The Coptic Christian typically is inclined to seclusion; he cultivates the use of silence and withdrawal so far as may be necessary for serenity of mind and for occasional flight to Divine Union when the Bridegroom allows. But typically he follows contemplation with service and participation in active works

The Lord Christ explains, "I am the way." "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." Not here, or there, but within you. When we pray, 'Thy Kingdom come,' we are petitioning for entry into His Eternal life, for inward union with God in the mystic sense. It is within not without, that a portal opens upon God's presence, and we have to enter and rest in Him.

The Lord Christ suggests the practical steps by which we may approach the narrow road into the Kingdom. Among them, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take his cross, and follow Me." "For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" "Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." And: "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

Upon the nature of His role in that union, the Lord Jesus Christ is specific, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." At the Last Supper He made His covenant with men to commune with those who partake in His precious Body and Blood.

But even in these sayings of the Lord, the meanings are veiled. The 'way' as indicated in 'self-denial,' 'conversion,' and 'communion,' remains a mystery in most people's mind until we read the interpretation of the Apostles and Church Fathers.

Saint John adds perfect visionary understanding and poetry to his account of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus. Saint Paul takes up the work of interpreting, teaching, organizing, and more than any other, sets Christianity in the mold of a Christ-centered fellowship. It is he who speaks of the attainment of the Kingdom as 'putting on the Lord Christ.' Saint Paul's as well as Saint James's interpretation of the faithful Christian is one who acts through love, and not just by profession.

The opening lines of Saint John's Holy Gospel are like an announcement that this is to be an interpretation through an intimate's mind, the story told by one who has known the Lord Christ as the mystic Word or Logos, by one who has everlasting life: "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness; …but as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God." Saint John asserts that the life in God is the light of men, and ascribes to the Lord Jesus Christ the promise, "He that hears My word, and believes on Him that sent Me, has eternal life, and…is passed from death to life."

The Church Fathers enriched the Christian message. Saint Anthony, fleeing a life of riches, came to believe that mystic union with God is 'the only perfect prayer.' Saint Augustine's famous declaration, "For You have made us for Yourself and our hearts are restless till they rest in You… The house of my soul is too small to receive You: let it be enlarged. It is in ruins: You do repair it," still resonates to this day.