On Life 49 – Who Can I Learn from? – October 24, 2014

   I speak of life. Who does not live its pains, smiles, and confusion? Who doesn’t learn a new lesson every day? Who doesn’t seek milestones that encourage and strengthen him?

   I speak of life: for it is everybody’s story, one of toil and struggle, success and failure, progress and regression. Either it ends in success, or in consecutive failures. People live and learn. They can improve their steps toward eternity.

   I speak of life and its lessons which are quite deep when they are applied. A sage said, “Make silence your virtue: for, through it, you listen to others’ mistakes and avoid them.” Another said, “I learnt wisdom from others’ mistakes; whenever I see a mistake, I don’t make it.” All of us find lessons they can learn.

   I liked a story about a person who asked a sage, “Who can I learn from?” The sage answered, “Learn from whoever passes by you.” Here, I would like to say that you should learn from the biography of whoever goes through others’ lives and experiences: for these are transmitted amongst humans. Whoever reads them adds years to his life. Also, there are other experiences that a person’s life cannot accommodate.

   Life is a route that ends in one destiny. So, tackling it, its ways and situations makes man wait and think of his conditions and actions, and learn from others. Instead of putting out a candle that lights your and others’ path, learn how to preserve it: for nothing except leading a dark route happens if every person puts out another’s candle. In effect, everybody gets confused and falls into failure.

   Thus, each person should help his fellows to tread a luminous route. This will inevitably lead them to achieving success. Life is too short to be wasted in hatred and demolition. Rather, it is God’s gift for edification. Whoever wants to edify should have the power of love within him which is the miraculous power that can edify. You can edify if you love yourself correctly and love others, and learn to love what you do. You can edify when your heart is filled with love for the Loving God.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center