He who has acquired perfect love for God goes
through this life as if he did not exist. For he considers himself a stranger
to all that is visible, and awaits with patience that which is unseen. He is
completely transformed into love for God and has abandoned all worldly
attachments.
He who truly loves God considers himself a
wanderer and newcomer on earth, for in him is a striving towards God in soul
and mind, which contemplates Him alone.
As for care of the soul, a person in his body is
like a lighted candle. The candle must burn out, and a person must die. But as
our soul is immortal, so our cares should be directed more toward the soul than
the body: "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his
soul? (Mt. 16:26)" for which, as is known, nothing in the world
can serve as ransom? If the soul alone is worth more than all the world and the
worldly kingdom, then the Kingdom of Heaven is incomparably more precious. We
consider the soul as most precious for the reason stated by Macarius the Great,
that God did not desire to bond and unite His spiritual essence with any
visible creation except man, whom He loves more than any of His creations.
Return to the first page
