Take a look at your home, angels
Zvonko Davidovic
A holy country dipped in blood and sweat, laced with tears and a centuries-old desire to be its own. Macedonia, a country of saints and angels, a land of myths and legends, traditions and beliefs, churches and monasteries, mosques and ans. On this piece of land, walked people who indebted humanity with their deeds, their minds and the infinite size of their soul. Macedonia, the cradle of literacy, the home of the saints Cyril and Methodius, Saint Naum, the blessed mother Teresa, and many other saints and angels. Their bones rest in various places, they are worshiped by many peoples and nations, but I believe that their souls rest here, on this piece of sky that covers the land of our Macedonia.
Macedonia, the Balkan Jerusalem, every inch of this piece of land is soaked with blood and sweat, tears and prayers for the future of all who have lived, live and will live here as their own. The first ideas of unity among different nations and their cultures and traditions appeared here as an idea that was advanced for the then Europe. Nikola Karev, Dame Gruev, Goce Delcev, Pitu Guli, Jane Sandanski and many other known and unknown heroes in the name of freedom, on behalf of Macedonia and all the people who lived here, laid down their lives, selflessly, heroically. And their bones lie in various places and are celebrated by many peoples and nations, but I believe that their souls rest here, on this piece of sky that covers our country Macedonia.
Macedonia, one of the few countries that can proudly say that they defended freedom and opposed fascism that then reigned in all the surrounding Balkan countries. Straso Pindzur, Mirce Acev, Orce Nikolov, Hristijan Todorovski Karpos, Kuzman Josifovski Pitu, Cvetan Dimov, Vera Jocic, Mancu Matak are only part of the heroes who did not ask what Macedonia could do for them, but they gave the most valuable thing they had without a word or a question. I believe that the souls of these Macedonian heroes and angels are resting here on this piece of heaven.
None of these people, who are indisputably heroes and angels at the same time, never asked for anything for themselves, never calculated and did not bargain with any personal interests or gains, never wondered what Macedonia could do for them but wondered what they can do for their country at that moment. And they did it without much pomp and praise, without any demands and conditions, they did it for themselves, for their children, their neighbors, their people and gave the most valuable thing they had – life.
Take a look at your home today, angels, see what you fought for, sacrificed and dreamt of. Look and you will see misery and poverty, not only in material but also in spiritual terms. Exploitation and falsehood, selfishness and sadness, the reign of spiritual and moral devastation. The desire for power and rule, wealth and immorality, incompetence and selfishness have become normal in all their abnormality.
Is it a curse or fate, too little love or endless selfishness, but nobody gives up personal or party interests for the sake of the people and the prosperity of the state. The desire for power is greater than anything else, and feeds the souls of those who dream about it. Money and power have become the driving force, motive and purpose of existence.
Today on this piece of land nobody asks what they can and should do for their country, but ask what their country can do for them and wait for it to happen with the remote in their hands. No one thinks about their country and the people who live here, but selfishly and short-sightly in the field of vision are only their personal interests and gains. Anyone who managed to sit in a chair and to get to state money, quickly began to fill their pocket by forgetting where they came from and even more importantly and in the name of what they came to the position in which they are. Today in this country, the abnormal and shameful have become normal and virtue, everything that we once were ashamed, is now what many are proud of. This has become a country of crime and criminals, a lazy young person who sleeps till noon because the one abroad is more valuable, a land of distorted values and attitudes.
Today in this country, human life is worth little or nothing, and serves solely for political pressure, market, or points. Children are run over by cars deliberately or not, but they certainly serve for political wrangling and meddling instead of a normal court verdict. This piece of land is helping the poor only if a TV broadcasts them, and then the help comes from other people who still have souls, not from the institutions that exist precisely because of it.
Macedonia became a country of framed court cases, public and poltron judges, prosecutors without a vote and a vote. The degrading judiciary inevitably gives birth to corrupt institutions and a captured state, and then chaos, crime, and dishonesty reign in society. Human rights and freedoms are merely a theatrical décor that is put on stage as needed and desired, everyone is sure of all uncertainty only if there is a party membership card or uncle bishop. Such society and immoral norms celebrate mediocrity, weaknesses, criminals, and moral punishments. The more moral punishment without scruples, the higher you will be in the chaos that we call democracy.
Look at your home, angels, and see a country in which the religious clergy is politicized and corrupted, a country in which even prayer costs money. There aren’t any more prayers from God’s temple, just political cheering. Take a look and you will see a land with neither order nor hope, a country in which grandparents take justice in their own hands because there isn’t any in the court temples for their grandchildren. Today on this piece of land, the truth is created by the media without freedom and by order of politics, and every word opposite to the purchased and paid “truth” is considered betrayal. We have become a country of reforms without reform, a land of hundreds of courts without justice and double prosecutor offices without effect and result.
Evil and chaos occur as darkness arises when you close your eyes, said St. Philaret of Moscow. The one who created the eye is not guilty of you closing your eyes and living in the dark. Your choice is whether you will keep your eyes open and you will be free and human, or you will wander on the ground like an animal, or you vegetate like a plant.