On life (150) -”The Great Balance” – 25/11/2016

   To deal with others, you need a special set of skills and experiences: for in so doing, you might either be happy or miserable. Successful human relations require that you look at the positive side of others. Here, it is worthy to quote a sage’s advice to his son, “Son, our relations with others continue if we ignore their flaws, and flourishes if we are in harmony. Strictness enfeebles them, and inquisitiveness kills them. We overcome sadness with a smile, care with patience, follies with silence, and hatred with soft answers. Be unique, but never haughty. Write whatever you want without provoking anybody. Criticize people; yet do not hurt them. Man is made great by what he gives, not what he owns.”

   To achieve this great balance, one has to exceedingly loving, which is why we shall recount the following story:

   Once upon a time, a man married a charming lady who he loved very much. It came to pass, however, that his country was plagued with an illness that caused the distortion of a person’s face by pimples.

   One day, the lovely wife felt her face was afflicted by that disease, which made her sure her face would be distorted. At that time, the husband was away. He did not know what had become of his wife. On his way back, he had an accident and lost his eyesight.

   Life, however, did not stop. Gradually, the wife lost her beauty, whereas the husband only thought of her as his beautiful wife. Their love grew and lasted until the wife passed away. The husband was exceedingly grieved. Having had her buried, and as he was about to leave alone, he heard somebody asking him, “Where are you going?” “Home,” answered the man sadly. “How come you leave alone when you cannot see?” “I am not blind; I just assumed blindness lest I hurt my wife’s feelings: for I got to know she was afflicted by that disease. What a good wife she was! I treated her as lovingly as I did before she got ill.” The story ends here; but what if there is a similar one going through your life?

   This symbolic story shows the crucial role love plays in making man accept many people with whom he might differ. None of us is void of defects: none of us is perfect, which is why we have to learn how to accept one another through love.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center