An old lady came home today. I was wary at first and didn't open the door. My precautionary habits are strong and when I go against them, warnings bells go ting-tong.
In the most simple of words, she said -
"I am visiting neighbours so I can share my faith with them because I like to"
Warning bells, of course, went off, but I relaxed because Mom was home. Also, the lady deserved respect and a patient ear for venturing out with something so brave. She told me about who her God was and how since the times are so bad, we all need to hold on to our faith. I admired her for her courage to go home to home with a smiling face and kindest words. She shared her faith and in the end showed me a magazine their organization rolls out, which we might be interested in reading.
I wasn't particularly interested in reading the magazine. But I still offered to have a look. I am still not interested to read that magazine and I told her I can catch her magazine online.
But there was one question in that magazine that stumped me. "Why are youngsters afraid of sharing their faith?" Her question was more on religious lines, however, I thought it was a very good question. The question not being "I am a hindu, what are you?" rather " I believe God does not play dice".
Why are we hesitant about sharing these thoughts? And the answer that struck me right about now was disappointing. Most of us are not mature enough to understand and respect someone's faith. Something in our upbringings always warrant a comparison or rather an awkwardness. Is it because our faith is weak?
I made a vow. I will share my faith with people without hesitation and without imposing it on anyone.
My faith is not -" I am a Hindu"
It is:
"God is the symbol of a perfect human being - with the courage to conquer fear, with the heart to use power to bring about good changes, with no sense of gender bias, with the courage to be just and fair even in the face of prejudice, with a self image of being all worthy and deserving, with the most loving, kind and unafraid heart, respect for every person's views and beliefs…
I don't believe in an idol. Why do I need an idol when everything I believe God to be, is within me and is what I have known from a very long time as my soul. The purpose of life is not to find someone else to love but it is to find the love for my own soul and to try each day to be what it truly is."
5 comments:
commendable....a truth depicted in the right light.....completely agree wid ur point! luvd it! :)
Wow! The last line is the most beautiful I have ever read in this context.....Agree with you to a large extent but still not convinced about a few things....
Will ponder over it a little more to completely understand it..
P.S.: I never expected such a mature post from you......funny how easily prejudiced people become by just reading a few posts....
Necessity is the Mother of the invention of Father and its equivalents
philosopher sanguine...great to c u back in action..hey, those were indeed motivating words yar..."The distance between friends is never more than a heartbeat away" thanks for staying connected..u r a good girl..haha
Vinisha,
There are many reasons people don't discuss their beliefs in God:
1. People are not clear of their own conception of God. If you ask them to enlist a few attributes of God, they won't be able to do that!
2. People are not decided about the nature of relationship with God.
3. Where I disagree with you is in believing that comparisons are imminent and necessary. If there's a tree between your and neighboring house, would you not be intrigued if your neighbor says that the tree has two legs and walks every night, and eats blue whales for food and produces petroleum as nectar, especially, if you'd know it to be a simple mango tree that does none of those things, except for growing slowly and producing mangoes every summer? Such contrasts in beliefs are bound to induce to know the truth. Because, beliefs in God are not seen as wishful thinking; every single theist thinks their conception of God to be the truth, which in their system of thoughts describes the workings of the Universe and the purpose of their life. And truth cannot be customized! Hence, the anxiety and struggle to prove one's own belief to be truthier than others! And respect cannot coexist for others' disparate beliefs with such strong insecurities in matter which deals with the most fundamental aspect of one's life--its essence--the purpose of living.
4. Also, people attach their individual worth with the perceived worth of the God they worship. This is loosely communalism.
And no doubt, this tendency has resulted and is going to result in major problems in the World.
I could smell a bit of Ayn Rand in your ideas? ;)
I've dealt with a related post on my conception of 'Worship' (click). Would be glad to have your ideas there.
Also I've elaborated on the idea of communalism here (click).
Thought-provoking post!
Take care.
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