When we speak about life, we express it as a journey that starts with birth and ends temporarily with a beginning of a new one in the eternal life that people called the “the eternal journey” which man goes on forever. The two journeys are connected in one way or another.
At the beginning of the journey, that is, birth, man cannot be responsible for all he feels or thinks of as his thoughts and feelings are the product of the surrounding atmosphere and the circumstances amid which he was raised up. But slowly, the steer wheel of his feelings and thoughts becomes under his leadership bit by bit, the more mature his mind becomes and the more he realizes many facts and realities that were difficult to grasp during his childhood. In the process of holding the reins of his life, one has to get rid of the negativities imprinted in his heart and mind and revive the achievement he reaped in his past which is not an easy matter, but in fact a life journey in itself in which man should honestly and seriously seek to complete in order to cross the bridge of death to the happy eternal life.
One day, it was said, “How difficult life is! We can never stop reframing our thoughts and emotions as we may suffer a lot in the process” I said, “Yes, this is life. We learn something new every day and we discover many mistakes and defects in our characters so we seek to change them and found out many positive traits we want to adopt. This is how life journey goes on, thus we call it the journey of growth. While we were young, we were not able to realize many facts about life, its situations and obstacles. In our life journey many paradoxical feeling grow inside us and we experience them such as love and worry, trouble and peace, trust and reluctance, steadiness and anxiety, comfort and pain, and many others. So whoever wants to set on the journey successfully, he has to learn from all these matters that will put him on the right road. My addressee said, “I understand what you want to say. Your articles are always addressing humanity, love, goodness as well as good principles as the true way of life. But, sometimes or many times actually, this becomes so difficult and almost impossible. So for example, how can a wronged person change his feelings to be fair, tolerant and loving?”
I was silent for a little bit and he was lost for a lot of time as if he is trying to soothe the raging waves on the shore of his thoughts. I appreciated his proceeding with his thought. Then I answered saying, “What do you think of the man who was by mistake thrown in jail for 25 years? What do you think he would be like, when his time comes to leave his jail!! I think he will be emotionally shattered, feeling huge hatred for those who oppressed him and wasted his life in the gloominess of the jail. Had he been able to take revenge, he would have done this.”
To be continued
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
