Daily Devotional: December 22nd

Daily Prayer XI

Temperance, virtue of balanced grace,

In life's symphony, find thy rightful place.

Harmony in moderation, a guiding light,

Navigating the currents, both day and night.

Like a gentle river, in serene flow,

Temperance, in every aspect, does bestow.

In the banquet of existence, a measured feast,

Savoring the moments, from west to east.

O, Virtue, guide us with a steady hand,

In the dance of choices, where values stand.

Temperance, keeper of the middle way,

Lead us with wisdom, each and every day.

Daily Meditation

"It is the same thing to nourish a serpent, and to benefit a depraved man;
for gratitude is produced from neither.”

—Demophilus

Similitude 55

Idiot compassion is when compassion is used to excuse the suffering and damage caused by our actions. It may mean enabling drug users because it would be “mean’ to force sobriety on them; Or allowing dangerous men to live in your midst because it would be “unkind” to cast them out. Demophilus likens it to taking in a serpent and feeding it, expecting gratitude and repayment when the serpent is just as likely to bite you as it would a passing rodent. Those affected by idiot compassion are so blinded by sympathy that they ignore the most obvious dangers, which in turn end up hurting or even killing others. In truth, this is not compassion but idiocy of the worst kind. We only fool ourselves by giving our support and goodwill to depraved men.

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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