It is a truth of the Faith that we are not souls trapped in bodies of flesh: rather we are soul-bodies. Death creates the unnatural state of separation of the soul from the body. This is an obvious truth when we consider that God made us to never die. If we were never meant to die, then we were never meant to be separated from our bodies. Also, we are told that when Christ returns we are to be reunited to our bodies, and that they will be immortal, incorruptible, and undefiled bodies. thus we declare at the graveside,
"we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth
to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and
certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life,
through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change
our mortal body, that it may be like unto his
glorious body, according to the mighty working,
whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself." BCP
Thus we are to honour the body, the mind, and the soul as the temple of the Holy Spirit. The following prayer speaks of honouring the holiness of the soul. A beautiful prayer even though it lacks the completeness of the truth that we are soul-body creatures, not soul-trapped-in-body creatures.
O Thou who hast prepared a place for my soul, prepare my soul for that place. Prepare it with holiness; prepare it with desire; and even while it sojourneth upon earth, let it dwell in heaven with Thee, beholding the beauty of Thy countenance and the glory of Thy saints, nw and evermore. Amen Joseph Hall
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