On Life 45 – Mirrors – September 29, 2014

It is said, “Don’t count the obvious reality.” Indeed, many things are not clear. More important is knowing the reality of what we see. During our lifetime, there are things we accept or reject and consider problematic or painful. Try to know why you reject or are hurt by certain things, but do not put justifications: for they are traps that will only lead you to further pain. Heed where the problem lies and strive to find a solution for it, instead of rejecting its outward appearance. It is said, “The solution of any problem exists a priori. What we have to do is pose is the right questions which show it.”

One day, Sharif noticed that a mirror disappeared from his house’s bathroom. When he asked his mother about it, she said it was broken. So, he brought a new, beautiful mirror. Yet, on the following day, he did not find it in its place. When he asked his mother, she told him that, in his anger, his father broke it: for upon looking in it, he saw an ugly face!

Here, silence prevailed, for Sharif and his mother recognized the reason for the mirrors disappearance. The father used to blame the mirror, not himself. So much so, that he decided to leave the house to go to faraway village, and if he felt comfortable, he would stay there for the rest of his life.

The man packed and left. One morning, while the village’s sage was strolling by the river, he found the man in rage and throwing stones into the river as if avenging himself of it! The sage stopped to appease him, then asked him about the reason of his anger. So, he answered, “I left my family, home, and work because of their scolding me, and because of the mirror in which I see nothing but a frowning face, and decided to stay at this lovely village. In the morning, I started strolling, only to find myself before this river. When I looked at it, I found nothing but an angry face; so, I started throwing stones at it, as it deforms my image!”

The sage smiled and calmed the man down, asking him to sit by the river where he started telling him that our image in a river or mirror is but a reflection of our hearts. If we want to change it, we should change our heart first. The real problem is within man who can strive to refine himself. Only then, his image will change to the better.

The core of our problems resides in our failure to realize the reality of our troubles. In effect, we deal with them wrongly and, thus, waste our efforts. Try to understand the reality of your problems. Only then, you can know the way and tool to find the solution; and, with effort and training, you can overcome your suffering and go through life peacefully.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center