Principles – Moderation – 14/2/2015

   “To go beyond the bounds of moderation is to outrage humanity. The greatness of the human soul is shown by knowing how to keep within proper bounds. There are two equally dangerous extremes- to shut reason out, and not to let nothing in.” Moderation is the trait of mature people. It helps them to promote their characters and their daily encounters. This is the secret of joy in life.

   Moderation is necessary in all the fields of life. Sometimes insistence leads to loss and misjudgment. However, moderation doesn’t mean having no principles to adopt, but rather it is a balanced way to live according to your beliefs and present them to the society without curtailing others’ freedom of opinion .Moderation is connected with many other virtues.

Moderation and Justice

   They are closely related. Moderation allows a person to judge matters honestly and objectively. Moderated person is wise enough to hear different opinions and be open to new ideas and different beliefs. Thus, he earns a wide perspective and wisdom. Moderation make a person careful when judging a matter without any hesitation, he rather opens the door of discussion with others in order to fully understand their stances and points of view. For Aristotle, justice is a rational mean between bad extremes.

   Moderation keep the balance between heart and mind as the saying goes a little emotion makes the tough mind flexible and little rationality prevents the heart from going astray. Relationships should balance between heart and mind. When heart and mind go in the same road, a person leads a journey of eternal joy.

   Moderation should be adopted while taking different stances in different matters. Evading the extremes, like hastiness or slowness, extravagancy and thrift, is perfect as tending to both sorts of behavior is wrong. There is always time to talk and another to keep silent. Wisdom of keeping balance between what you should and shouldn’t say is necessary. Unbalanced characters may also be a result of imbalanced method of raising children by either spoiling or treating them harshly. As they say that using little water would not do any help and using a lot of water may lead to drown.

   Thus, a person must evaluate his behaviors, thoughts, emotions and tendencies. He should consider his traits that need to be refined. Thus, he will have a balanced character and put his mind, soul and conscience at ease. Moreover, he would be a cause of joy to each and every one he meets with.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center