Hold a door. Save a spot

Received in WhatsApp Group

Let this story reach more hearts💚

"My name's Raymond. I'm 73. I work the parking lot at St. Joseph's Hospital. Minimum wage, orange vest, a whistle I barely use. Most people don't even look at me. I'm just the old man waving cars into spaces.

But I see everything.

Like the black sedan that circled the lot every morning at 6 a.m. for three weeks. Young man driving, grandmother in the passenger seat.

Chemotherapy, I figured. He'd drop her at the entrance, then spend 20 minutes hunting for parking, missing her appointments.

One morning, I stopped him. "What time tomorrow?"

"6:15," he said, confused.

"Space A-7 will be empty. I'll save it."

He blinked. "You... you can do that?"

"I can now," I said.

Next morning, I stood in A-7, holding my ground as cars circled angrily. When his sedan pulled up, I moved. He rolled down his window, speechless. "Why?"

"Because she needs you in there with her," I said. "Not out here stressing."

He cried. Right there in the parking lot.

Word spread quietly. A father with a sick baby asked if I could help. A woman visiting her dying husband. I started arriving at 5 a.m., notebook in hand, tracking who needed what. Saved spots became sacred. People stopped honking. They waited. Because they knew someone else was fighting something bigger than traffic.

But here's what changed everything, A businessman in a Mercedes screamed at me one morning. "I'm not sick! I need that spot for a meeting!"

"Then walk," I said calmly. "That space is for someone whose hands are shaking too hard to grip a steering wheel."

He sped off, furious. But a woman behind him got out of her car and hugged me. "My son has leukemia," she sobbed. "Thank you for seeing us."

The hospital tried to stop me. "Liability issues," they said. But then families started writing letters. Dozens. "Raymond made the worst days bearable." "He gave us one less thing to break over."

Last month, they made it official. "Reserved Parking for Families in Crisis." Ten spots, marked with blue signs. And they asked me to manage it.

But the best part? A man I'd helped two years ago, his mother survived, came back. He's a carpenter. Built a small wooden box, mounted it by the reserved spaces. Inside? Prayer cards, tissues, breath mints, and a note,

"Take what you need. You're not alone. -Raymond & Friends"

People leave things now. Granola bars. Phone chargers. Yesterday, someone left a hand-knitted blanket.

I'm 73. I direct traffic in a hospital parking lot. But I've learned this: Healing doesn't just happen in operating rooms. Sometimes it starts in a parking space. When someone says, "I see your crisis. Let me carry this one small piece."

So pay attention. At the grocery checkout, the coffee line, wherever you are. Someone's drowning in the little things while fighting the big ones.

Hold a door. Save a spot. Carry the weight no one else sees.

It's not glamorous. But it's everything."

Let this story reach more hearts💚

Coming from my heart: 

My slutations to Raymond for his thought provoking act of kindness. 

.

Teacher, the Hero

(Received in WhatsApp. If you happen to be the author, please comment below. Due credits will be given)

A young man saw his primary school teacher on a wedding.

He went to greet him with all the respect and admiration.

He said to him:

"Do you remember me, Teacher?"

The teacher said: "No, please introduce yourself."

The student said: "I was your student in the 3rd Grade, I am the one who stole the watch of a child in the classroom. I will remind you but I am sure you remember the story."

“One of the boys in my class had a beautiful watch, so I decided to steal it. He came to you crying that someone had stolen his watch. You asked us to stand so as to search our pockets. I realized that my action would be exposed in front of the Students and Teachers.

 I will be called a thief, a liar and my character will be shattered forever.

You asked us to stand and face the wall and close our eyes completely. You went searching from pocket to pocket, and when you reached my pocket you pulled the watch out of my pocket, and you continued until you searched the last student.

After you finished you asked us to open our eyes and to sit on our chairs.

I was afraid you will expose me in front of the students.

You showed the watch to the class, and gave it back to the boy, and you never mentioned the name of the one who stole the watch.

You never said a word to me, and you never mentioned the story to anyone.

Throughout my school life, none of the teachers nor the students talked about me stealing the watch.

I thought to myself you saved my dignity that day."

The teacher said: "I can't remember who stole the watch that day, because I searched the pockets of all of you while my eyes were also closed."

Education needs wisdom. We should be able to be such Teachers, such Parents, such Leaders and be able to be for people in such circumstances.

We should always calculate the consequences of our actions. 

Protecting and reforming is tougher than exposing and expelling!

Hope sees the Invisible

(WhatsApp Forward)

Dr. Frank Mayfield (1908-1991, a renowned Neurosurgeon in the US) was touring Tewksbury Institute when, on his way out, he accidentally collided with an elderly floor maid. To cover the awkward moment Dr. Mayfield started asking questions.

"How long have you worked here?"

"I've worked here almost since the place opened," the maid replied.

"What can you tell me about the history of this place?" he asked.

"I don't think I can tell you anything, but I could show you something."

With that, she took his hand and led him down to the basement under the oldest section of the building. She pointed to one of what looked like small prison cells, their iron bars rusted with age, and said, "That's the cage where they used to keep Annie Sullivan."

"Who's Annie?" the doctor asked.

Annie was a young girl who was brought in here because she was incorrigible—nobody could do anything with her. She'd bite and scream and throw her food at people. The doctors and nurses couldn't even examine her or anything. I'd see them trying with her spitting and scratching at them.

"I was only a few years younger than her myself and I used to think, 'I sure would hate to be locked up in a cage like that.' I wanted to help her, but I didn't have any idea what I could do. I mean, if the doctors and nurses couldn't help her, what could someone like me do?

"I didn't know what else to do, so I just baked her some brownies one night after work. The next day I brought them in. I walked carefully to her cage and said, 'Annie, I baked these brownies just for you. I'll put them right here on the floor and you can come and get them if you want.'

"Then I got out of there just as fast as I could because I was afraid she might throw them at me. But she didn't. She actually took the brownies and ate them. After that, she was just a little bit nicer to me when I was around. And sometimes I'd talk to her. Once, I even got her laughing.

One of the nurses noticed this and she told the doctor. They asked me if I'd help them with Annie. I said I would if I could. So that's how it came about that. Every time they wanted to see Annie or examine her, I went into the cage first and explained and calmed her down and held her hand.

This is how they discovered that Annie was almost blind."

After they'd been working with her for about a year—and it was tough sledding with Annie—the Perkins institute for the Blind opened its doors. They were able to help her and she went on to study and she became a teacher herself.

Annie came back to the Tewksbury Institute to visit, and to see what she could do to help out. At first, the Director didn't say anything and then he thought about a letter he'd just received. A man had written to him about his daughter. She was absolutely unruly—almost like an animal. She was blind and deaf as well as 'deranged.'

He was at his wit's end, but he didn't want to put her in an asylum. So he wrote the Institute to ask if they knew of anyone who would come to his house and work with his daughter.

And that is how Annie Sullivan became the lifelong companion of Helen Keller.

When Helen Keller received the Nobel Prize, she was asked who had the greatest impact on her life and she said, "Annie Sullivan."

But Annie said, "No Helen. The woman who had the greatest influence on both our lives was a floor maid at the Tewksbury Institute."

A Son teaches a lesson to all

A son took his old father to a restaurant for an evening dinner. 

His father, being very old and weak, while eating, dropped food on his shirt and pants. The mess that he made disgusted the other diners in the restaurant while his son remained calm.

After they were finished eating, the son, who was not embarrassed at all, quietly took him to the wash room, wiped off the food particles, removed the stains, combed his hair and fitted his glasses firmly, When they came out, the entire restaurant was watching them in dead silence, not able to grasp how someone could embarrass themselves publicly like that.

The son settled the bill and started to leave the eatery with his father.

At that time, an old man amongst the diners called out to the son and asked him, “Don’t you think you left something behind?”

The son replied, “No sir, I haven’t.”

The old man retorted, “Yes, you have! You have left a lesson for every son and hope for every father.”

The restaurant went silent.

It is said old age is another childhood. Parents take extreme care of their off springs, love them with all their heart and stand with them even when they start a family of their own. All one can do is to love them and take care of them in their second innings.   

Love & Respect your Parents

Author Unknown     

A frail old man lived with his son, his daughter-in-law, and his four-year-old grandson. His eyes were blurry, his hands trembled, and his step faltered.

The family would eat together every night at the dinner table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating rather difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon, drooping to the floor. When he grasped his glass of milk, it often spilled clumsily at the tablecloth.

With this happening almost every night, the son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.

"We must do something about father," said the son.

"I've had enough of his milk spilling, noisy eating and food on the floor," the daughter-in-law agreed.

So the couple set a small table at the corner.

There, grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed their dinner at the dinner table. Since grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in wooden bowls. Sometimes when the family glanced in grandfather's direction, he had a tear in his eye as he ate alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening, before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. 

He asked the child sweetly: "What are you making?" 

Just as sweetly, the boy replied, "Oh, I'm making a little bowl for you and mama to eat your food from when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

These words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears streamed down their cheeks. Though no words were spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening, the husband took father's hand and gently led him back to the family table.

For the remainder of his days, grandfather ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk was spilled or the table cloth was soiled.

Parents are the most precious gift of God for humans. They play an important role in our mental, physical, social, financial and career development. We took our first steps by holding their fingers.  All parents keep their children’s happiness and needs above their own. We may feel that our parents need us, but the reality is, we need them and we will not be able to make it without them. They are the pillars of support in the mansion of our lives. Let us remind ourselves that only if we love & respect our parents, our kids will reciprocate the same feeling to us.

Leave your Heartprints

Author Unknown (If you know the author, pl let me know)

Whatever our hands touch -
We leave fingerprints!
On walls, on furniture
On doorknobs, dishes, books.
There's no escape.

As we touch we leave our identity.

Wherever I go today
Help me leave heartprints!
Heartprints of compassion
Of understanding and love.
Heartprints of kindness
And genuine concern.

May my heart touch a lonely neighbor
Or a runaway daughter
Or an anxious mother
Or perhaps an aged grandfather.

Send me out today
To leave heartprints.
And if someone should say,
'I felt your touch,'
May they also sense the love
that is deep within my heart.

Where does God reside?

Author Unknown

Once upon a time, when God had finished making the world, he wanted to leave behind a piece of His own divinity, a spark of His essence, a promise to man of what he could become, with effort. He looked for a place to hide this precious gift because, He explained, what man could find too easily would never be valued by him.

"Then you must hide this gift on the highest mountain peak on earth," said one of his counselors.

God shook His head, "No, for man is an adventuresome creature and he will soon enough learn to climb the highest mountain peaks."

"Hide it then, O Great One, in the depths of the earth."

"I think not," said God. "for man will one day discover that he can dig into the deepest parts of the earth."

"In the middle of the ocean then, Master?"

God shook His head. "I've given man a brain, you see, and one day he'll learn to build ships and cross the mightiest oceans."

"Where then, Master?" cried His counselors.

God smiled, "I'll hide it where every man and woman will be able to find it if they look sincerely and deeply enough. I'll hide it in their heart."

This explains why our Heart is always equated to compassion. The Almighty, embodiment of compassion, resides there. He is Love incarnate and so Heart is a symbol for love. Heart represents the feeling-based wisdom while head represents reason-based wisdom. That’s why it is always said, whenever in doubt, listen to the heart. After all it is God who guides us from there.

The world is like a mirror

Three different stories pointing fingers in the same direction--The world we see is a reflection of our own inner selves.

Story 1

One day a class teacher asked her students to write on a piece of paper the name of the person whom they disliked most.
The students got busy. One student asked the teacher, “Ma’am when I don’t dislike anybody, whose name would I write?”
By that time other students finished writing and the teacher started checking the names.
She checked all the names and to her surprise could not find the name of this student in any of the chits she checked!

Story 2

One day, Lord Krishna told Yudhishtra to take a census of all evil people in the kingdom and told Duryodhana to take census of all good people in the kingdom.
Duryodhana came back and reported that there is no single good person in the kingdom. According to him, there was so much evil in the so called sages, hermits and other good Samaritans.
Yudhishtra came back and reported that there is not a single evil person in the kingdom. According to him all were good including the murderers and robbers.

Story 3:

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. One look at it and she realised the monetary worth of the stone
The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone & asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.
The traveler left, rejoicing his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
“I’ve been thinking,” He said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious: Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.”

If we are good to others, they would respond in the same manner. 

 

Education and Experience

Unknown Author

There is a difference between education and experience.

Education is what you get from reading the small print.

Experience is what you get from not reading it! 

But isn't it true that great learning comes from both education and experience? 

Let me tell you a parable:

A young school teacher had a dream that an angel appeared to him and said, "You will be given a child who will grow up to become a world leader. How will you prepare her so that she will realize her intelligence, grow in confidence, develop both her assertiveness and sensitivity, be open—minded, yet strong in character? In short, what kind of education will you provide that she can become one of the world's truly GREAT leaders?"

The young teacher awoke in a cold sweat. It had never occurred to him before —any ONE of his present or future students could be the person described in his dream. Was he preparing them to rise to ANY POSITION to which they may aspire? He thought, 'How might my teaching change if I KNEW that one of my students were this person?'  

He gradually began to formulate a plan in his mind:

·         This student would need experience as well as instruction.

·         She / he would need to know how to solve problems of various kinds.

·         She / he would need to grow in character as well as knowledge.

·         She / he would need self assurance as well as the ability to listen well and work with others.

·         She / he would need to understand and appreciate the past, yet feel optimistic about the future.

·         She / he would need to know the value of lifelong learning in order to keep a curious and active mind.

·         She / he would need to grow in understanding of others and become a student of the spirit.

·         She/ he would need to set high standards for herself and learn self discipline, yet  would also need love and encouragement, that they might be filled with love and goodness.

His teaching changed. Every young person who walked through his classroom became, for him, a future world leader. He saw each one, not as they were, but as they could be. He expected the best from his students, yet tempered it with compassion. He taught each one as if the future of the world depended on his instruction.

After many years, a woman he knew rose to a position of world prominence.  He realized that she must surely have been the girl described in his dream. 

It turned out she was not one of his students, but rather his daughter. For all the various teachers in her life, her father was the best. 

I've heard it said that "Children are living messages we send to a time and place we will never see." But this isn't simply a parable about an unnamed school teacher. It is a parable about you and me —whether or not we are parents or even teachers.

And the story, OUR story, actually begins like this:

"You will be given a child who will grow up to become...."  You finish the sentence.

If not a world leader, then a superb father?

An excellent teacher?

A gifted healer?

An innovative problem solver?

An inspiring artist?

A generous philanthropist?

Where and how you will encounter this child is a mystery. But believe that one child's future may depend upon influence only you can provide, and something remarkable will happen. For no young person will ever be ordinary to you again. And you will never be the same.

YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Dedicated to all teachers on this Teachers day in India, 5th Sept, 2014


Just when she was about to give up teaching profession because she thought her teaching wasn't even changing or helping even one child, her mind was completely changed one day.

When she went to school the next day, one of her first grader's parent came to her and just fell into her arms and cried out, "THANK YOU."

The mother explained that her child had ADHD (the teacher had already discovered that) and no one had the patience to teach or just love her for who she was. She told the teacher that she made a difference in her daughter's life, just by showing that she cared and for having patience with her. The child showed interest in studies when she was with her, but her other teachers constantly condemned her because they couldn't control her.

What a compliment!

Needless to say she is still continuing on with her teaching profession.

Dear teachers, sometimes it may seem like people have forgotten how important you really are.

For every child that says, “I’m not smart enough”, “I don’t get it”, “I can’t”…… there’s a teacher who says, “You can!”

For every child who needs basic skills, knowledge, someone to believe in him……….. there’s a teacher who will do whatever it takes to encourage, to motivate, to challenge, to engage, to inspire and instill a love for learning.

So for every teacher who works with the children building a better future for us, even when it feels like no one is watching or that people have forgotten just how special you teachers really are, I SALUTE YOU!

AND I THANK YOU for teaching each child to become the next great author, artist, scientist, architect, musician, doctor, engineer or teacher.

Never give up, if you teach from the heart, you may not realize it at that precise moment..........
BUT YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE.

Hearts of living

Once a saint saw a man with a bandage tied round his head. “Why have you tied the bandage?” he asked.
“Because my head aches,” the man replied.
“How old are you?” he demanded.
“Thirty,” he replied.
“Have you been in pain and anguish the greater part of your life?” he enquired.
“No,” the man answered.
“For thirty years you have enjoyed good health,” he remarked, “and you never tied
the bandage of thankfulness. Now because of this one night head ache, that you have, you tie the bandage of complaint!”

_________________________________________________________________

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone & asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left, rejoicing his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

“I’ve been thinking,” He said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious: Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.”

_________________________________________________________________


A person once heard a pious man say that “For the last thirty years I am repenting for a sin and I don’t know how God will deal with me regarding it?”

The listener asked: “What was your sin?”

The man said: “I used to have a shop in the Bazaar. One day I heard that the whole Bazaar was burning so I rushed to see my shop. When I reached there I saw that all the shops except my shop were razed to the ground. I said ‘Thank God!”, but immediately I realized my mistake. How can I call myself pious when I couldn’t feel the loss of my neighbors? That is why I am repenting for that lapse on my part for the last thirty years.”

_

Community Living

URGENTLY NEEDED...
Not Blood,
But

An ELECTRICIAN, to restore the current between people, who do not speak to each other anymore.

An OPTICIAN, to change the outlook of people.

An ARTIST, to draw a smile on everyone's face.

A CONSTRUCTION WORKER, to build a bridge between neighbours.

A GARDENER, to cultivate Good Thoughts.

A PLUMBER to clear the choked and blocked mindsets

A SCIENTIST to rediscover compassion

A LANGUAGE TEACHER for better communication with each other

Last but not the least A MATHS TEACHER, for all of us to relearn how to count on each other....

“Living without virtues is to live divorced & separated from the most important thing in life, COMMUNITY”

A call for compassion

Zen Story

One evening, Zen master Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras when a thief entered his house with a sharp sword, demanding "money or life".

Without any fear, Shichiri said, "Don't disturb me! Help yourself with the money, it's in that drawer". And he resumed his recitation.

The thief was startled by this unexpected reaction, but he proceeded with his business anyway. While he was helping himself with the money, the master stopped and called, "Don't take all of it. Leave some for me to pay my taxes tomorrow".

The thief left some money behind and prepared to leave. Just before he left, the master suddenly shouted at him, "You took my money and you didn't even thank me?! That's not polite!".

This time, the thief was really shocked at such fearlessness. He thanked the master and ran away. The thief later told his friends that he had never been so frightened in his life.

A few days later, the thief was caught and confessed, among many others, his theft at Shichiri's house.

When the master was called as a witness, he said, "No, this man did not steal anything from me. I gave him the money. He even thanked me for it."

The thief was so touched that he decided to repent.

Upon his release from prison, he became a disciple of the master and many years later, he attained Enlightenment.

Cleverness and Kindness

A man with his donkey carrying two sacks of wheat was on his way to the market. After a little while he was tired and they rested under a tree.

When he woke up from his nap he could not see the donkey and started searching for the donkey everywhere. On the way he met a boy. He asked the boy, “Have you seen my donkey?”

The boy asked, “Is the donkey’s left eye blind, his right foot lame and is he carrying a load of wheat?”

The man was happy and said, “Yes, exactly! Where have you seen it?”

The boy answered, “I haven’t seen it.”

This made the man very angry. He concluded that the boy is lying and he took him to the village chief for punishment.

The judge asked, “Dear boy, if you had not seen at the donkey, how could you describe it?”

The boy answered, “I saw the tracks of a donkey and the right and left tracks were different from this I understood that the donkey that passed there was limping.
And the grass on the right side of the road was eaten but the grass on the left was not. From that I understood that his left eye was blind.
There were wheat seeds scattered on the ground and I understood that he must have been carrying a load of wheat.”

The judge understood the boy’s cleverness and told the man to forgive the boy.

Listening skills

Excerpts from Steve Goodier www.LifeSupportSystem.com

Joe, a 22-year-old electrician went to Manhattan a few days after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center buildings. He wanted to volunteer his time, but discovered that his skills were not needed.

But it turns out that Joe was able to help in a way he never anticipated.

For on the train ride home, he sat across from a weary firefighter who was also traveling home from the scene of the disaster. The firefighter was covered in what appeared to be "ground zero" dirt and debris. Though Joe could see bits of rock in the man's hair and noticed that his hands were bloody, what worried the young man most was the look in the firefighter's eyes. They appeared lifeless and dull.

Then the man, apparently in shock, began to talk and Joe listened.

Joe soon forgot his own disappointment about not being able to volunteer his skills that day as he listened to the gruesome story the firefighter related.

The man told about retrieving a shoe with a foot inside. Joe listened.

He talked about cleaning debris from a face, then discovering that this person's body was gone. Joe continued to listen without flinching.

He did not react in disgust. He did not judge. He did not interrupt. He just listened.

He listened as the firefighter lamented about the carnage everywhere and about shoes...there were so many shoes, he said. Everywhere...shoes.

Through it all Joe quietly held the man's attention and listened, which is exactly what the rescue worker needed at that moment.

And because he listened, the man continued to speak. He talked his pain out, as much as possible. In the presence of a stranger, he tried to put his world back in order, to make sense of the day's chaos.

And Joe, for that time at least, helped him carry his unbelievably heavy burden.

That day Joe did not give blood, nor did he use his electrical skills to help with the relief effort.

But he did one of the most important things a human can do for another. He gave a stunned and disheartened man his whole attention, and thereby, in a small but vital way, assisted in the work of setting the world right.

Mary Lou Casey says, "What people really need is a good listening-to." It's not always easy. And, at times, it may not be fun. In fact, listening closely to another often turns out to be difficult work.

But day in and day out, attentive listening may be one of the most important and satisfying ways we can spend our time.

It's true. What people really need is a good listening-to.

The future lies before you

A man had invited his friends to supper and the lady of the house was cooking for them. Suddenly, she realised that she had run out of salt.

So she called to her son and said, 'Go to the village and buy some salt, but pay a fair price for it: neither too much nor too little.'

The son was surprised.

'I can understand why I shouldn’t pay too much for it mother, but if I can bargain them down, why not save a bit of money?'

The lady said, ‘The only reason a man would sell salt more cheaply than usual would be because he was desperate for money. And anyone who took advantage of that situation would be showing a lack of respect for the sweat and struggle of the man who labored to produce it. And it could destroy a small village like ours.'

'But such a small thing couldn't possibly destroy a village?' The son looked at her for more explanation.

The mother explained, 'In the beginning, there was only a small amount of injustice in the world, but everyone who came afterwards added their portion, always thinking that it was only very small and unimportant, and look where we have ended up today.'

Little drops of water, little grains of sand
Make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land
Little injustices, small though they be,
Make the mighty world dark and gloomy

God is in everyone

Once a church had fallen upon hard times. Only five members were left: the pastor and four others, all over 60 years old.

In the mountains near the church there lived a retired Bishop. It occurred to the pastor to ask the Bishop if he could offer any advice that might save the church. The pastor and the Bishop spoke at length, but when asked for advice, the Bishop simply responded by saying, "I have no advice to give. The only thing I can tell you is that the Messiah is one of you."

The pastor, returning to the church, told the church members what the Bishop had said. In the months that followed, the old church members pondered the words of the Bishop.

"The Messiah is one of us?" they each asked themselves.

As they thought about this possibility, they all began to treat each other with extraordinary respect on the off chance that that one among them might be the Messiah.

And on the off, off chance that each member himself might be the Messiah, they also began to treat themselves with extraordinary care.

As time went by, people visiting the church noticed the aura of respect and gentle kindness that surrounded the five old members of the small church. Hardly knowing why, more people began to come back to the church. They began to bring their friends, and their friends brought more friends.

Within a few years, the small church had once again become a thriving church, thanks to the Bishop's gift.

God is in everyone and so treat all with the same level of honor and respect.

The experience of becoming God is the discovery of our true Godly nature. When we see beyond the appearances of 'normal' physical reality then we are no longer trapped in the delusion that we are our physical bodies. So instead of seeing ourselves as a person trapped in a physical body, we come to understand that we are God living through a human body. So it is always the oneness and totality of God that is to found within each and every one of us.

Test is a Taste of God

Sathya Sai Baba in ‘My Dear Students’, Vol 3, Ch 3, Jun 30, 1996

One Sankaranti day, Rukmini, Sathyabhama, Jambavati, Gopikas, and Draupadi among others were with Lord Krishna, joyously munching sugarcane.

Krishna, in order to test them, pretended as if His finger was cut. God always tests His devotees. Test is nothing but a taste of God. If the devotee is successful in the test, he/she receives God’s bounteous Grace. 

God does not conduct tests as a sign of hatred or enmity; He always does it out of intense love and compassion. 

As soon as Krishna’s finger was cut, it started bleeding. 

Sathyabhama asked a servant to quickly get a piece of cloth. 

Rukmini ran herself. 

Draupadi saw this and immediately tore a piece of her own sari and tied it to Lord Krishna’s thumb to stop the bleeding.

Witnessing this, Rukmini and Sathyabama were ashamed that their love and actions did not match Draupadi’s love. 

Later Lord Krishna showered infinite grace when Draupadi needed it the most.

image curtsy: commons.wikimedia.org

Are You God's Wife?

by: Author Unknown

It was a cold day in December. A little boy about 10-year-old was standing before a shoe store, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold. A lady approached the boy and said, "My little fellow, why are you looking so earnestly in that window?"

"I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes," told the sad faced boy hesitatingly.

The lady took him by the hand and went into the store, and asked the clerk to get a half dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her. 

She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with a towel. By this time the clerk had returned with the socks. 

Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she then purchased him a pair of shoes, and tying up the remaining pairs of socks, gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, "My little fellow, you feel more comfortable now?"

The astonished lad caught her by the hand, and looking up in her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her in turn, "Are you God's wife?"