Chapter XV.
Those who do not know how to use wealth become slaves to it and sleep their own sleep. When the soul is called the charioteer and the flesh the horse to be driven by the strength of the mind: where there is any difference between the driver, the rider, and the one who mounts, it is evaluated.
63. But who are these, the Prophet expressly indicated by saying: All men of wealth (Psalm XXIV., 6); he said 'all,' not exempting any. And he correctly called them 'men of wealth,' not 'wealth of men,' so as to show that they are not possessors of wealth, but possessed by their own wealth. For the possession should belong to the possessor, not the possessor to the possession. Therefore, whoever does not use his inheritance as a possession, who does not know how to bestow on the poor and distribute, he is a servant of his own, not a master of his resources, who keeps the belongings of others as a servant, not as a master who uses his own. Therefore, we say that a man is rich in this kind of disposition, not that the man's wealth is rich. For intellect is good for those who make use of it; but the one who does not understand cannot claim the favor of intellect for himself; and therefore, he falls asleep in the sleep of drunkenness. Therefore, men of this kind sleep their own sleep, that is, their own sleep, not Christ's. And those who do not sleep the sleep of Christ do not have Christ's rest, do not rise through Christ's resurrection; as he says: I have slept and have rested and have risen; because the Lord will bear me up.
In this age, those who sleep are considered worthy of heavenly rebuke, who have mounted horses they could not control. We read elsewhere the Church or the soul saying: Aminadab has set me as a chariot (Song of Songs 6:11). Therefore, if the soul is the chariot, be careful that the body is not the horse: rather, the driver is the strength of the mind, which governs the flesh, and restrains its movements like certain well-trained horses with prudence. Those who have indulged in bodily pleasures have indeed fallen asleep, not governing them with any restraint. And so they chose to call them ascensores, whether they were knights or charioteers. For the charioteer, with discipline and skill, guides his horses according to his own judgment, either urging them on if they are running, or turning them back if they are unmanageable, or recalling them if they are tired, or making them gentle according to his own will. Hence, when Elijah was taken up and carried to heaven in a chariot, Elisha cried out to him: Father, father, charioteer of Israel and his horseman (2 Kings 2:12), that is, you who ruled the people of the Lord with good leadership, rightly received these chariots and these horses running to the divine, because the Lord has shown you to be the guide of human minds; and therefore, as a good charioteer, you are crowned as the victor of the contest with an eternal reward. In the book of the prophet Habakkuk, it is written: You will ascend upon your horses, and your chariot will be salvation (Habakkuk 3:8). For he moved his apostles, whom he directed in different directions, to preach the Gospel throughout the world. He says, You will ascend, as a ruler of horses, not as a rider. For even a horse ascends, but it does so to govern, not just to sit: because it is lazy and unable to bear the movement of an idle mind.
65. But concerning the knight it is written: There is a knight who falls backward, waiting for the salvation of the Lord (Gen. XLIX, 17). Because no one is without a fall, even if a knight falls and is swayed by some earthly vices, if he does not abandon hope of rising again and relies on divine mercy, he reaches salvation. But concerning the horseman, it is evident that he is considered reprehensible, as Moses himself says in the song of Exodus: He cast horse and horseman into the sea (Exod. XV, 21). And the Lord spoke in Zechariah, saying: I will strike every horse with madness, and its rider with foolishness (Zech. XII, 4). He did not say only the horse, but also the rider, as you have in Exodus: Horse and rider. For where is the rider who cannot control his own horse, and the horse is carried headlong, if it is seized by untamed fury into precipitous and perilous places. Therefore, what do you trust in, you rich ones, regarding horses? The deceitful horse brings salvation (Psalm 32:17). Why do you applaud in chariots? Some in chariots, and some on horses, but we will magnify the name of the Lord. They are bound and have fallen, but we have risen and stand upright (Psalm 20:8). Do not love those who cling to vanity; do not, O rich ones, be provoked by the roaring of lust. The Lord is terrible, and no one can resist the mighty and wealthy; He hurls heavenly judgment (Psalm 75:9).