EVERY TRAGEDY LEAVES US WITH ONLY TWO OPTIONS







Pic.: Shreeshay Patel

Tsunamis come, unannounced.

In life, tragedies, too, come the same way – all unannounced!

And, when they do, we all are left with the same two options: to go crushing down with them… Or, to rise above them.

And, whether we go crushing down – overwhelmed by our fear, sorrow, self-pity and anger, or whether we will rise through the ashes, like a Phoenix, yes, it all depends on how reverently we view our lives… how closely we watch… how blessed and privileged we feel… how grateful, how merciful… and, despite a few tragedies that have come striking our doors…

Should my life end with a tragedy which has struck me unannounced?

Should I spend the rest of life in sorrow, self-pity, blame or anger?

Should I lose my hope… should I give up on life?

Or, is there something ‘better’ in store for me… A greater design, a divine purpose?

Many times, when tough times come in my life, I see myself reacting with self-pity, blame, pain or anger. Luckily, something saves me from going down with those feelings… I call it ‘Grace’. I see myself recovering from my sorrow, my pain… I see my fear and anger dissolving… and, as the smog gets cleared, I am able to see the sky clearly… and there I see the ‘divine plan’…

Something better ‘is’, always there in store for each one of us after every tragedy, after every tsunami…

And, I say it, all over again… We are able to rationalize this way only if we are able to revere life… Feel deeply grateful, feel deeply indebted…

“Tough times never last, but tough people do.”

Am I a tough person?

We all can be.

Ivan, my cousin, had shared an inspiring post this morning. It was the story of Mr. Parameswaran, a Christian Pastor, who lived in Chennai with his wife, two daughters and a little son. It was 26th December, 2004. the day after Christmas… and, it was Pastor’s birthday. They lived near the beach… The family, that morning, was very happy… Just then, a monstrous tsunami came striking at their door and took away all their three children… Sorrow and pain gripped them as they buried their three innocent children and lived in fear and guilt… guilt of not being able to do anything… guilt of not been able to give their hapless children a decent burial… Life seemed hopeless, purposeless… and, they wanted to end it all and go!

Then, something saved them… They moved out of the house and walked into a nearby fishing village… and they saw there sixty little children who had been orphaned by the same tsunami! Overwhelmed and healed by what they saw, they requested the village people to let them adopt four of those children as their own…

The divine plan had been unveiled for Pastor Parameswaran and his wife… They ended up running a home for forty unfortunate children!


In life, every tsunami leaves all of us with only two options: to go crushing down with it… or, to rise up like a Phoenix… healed and renewed!

GERALD D’CUNHA

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