Principles – Our Future… together – 28/11/2015

   During the past month, Egypt witnessed people assembly’s elections. It is the third right that the Egyptians gained on their way to make future. The first right they retained was enacting the constitution followed by the presidential elections.

   Future is our path of life in which we find joy or pain, success or failure, a better or sufferable life. Today is the day that will determine what choice we will make and live accordingly. We shape our children’s future and ours too and during this process life is teaching us that our future is nothing but the outcome of our present actions as each one of us is the maker of his future. Life also teaches us that work is essential and that our situations and choices would either make or ruin our future. Thus, let us reflect on our present actions and if they are constructive or destructive. It is a responsibility hold by each one of us.

   They say, don’t expect that cactus will yield apples. Thus, try to discover the origin of everything or you will be shocked in the future. Moreover, man should realize the outcomes of his actions and if they are in harmony with his future goals for we are in the same boat, we rather agree and unite our efforts to reach the shore, or we disagree and each one of us goes to a different destination and as a result we all will be drowned.

   A clear image of the aspired goal and a concentration to achieve it are needed without giving the chance to any distraction whatsoever. I recall a story of a group of travelers who sailed on a ship and the wind blew and broke that ship on an island’s shore. It was summer, thus they decided to grow the land to have food supplies for the winter. During their work, one of them discovered a gold mine at the island. The man became extremely glad and he told the others. They stopped growing the land and went to search for gold. However, winter came and they didn’t find food to eat despite the great treasures they owned. It was expected as they distracted them from their original goal.

   Thus, let the future be a new start we seek, putting our conflicts and disputes aside and set for a journey of cooperative work toward our dream of a prosperous future. As there is no single winner or loser in a united country; we either win together or lose together as we share the road and will have the same future. This is what we truly need to do at this critical stage of making a good future for the sake of our family and country.

   As they say, the past never dies. Indeed man should not forget what he went through and the experiences that he gained as if  one didn’t learn from his past, he would lose much more in the future doing the same mistakes over and over again and stumbling across the same traps he faced before. However, let the past pass by and never cry over the spilled milk. As the great writer, Anis Mansour said you would have no future if you lost your present wailing for your past. But rather remember its lessons that will lead you to success.

   At last, I loved that saying “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them”

Anba Ermiah,

General Bishop& President of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center