God, it is said, is the Sun of Righteousness (cf. Mat. 4:2), and the rays of His supernal goodness shine down on all men alike. The soul is wax if it cleaves to God, but clay if it cleaves to matter. … Clay hardens in the sun, while wax grows soft. Similarly, every soul that, despite God’s admonitions, deliberately cleaves to the material world, hardens like clay and drives itself to destruction. … But every soul that cleaves to God softened like the wax and, receiving the impress and stamp of divine realities, it becomes ‘in spirit the dwelling-place of God’ (Eph. 2:22).
-The Philokalia
The Philokalia is a Greek word which means “love of the beautiful, the good”. It is a collection of texts written between the 4th and 15th centuries by spiritual masters of the Eastern Orthodox Church. They were originally written for the guidance and instruction of monks in the practice of the contemplative life.
Photo: Santorini, Greece (Google Image)
Universal Spirituality 