Daily Devotional: December 21st

Daily Prayer XII

Courage, valiant spirit, in shadows' midst,

In the face of fear, thy flame does persist.

Armor of fortitude, glistening bright,

In the crucible of challenge, forging might.

Oh, Virtue, stand firm on the precipice high,

Where challenges loom, and courage draws nigh.

Fortitude, a stalwart companion true,

In adversity's storm, thy strength shines through.

With a lion's heart and unwavering stride,

Courage and fortitude walk side by side.

Through trials and triumphs, their banners unfurl,

Guiding the brave in life's tumultuous swirl.

Daily Meditation

"Do not love the flesh.”

—Sextus

Sentence 291

We should not love our bodies but neither should we hate them or harm them. Socrates tells us we only are in error if one “loves the body rather than the soul” (Symp. 183d–e). We must always remember that the soul is more important than the body. If the soul stands to be harmed because of our body, then the body should be ignored and even suffer. This is hatred of the body but merely love of the soul.

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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