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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: teach thee the lessons that I have learned and observed from my
youth even to these grey hairs. If then thou shalt believe and
be baptized, thou shalt be saved; but if thou believe not, thou
shalt be damned. All the things that thou seest to-day, wherein
thou gloriest, -- pomp, luxury, riches, and all the deceitfulness
of life, -- quickly pass away; and they shall cast thee hence
whether thou wilt or no. And thy body will be imprisoned in a
tiny grave, left in utter loneliness, and bereft of all company
of kith and kin. And all the pleasant things of the world shall
perish; and instead of the beauty and fragrance of to-day, thou
shalt be encompassed with horror and the stink of corruption.
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