Translation from the Book

Ὁ Θεός στήν Παλαιά Διαθήκη, Βοήθημα Κατωτέρου Κατηχητικοῦ Α΄,

ἐκδ. «Χριστιανική Ἐλπίς» Ὀρθόδοξη Ἀδελφότητα, Θεσσαλονίκη 2015, σσ. 66-72

  The patriarch Jacob had 12 sons. Their names were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin. His favourite son was Joseph. Joseph was kind, obedient, a hard worker and full of brotherly love. His father was very proud of him. He gave to Joseph a very nice and colourful garment (robe) in order to show his love and satisfaction to him.
  His brothers, however, were jealous of Joseph because he was the kindest of all and their father had great affection for him. From the moment they saw that beautiful garment, jealousy pinched their hearts like a thorn and the fire of hate flared up in their souls. They could not say a good word for him. Things went worse when Joseph narrated two of his dreams to his brothers.
  “Listen to my dream,” said Joseph, “we were in the fields and each of us was making a sheaf of wheat. Then your sheaves bowed down and worshiped mine.”
“What did you say?” his brothers exclaimed angrily, “do you think you are going to be a king to rule over us?”
  “I had a dream that the sun, the moon and eleven stars worshipfully bowed down to me,” he said confusingly another day to them.
  Joseph’s siblings were even more envious of him and they called him “dreamy”. Although his brothers teased him, he never stopped loving them sincerely.
  One day his father asked him to go and find his siblings in the faraway pastures, because they had been there for several days. He willingly accepted to go there and after walking for hours, he finally found them. When they saw him coming, they decided to kill him.
  They said, “Here comes the “dreamy! Let us kill and throw him into a dry well. Then we will tell our father that he was torn into pieces by a wild beast”. After that, we will see if his dreams come true”. However, his eldest brother Reuben wanted to find a way to save him later. So he said, “It is not fair to kill our brother with our hands. Just throw him into a well and he will definitely die from hunger”.
  Very soon, Joseph arrived smiling and he greeted them wholeheartedly. But there was no answer. They were looking at him very angrily and in no time, they fell upon him, they took off his nice robe and threw him into a dry well. Joseph started crying and begging them to feel compassion for him but they remained insensitive. Then, completely indifferent as they were, they sat down to have dinner.
  Soon afterwards, they saw some traders who were coming towards them. They were going to Egypt with their camels. Judas made a suggestion: “If we kill our brother, we are not going to win anything. Why don’t we sell him to these tradesmen?”
  His brothers liked this idea. Unfortunately, Reuben was not there to prevent them. Joseph heard his brothers talking with the tradesmen. They made a deal and sold him. From now on Joseph was going to be a slave in a foreign country. And what about his father? What did his sons tell him? They had a cunning plan. They killed one of their goats and they sprinkled with its blood all over Joseph’s garment. Then they brought this bloody cloth to his father and they asked him: “Is this Joseph’s cloth?” Jacob looked at it carefully and recognized it. He was inconsolable and wept for many days, because he thought that Joseph was torn into pieces by a wild beast.
  Meanwhile Joseph was sold by the tradesmen to Potiphar, a rich Egyptian official. But Joseph was so skillful and intelligent that he gained his master’s favor very quickly. Potiphar was so impressed that made him the master of his household. However, his wife blamed Joseph unfairly and he was put in prison. Although he had this misfortune, he did not lose his faith and hope in God. God was always with him the same way He was with his father; despite the difficulties he had gone through.
  God did not forget Joseph while he was in prison and He released him in a miraculous way. God revealed to Joseph the interpretation of the dreams of two imprisoned officials of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Joseph stayed in prison for two years after he interpreted the dreams of the chief butler and baker. Then Pharaoh saw two strange dreams that horrified him. One of the officials, who was not in prison anymore, remembered Joseph. He talked to the King about him and the king ordered to bring Joseph in the palace. God had his plan for the faithful Joseph. He was a slave and a prisoner and finally he became a king!

The Thorn of Jealousy

  What is jealousy? It is the sadness we feel when someone is talented and successful. It is the thorn that pinches our heart when someone is better than us. If we don’t pull this weed up, our heart is going to bleed continuously. It is the gladness with our rivals’ unhappiness and the efforts to find ways to harm them. Jealousy can become envy.
  Jealousy=sadness for someone who is talented and successful.
  Envy=malicious pleasure in people’s misfortune.
  Does the thorn of jealousy pinch your heart?
  At home: The jealous kid is envious of his siblings because he thinks that his parents love them more than him. He believes that they give to them more and better toys and clothes and that they always satisfy all their desires. Then niggles and whines are heard: “Why should my brother come with us?” “You said that “me” was the one to go with you.” “You look after the baby all the time and you do not love me.” “You always buy everything for him….”
  At school: The jealous student dislikes his classmates when they are better students than him. Moreover, he hates the flag attendants and the kids who are praised by their teachers. Niggles and whines are heard again. Look… “The teacher is in favour of him”; “She always gets the leading role” or “Everyone likes her.”
  During the games: The jealous child is never happy. He always wants to be the leader, to be applauded and be admired by everyone. He always fights with the other kids and he says: “I am no longer playing with you.” Finally, envy destroys the jealous child because he is always unhappy. He easily blames others and sometimes he feels contempt for the person he is jealous of. He suffers when other people are praised and especially when he does not get the best. All in all, we corrupt ourselves with jealousy. Jealousy is like a snake which poisons the person who embraces it. Is there a medicine for jealousy? Yes, there are three medicines.
  The first medicine is love: Acts of love towards the person we are jealous of could be very helpful. For instance, try to speak kindly to him, support him in a very difficult situation or praise this person; then jealousy will fade.
  The second medicine is to pray: If I pray for the person I am jealous of, God will give his grace to free me from this passion.
  The third medicine is to develop our gifts and talents. The question is: “do all of us have gifts and talents? Yes, definitely we have”. God has given a lot of talents to all of us. For example, a student can be good at maths, another student can be skilled at music or at painting or one can be good at sports. Moreover, we can also develop some gifts like working hard, being helpful to others, be kind. So, instead of being jealous, let us discover and develop our own gifts. Then we will surely be satisfied.

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