On Life 29 – The Bending Tree – June, 6, 2014

   Walking along the path of life, we pass by many of the path travelers, and we frequently come across those who share with us in some phases of our life path; here, you shall realize that the participant you choose in the path will much impact your progress. It is said: “the company before the way”, some people may lose their life values because they didn’t manage to choose companions to help them achieving progress in life. Thus, one of the most important choices of life is choosing the people with whom we deal, setting the framework of dealing with them. Along the path of life, search for the wise people to accompany you, hence you will not be lost in the land of deviation, but rather you will learn how to turn the road’s slips into steps towards success, a wise man chooses the proper time for speaking, the proper words for situations and people around him. A wise man always builds himself and all who are around him, effectively assisting in solving problems. You learn wisdom from wise people, achieving progress in your way. Among the most important distinguishing fruits man bears throughout his life is the experience and wisdom of confronting the storms objecting his way.

   As the Sage said, “Wisdom is better than rubies”, it does change life, move away from the foolish; by whom I don’t mean the illiterate, but rather those who think they know better than others, because the path of those leads to nothing but destruction. Along the path of life, walk with the modest one, for who knows real modesty is filled with virtues.

   I liked a conversation between a father and his son while they were roaming in the house’s garden; one tree grabbed the attention of the boy, who stopped to look carefully at its branches which were bent forward, he asked his father about its bending reason, he answered: “Look carefully at the branches, son, don’t you notice something?” The boy considered the carefully, then answered: I notice nothing distinct in them. The father replied: have a thorough look, you will find it full of good fruits, which makes the tree bending downwards. He added: “when the branches are filled with fruits, they get inclined and bent out of the load”.

   This recalls to my mind the truly modest person, who has many virtues and looks like a bending tree, because he bears fruits and good to whoever gets closer. It is said: “True modesty is the mother of all virtues”, a Chinese parable says: “the more an ear grows the more it bends and the more a wise man knows the more he acts modestly”. Indeed, true modesty comes only from the true great figures whose increasing virtues make them realize that the path is still long, so, they seek towards acquiring more virtues to be like a spring from which all who get closer may gulp.

“On life” we are still sailing.

The General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center