ce: for they disfigure their faces, that they
may be seen of men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have
received their reward. But, thou, when thou fastest, anoint
thy head and wash thy face, that thou be not seen of men to
fast, but of thy Father, who is in secret, and thy Father,
who seeth in secret, shall recompense thee." (_Matt.
6:16-18._)

This is a caution against the "sanctimonious" attitude and pose
assumed by certain "good" people of the churches, who would make a
display of their adherence to and observance of forms. Jesus, as a
true mystic, detested all religious posing and neglected no
opportunities to condemn the same.

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where
moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and
steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not
break through and steal: for where thy treasure is there
will thy heart be also. The lamp of the body is the eye; if
therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full
of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be
full of darkness! No man can serve two masters; for either
he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will
hold to one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
Mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your
life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for
your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than
the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of
the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor
gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are not ye of much more value than they? And which of you by
being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his
life? And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider
the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,
neither do they spin, yet I say unto you that even Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if
God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and
tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more
clothe you, ye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious,
saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or
wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things