On Life 157 – Stumbled on a Stone – January 20, 2017

   Sleepless and absent-minded, his head was full of rumbling thoughts about how to deal with his colleague who had always described him as a coward weakling. Many a time had that person tried to persuade him to use his authority in taking more money from the company’s customers against finishing their documents. Yet, he refused, saying that honesty was a real treasure. However, his colleague would scorn his ideas and principles, emphasizing that he would never succeed. Amidst this, he noticed a paper on which the phrase, “As you sow so you will reap” was written. Only then peace filled his heart. He went to sleep peacefully, expecting a new day in which God’s endless grace overwhelms the world.

   Indeed, “as you sow, so you will reap” is very true. It means that man will be rewarded for his thoughts and deeds. This is one aspect of God’s justice. Whoever contemplates life will know that God’s justice is applied to all creation, no matter how long this takes.

   Once, I read about a cruel, unjust king whose subjects called, “The merciless king”. They wanted to get rid of him by all means. They wished he had died.

   However, something unexpected happened: the king declared that he wanted to start a new term full of justice and mercy, promising the people never to treat them unjustly anymore. At the beginning, they did not believe him. But, as time passed, the king delivered on his promise so honestly that his subjects started calling him, “The fatherly king”! Days elapsed fast. Everybody was working peacefully, until one minister decided to know the reason for this change.

   He asked the king about it. With a smile, he answered that as he was strolling in a forest, he found a dog chasing a fox until the latter broke his leg. Then, as the dog was attacking a man, the man beat him with a stick. So, the dog broke his leg. While the man was riding his horse, the latter hit him. So, the man fell after he had broken his leg. Then, the horse ran toward the forest. But, in so doing, he fell in a hole and broke his leg. The king, then, paused and said, “I found myself contemplating these scenes, only to realize that evil brings more evil, and one day, my evil deeds will return to me. So, I decided to start afresh.”

   According to the story, the minister left the king, thinking that that it was the right time for him to kill the king and usurp the throne. Yet, as he was thinking, he stumbled on stone, fell, and broke his neck!

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center