RAINBOW IN THE CLOUDS... AND GOD'S PROMISE

“There are only two ways to live your life:

One is as though nothing is a miracle…

The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
― Albert Einstein

Yesterday, I was invited to be the Guest of Honour at a function in a well-known school. The school had organized an amazing exhibition of the work done by tender children from Nursery to Standard Four… The theme was:  ‘A BETTER ME’.

Well, an idea – or an ideal – like ‘A Better Me’ has to come from the head of the school. In this case, yes, it had come from the school’s dynamic Principal… “I believe, that what matters in a child’s education is not ‘aptitude’ alone but ‘attitude’, too,” the Principal stressed in her speech. The school teachers and parents had worked very hard along with little children and created scores of creatively meaningful exhibits. Every piece of work was to sensitize the little ones towards the goal of developing a better attitude in life and, thereby, becoming a better human being along with becoming good in academics…

I admired the initiative of the Principal and the efforts of parents and little children. Every exhibit was presented to us, the visitors, by a vibrant group of little souls… Obviously, they were trained, thoroughly, to communicate the essence to the visitors, which they did with brilliance! Hearing from these little kids ‘how not to behave’ in life – be it in the area of cleanliness or be it in the area of our religious, cultural, gender and political differences… be it about developing a scientific mind or be it about developing fine inter-personal skills – yes, hearing about these ‘life lessons in becoming better human beings’ from those little mouths was delightfully fascinating…

Need I say ‘humbling’?

In one of the exhibits, the little ones had beautifully demonstrated to us the futility of our religious discord and arrogance. There were many large-sized skeletons lined up… They were carved out of cardboard…  Obviously, all looked identical… exactly how skeletons of dead humans should look like. “Sir, can you tell us, which of these skeletons belongs to a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, a Sikh, a Jain and other religion?”… I was completely bowled by the question from the little one who asked me this, looking straight into my eyes!

Bang on!!! I threw my both hands up, saying, “No beta, I can’t"!

In another counter, the little ones had demonstrated ‘Noah’s Ark’. One by one, the animated little kids kept gliding me through this story from the Old Testament, which, I had first come across when I was their age!

The little Noahs charmed me with the conclusion:

“After the flood waters went down and Noah's family and all the animals could leave the ark, God made a promise to Noah. He promised Noah, that he would never again destroy the whole earth with a flood. Then, he did something to remind Noah of that promise… He placed a rainbow in the sky and he said to Noah, ‘I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the promise between me and all life on the earth.’ God said that every time he saw the rainbow, he would remember the promise that he made.”

Their class teacher, a South Indian Hindu, looked at me with apprehension… “Sir, was it right?” Perhaps, she thought a Christian like me would be an ‘authority’ on the subject!

“Bang on,” I calmed down the teacher, “Ma’am, that’s how it is!”

By the way, what did I really mean by ‘That’s how it is’?

In my last blog – ‘I Know You Hear My Cry’, I had shared a moving concern of my friend, Neena* (who lived in America) about the plight of her 18-year-old son, Prayash. It had touched many of my readers, and they had responded through very positive messages of hope… “This too shall pass’, wrote one… “Praying for Prayash,” wrote some… Many had sailed through the same sea, and they urged Neena, that she should not lose hope. Ankit, who, lived in America and himself a father of a young one, had been through similar situation. He wrote to me:

“Hi Gerry Sir, I came to know, through your blog, about your friend Neena’s son who is in America. I have a son who is 17-year old; so, I can understand their plight. I want to send them something before it’s too late. Please send me their email or contact. And I believe, that miracles do happen… We just have to be open to allow that to happen!

Some things are beyond the Science… Sometimes, it has baffled me beyond belief. We don’t know from which side miracles can happen and help comes. Often, it comes from a side which we had never expected or believed in!”

I was overwhelmed by the response. I connected Ankit with Neena, remembering the Rainbow and the promise behind it…

“There are only two ways to live your life: One is as though nothing is a miracle… The other is as though everything is a miracle.” 

It took an Albert Einstein to remind us about this truth… just as it took little Novas to remind us of God’s promise behind the rainbow in the clouds!

*Names changed

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Internet