He said, “I’m very sad. I love my work, and do it honestly. I also try to help my colleagues whenever they need help. I don’t really mind whether they remember my help; it is performing the task correctly that makes me happy. Yet, I’m very much pained, for there’s a colleague who tries to destroy this image. I don’t know why. He talks in an unseemly way with his colleagues and subordinates. He creates problems, and gives his superiors wrong information. He doesn’t accept advice. Now, he’s trying to oust me from work by ruining the relation between me and my superiors. I wonder if there’s justice on earth or if this the reality, which Gibran Khalil Gibran expressed by saying,
‘Justice, on earth, makes fairies weep to hear And the dead will laugh to see’
He paused, and I told him, “Would you listen to a true story?” “Tell me,” replied he. “I had a friend who used to work as a manager in a company. He had a harsh deputy who used to treat the employees cruelly and embarrass them before their bosses. He never appreciated any effort, and used to get tense in discussions. So much so that many used to avoid working with him.
Then, it came to pass that he created a schism between my friend and his superiors by presenting him wrong data that he might make wrong decisions, which made them oust him from his post and the company branch altogether. Many got sad and started wondering why injustice prevails and where justice is.
At that time I said, “God is just and loves justice. No matter how much time passes, each man reaps whatever he sows. Good never dies. Nor does evil disappear in the harshness of life. Inevitably the day will come when truth manifests itself.” My addressor asked in despair, “Has the day come? I think it lost its way.” I answered, “After a few months, the superiors discovered the conspiracy, and the man got a punishment greater than that of the manager’s destiny.”
Life is full of people who strayed from humanity and thought what they do is an act of intelligence or a way toward success and acquiring positions at others’ expense. Yet, man was not created thus, but for loftiness, humanity, goodness, and life. He will not pass away until he crosses the bridge he compelled others to cross: be it good or bad. As for man’s confidence, it should, first and foremost, be in God’s justice and wisdom. Whatever we go through in life is for our good, no matter how bad things seem. He is the God of love and goodness.
General Bishop Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
