He said: We tackled the merciful words: which cause no pain for others, as good encouraging words, in a time when ironic words are mere cruelty, causing pain to people’s souls. Are there other kinds of mercy?!
I said: Mercy has no end in life, it is one of the virtues which lead man towards heaven, about which one of the fathers said: “Mercy protects its doer, it is dear to God, it stands beside Him asking for the sake of its doers”, and “Before mercy, the gates of heaven are opened surely, it goes inside as a queen whom nobody dares to ask who she is, but all welcome her instantly. This is mercy: she is a real queen indeed…” One of its manifestations is “having mercy on the weak”.
He kept silent then asked: whom do you mean by the weak?! I mean all who are considered weak by people, for example, who are poor, as we tackled before and who suffer from illness and are in need of others’ help. A merciful heart offers support to people, which may be in the form of working for people’s lives. One of these models is the Egyptian Professor Doctor Magdy Yackoub, whose heart beats with love of people. He works wearily in surgeries which may last for 12 hours in order to keep a man’s heart beating. I saw a picture of a Chinese surgeon called “Hang”, sleeping on the floor wearily after operating five emergency surgeries for 28 hours continuously!
My friend commented: what about the non doctors? I smiled saying: Mercy knows its path to the hearts of its pursuers, you will inevitably see it even in a little child’s heart! Few days before, I watched a one-minute video of a child of no more than six years, standing next to a bed on which an old man is lying, I think he is the child’s grandfather, unable to move, and the child is feeding him some fruits. It is a child’s heart, filled with mercy, compassion and love.
Mercy may be making the weak burdened people happy, achieving one of their dreams. I read about a charitable project called “Dream with Me”, in which the volunteers try to fulfill the dreams of dangerously sick people. President Vladimir Putin visited that international forum of volunteers, pleasing the ten-year Kolia Kuznitsov, whose dream was to shake hands with Mr. President! Indeed, the president met the boy and his mother.
O friend, mercy is a path which the merciful pursue, each according to his capabilities and granted abilities and talents. A merciful heart finds a path to achieve happiness to the weak and needy.
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
