We have tackled the issue of integrity at workplace.
Today we are tackling another aspect of honesty which is faithfulness. Honesty is the best policy; this is the motto of each faithful person. Being true and accurate to yourself and others would help you to earn people’s trust.
Don’t hide the truth even if it would cause you troubles. One of the funny stories I have read retails that when a man was escaping from a bunch of thieves; he passed by a wood-cutter asking to hide him from the thieves. Thus, he advised him to hide amid a pile of wood. The man agreed. When the thieves came, they asked the wood-cutter whether he saw the man. He told them that he was hiding amid the wood’s pile. They laughed unbelieving what he has said. When they left, the man came out saying angrily,” why did you tell them about my hiding place?” The wood-cutter answered, “My son, honesty is the best device to save a person.”
Keeping promises is a trait of faithful persons. During a violent earthquake in late 1980’s in Armenia in which thousands of people died during a few minutes. Many alleys turned into wreckage. Amid that plight, there was a farmer and his wife living there and their house was affected by the earthquake, yet it did not fall down. However, his son’s school turned to debris. The man went to the school and tear filled his eyes while remembering his conversation with his son; when he told him that he would never forsake him. Hence, he burst into tears. He tried to focus and determine the spot of his son’s class amid the wreckage. He ran toward it and started to search through the debris. People were astonished and tried to draw him back telling him it’s too late and that they were already dead. He did not listen and kept digging and digging with his bare hands. Then, firemen came and asked him to stop what he is doing lest he set a fire. He asked them to help him proceeding with what he was doing .He was so bent on digging that even policemen couldn’t have stopped him. His hands were bleeding; yet he kept digging till the miracle happened and he saw a gap. He called his son’s name and to his amazement someone answered him. It was his son telling him that he was waiting for him and encouraged his friends telling them that his dad would come to save them as he promised he would never forsake him. The man kept digging for 37 hours consecutively. He saved his son and 33 students, yet 14 were dead. If he had waited an extra hour, all of them would have been dead. The man was transferred to the hospital where he was treated for weeks. Currently, he is retired living with his wife and son who became an engineer and keeps telling his dad that he will never forsake him. To be continued…
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
