Daily Devotional: December 18th

Daily Prayer XV

Hail, King Jove, whose intellect divine does shine,

Grace cascading upon gods and mortal line.

First and last, in timeless majesty enthroned,

Creator, ruler, with wisdom deeply honed.

Thy gaze encompasses realms, both near and far,

Ruling over cosmos, each celestial star.

Infinite and eternal, sovereign of all things,

Jove, from thy throne, divine creation springs.

As the master architect, shaping fate's grand design,

Thy wisdom's radiance, a beacon so divine.

King Jove, in thee, the universe finds its sway,

In thy eternal light, all beings bow and pray.

Daily Meditation

"The worship of God is only magnified in the worship of the gods.”

—Celsus

On the True Doctrine, X

Monotheism and polytheism has always been a false dichotomy. There is one God and many gods. Each god allows us to magnify our worship of God as we praise part of his divine nature. The gods are divine beings but are sustained and nurtured by the power of God. Without God, there would be nothing. Without gods, the cosmos would be void of the theophany of God, like a canvas with no color or form.

Monthly Ascesis: Repentance

"Repentance is the beginning of philosophy"

—Hierocles

“Repentance is often seen as a particularly Christian idea, but philosophers were quite fond of reminding people to repent. Pythagoras, in particular, suggests two ways that we can begin to repent and take a better inventory of who we are. The word ‘repent’ is related to the Latin word for regret. The idea is that we should look over our actions and judge them if they are unworthy. However, the Greek word for repentance is metanoia, which means the transformation of the mind. Platonic repentance is about creating an inner change that leads us back to a life of holiness in harmony with the divine.

Pythagoras says we should “do nothing shameful, neither in the presence of others nor privately; Thus, above all things, sit as a judge over [ourself].” This suggests we should watch our actions, and when we do something wrong or shameful, we should repent, that is, regret that action. If we never do this or shun it as a practice, we effectively say we have no reason to regret our actions. However, regretting an action is recognizing an area where we fell short of our ideals. If we never regret or repent, we make any spiritual or ethical growth impossible. This is why Hierocles, commenting on Pythagoras, says, “repentance is the beginning of philosophy.””

Excerpt from Ascesis: The Handbook of Platonic Practice

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