He said, “You mentioned that “Robbins” came back to his senses while giving all his money to the boy then he left quickly. Have not he felt any worry or regret?”I answered, “I won’t give you a personal opinion. But let me tell you how Robbins himself has described these seconds as he wrote, “I walked to the door, but in fact I was not walking, but flying! I came back home on foot, but I felt that I was full of life and that I was so free. I was supposed to feel petrified as I had no money at all and did not know how to buy food. But I did not feel even a little bit of fear as if my feeling of need has died at that very second and it was as if it vanished from my whole life. I came back home at that night, but I had no idea about what I was going to do. Yet, I was so happy. I said to myself, okay, people fast all the time, I can fast for four or five days”
Those were the feelings of Robbins when he offered what he owned trying to make others happy; other whom he did not know before and possibly would not meet again, so that they can repay his favor even with thankful words. I think that this is true giving; giving that springs from our hearts to those in need, whether we know them or not; giving that does not wait for an answer even with words of praise, giving that that does not remember, but that we are all humans and in need for the support of others at a moment of our lives, giving in which you do not remember the face of the giver as much as you remember the warmness that filled your life as this person passed by you; this kind of giving that brings happiness to the souls of the people who give and those who take as well; because they smell in it a little aroma of God’s giving and his beneficence to His creatures.
He said, “How things go afterwards?” I answered him, “Robbins said that a simple idea crossed his mind and he tried to convince himself to do it then he slept deeply. In the morning, Robbins waked up determining on applying that idea. No long time has passed till he received his daily mail as usual, he found an envelope and opened it to find a check whose value was 1200 dollars from his friend who did not answer his phone calls, on which he comments, “This sum of money was enough to help me go on for two weeks to a month. Hence, I began to cry asking myself about the meaning of all of that. So, I came to understand that it was a reward for doing the right thing without feeling afraid or in need. It was a spontaneous action and that I did the right thing so it was like a reward from God. I thought and still think that this was gift from God .From that day, I decided to give more and it become like breathing. When you breathe in, you do not stop to think if there is still enough oxygen or not as there is always be enough oxygen. You just have to only do your role.”
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
