Once the world held us by its delights. Now it is so full of disasters that the world itself is summoning us to God. Consider the emptiness of things which pass away with time.  Let the end of what is temporal show that what can pass away amounts to nothing.  Let the fall of things reveal their transitory nature, and that what appeared to be lasting amounts to almost nothing. Consider these things carefully, dearly beloved. Fix your hearts on the love of what is eternal, so that when you decline to strive for earthly heights, you may obtain the glory you grasp by faith.

-St Gregory the Great