WHEN YOU CHOOSE PEACE, LOOK AHEAD
“No
one, who puts a hand to the plow and looks back,
is
fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke
9:62
The
Kingdom of God - of the world after my death - does not appeal me… even though,
many tell me, that it promises the ‘eternal peace’. Well, if I strive sincerely
to seek the Kingdom of God of this world – here on earth while I am alive –
yes, perhaps, the Kingdom of God of the world beyond and its promise of eternal
peace make some sense…
To me, the Kingdom
of God lies within me… It is very much here and now… After all, who has seen
the tomorrow?
Everything has
to be done by me here on this earth, now… while I am still alive, and in my
senses…
If peace is
important to me, it is important for me to drop all my complaints, once and for
all. Once I choose peace, I cannot effort to ‘look back’ in regrets, guilt,
blame and resentment… These things and peace cannot go together. Perhaps, Jesus
Christ’s strong words (in Luke 9:62) are intended to send across this warning
to us:
“No
one, who puts a hand to the plow and looks back,
is
fit for the kingdom of God.”
Once I choose
peace, I have put our hand to the ‘plow’… Once that done, I just cannot afford
to ‘look back’… ‘Looking back’ will simply take me on wrong directions… It will
simply block my entry into the Kingdom of God - the peace within me.
This
morning, a friend of mine had this meaningful quote to share:
“Healing
is what makes you strong;
forgiving
is what makes you rise;
and
letting go is what makes you better.”
I can see the
correlation between these words and Jesus’…
Healing,
forgiving and letting go – all of them have to happen here on this earth, while
I am alive and awake… I choose them just as the farmer choosing to put his hand to his plow… And just as this farmer choosing to look forward in all his
earnestness, I, too, have to look forward in all my earnestness…
Only then, I will be fit for the Kingdom of God of this world, and, the world beyond...
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic.: 1. Roman Otintsov/Pixels 2. Alex Azabache
Video: Radhanath Swami
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