See Christ in everyone

By Fr. Nick Kotsis - Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, like most of you, I assume, I've been terribly saddened by the recent events that have taken place throughout the country starting from the killing of George Floyd.

I will not get into any of the politics around this.  I humbly submit that all the politics around this situation are fallacious.
 
I do see two major problems from the standpoint of Orthodox Christian anthropology.
 
First, many people tend to classify others in groups and assume everyone in these groups think exactly the same or nearly the same.  All this does is set other people up in opposition to you before having the chance to know what the individuals even think!  Ultimately, this is a tool of the devil and is always used by the maleficent to divide, abuse, oppress and kill.  
 
For the Orthodox Christian, we always look at how God moves the heart of the individual; how the Holy Spirit enlightens one’s mind; how Christ confers Grace upon the believer.  We take seriously the words of St. Paul, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  In these beautiful words we see the individuality of each person ever born, or to be born, merging with the will of God.
 
“Ah, but Father, St. Paul is taking about being Baptized in Christ.  He’s not talking about non-believers.  Got-cha!”
 
Yes, this is true and brings me to the second problem that afflicts so many.  When we look at an individual, whom are we seeing?  All too often, it is not someone good, or even with the potentiality of good.  Often, we see what we have constructed from our pre-conceived notions based on the persons looks, background, wealth, etc.  When one is Baptized and has received the Holy Spirit, what is the most beautiful thing that person will ever see with his or her new, spiritual eyes?  As St. John Chrysostom writes, the person filled with the Holy Spirit will see the icon of Christ in the face of all others.  Would there be anything more beautiful to look at?  And it does not matter if the person is Jew or Greek, slave or free, man or woman. 
 
I hope and pray that the person who is heard most in this calamity is the one who sees Christ in the sinner and the saint; the one who sees Jesus in the face of every individual piece of molded clay.
 
God bless,
Fr. Nick