{"id":19634,"date":"2014-12-13T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2014-12-13T10:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/site\/?p=19634"},"modified":"2017-06-07T13:58:51","modified_gmt":"2017-06-07T11:58:51","slug":"%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%a9-56-%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ad-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b4%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%a6%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%a9-56-%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ad-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b4%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%a6%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a\/","title":{"rendered":"On Life 56 \u2013 Resisting Hardships \u2013 December 13, 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I received a letter from a reader who is also a dear friend. In this letter he comments on last week\u2019s article, \u201cPatience\u201d. I preferred to present it to you as is:<\/span><\/h2>\n

Dear esteemed brother, Bishop Ermia,<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

May God bless you!<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Greetings from your loving brother. Having read your article, \u201cPatience\u201d, I found myself interested in sharing some unforgettable verses which I find comforting in my trials and tribulations. May God reward you!<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

God, the Almighty, says,<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cO believers! Resort to patience and prayer: for God supports the patient (153); do not say that whoever is killed for God is dead. Nay, they are alive, but you do not feel them. (154) We shall test you with some fear, hunger, and scarcity in people and fruit; but bear the patient good news (155): for if disasters alight on them, they say, \u2018We\u2019re but God\u2019s creation and shall return to Him.\u2019 (156) These deserve God\u2019s blessing and mercy, and these are the obedient. (157) [holy Quran, al-Baqarah]<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I do thank my friend for his message, emphasizing that patience is a human thing. All humans toil patiently to achieve success. Likewise, the wronged and pained bear patiently until the tribulation is alleviated and a new hope is inspired. Thus, patience becomes a virtue lauded and taught by religions. Prophet David writes in the Psalms, \u201cBe still before the Lord\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes\u2026\u201d Also, St. Paul writes in his first epistle to Timothy, \u201cBut you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.\u201d This idea is emphasized by St. James who writes, \u201cAs you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job\u2019s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.\u201d In Hud Chapter (Surat Hud), we read, \u201cBe patient: for the pious are rewarded.\u201d In the Bees Chapter (Surat al-Nahl), we read, \u201cBe patient; be still before God. Do not grieve from them, and be not troubled by their schemes.\u201d Also, in al-Tur Chapter (Surat al-Tur), we read, \u201cBe still before God\u2019s will for We do see it all; praise your God when you wake up.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Patience requires that man believe that whatever he encounters is but temporary and is sure to change. Life is change. Trust in the just God. Resort to him in everything: for patience makes you resist hardships. Here I recall what a poet wrote about patience:<\/span><\/h2>\n

Be patient: for the better comes soon<\/span><\/h2>\n

Whoever trusts God will emerge sound<\/span><\/h2>\n

Whoever believes in God shall have what he desires<\/span><\/h2>\n

Another poet wrote:<\/span><\/h2>\n

If a hardship alights, then persevere<\/span><\/h2>\n

The best weapon is patience to bear.<\/span><\/h2>\n

General Bishop<\/span><\/h2>\n

Head of\u00a0 the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center<\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I received a letter from a reader who is also a dear friend. In this letter he comments on last week\u2019s article, \u201cPatience\u201d. I preferred to present it to you as is: Dear esteemed brother, Bishop Ermia, May God bless you! \u00a0 \u00a0Greetings from your loving brother. Having read your article, \u201cPatience\u201d, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":10623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[6804,8701,6385,171,170,323,1007],"class_list":["post-19634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-on-life","tag-resisting-hardships","tag-youm7","tag-171","tag-170","tag-323","tag-1007"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19634"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19634"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47652,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19634\/revisions\/47652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}