Every one of us is a messenger of God. You don’t have to be rich or powerful, but just put God first before your selfish interests to be His messenger, says OSWALD PEREIRA
We are all messengers of God. This is the privilege that God has granted to all human beings. The privilege is equal and universal. It’s a reflection of the equality and universality of the human race.
We are all equal in the eyes of God. He doesn’t distinguish between gender, caste, creed, race, nationality, region or any other manmade artificial classification.
Whether you are poor or rich, old or young, fair-complexioned or dark-skinned, doesn’t matter to God. These superficial characteristics don’t affect your privilege of being God’s messenger.
In the eyes of God, the ordinary devotee and the high priest of a temple are equally important messengers of God. The common churchgoer is as dear to God as the Pope in their roles as messengers of God.
You don’t have to hold a high government or political post to be a messenger of God. The common man on the street is as good a messenger of God.
The single most important qualification for being a messenger of God is to put the cause of God first, before selfish personal interests. Messengers of God do their work silently and don’t shout His name from housetops.
The moment you boast to others about being a messenger of God, you cease to enjoy that Divine privilege ― simply because then it’s your ego that is talking, not the Supreme Being.
God prefers silent workers who spread His message more by examples of their good deeds, than by a display of their own work and greatness.
A preacher is heard when he practises what he preaches. People listen when he talks about God and not about his own goodness and the number of souls that he has saved.
I have come across the best messengers of God, but they have not been among the priests educated for a decade in theology or the numerous spiritual gurus that I have encountered.
A simple, semi-literate house help, who had never read the Bhagavad Gita, would tell us all at home about how we should do our duty without worrying about rewards or what the future held in store.
More than a decade after she left our employment, to return to her village in Odisha, she still calls us from her mobile phone, speaking cheerfully, and continuing to play the role of God’s silent messenger.
Her brother is called Sadhu and others in his neighbourhood call him Pandit. He has been our painter and go-to man to put us in touch with skilled masons whom we need from time to time when we undertake household repairs or extensions. He is a vegetarian and does puja daily and often visits Vrindavan whenever he has a few days to spare.
A slightly educated Nepali cook would speak to us on the teachings of the Bible and how we could apply these to our daily lives, without having really read the Holy Book herself. One fine day, she quit cooking, as the Church in her neighbourhood offered her the role of Catechism teacher to the so-called common people in the parish.
Another charismatic woman cooked in a few homes, travelling on a bicycle, humming bhajans as she rode. When she entered our home it was with a greeting invoking the name of one of the avatars. Her food seemed blessed, as she would chant softly, as she cooked.
In her free time, she sang bhajans in temples, accompanied by her husband on the harmonium. She never spoke about any scripture.
She spread God’s message with her bhajans and her divine humming, while she practised her culinary delights.
Oswald Pereira, a senior journalist, has also written eight books, including The Newsroom Mafia, Chaddi Buddies, The Krishna-Christ Connexion, How to Create Miracles in Our Daily Life and Crime Patrol: The Most Thrilling Stories. Oswald is a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, and practises Kriya Yoga.
More Stories by Oswald Pereira
Pics Courtesy: Pixabay
Beautiful article 🙂