It is, therefore, impossible to separate the soul from sin unless God should come and turn back this evil wind which inhabits both the soul and body. As anyone who watches a bird flying may wish that he himself could fly—yet still he cannot fly, being without wings—so also a man may have the will to be pure, to be without blame and spotless, to be always without evil and in communion with God, yet he does not have the power to fly into the divine air and enjoy the liberty of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 3:18). The divine aspirations are not enough. If he does not have the wings given him, he cannot fly. Let us pray therefore to God that He give us “the wings of a dove” (Ps 55:7); of the Holy Spirit so we may fly to Him and find rest and that He may separate and take away from our soul and body such an evil wind-namely, sin itself, which inhabits the members of our soul and body. —St Macarius the Great