Reformers Who Failed in Reform
We previously spoke in this section, in issues 19 to 24 of last year, about reformers who failed in reform, among them:
1- The Pessimists:
Those who rejoice in black spots, even if they invent them, so that they may speak about them and spread them among people. In this they resemble owls that hoot continually, warning of ruin.
2- The Troublemakers:
Those who think that zeal means noise and disturbance. Their only concern is dispute and resistance, and stirring up feelings.
3- The Negatives:
Those who do not participate in building, but rather stand at a distance as spectators, content with criticism and giving remarks. Their craft is talk. They bind heavy burdens that are hard to carry and place them on the shoulders of people, while they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
4- The Light-minded:
Those who take matters lightly, whether in their speech, or in their quickness to believe what they hear without examination, or in their behavior. They resemble parrots that repeat everything they hear without understanding and without examination.
5- The Authoritarians:
Those who set themselves up as strong centers that ought to be obeyed, and they impose their opinion by force upon the responsible person: either he obeys their suggestions and becomes merely an executive apparatus for them, or they attack him.
And we explained how all these failed in reform:
People do not love the black news that the pessimists spread; rather they prefer those who open before them a window of hope and expectation. Also, they often discover the falsehood of those news that mislead them…
People also hate the noise of the troublemakers and the division and confusion of minds that they cause, and they see that their method is not spiritual.
Likewise, reform does not come through the negatives who form a “front of refusal.”
They neither open the doors, nor allow those entering to enter. As for the light-minded, they failed because they have neither depth nor study.
And the authoritarians failed, because their way is repulsive. No responsible person accepts to place himself under the guardianship of anyone or under pressures…
What are the remaining groups of “reformers” who failed in reform??
We shall meet them in the coming issues, by the will of the Lord…
Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – El-Keraza Magazine – Eighth Year (Issue Two) – 14-1-1977.
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