Old age and infirmity have advantages
Saint Ambrose tells us that we have to humble ourselves before God, confessing that wickedness comes not from without but from within ourselves. He is, in effect, repeating the teaching of Our Lord: “There is nothing from without a man that entering into him, can defile him. But the things which come from a man, those are they that defile a man” (Mark 7:15).
At the same time, Saint Ambrose gives hope to the feeble and infirm, alluding to the words of Our Lord to Saint Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
From the Treatise on the Six Days of Creation by St Ambrose, Bishop & Doctor
If evil is not something that has no principle from which it springs, as is the case of the uncreated Being; and if it is not something that God has made, where does it come from? For no wise person will deny the existence of evil in this world. We are all familiar with the evil of death. But from what we have said it is evident that evil is not a living substance. It is a perversion of mind and spirit, swerving from the way of true virtue, which frequently overtakes the unwary. We see also that the greater danger does not come from outside us. It comes from our very selves. The enemy is within us. Within us is the progenitor of our error; within us, I say, dwells our adversary. Hence, we must examine our aims, explore the habits of our minds, be watchful over our thoughts and over the desires of our heart.
You yourself are the cause of your own wickedness. You yourself are the commander of your shameful acts, and the instigator of your crimes. Why blame another agent as an excuse for your own faults? Oh! that you would not incite yourself, that you would not rush heedlessly on, that you would not entangle yourself in immoderate endeavours, or in indignation and passionate desires, for these hold you captive as in nets. Most certainly it belongs to us, and we are able to moderate our endeavours, to restrain our anger, to curb our desires. But we can also yield to wantonness, foster evil passions, inflame our anger or give ear to those who incite to anger, become puffed up with pride, or give into fits of anger instead of humbly lowering ourselves and lovingly practicing gentleness.
Hence, why should we accuse “nature”? There are impediments in nature; there is old age and infirmity. But both have also advantages; old age brings more friendly manners, gives more useful counsels, inspires more readiness to accept death, and helps curb evil passions more easily. The weakness of the body too has as counterpart the sobriety of mind. Hence, the Apostle says: “When I am powerless, it is then that I am strong.” Accordingly, he gloried in his infirmities, and not in his powers. And there came to him the luminous and salutary answer that “in weakness power is made perfect.” Let us therefore not seek for causes outside ourselves nor blame others for them. Let us acknowledge our guilt. For we must willingly attribute to ourselves, not to others, whatever evil we can avoid doing when we so choose.
