On life (88) – ”The Source of Joy” – 9/8/2015

   “Do not marvel at this homogeneous, sacrificial people when they work another miracle, apart from building the pyramids. Even if another people build a pyramid, they would not come up with another great miracle.”

This is part of a dialogue between two archaeologists: one of whom is English and the other French in “The Return of the Spirit”. These words express the wonderful Egyptian personality. As we raise the slogan, “Egypt rejoices” after the opening of the New Suez Canal, we realize that throughout life, we go through happy as well sad situations.

   Egypt and her people have gone through hard times. Now, it is their right to rejoice, having toiled diligently in order to make a great dream come true. In fact, when man’s dreams come true, he feels pretty happy and chants, “My wishes have been fulfilled.”

   To accomplish this project, everybody worked efficiently, patiently, and effectively: driven by great love for his fatherland. It is said that the best way to accomplish a job is to love it exceedingly. This work was backed by Egyptians’ great love for their country, perseverance, and insistence to achieve their goal. Indeed, history has always chronicled how keen Egyptians have been on success, rejecting defeat. Moreover, their love for their country led them to support the project financially, thus, making its capital purely Egyptian. Nobody hesitated to give Egypt what she needed. Even those who could not participate in the work prayed, beseeching God to grant it success. God accepted their prayers. Someone said, “Whenever I make a team, I seek people who love winning. If I do not find them, I seek people who hate defeat.” In fact:

Should peoples refuse to die
Fate is sure to answer.
Darkness should die away
And bonds are sure to shatter.

   This entails that if Egyptians want to work miracles, they surely will. Joy is also the outcome of man’s retrieving his self-confidence and ability to achieve goals. Egypt went through hard times. Yet, Egyptians have always been ready to toil for their country, which was what President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi emphasized in his speech, “When Egyptians were working on the New Suez Canal project, circumstances were not normal: be it on the economic or security level.” Yet, they worked out the miracle. Congratulations to Egypt and the Egyptians on the New Suez Canal miracle which will be a source of prosperity for Egypt and the whole world.

General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center