who is not moved to thanksgiving by the things that then occurred, and not only by those things, but also by what happened thereafter, and just a short while ago came upon us? A He shook the supports of the earth, He unsettled the foundations of the houses, the roofs were tossed about like ships in the waves of the sea; He merely showed a judicial eye, and we all trembled as if we were standing in the waters. Great was the fear, and the tokens of his loving-kindness were many times greater than the fear. For while shaking the creation, He did not destroy it; while bringing the whole into motion, He did not level it; He did not strip the earth of the beauty of the creatures; He shook the roofs only for our reminder, and brought us not even a taste of ruin. Such is the ocean of his loving-kindness toward us. And even that shaking of the foundations of the earth was as by a guardian, as by one full of compassion. For He saw those who were setting aside and provoking Him, He saw those who loved plunder, He saw those who were joining house to house, and bringing field to field, so that they might take something away from their neighbor; He saw those having no mercy on orphans, and not heeding the judgment of widows; He saw teachers doing the opposite of what they were saying; He saw disciples insulting the ecclesiastical order with the disorderly behavior of the theaters; He saw them living in wickedness and envy, He saw them coupling deceit with envy, He saw the storms of hypocrisy sinking the simpler ones like boats, He saw them murdering by design, He saw them acting as unjustly as we are able, He saw love making shipwreck, while deceit sailed smoothly in the ocean of life, He saw them leaping away from the truth and running to falsehood; and to speak comprehensively, He saw them serving Mammon rather than the Lord; and He shook the earth for us as a pedagogue for his children, and showed the bowels of a fond mother, who often, when she wishes to draw her suckling child away from a habit—that little bed—shakes it vigorously, not that she may strike the infant, but that she may frighten him. B Thus indeed does the Master of all—whom He holds in his hand—shake the habitable world, not that He may destroy it, but that He may turn back to salvation those acting disorderly.
2. And let no one complain, since we have compared the Lord to a fond mother, seeing as the Lord himself compared himself to a bird in the Gospels, saying: *Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children, as a bird doth gather her brood, and thou wouldest not?* (Matt. 23. 37.) The Lover of mankind, therefore, moved the inanimate earth, that He might establish the animate from disorderly motion; He threatened death to the flesh, that we might guard against the destruction of the soul. Do you see, lover of Christ, how great is the Creator’s compassion for us? Do you see loving-kindness flashing from the threat? Do you see mercies anticipating indignation? Do you see a sentence being overcome by goodness? And it is nothing strange: He is still now our meek and loving Master, who is customarily concerned for our salvation, He who in the Gospels explicitly cries out, as was just now read to us: *Come, learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.* O what condescension of the Creator, and yet the creature who has been fashioned is not ashamed! Come, learn of me, when did a Master arrive for the consolation of servants who have sinned? Such is Christ toward us; He displays mercies when He ought to punish the one who sins, when He ought to wipe out the race of those who provoked Him; He relaxes the steps for the responsible: *Come, learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.* God is humble, and man is puffed up; the judge is gentle, and the condemned is arrogant; the Artisan makes a poor sound, and the clay speaks like a king. *Come, learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.* The things that happened before did not persuade, the things that followed and those from a short while ago did not put to shame, how that even then and now, having shaken the creation, He again established it, having shown mercy. Come therefore, *learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.* He does not have a lash that strikes, but a nature that heals. Come, see the unspeakable loving-kindness. Who would not love a Master who does not strike? Who would not marvel at a judge who asks for a condemned one? The lowliness of the words truly astounds you: I am the Creator, and I love my work; I am the fashioner, and I spare Him whom I fashioned. If I should use my own rights, I do not save the fallen humanity, and if I do not treat it, since it is suffering from an incurable disease, with gentle remedies, it does not regain its strength. If I do not coax, it dies; if I should only threaten, it perishes. For the sake of this goodness I apply plasters, I go about it as it lies; I stoop down greatly, suffering with it, that I may raise up the fallen one. C The one who is standing, if he does not reach down his hand, does not lift the one who has been cast down from his fall. *Come, learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.* I am not making a show of words; I have delivered to you proof of deeds. That *I am meek and humble of heart*, consider from those things which I have become. Look at my form, and ponder my worth, and worship my condescension for your sake; calculate from whence I came, where I am conversing with you; having heaven as a throne, I stand speaking to you on earth; I am glorified above, and as one long-suffering I am not angry, *for I am meek and humble of heart.* If I were not meek, being the Son of the King, I would not have chosen a servant as my mother; if I, the Creator of the invisible and visible essence, were not meek, I would not have dwelt among you; if I were not meek, I, the Father of the ages, would not have been endured in swaddling clothes; if I were not humble, I, who possess the wealth of the whole creation, would not have received the poverty of a manger; if I were not meek, I, who am not even gazed upon by the Cherubim, would not have lived with irrational beasts; if I were not meek, I, who pour out light to the blind, would not have been spat upon by lawless lips; if I were not meek, I, who free servants, would not have endured the servile blow; if I were not meek, I would not have offered my back...