Lover of Mankind - ο φιλάνθρωπος

We address the Lord in the first of the resurrectional apolytikia as μόνε Φιλάνθρωπε, móne Philánthrope, "only Lover of Mankind." That has always struck me as the most important thing we can ever know about God, or even about man. Only He really and fully loves us, not we ourselves, especially not we ourselves. Though we try, our love for others is usually well mixed with love for ourselves—a love which is not really for ourselves, though, but for our ulterior motives, which are almost always bad for us. The only way we can ever truly love, or even begin to, is by following Him who revealed the love of the Father to us, that is, Jesus. If we follow behind Him closely, and do what we see Him doing, we will begin to love.

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:12-13 NIV

I was reading about Mother Gavrilía Papayanni last night and this morning noticed that at some time previously I had put a sticky bookmark on one of the pages. It happened to be at a passage that describes how she did her "missionary" work in India and other countries that were not already Christian. I found that it very much describes how I try to witness for Christ here in America, where Christianity is ignored and ridiculed if not banned. Our witness does not primarily consist in what we say, but in what we do. If people are to run from their sins, they have to see that "greater love" which is described by Christ in the holy gospels. I want to quote a little of the passage I marked on pages 47-48 of The Ascetic of Love, the book about Mother Gavrilía.

God had sent her to India. At the time, she herself did not know why. What is important, though, is that all who came to know her, whether Indians or Westerners, saw and recognized in her a completely different way of life. They saw and discovered the ascetic character, the humility and the deep spirituality that Orthodoxy has preserved through the centuries. Those of the East saw another West. Those of the West saw their own East, the existence of which they did not even suspect. Had any other missionaries identified themselves, to such an extent, with those they served? Who had ever eaten, drunk, slept or travelled the way these people ate, drank, slept or travelled? Who else had done that? In those days, too, almost all the missionaries lived, wherever they went, under exceptional conditions—good hotels, special food and water, comfortable travelling arrangements—so as to care better for "their" Locals. Who were these people they were calling "theirs"? By never assuming this (sometimes imperceptible and latent in missionary work) attitude of superiority towards those one is ministering to, she always tended and helped without hurting… Yes… This is why her passage left a deep mark. "Indeed, I have become everything in turn to men of every sort." (1 Corinthians 9:22) Actually, she never preached Orthodoxy, but rather, catechized with the heart, without words, with the unique example of her own life.

… Our Lord said: "But he whosoever shall do and teach them…" (Matthew 5:19)…This is how she was "teaching" others. Through her own practice—being herself a living example… This is how, wherever she went, with the grace of God, she opened a window on Orthodoxy and—for us all—a window on the rest of the world, thus making a wide breach in the wall of our acquired fears.