Oh God!

We all have a very exclusive relationship with God. Our prayer goes from a happy Goooood (singsongy) hymn to an angry GOOOOOOOOOD (argh) expression. 

Praying becomes our topmost priority when we are expecting something to happen. However, it soon takes the shape of sheer disappointment when things don’t go the way we expected. They might have gone better, but still not as per our anticipation (our resistance to change :))!

Having tiffs in one’s family is quite normal. There had been such instances (fairly more than usual) in our family in the past couple of months. It has been like my (maternal) uncle Vs. the rest of us. Something or the other led to an argument, and due to varied types of responses to the situation, at times, the ‘rest of us’ also ended up fighting. Wow, writing and looking back, all seems so funny and trivial now!

Anyway, the crux is the magnificent solution to all this figured out by my mother. She started a special pooja (prayer) for this. It probably involved a series of steps, like picking out a fixed time, lighting a diya, chanting a mantra, etc. Then one fine day, she comes, sits beside me, and says, “I really don’t understand what God wants! I offered special prayers for so many days, lighted agarbattis, and still, the condition stays the same. He (my uncle) is still the same.” Awwww.. so sad!

Well, is it really that sad?

Nevertheless, the conversation isn’t over. No matter how much I wanted to shout, I kept a soft tone seeing my mommy’s gloomy face; “But mother, what has God to do with all this. We are responsible for this self-created mess. Either he (my uncle again) controls his actions, or we control how we react to all of this. Since it’s been quite some time now, and we realize that it is our reactions that are causing more damage than the original issue.. why not we change the way we deal with them?”  To this, she started looking the other side, and the conversation is now over ☺

It is very convenient to shift the responsibility on somebody else’s shoulder – popularly called the ‘blame game.’  (Others in this particular case is God ;)). It is indeed painful to take charge and responsibility for your actions, but it is the only thing that can revive you from your subdued pain! Acknowledgment and acceptance do open new surprising avenues for you, thus reestablishing your faith in God and yourself!!

Before we bid adieu, another foul play we indulge God in – a) something bad happens – “What can I do, it is my destiny, something God (ill)planned for me;” – b) good news – “Yay! My hard work and patience paid off!” Oh ho, no credit to God now!

I wonder where does God go to pray in such situations..

Avani Raj Arora