The Stewardship of Wealth
ONE SAYS, “I will give to-morrow,” to excuse himself from giving to-day. Alas! do you know whether you shall be alive to-morrow in this place? Another says, “I am poor, I have need enough myself for all my means.” Yes, you are poor, you are destitute, but it is of love, of benignity, of faith, and of mercy. A third says, “Whom do I wrong? I keep only mine own.” I ask you, From whom did you receive those riches? and whence did you bring them? Did you not come naked from your mother’s womb, and shall you not return naked to the dust? Whence did this wealth come? From chance? What is this atheism? If you confess that you received it from God, why did it fall to your lot rather than another’s? God is not unrighteous in the unequal division of property among men. Why are you rich and that man poor? It is that you may receive the reward of dispensing your goods faithfully, and that the poor may receive the recompense of his patience. When, therefore, you appropriate to yourself that wealth which belongs to many, and of which you are only the steward, you act unjustly. —Basil.