I remember being startled the first time I read the saying of St. Silouan the Athonite (twentieth century): “The criterion for the presence of the Holy Spirit, the criterion of the truth, is the love for one’s enemies.” I have elsewhere seen the thought (or simplified it in my own mind) in this form: “You only know God to the extent that you love your enemies.” I believe it is true, and also that it is perhaps the most significant thing we can understand in the journey of our Christian life. There are many things to occupy our thoughts and our energies—the Christian life offers endless space for exploration. But if, in the end, it has not resulted in knowing God, then it has been a useless exercise and a life that missed its purpose.
+ Fr. Stephen Freeman from Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe.
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