By Fr. Adolf Washington –
Theagenes of Thasos was an acclaimed sportsman in ancient Greece. He was admired for his skills as a boxer, wrestler and athlete and became an Olympic champion in 480 BC. After his death the people of Thasos erected a huge bronze statue in his honor.
A person in Thasos was extremely jealous of this great Olympian as he could never Theagenes even once win any contest. He would come to the statue of Theagenes every night and express his hatred by spitting, beating, whipping and flogging the statue. One night, while he was scourging the statue violently and possibly digging the ground around the statue with the foul intention of pushing it over, it fell upon the man and killed him.
When we are envious and jealous of others, we actually lose the joy of life and allow these feelings to bite into us. Jealousy is not the attribute of holy people. God has called us to live in harmony with each other and to appreciate the good in others. Stephen Covey, in his book ‘The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens’ writes “Isn’t it kind of silly to think that tearing someone else down builds you up?”
There is a fable of an eagle that was jealous of another eagle that could fly much higher and swiftly. The eagle met an archer and asked him if he could shoot down the eagle. The archer asked for a feather from the eagle and tipped it with poison. Every time he missed a shot, he asked for another feather, until the eagle was left with no feathers at all. The eagle could no longer fly. The archer ended up killing the featherless eagle.
Saint James writes “Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is also disorder and every kind of evil” (James 3: 16). Saint Paul in his letter to the Galatians writes “We must not be proud or irritate one another or be jealous of one another” (Galatians 5:26).
Jealousy if unchecked, can lead us to becoming revengeful, hateful and inhuman. There were two businessmen whose shops faced each other. Whenever one of them did good business, he would mock at his rival. An angel once appeared to the businessman who was not doing too well offering him his hearts’ desire. “But whatever you ask for, your business rival will receive twice that request” the angel said. “If you ask for more profits, your rival will receive double that profit. If you ask for long life, he will receive longer life…” The man placated for a while and told the angel in anger and jealousy “Then take away one of my hands and one eye”.
Wish good for others. Let not jealousy eat into your peace.