On Life 159 – Forget – February 10, 2017

   Throughout our life, we experience forgetfulness which is counted either a blessing or source of trouble. Forgetfulness is blessing when it heals the pain which sometimes adheres to one’s life to make it an endless suffering. Thus, humans either resist or avoid pain. However, they might lose their way. Verily, nobody desires pain, even if it is the best teacher. It is said that pain is strong at the beginning, then it fades gradually, leaving the lesson that was acquired through man’s experiences.

   Also, forgetfulness is a great blessing when people forget the evils they have gone through. Thus, they tend to forgive themselves and wrongdoers: for remembering evil brings nothing but evil which drags humanity into a vicious circle of destruction. Yet, breaking this circle with forgiveness and forgetting evil implant goodness in man’s heart. This goodness attracts man into whatever is positive and edifying.

   Once I read about a wife who was suffering from her mother-in-law’s cruelty. So, she decided to get rid of her. She visited one of her relatives and told him her piteous story, asking him to help her kill her mother-in-law, provided that the poison be long-acting so that nobody discovers the deed. The man consented and gave her some herbs which will fulfill this purpose. However, he told her to change the way she treated her mother-in-law and behave kindly so that nobody heeds it.

   The girl started offering her mother-in-law a few herbs. At the same time, she treated her with great love and endurance. Gradually, the woman started to feel how her daughter-in-law endured her cruelty, which touched her home, and their relation improved immensely. At that time, the girl hurried to her relative asking him to give her an antidote for the poison, for she had started to love her mother-in-law who had become a kind mother. She wept bitterly, but the man smiled saying, “I knew this would happen. Love and goodness are the shortest route toward ending evil.” Then he reassured her by saying that he gave her energy-boosting herbs, not poisonous ones. So, she left happily.

   Truly, life is not that easy; it requires a lot of endurance, and an open heart which is full of affection that stems from God’s love which He grants whoever takes that path. If man chooses his paths, he should be responsible for his choice. So, forget the negative that you might attain the positive.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center