ALL GLORY TO GOD
A little incident, which occurred in Kerala, several years ago. At, a meeting, a man, apparently a communist, got up and said: “All this talk about God is nonsense. There is no God! God is only a superstition created by some interest people to dupe the masses.”
Then he added: “If God really exists, let Him strike me dead within three minutes!” So saying, he held out a watch and kept on looking at it. The people heard the challenge being thrown in the face of God. The atmosphere of the meeting changed: It was changed with suspense. One minute passed: nothing happened! Two minutes passed: nothing happened! Two minutes and thirty seconds…. The people were tense…. Two minutes, forty five seconds…. Two minutes fifty five seconds…. Two minutes, fifty-nine seconds, three minutes were over; the man continued to live! He triumphantly declared, "Did I not tell you, God is dead? A dead myth of a dead past! If as you say, an omnipotent God really existed, He would have struck me dead by now. He would have accepted my challenge. But God does not exist. All talk about God is mere humbug!”
At the meeting was present a simple man – a lover of God and a servant of suffering humanity, one who, for the love of God had become a homeless wanderer, moving from place to place, carrying to waiting multitudes, the saving gospel of the love of God. He saw the statement of the communist had profoundly affected the audience and thrown many people into confusion. He got up and said to them: “Do not for a moment believe that God does not exist. God exists! And God is Love! Even if you deny Him, His love continues to take care of you. He is our heavenly Father, more real and more loving than our earthly father. Which father amongst you would be prepared to strike his son dead, only to prove his existence? If your son throw a challenge at you saying: “Father, if you really exist, slay me within three minutes, you would merely laugh at his foolishness.”
Hearing this, a wave of joy spread over the meeting. The hearts of the listeners were filled with a new faith, and they declared with one voice: “God exists! All glory to Him!”
During the last century, a memorable dinner was held in London. A number of thinkers and scholars were present at the dinner. Dean Stanley was asked to preside and he proposed for a discussion on the topic: “Who will dominate the future?”
Prof. Huxley was the first to speak. In the course of his learned speech, he said: “The future will be dominated by the nation which sticks most closely to the facts.” His speech created a deep impression on the minds of his hearers, who felt the future would be dominated by physical science and the material data furnished by it.
After a moment of silence, the Dean called upon Edward Miall, member of Parliament and President of the Royal Commission on Education and this is what he said: “I have been listening to the last speaker with profound interest, and agree with him that the future will be dominated by the nation which sticks most closely to the facts. But I want to add one word. ‘All’ the facts! The greatest fact in history is God!’
Yes, the greatest fact in history is God. And true success belongs to those who work with God.
During the days of the civil war, Abraham Lincoln put a very pertinent question to his people. “It may be true,” he said to them, “that God is on our side; but the real question is: “Are we on the side of God?”
When the great English poet, Robert Louis Stevenson, sought spiritual illumination and found it, he wrote to his father: “No man can achieve success in life until he writes in the journal of his life the word ”Enter God!”
“What is God? Can God be seen and contacted and talked to?” Those very questions haunted the mind of young Narendra (Swami Vivekananda) and he asked Sri Ramakrishna: “Have you seen God?” Quick came the reply from the saint: “Yes, I have seen God. I see Him more certainly than I see you!”
Narendra was not yet convinced. He asked: “Can I see God?”
“Yes” replied the saint. “Everyone can see God!” then after a minute’s silence, the saint said: “But where are they who are eager to see God? Men weep for women and women weep for men. Boys shed jugful of tears for girls and girls shed tears for boys. Where are they who shed tears in love and longing for the Lord? Verily, this I say to you, if you will but weep for the Lord with deep yearning in your heart, God will surely reveal Himself to you!”
We shed tears for the things, which the world gives, and the world takes away. We weep for our dear and near ones who belong to a world of transience. In this world nothing abides! Everything, every form, is a bubble floating on the surface of water. One moment it is: another moment it has vanished! Alone God is! Blessed is the person whose heart is filled with pure love and longing for the Eternal Lord. A mark of this love is tears. When your eyes shed tears for the love of God, He is not from you afar. Just as the reddening of the skies at dawn is a sure sign that the sun is about to rise, even so the reddening of the eyes by the tears of pure love and longing for His vision is a sure sign that the Lord will soon appear to you. Tears cleanse the stained mirror of the heart and enable you to behold the Beauteous Face of the Beloved therein!
If God did exist, it would be necessary to invent Him,” said Voltaire. The question arises: What sort of God do we want? The vast majority of men and women want God who is a sort of a store keeper ready to supply them all those things for which they send in a requisition – the wealth of the world, its pleasures and power.
So long as God gives them what they want, God is good, kind and loving, God is wise and there is none like unto Him. But the moment He refuses to oblige, He becomes a cruel God, unjust and unkind. His very existence is denied.
The God of the majority of us is a “servant” God ready to do our bidding, eager to satisfy our cravings and caprices the moment they arise.
In plain words, we do not want to do God’s Will. We want God to do our will. The more we strive for our will to be done, the more restless do we become, and consequently, the more unhappy and miserable. It is only God’s Will that can restore harmony and order. Until we learn to submit to the Will of God, even if we reach out to the moon and conquer the stars, we shall but continue to wander from restlessness to restlessness.
What we need is not this, that or any other thing. What we require is a divine adjustment. At some time or the other this truth dimly dawns on our consciousness. Pressed hard by circumstances, surrounded on all sides by trials and temptations, we feel like turning to God as the only remedy. But we are afraid to leave things in His Hands for fear of what He may do.
The one essential mark of the one who loves God, is that he bears joyfully all suffering and pain that God sends him. He who has become a captive of love lives in a life of surrender to God; in this surrender is true freedom. Watch, therefore, for the ring of love and when it closes in on you, feel happy, for in your captivity you will have found the freedom of the truly free. Then in your heart you will hear songs of rejoicing. And each day will bring to you thrills of joy.
Love God with all your heart and soul. Talk to Him. Think of Him, Rest in Him. In the midst of your daily work, turn to Him, again and again. These glad turnings of a loving and grateful heart are your best prayers to God.
There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with sweet buns and a six-pack of fruit juice, and he started his journey.
When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his fruit juice when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry so he offered her a sweet bun. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so y so he offered her a sweet bun. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a fruit juice pack. Once again was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word. As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave but before he had gone more than a few steps; he turned around, ran back to the old woman, and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.
When the boy opened the door to his own house a sort time later his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him: “What did you do today that made you so happy?” He replied, “I had lunch with God,” But before his mother could respond, he added, “You know what? She’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!”
Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, “Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?” She replied, “I ate sweet buns in the park with God.” But before her son responded, she added, “You know, he’s much younger than I expected.” Too often we under-estimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.
Embrace all equally.
A little incident, which occurred in Kerala, several years ago. At, a meeting, a man, apparently a communist, got up and said: “All this talk about God is nonsense. There is no God! God is only a superstition created by some interest people to dupe the masses.”
Then he added: “If God really exists, let Him strike me dead within three minutes!” So saying, he held out a watch and kept on looking at it. The people heard the challenge being thrown in the face of God. The atmosphere of the meeting changed: It was changed with suspense. One minute passed: nothing happened! Two minutes passed: nothing happened! Two minutes and thirty seconds…. The people were tense…. Two minutes, forty five seconds…. Two minutes fifty five seconds…. Two minutes, fifty-nine seconds, three minutes were over; the man continued to live! He triumphantly declared, "Did I not tell you, God is dead? A dead myth of a dead past! If as you say, an omnipotent God really existed, He would have struck me dead by now. He would have accepted my challenge. But God does not exist. All talk about God is mere humbug!”
At the meeting was present a simple man – a lover of God and a servant of suffering humanity, one who, for the love of God had become a homeless wanderer, moving from place to place, carrying to waiting multitudes, the saving gospel of the love of God. He saw the statement of the communist had profoundly affected the audience and thrown many people into confusion. He got up and said to them: “Do not for a moment believe that God does not exist. God exists! And God is Love! Even if you deny Him, His love continues to take care of you. He is our heavenly Father, more real and more loving than our earthly father. Which father amongst you would be prepared to strike his son dead, only to prove his existence? If your son throw a challenge at you saying: “Father, if you really exist, slay me within three minutes, you would merely laugh at his foolishness.”
Hearing this, a wave of joy spread over the meeting. The hearts of the listeners were filled with a new faith, and they declared with one voice: “God exists! All glory to Him!”
During the last century, a memorable dinner was held in London. A number of thinkers and scholars were present at the dinner. Dean Stanley was asked to preside and he proposed for a discussion on the topic: “Who will dominate the future?”
Prof. Huxley was the first to speak. In the course of his learned speech, he said: “The future will be dominated by the nation which sticks most closely to the facts.” His speech created a deep impression on the minds of his hearers, who felt the future would be dominated by physical science and the material data furnished by it.
After a moment of silence, the Dean called upon Edward Miall, member of Parliament and President of the Royal Commission on Education and this is what he said: “I have been listening to the last speaker with profound interest, and agree with him that the future will be dominated by the nation which sticks most closely to the facts. But I want to add one word. ‘All’ the facts! The greatest fact in history is God!’
Yes, the greatest fact in history is God. And true success belongs to those who work with God.
During the days of the civil war, Abraham Lincoln put a very pertinent question to his people. “It may be true,” he said to them, “that God is on our side; but the real question is: “Are we on the side of God?”
When the great English poet, Robert Louis Stevenson, sought spiritual illumination and found it, he wrote to his father: “No man can achieve success in life until he writes in the journal of his life the word ”Enter God!”
“What is God? Can God be seen and contacted and talked to?” Those very questions haunted the mind of young Narendra (Swami Vivekananda) and he asked Sri Ramakrishna: “Have you seen God?” Quick came the reply from the saint: “Yes, I have seen God. I see Him more certainly than I see you!”
Narendra was not yet convinced. He asked: “Can I see God?”
“Yes” replied the saint. “Everyone can see God!” then after a minute’s silence, the saint said: “But where are they who are eager to see God? Men weep for women and women weep for men. Boys shed jugful of tears for girls and girls shed tears for boys. Where are they who shed tears in love and longing for the Lord? Verily, this I say to you, if you will but weep for the Lord with deep yearning in your heart, God will surely reveal Himself to you!”
We shed tears for the things, which the world gives, and the world takes away. We weep for our dear and near ones who belong to a world of transience. In this world nothing abides! Everything, every form, is a bubble floating on the surface of water. One moment it is: another moment it has vanished! Alone God is! Blessed is the person whose heart is filled with pure love and longing for the Eternal Lord. A mark of this love is tears. When your eyes shed tears for the love of God, He is not from you afar. Just as the reddening of the skies at dawn is a sure sign that the sun is about to rise, even so the reddening of the eyes by the tears of pure love and longing for His vision is a sure sign that the Lord will soon appear to you. Tears cleanse the stained mirror of the heart and enable you to behold the Beauteous Face of the Beloved therein!
If God did exist, it would be necessary to invent Him,” said Voltaire. The question arises: What sort of God do we want? The vast majority of men and women want God who is a sort of a store keeper ready to supply them all those things for which they send in a requisition – the wealth of the world, its pleasures and power.
So long as God gives them what they want, God is good, kind and loving, God is wise and there is none like unto Him. But the moment He refuses to oblige, He becomes a cruel God, unjust and unkind. His very existence is denied.
The God of the majority of us is a “servant” God ready to do our bidding, eager to satisfy our cravings and caprices the moment they arise.
In plain words, we do not want to do God’s Will. We want God to do our will. The more we strive for our will to be done, the more restless do we become, and consequently, the more unhappy and miserable. It is only God’s Will that can restore harmony and order. Until we learn to submit to the Will of God, even if we reach out to the moon and conquer the stars, we shall but continue to wander from restlessness to restlessness.
What we need is not this, that or any other thing. What we require is a divine adjustment. At some time or the other this truth dimly dawns on our consciousness. Pressed hard by circumstances, surrounded on all sides by trials and temptations, we feel like turning to God as the only remedy. But we are afraid to leave things in His Hands for fear of what He may do.
The one essential mark of the one who loves God, is that he bears joyfully all suffering and pain that God sends him. He who has become a captive of love lives in a life of surrender to God; in this surrender is true freedom. Watch, therefore, for the ring of love and when it closes in on you, feel happy, for in your captivity you will have found the freedom of the truly free. Then in your heart you will hear songs of rejoicing. And each day will bring to you thrills of joy.
Love God with all your heart and soul. Talk to Him. Think of Him, Rest in Him. In the midst of your daily work, turn to Him, again and again. These glad turnings of a loving and grateful heart are your best prayers to God.
There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with sweet buns and a six-pack of fruit juice, and he started his journey.
When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his fruit juice when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry so he offered her a sweet bun. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so y so he offered her a sweet bun. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a fruit juice pack. Once again was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word. As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave but before he had gone more than a few steps; he turned around, ran back to the old woman, and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.
When the boy opened the door to his own house a sort time later his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him: “What did you do today that made you so happy?” He replied, “I had lunch with God,” But before his mother could respond, he added, “You know what? She’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!”
Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, “Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?” She replied, “I ate sweet buns in the park with God.” But before her son responded, she added, “You know, he’s much younger than I expected.” Too often we under-estimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.
Embrace all equally.
