There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer and he started his journey.
When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry, so he offered her a Twinkie. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Once again she smiled at him. The boy was delighted ! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.
As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever. When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"
Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, "Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?" She replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." But before her son responded, she added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
WOW!! That brought out some tears...hearts full. But I am trying to figure it out....First look at the story tells us that the lady smiled at the boy coz he gave her some food...quite natural. The boy, on the other hand, takes pity on the hungry lady and offers food. But the second time he offers her food,it is to see her smile...qualifies for selfless service. And we all know what a joy it is to do that. However lets analyze the role of the lady. Did she actually take the food coz she was hungry? May be the first time..second time..but the whole afternoon they kept eating. May be she took food coz the boy was giving it out of so much love. So finally we see selfless love in action everywhere..SELFLESS LOVE == GOD.
well put adarsh!SELFLESS LOVE = GOD.
what else best describes HIM, or should I say the best we mortals can try and experience HIM. every grama seva has given each and every one of us the golden opportnity to realise this fact first hand. I still remember how I used to sit back and wonder dring our brindavan days when some speakers wold say that the villagers used to perceive them as SWAMI himself and try and touch their feet.
I wondered if really such things happened. but during our I PG grama seva, i happened to encounter such an incident yself that left me totally ....................
We were distributing as usual when I went to a small hut and called out "amma". an old lady came out slowly with the help of a walking stick. She looked like the very embodiment of poverty and hunger. as i gave her prasadam and the saree, i could see tears in her eyes. I said " AMMA, idi swami pampincharu, prasadam". then she folded her hands and tried to bend down in gratitude. I was taken aback and told her not to do so but instead express her gratitude to Swami.
I can now relate myself to the small kid in that story, and to me at that time the grand old lady was here to teach me how gratifying selfless service is........
Post a Comment