Abba Anthony of the Desert
Abba Daniel also said, ‘The body prospers in the measure in which the soul is weakened, and the soul prospers in the measure in which the body is weakened.’
—sayings of the Desert Fathers
This saying is both hard and misunderstood. At its face value it can be used as an excuse to deprive the body in very harsh ways. Some consider the body that God created as evil, but I believe the key to its beauty is to allow our spiritual souls to be in charge of our bodies. The body is good because it is the creation of God. Our God means for us to use all that He has given us for good, and if we put God first our entire being will prosper. If we neglect our spiritual development our bodies will fail us and we will be left empty.
