To man has been given the hope of receiving in the world to come the gift of Divine likeness and full beatitude. The best he can have in this world, however, is a pledge of this future state. Within the confines of his earthly experience it is given to him to be able during prayer to dwell in God while remembering the world. But when he arrives at a more complete abiding in God the "world is forgotten," just as a man who "cleaves to the earth" with his whole self forgets God.
Elder Sophrony of Essex
