People Around Us
- Michael Haldas
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
“The world in which we live is broken and filled with broken people. The evidence is all around us. Every day we are affected by the reality of this context…Our culture is rooted in assumptions of radical individualism. It believes that we are not only distinct and separate from everything around us but also that what we think about something is, largely, the sum total of our experience. Thus, what I think and how I feel are considered sufficient to define “my reality.” There is no communion, only occasional alliances with other individuals for a common purpose.” (Kevin Scherer, Father Stephen Freeman)
“ “Come and see!” Yet what, precisely, does this call now mean? For Christ has already ascended up to where He was before, and though our own human nature now sits at the right hand of the Throne of God, yet even so the humanity which Christ took is hidden now from the eyes of mere flesh and blood. Therefore, if we wish to be faithful to the evangelic commandment of Christ, we must instead call the unbelieving world to “come and see” Christ in the secret place where He continues to abide on this earth even up until the present day: that place is the truly Christian soul. The simple (yet bitter) truth is that much of the reason so many people around us do not know Christ is that they have never been able to meet Him in us.” (Hieromonk Gabriel)
“Sometimes, whether consciously or unconsciously, we develop a specific attitude or do certain things which can make Christ and His Grace depart from us, and even more, depart from everyone around us! We do not realize it, but our actions can be responsible for a greater good, or they can be responsible for creating greater damage. It is very simple actually: if we are spiritual and understanding people, we invite Christ into our home and our town; if we are negative, self-centered or vindictive, with or without words, we ask Him and His Grace to depart from us, from our home and from everyone around us. Christ will politely obey, and we and our loved ones will be left alone, with our eternal misery as a companion.” (Bishop Emilianos)
“…we come to know our true selves only in the face of another. Alone, we may become either too harsh on ourselves or too lenient. In the community, we maintain a clearer vision of ourselves, shaped by the faces around us. We live in the image of the Holy Trinity, eternally in communion. When we are isolated, we risk spiritual poverty by denying who we were made to be…through our daily relationships, with strangers, acquaintances, peripheral friends, close friends, neighbors, and our Church family, we proclaim Christ and reveal the image of God within us. We live out the gospel as we engage with those around us each day…God knows our hearts, and He does not give up on us. Nor are our good efforts to share the faith and live it wasted. God uses all we do in faith to shed His light on those around us.” (Reverend Christopher T. Metropulos, D. Min, Dynamis 9/7/2020)
“We are able to love as Christ loves when we know and accept the love of God. It is like a candle. Candlewax is solid and hard until it ignited with a flame. But then it became soft then liquid. The wax flows, and it gives itself to burning of the flame. So also, the love of Christ melts our hearts so that they burn with love, burn not only for Him but for everyone and everything without distinction. And in that burning, we give ourselves up to bring the light of God to the world around us…To become a person so radiant with the love of Christ that we convey His love even to people we do not like and who do not like us obviously requires much more than the culturally accommodated religiosity that is all around us. To love our enemies as He loves us requires our deep spiritual transformation and healing as living icons of God.” (Fr. Basil, Fr. Philip LeMasters)
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