Family In Christ

Many times I refer to my Orthodox brothers and sisters as "brother or sister in Christ". I want to clarify exactly what I mean by that. I say this to purposely distinguish between spiritual and physical. When someone is a brother, there is a very personal connection one shares because you share the same parents and same blood. When we are brothers or sisters in Christ we share the same blood of Christ and are spiritually united in this way. This relationship supersedes the physical brother/sister relationship as we can be brothers/sisters but not united in Christ, so the unity is rather superficial. So when we say brother or sister in Christ, remember that it is because we are united in the body and blood of our Lord.