THE TWO ROADS

There are two roads, each opposed to the other. One is broad and easy, the other hard and narrow. And there are two guides vying with each other to attract the soul; vice attracts the soul to the easy road and virtue to the hard road. The soul gazes on one and then on the other. 

The life of the sinner aims at all the pleasures of the present moment; the life of the righteous aims at future benefits.

The easy road, an undisciplined way of life, leads to pleasure to be enjoyed now, not later; the way of salvation, the narrow road, is hard in the present, but promises a beautiful future.

The soul is often confused in its calculations on what to choose. If it merely looks at the present, it will surely choose the easy way of present pleasures. If it looks at eternity, it will choose virtue. 

St. Basil the Great (PG29, 221)

(11-05-02)