WHERE GOD LOVES TO RESIDE



"Beauty is God’s handwriting.”

Charles Kingsley

 

Two days ago, on the day of the ground-breaking ceremony of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, I had posted a blog. It was titled: ‘The House of Ram’. I had shared in the blog the amazing story of Hanuman tearing his chest, to show everyone, that he saw Ram in his own heart and not in precious pearls of a necklace…

I had grown up surrounded by people of every faith. Right from the primary school to college, the Christian institutions in which I studied, had more non-Christian students than the Christian students… That was the beauty! Looking back, I consider, that my education would have been very narrow had it not been for the experience of growing up appreciating, respecting, and accommodating others’ beliefs…

 “What makes me a Christian – a Catholic in that?” I have asked this question to myself time and time again…

Except for the fact, that I was born in a Catholic/Christian family, there is no other answer. Honestly, that is also the answer every Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsee fellow-being of mine will get if asked the same question…

We wear our respective faiths around our necks by default. Well, some of us – dare I say ‘a few’ – have consciously ‘chosen’ our faiths!

When we ‘consciously’ choose our faiths, we also ‘consciously’ accommodate everyone who belongs to another faith. Because, when we are ‘conscious’, we realize, that we all are the children of the same God. The truth cannot be other than this… Yes, we all pray to the same God… Call Him Ram, Allah, Jehovah, or by whatever name!



A parent of one of my students, who reads my every Post, had shared the blog mentioned above (‘The House of Ram’) with one of her friends. The parent forwarded to me the response:

“I truly appreciate and admire this man who respects every religion. Really enlightened!”

Well, if respecting every religion is enlightening, then, let that be the essence of my religion, everyone’s religion. So simple…  Isn’t it?

I replied:

“Ma’am, that’s one thing – a truly secular spirit – I really do not want to lose. If I lose that, I will lose the beauty of brotherhood. All this while, I have held that to be the finest education. This openness has made it possible for us to have so many inter-faith marriages in our family. This openness has, also, made it possible for me to teach all my students – over more than four decades – with no discrimination. In fact, more than 99 % of my students have been non-Christians. So, ma’am, when we know this is the reality, tell me, how can we afford to live on our private islands?

Love and gratitude to your friend for the kind words.”

 

Truly, a humble heart is the place where God loves to reside… We need to keep this place clean!

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: pixabay

Video: Sahana Sharma

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