in our work, we shall be united to God through our memory.
As the smith, when he is forging an axe, for example, thinks of the person who commissioned the task, and with him in mind calculates its shape and size, suiting his work to the wish of him who ordered it done (for if he is unmindful of this, he will fashion something quite different from what he was ordered to make) so the Christian directs every action, small and great, according to the will of God, performing the action at the same time with care and exactitude, and keeping his thoughts fixed upon the One who gave him the work to do. In this way, he fulfills the saying, 'I set the Lord always in my sight; for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved,' [ Ps. 16:8 ] and he also observes the precept, 'Whether you eat or drink or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God.' [ 1 Cor. 10:31 ]
But he who departs from the strict observance of the commandment in performing his actions clearly shows that he has given small thought to God. Mindful, therefore, of the voice of Him who said: 'Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord? [ Jer. 23:24 ] and again: Am I a God at hand and not a God afar off?'; [ Jer. 23:23 ] also: 'Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them, [ St. Matt. 18:20 ] we should perform every action as if under the eyes of the Lord and think every thought as if observed by Him. Thus, fear will abide constantly within us who hate iniquity, as it is written, [ Ps. 119:163 ] contumely, pride, and the ways of the wicked, and charity will be made perfect, [ 1 St. John 4:12 ] fulfilling the words of the Lord: 'I seek not my own will but the will of him that sent me, the Father.' [ St. John 5:30 ] Our soul, also, will continue in the abiding conviction that good actions are acceptable to the Judge and Arbiter of our life and that the opposite conduct receives condemnation from Him. I think, moreover, it must be added that the Lord's commandments themselves cannot be performed with the intent of pleasing men. No one has recourse to an inferior, if he knows his superior is present. On the contrary, if it happen that an action is acceptable and pleasing to some illustrious personage while to one of lower degree it appears ill-advised and blameworthy, far more value is placed upon the approval of the superior and the inferior's disapproval is unheeded. But, if this is so among men, the soul that is truly prudent and sound and that possesses a firm conviction of the presence of God would surely not ever neglect to do what is pleasing to God and concern itself with the glory received from men, nor be careless of God's behests in subservience to human customs, [ St. Mark 7:8 ] nor be ruled by common prejudice and influenced by honors and dignities. Such were the dispositions of him who said: 'The wicked have told me fables but not as thy law, O Lord,' [Ps.l 18:85] and again : 'And I spoke of thy testimonies before kings, and I was not ashamed.' [ Ps. 119:46 ]
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