SPIRITUAL LIFE

The term «spiritual» The term «spiritual life» is a very broad term, and therefore may also lead to misunderstandings. The word “spirit” has the same root as breath. While the animal breathes, it lives. So we used to call the spirit or soul the principle of life. Primitive nations imagine a soul more or less material. Greek philosophy, however, has the conclusive conclusion that the human spirit is immaterial and therefore fundamentally different from the body. We know this by his activity. We think in general terms and express truths that transcend time and matter that are eternal. Therefore, the soul is eternal and immaterial. So man is twofold: spiritual and material; Plato and many others seemed to have no natural condition. He thinks a real person is just a soul. The body is something that has become attached to the soul, perhaps due to some mysterious guilt, which obstructs the soul and which it must eventually get rid of to be free. True philosophy is, as the Platonizes say, the “study of death”. Thus, spiritually living is the one who carries the body, his passions and inclinations, the one who “dies daily”, who deals with what is eternal, that is, by meditating on heavenly ideas and God. This concept of «spiritual life» has often been liked by Christians. In essence, every noble humanism is approaching. It advocates giving preference to body values ​​over body values. Spiritual values: science, Sart, philosophy. It is an effort that we like to support. But the other question is whether it corresponds to what we call “spiritual life” in a fully Christian sense. One text of the Gospel was liked to be referred to by the “spiritual fathers” of the early Christian era: for you will not speak it anymore, but your Father’s Spirit will speak in you (Mt 10:20). However, the word «spirituality» here acquires a special meaning which is different from other weakened meanings. «Spiritual» in the Christian sense is the one in which the Holy Spirit is present. Spiritual life is life in the Spirit and with the Holy Spirit because God’s love is spilled in our hearts through the Holy Spirit we have received (Rom. 5: 5). According to st. Irenaeus consists of the body, the soul and the Holy Spirit. He is like the “soul of our soul”, unites with us in one, giving strength and meaning to all human. Naively, not quite right, but vividly tried to explain this truth to an unknown Egyptian monk from V or VI. century. It compares sheep and shepherd. Shepherd has what the sheep has, that is animal life. But he also has a new, all-pervasive intellectual life. If a shepherd can be baptized, he will receive the third stage of life, the Holy Spirit. Thus, a Christian shepherd is distinguished from a pagan shepherd, just as a pagan shepherd differs from a sheep. But the last conclusion is too simple. The only merit of this comparison is that it is a good representation of the triple layer of Christian life and spirituality. “The Christian has a share in the Holy Spirit,” writes Theophan Zatvornik (c. 1894), “this participation is necessary because he who does not have the Spirit of Christ is not Christ.” «Why is the grace of the Spirit compared to water?» asks St. Cyril of Jerusalem. He says, «Everything arises from water, and water produces plants and animals. Coming down from heaven like rain. It is one, it has the same form, and yet what a variety of effects it causes! One spring irrigates the whole garden, one rain falls from the sky to the whole world. However, it becomes white in the lily, red in the rose, purple in the hyacinth. Thus the Holy Spirit is one and indivisible, but He distributes grace to everyone as He desires … »

The Purpose of Spiritual Life The painting is perfect when all colors and strokes form a unity, together they express the idea that the painter wanted to express. In the perfect man, all the components of his personality are united, united by the reviving power of the Holy Spirit. So, it is rightly said that the goal of spiritual life is the perfect spiritualization of the whole person: his mind, will, feelings, body. Then one has a special mission in the world: spiritual people spiritualize their surroundings, society, and ultimately the whole world. That is the goal of human history. In the Apocalypse with v. John reads an interesting note about «heavenly Jerusalem»: there is no temple (Rev. 21, 22). The reason is obvious. The whole world is already penetrated by the Holy Spirit, so it is the only temple. But the path to complete spiritualization is long, not only in the history of the world, but also in the life of the individual. However, add a small note to avoid misunderstandings. The word «spiritualization» must be understood correctly: If the body prevails over the soul, higher interests and activities suffocate. Conversely, it is when the soul rules. Even the body becomes beautiful and healthy. Likewise, “spiritualizing” man does not mean diminishing human values, but, on the contrary, their full bloom. If we take care to do whatever the Spirit asks, he himself will teach us how to put it consistency with other needs. What is required by the soul and body is not in conflict with the spiritual life; The result is a perfect harmony of all movements, attitudes, thoughts, feelings, wishes, intentions, moods, joys. «This is simply paradise!» (Theophan Zatvornik).