Reply to Be Wary of Racism and Islamophobes

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[quote=Anonymous]I engaged with Muslima on another thread and provoked hilarity on that thread by telling her I was praying for her as I received communion - she responded nicely, but others seemed to think I was a crazy lady.

Let me propose that everyone, whatever their religion or lack thereof, take the following to heart:

[b]To respond to villainy with blessing, to answer persecution with patience, is contra-instinctual. It is to override our instinct toward self-preservation. So, to override a powerful instinct, some power greater than ourselves is required.

“What shall I render unto the Lord?” wrote St Silouan of Mt Athos. “I am a sorry wretch, as the Lord knows, but my pleasure is to humble my soul and love my neighbor, though he may have given me offense. At all times I beseech the Lord Who is merciful to grant that I may love my enemies; and by the grace of God,” he writes, “I have experienced what the love of God is, and what it is to love my neighbor…” Then, as precious as that grace is, St Silouan reflects on how quickly it can be lost: “But if I find fault with any man, or look on him with an unkind eye, my tears dry up, and my soul sinks into despondency.”

The power to bless when reviled, to endure when persecuted, to forgive when insulted, is God’s by nature, and ours by grace. That is the lofty, dignified, non-negotiable way of the Christian; it is the difficult but necessary way of love.

Honestly, can any other way bring healing to the world?[/b]

It is from an article written by Father John Oliver on the Antiochian Orthodox Christian website

http://www.antiochian.org/node/19200

[/quote]

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