Yesterday, while cooking, my helper girl asked me suddenly in a conversation, “Do you pray at night before sleeping?”
I said, “NO.”
“Why? Why don’t you pray to God?”
I asked, “Why should I pray to God?”
She replied, “It is because of his kindness.”
“Kindness… for what? What kind of kindness?”
“I don’t know… But I think it is just because of his kindness. We have food, we are safe, and he is providing security. And there must be something more, but I don’t know exactly. But I pray every night, and if I get time during the day, I will definitely pray then too.”
I said, “Certainly. If you get peace of mind, you are supposed to pray. And if you ask me, I will also pray. I will meditate instead of praying. The effect of both will be more or less the same.”
She said, “I am not ready to argue with you because I do not have much knowledge.”
I said, “Better… don’t argue, as you believe in God, just as I believe in myself. I don’t believe in a God who was created by someone else for me. And moreover, if God is providing security, there is no need for CCTV or a security guard here.” Then I laughed and continued, “Then obviously you need to pray the whole day instead of working. He will provide the food also.”
“When I accept you believing in God, why can’t you accept my belief?”
She said, “Because everyone else trusts God… so you must…”
I replied with a smile, “Isn’t that so? So everyone believes in God, so you also believe, right? It is not your belief…”
She realised the turn of the tables and said, “No, no… when my mother was unwell, I went to church and prayed. When I returned home, she was pretty well. So I believe it was God’s doing. And not only this… I have many more experiences like this. God plays a role in my life.”
She continued, “When I was in the 4th standard, I got paralysed, and I prayed in the early morning, waking up at 3 o’clock. Then I took a lot of medicines, but God helped me recover.”
I smiled again, then kept quiet for some time.
She asked, “Why don’t you tell anything?”
I said, “Because you may not understand if I say anything.”
She said, “That’s fine, please proceed.”
I said, “Do you believe in death?”
She said, “Yes.”
Then I said, “Why doesn’t God save everyone from death? If he exists, by death he is losing a follower, so he must save his follower, right?”
She looked at me angrily, then said, “That is the reality of life, na… once you are born, you will die. It is a process of life.”
I said, “Exactly. Once you are born, you will die. In between, you go through many near-death occasions, but you survive every time. So your body is saving you; your brain is trained to protect you from threats, and you survive because your cells are active and you have enough vital nutrients to sustain you.”
“Even if you fall, you will wake up soon and walk again. This nature supports you to do it…”
“If in death God doesn’t have any role, then for life too,” I continued.
“If I may say this… since childhood, your parents have asked you to go to church or temple, so you follow without raising any questions, and they, too, believed what their parents believed and followed suit. Nobody checks before believing it, as this belief takes root in your mind at an early stage of life.”
She said, “You may correct. I have only this much knowledge, so let me…”
I said, “Yes, of course. I believe I am not questioning. In the same way, you should respect my belief.”
Then I winked, “So next time you meet Him, please tell Him I wish to meet Him. Please make an appointment with Him.”
She said with a large smile, “Certainly.”