Last week we heard from a Dessert Monk named John the Dwarf (again, an incredibly cinematic name). This week Rowan Williams reflects on Anthony's link of loving neighbor and loving God:
Saint Anthony of the Desert says that gaining the brother or sister and winning God are linked. It is not getting them signed up to something or getting them on your side. It is opening doors for them to healing and to wholeness. Insofar as you open such doors for another, you gain God, in the sense that you become a place where God happens for somebody else. You become a place where God happens. God comes to life for somebody else in a life-giving way, not because you are good or wonderful, but because that is what God has done. So, if we can shift our preoccupations, anxiety, and selfishness out of the way to put someone in touch with the possibility of God’s healing, to that extent we are ourselves in touch with God’s healing. So, if you gain your brother or sister, you gain God.
Williams, Rowan. Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another (p. 24). New Seeds. Kindle Edition.