By St. Theophan the Recluse
We have two lives, fleshly and
spiritual. Our spirit is as though buried in our flesh.
Once it begins to extract itself—coming to life by
God’s grace—from its intertwining with the
flesh and to appear in its spiritual purity, then it will
be resurrected, or it will resurrect itself piece by
piece. When it wholly tears itself out of this binding,
then it comes forth as if from a tomb, in a renewed life.
In this manner the spirit becomes separate, alive and
active; whereas the tomb of the flesh is separate, dead
and inactive, though both are in the same person. This is
the mystery of what the apostle says: "Where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty" (II Cor. 3:17). This
is liberty from decay, which surrounds our incorruptible
spirit; or from passions, corrupting our nature. This
spirit, entering into the freedom of the children of God
is like a beautifully colored butterfly, fluttering away
from its cocoon. Behold its rainbow coloring: love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance (Gal. 5:22). Is it possible for such
a beauty of perfection not to arouse in us a desire to
emulate it?