EVERYONE AS GOOD

Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022 AD) was an Eastern Orthodox monk and poet. He wrote:

“We should look upon all the faithful as one person and consider that Christ is in each one of them. We should have such love for them that we are ready to sacrifice our very lives for them. For it is incumbent upon us neither to say, nor think of any person as evil, but we must look upon everyone as good. If you see a brother afflicted with a passion, do not hate him. Hate the passion that makes war upon him. And if you see him being terrorized by the habits and desires of previous sins, have compassion on him. Maybe you too will be afflicted by temptation, since you are also made from matter that easily turns from good to evil. Love towards your brother prepares you to love God even more. The secret, therefore, of love towards God is love towards your brother. For if you don’t love your brother whom you see, how is it possible to love God whom you do not see?”

“For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).

Symeon the New Theologian has long been a favorite writer of mine with his full teaching of Holy Spirit living and the necessity of speaking to, and hearing the Lord, while in contemplation. Even so, when he writes, ‘For it is incumbent upon us neither to say, nor think of any person as evil, but we must look upon everyone as good,’ I think I need about another hundred years to work on this in my own spiritual development.

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Jesus