“Peace is the gift of God to man.” We talked about people’s relationship to God: by repentance of evil, doing good, and the resulting peace that would envelop human life. We also mentioned the importance of peace between humans and themselves, and their endeavor to change the energies of anxiety, tension and negative thoughts, which they have, into positive energies that would help them gain inner peace, hence they will set out to participate positively in life. The peace of humans with God and their peace with themselves are closely related to each other; and from these two comes peace with others.
Peace with others
Making peace with others is what the world aspires to and strives toward at present, as man’s grief has increased with its loss. However, we must realize that human peace with others needs important pillars for its consolidation and stability, the most important of which is awareness and belief in the principles of humanity, justice, sharing, pluralism, and others.
Be humane
Do you want to establish peace in your life? Be humane with all the characteristics of humaneness. As we go on the journey of life, we must realize that we, as human beings, bear in our depths common characteristics of humanity, which should take into account and respect our intellectual, religious and political differences. We should bear in mind that we all share feelings of joy and pain, and moments of strength and of weakness. Who among us has not witnessed success, failure, calm and anxiety?! We all need someone tosupport us in times of adversity and provide advice in times of confusion. Therefore, the real power of our life lies in supporting,not fighting and destroying,each other! Let us follow this golden rule: “Just as you want people to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”
God has endowed every human being with various energies and capabilities that distinguish one from another. Humans have to choose one of two paths: either to fight others and then all will be losers, or to complement each other and enjoy success together. Let us go back to the beginning of creation when a brother fought his brother and then killed him. What did he gain from his removal from the scene of life except anxiety, guilt and wandering?! The gifts and potentialities that God grants to mankindsuch as money, power and authority should not be taken as reasons to quarrel, but rather to integrate,find their way tothe top and obtain achievements that lead to good. William Shakespeare, English playwright, wrote: “Breaking other people’s oars will never increase the speed of your boat.”In other words, when you break the oars of others, this indicates that you are preoccupied with others instead of focusing on your destination and goal, and that you are slackening your progress.
Life today, with all its hardships and pains, demands from people the wisdom of striving together, rather than disagreeing and trying to displace one another. Thus, everyone will move very quickly towards achieving success and good for all. With this in mind, we think that it is better to use our energies and gifts to work together, not to waste them in trying to ruin others, otherwise we will only reap more pain, frustration and failure! Being humane towards one another is considered as the cornerstone of peace among us as well as the support to overcome life’s difficulties. Humanity introduced to the world people who were peacemakers, illuminating others’ lives and paving a path for them to follow. Among those are Nobel Peace Prize laureates such as the leader Nelson Mandela, an example of peacemaking and advocacy of love and non-discrimination, the Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, a model of resisting racial discrimination by peace in his country, and the American leader Martin Luther King, who fought for the rights of black American civilianspeacefully and without violence.
If humans become aware of their need for each other on the path of salvation, they will take their first steps on the path to peace.
Indeed,talking about “Beautiful Egypt”has no end.
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
