There is a ladder up, which each one of us can climb and reach the holy heights, where shines the white Light of Eternity. It is the ladder of faith: it is the ladder of trust. Believe in God! Trust in Him completely. Know that He will always do the very best for you. Therefore co-operate with His Will. Become a willing instrument in the Hands of God.
In this connection the following may be found helpful:
- Greet difficulties with a smile and meet dangers with love. And never forget that the Mother Divine is ever with you, protecting you, guiding you, guarding you. In a time of crisis feel the thrill of protection. Whisper to yourself: “The Mother is holding me by the hand: and I feel safe and secure!” The Mother never fails. See that you do not fail Her. Trust in Her till the breaking point, and the breaking-point will never come!
- Let prayer become a habit with you. Pray, pray and continue to pray. So many of our prayers remain unanswered because we soon grow tired of praying. We become impatient and lose faith. We feel that as God is not going to act for us, we must act for ourselves. Alas! We forget that God always acts at the right time. And if He does not act, it only means that the right time has not yet come. This applies not only to material but also to mental and spiritual needs.
- Pray for more faith. He who has faith has everything. For, verily, ‘faith moves mountains’. Pray for faith as a famished person would pray for food, as a thirsty person would pray for water. And what is it to have faith? To have faith is to feel sure that whatever God does is always for the best.
- The cure of all ills, physical, mental, spiritual, is contact with God. From time to time, detach yourself from your surroundings and enter within yourself. And in silence wait upon God, conscious of His presence. From time to time, engage yourself in loving conversation with God. Offer all your work to Him; call out to Him for help before beginning any work and give gratitude to Him when it is over.
- Accept whatever comes to you. Do not seek the ‘pleasant’, do not shun the ‘unpleasant’. But rejoice in everything that happens. All that has happened, all that is happening and is yet to happen, all is for the best!
The real wealth
Turn out all thoughts of fear, doubt and anxiety. Close the windows and doors of your minds against them as you would against plague-germs. Face each trial and tribulation with love and laughter. Meet every situation in life with the favourite prayer of St Francis de Sales, the prayer of which I am never tired: “Yes, Father! Yes! And always Yes!”
He who lives thus knows what it is to feel the thrill of protection and safety, now and forever. No storm can upset him, no news can shock him. In the midst of the most furious gale he is calm and composed as a safely anchored boat.
Such a one has controlled his passions. He has eliminated his ‘self’ and entered into a life of holiness and happiness and harmony—the life of true freedom, which is the privilege of every son of God. He owns nothing, yet all the wealth of all the world belongs to him.
He is attached to no one; yet all creatures, men and birds and animals, are his friends. He thinks of no one as an alien. All are his, his very own. And he breathes out benedictions to all—to the good and the bad, to the rich and the poor, to saints and sinners, to thieves and profligates, to the forsaken and fallen ones. And to all he gives the service of love, beholding in them broken images of the Beloved.
Of one such man I read some time ago. He was a true man of God. A thief breaks into his house. The thief is a poor man: he and his family members have not taken a morsel of food for some days. When the man of God learns of it, he says to the thief: “Do not waste your time. In yonder drawer is
a costly ring belonging to my wife. Take it and run before she comes and catches you! And may the peace of God be with you!”
The thief cannot believe his ears. He rubs his eyes, moves towards the drawer, takes out the ring and disappears in no time.
Soon, the wife returns and, discovering the loss, raises a hue and cry. To her husband, she says: “Someone has stolen my diamond ring costing over five thousand rupees.”
“Oh! I did not know it was worth that much!” the man of God exclaims, and immediately runs after the thief and, catches up with him and says, “I have come to tell you that the ring you have taken is worth over five thousand rupees. See that you do not part with it for a smaller amount!”
The eyes of the thief are touched with tears. He finds himself face to face, with a new experience. He had never, in all his life, seen the semblance of such love. And in a single moment, his life is transformed—he becomes a new man.
The man of God was a true bhakta of the Lord. He was rich in the wealth, the only wealth that counts, the wealth of love. He loved God with all the intensity of his being. And in acts of daily life, he taught that to love God is to do the Will of God. And if there is one thing which God wills for us, it is this that we love our fellowmen as He Himself loves them. To love our fellowmen is to live for them and, if need be, to die for them! Such a life, as it unfolds from day to day, becomes an unending love story… stranger indeed than fiction and richer than a romance!
This was first published in the January 2014 issue of Complete Wellbeing.
Spot an error in this article? A typo maybe? Or an incorrect source? Let us know!