MEETING GOD
An old man and a small child
reached a park one evening. They sat on the same bench. The child smiled and
shared his chocolates with the old man. The old man had a bottle of water with
him which he happily shared with the child. They started to talk about several
silly matters. The old man narrated some interesting stories which the child
enjoyed very much. The child sang a few songs which the old man appreciated
very much. As the sun was setting, they parted, embracing each other and promising
to come there every day.
Reaching home, the child told his mother,
“Mommy, I met God today. His hair was silver-coloured and was very old. He was
full of love and told me a lot of nice stories.
The old man reached his home
and told his son, “Today, I met God in the park.” His son did not believe the
old man’s words. Then the old man continued, “He is just a little child. He was
very affectionate and kind to me. We had a very interesting time together,
today.”
It is said that in bringing up children, we must spend on them half as much
money and twice as much time. Jesse Jackson said, "Your children need your
presence more than your presents." H. Jackson Brown, Jr. said,
"Always kiss your children goodnight - even if they're already asleep."
King David sang in the Psalms, “Children are a
gift from the Lord; they are a real blessing {Psalms 127: 3}. Jesus said,
"Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of
heaven belongs to such as these" {Matthew 19: 14}. That is the
beauty of the innocence of infancy. That is the true spirit of Christianity as
Christ intended it to be.
Jesus loved children. When His disciples argued among
themselves to decide who among them was the greatest, Jesus introduced a child
and said, “I assure you that unless you change and become like children, you
will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The greatest in the kingdom of heaven
is the one who humbles himself and becomes like the child. And whoever welcomes
in my name one such child as this, welcomes me” {Matthew 18:2-5}.
It is our duty to give
gratitude, love, respect, service and support to our elderly relatives. We must
take care of them and provide for them especially in their old age, illness and
need. By our love and service, we can add days to their life and add life to
their days.
Worried over the lack of love
among some Corinthians, St. Paul wrote to them his famous words of wisdom about
real love, "I may be able to speak the languages of men and even of
angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a
clanging bell" {1Corinthians 13: 1-13}.
Love is the language that Jesus
taught his disciples as the universal medium for evangelization. Love can be
heard by the deaf, seen by the blind and felt even by the newborn and the
mentally retarded.
We
may give without loving; but we cannot love without giving. Love is giving all
we can. Love is like a smile - neither have any value unless given away. Karl
Menninger said, "Love cures people - both the ones who give it and
the ones who receive it." Mother Teresa said, "It is not
how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that counts."
………………………………………………………………..
©
By: Prof. Dr. Babu Philip, Former Professor, Cochin University
of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala,
India, Prof. Mrs. Rajamma Babu, Former Professor, St. Dominic's
College, Kanjirappally and Leo. S. John and Neil
John, Maniparambil, Alfeen Public
School, Kanjirappally, Kerala, India. For more moral
stories, parables and anecdotes for students, catechists, teachers and
preachers, kindly visit our web-sites:
This is Story No. 352 in the second site. Please click ‘Older
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