Thursday 2 January 2014

What Gregory of Nazianzus said to Naomi

Today the church remembers Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus, two fourth century bishops and teachers of the faith. The Common Worship lectionary invited us this morning to read the first chapter of the book of Ruth. So here is what Gregory of Nazianzus might have said to Naomi:
Sorrow is not immortal. Let us not aggravate our light griefs with ungenerous thoughts. If we have been bereaved of blessings, we have enjoyed them too. To be bereft is the lot of all; to enjoy, is not the lot of many.
Cited from Words Old and New: Gems from the Christian Authorship of all Ages selected by Horatius Bonar (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1994), 23.