Death in the soul has given rise to the passions.
The passions are unnatural movements of the soul. We may understand them as impulses, like love, that were once natural, but have been terribly twisted into unnatural urges, like lust.
The passions may seem natural to us in our present condition. This is delusion. Using a drug may seem natural to an addict, but it is dangerously unnatural.
The passions are like wild animals in the soul. In the heart, anger roars and lust preys. God created us to rule over the animals, but we cannot now live in harmony with animals. We do not even live in peace with the animals within.
When we allow the passions to guide us, we do not live according to our true spiritual nature. The passions lead us away from our potential as human beings. Through obedience to the passions, acting according to their urging, we behave like lower animals. Instead of following the stream of the divine Will that moves us toward growth in maturity and greater health, we instead allow ourselves to be controlled by animalistic instincts that carry us toward suffering, sickness, and a greater experience of death.
Text copyright © 2017 by Fr. Symeon D. S. Kees