“Many people, although they are believers, are occupied with present cares, as if they were feeding flocks across the Jordan (cf. Num. 23:4). Contrary to the faith they professed in baptism, they serve perishable things with their whole minds and all their desires…They do not know how clear the eternal light is, because they are blinded by transitory concerns. When they take pride in earthly things, they shut the door to heavenly light.”
Paterius, (c. 600) bibiblical commentator, disciple of Gregory the Great, from Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Numbers 23 in The Good Works Reader, ed. by Thomas C. Oden (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2007) 305.