Principles – “To Resemble Him” – Saturday, 27th of May, 2017

   A critical life principle is to ask others to do what you only can. Influence, my friend, is the outcome of being a role model. The first step to teach is to do. While we live at an age that is full of empty words, people are in dire need to witness true actions and good deeds. Indeed, “The world is not in need for advice but an example”. It is not good or fair to ask people to adhere to goodness, forgiveness or forbearance, while you don’t know how to do so yourself!

   When you become a role model, you realize the hard effort and toiling you should exert to achieve what you ask people to do. Moreover, you will discover the amount of trouble and problems that hinder the way for all those who try to achieve this goal. Hence, you will be fairer, wiser and more humane in the way you speak and judge people or matters and you will acquire wisdom and good judgment to take the right decisions on the suitable time and avoid steep paths of life.

   One may wonder: where is the role model or the example I want to follow as in the present each person lives on a separate island trying to achieve what’s best in his point of view?”

   I have no words but those echoing in my heart, “If you can’t find a role model, then be one”. As what it is supposed to mean that each one is waiting for others to light a candle! Waiting doesn’t mean, but that all people will walk in the dark as each one is laying the responsibility of taking the initiative on others!

   While if one took the initiative of lighting the first candle, surely its light will disperse the darkness of life paths for the world and many people will learn to light more candles. The same goes to what you offer to people following your own good principles that will turn to glimpses of joy, comfort and help to others. “The good role model is the best advice”

   I recall a story happened long time ago in one of the communist countries: A professor was sent to teach in a university there on one condition that he shouldn’t talk to students about God, so the professor accepted this condition. In the end of the year, the university’s administration found out that many of the students desired to follow the beliefs of this professor. Then they talked to him accusing him of violating the conditions of the contract, but he assured them he didn’t spoke of God for even once. When they asked some of the students, they answered them, “He didn’t spoke of God for once, but we just desire to resemble him!!!”

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center