Chapter Five: Life As a Contest Under Divine Providence

Chapter Five: Life As a Contest Under Divine Providence

As I have beheld the ceaseless motion of the spheres, each governed by an unseen hand yet striving in harmonious contest, so too is human life a great arena wherein the soul contendeth for virtue amidst trials. The Scriptures declare it plainly: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain” (1 Corinthians 9:24, Greek: Οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ ἐν σταδίῳ τρέχοντες πάντες μὲν τρέχουσιν, εἷς δὲ λαμβάνει τὸ βραβεῖον; οὕτω τρέχετε ἵνα καταλάβητε – “Know ye not that they which run in a stadium run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may apprehend it”).

Labour is no mere drudgery but a divine contest, ordained for man’s sanctification. St Ignatius of Antioch (†107) writeth to the Polycarp: “Labour together with one another; strive in company together; run together; suffer together; sleep together; and awake together, as the stewards, and associates, and servants of God.” The early martyrs viewed persecution as an athletic trial, wherein endurance winneth the crown (2 Timothy 4:8).

Yet this contest demandeth rules:

• Strive not for earthly laurels alone, but for the incorruptible crown (1 Corinthians 9:25).
• Compete with charity, for “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not” (1 Corinthians 13:4).
• If thou fallest, rise again, as the just man falleth seven times and riseth up again (Proverbs 24:16).

St John Climacus (†649), in his Ladder of Divine Ascent, likeneth life to a stadium where the soul ascendeth rung by rung through disciplined toil. He who treateth labour as a game under Providence findeth joy even in sweat, for “In his labour shall a man find refreshment” (Sirach 40:18, though apocryphal, echoed in patristic wisdom).

Beware the false contest of avarice or sloth, which leadeth to defeat. Embrace the true strife, wherein victory is union with Christ, the Victor over death.

Chapter Six: Affinity, Reality, and Communion in Labour

In dissecting the bonds betwixt soul and body, I perceive a threefold cord not easily broken: affinity (love), reality (truth), and communion (fellowship). These mirror the Trinity itself, as St Augustine (†430) elucidateth in De Trinitate: the mind’s love, knowledge, and memory image the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

In labour, affinity is charity toward co-workers: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another” (John 13:34, Greek: Ἐντολὴν καινὴν δίδωμι ὑμῖν ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους – “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another”). Without it, toil becometh strife.

Reality is the acknowledgment of truth in tasks: “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). St Thomas Aquinas (though post-1250, drawing from earlier Fathers like St Anselm †1109) affirmeth that truth is the conformity of mind to thing.

Communion is the sharing of burdens: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2, Greek: Ἀλλήλων τὰ βάρη βαστάζετε, καὶ οὕτως ἀναπληρώσετε τὸν νόμον τοῦ Χριστοῦ – “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ”).

St Basil (†379) in his Longer Rules prescribeth communal labour among monks, wherein affinity fostereth reality through shared truth, and communion bindeth all in Christ.

He who cultivateth these three in his vocation buildeth not upon sand, but upon the Rock (Matthew 7:24-27).

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