This fresh and imaginative exploration of the light Orthadox theology sheds on key contemporary ecumenical themes opens up an appreciation of spirituality which is theologically based and directly relevant to the search for the visible unity of the church. Spirituality has to do with the root tradition of Christian life and experience – ‘the silent sigh of deep prayer, a glass of cold water to a needy one, an emathetic teardrop of compassionate solidarity, fasts and vigils for the sake of love, poetic meditation on the word of God, a smile of encouragement, painting of an icon of divine hospitality.’ When the churches forcus their ecumenical encounter only on confessional and intellectual debates, they fail to draw from the silent roots that sustain Christian life and thus miss out on an important source of renewing power.
