Is it god ?

stillwaters · Sep 1, 2014

This is an incident which occurred about 9 years ago.
One of our family friends planned a visit to a national park during easter holidays . Their children had come home for holidays and they planned an outing for them.
They had an suv and invited us to join them . At first we were a bit reluctant as generally we felt they were a bit irresponsible but in the end we agreed.
We were supposed to start early in the morning by 6 am to reach the place when still it was daylight. The park had a hotel and a camping site inside the national park . We had booked rooms in the hotel.
We were ready by 5.30 am and waiting for them.
When they didn't turn up we called them at 7 am . They were still sleeping . They apologized and said they'll come within an hour . They didn't and our repeated calls were answered by reasons like they are packing , went to market to pick some last minute essentials etc.
We badly wanted to cancel the trip as we didn't want to reach there at night but we couldn't say anything due to friendship.
They finally turned up at 1 pm.
After taking lord ganesha's name we started on our journey. For a two day stay they had carried two big suitcases . The mother and daughter were wearing extra gold jewellery . These things also made me uneasy as they could compromise our security .
From the main road we had to take a dirt track into the park for about 2 km to reach our hotel. By the time we reached this spot it was 8 pm and raining heavily.
We suggested that maybe it was wise to stay in a nearby hotel on the highway and proceed to our hotel next morning.
They didn't agree saying that we are too nervous , they know this place well and there will be no problems.
We had no choice but to pray and hope for the best.
As we turned into the dirt track it was slushy with rain soaked mud and the vehicle started skidding repeatedly. But he didn't reduce the speed saying that if he reduces speed the vehicle will get stuck in mud.
We came to a bifurcation and he took the wrong turning which took us into the jungle.
After driving for some distance the vehicle got stuck in the mud. It was still raining heavily and we could not see beyond the bonnet of our car .
We could not do anything much apart from sitting in the car and waiting for the morning.
Some villagers came asking if we needed any help but we dared not open our windows or doors . I requested the lady to take off the gold jewellery and keep it out of sight.
We spent the night in the vehicle dozing on and off and praying.
Sometime during the night the rain stopped.
As the day dawned we had the worst panic attack of our lives.
Just about 2 meters in front of our vehicle their was a sheer drop into a lake .
After recovering from the shock and repeatedly thanking god we turned back to go to our hotel.
Second shock awaited us on the way back. The road which we had traveled at night so fast and with repeated skidding was just about the width of our car.
On one side was a cliff face and on the other side was a deep valley , the bottom of which was not visible.
We drove slowly and somehow reached the highway. We decided not to continue with our holiday and returned home.
It took us weeks to recover from this mental trauma.
That day we learned the importance of choosing right friends and the need to say no without hesitation.
Till then the concept of god was not very clear in my life . My prayers and taking god's name were just automatic reflexes of my upbringing in india . My science soaked mind would rationalize everything related to god or religion.
This incident made me realize that there is a force which influences our life at all times and is beyond our control . It is also beyond any scientific explanation.
Is it god ?

jayasala42 · Sep 1, 2014

Though group travel is enjoyable, wrong company without proper planning may result in irrecoverable damages for which we have to repent for life.Better choose friends or relatives of similar temperament .The very purpose of holidaying may be lost through such travels, A great lesson learnt.All is well that ends well. But what a tension and anxiety. You should have stayed at home and taken homely food for two days.
Having taken a wrong decision, sometimes God may not come to our rescue however sincerely we pray.God has given us intelligence known as 'Free Will' that helps us taking decisions.Normally we humans have a tendency to speak of God's grace, if everything goes on fine or accuse Him or Fate if it is not favourable.
Let us do our part well and then learn to face the consequences.
Jayasala 42

stillwaters · Sep 1, 2014

so true jayasala.
experience as we mature teaches us many things.
i meant to highlight god's role in protecting us that day and not putting us in problem.
may be my writing gives a contrary impression.

chillbreeze · Sep 1, 2014

Nice snippet SW. It was scary to read that a lake was just couple of meters away from your car. Could only imagine what you must have felt then. I am also like you most of the times. Though our rational mind tries to find a logic and reason behind everything, there exists some force/power which influences us. To make the concept simple, I believe our ancestors defined it as God.

stillwaters · Sep 1, 2014

yes cb that's exactly what i believe . you expressed it so clearly in such simple words

shyamala1234 · Sep 1, 2014

Dear Stillwaters,
A scary experience.

We tend to pray God when things go wrong very much and when nothing can be done by us or anyone, because we need some anchor to hold on and the best anchor is God. This faith even gives us strength to face the situation....any critical situation. If we are out of danger we think God has helped us. But it is not always so, as Jayasala madam said. We have to use "Free will" to take a decision.
Thank you for a good one.
Syamala

stillwaters · Sep 1, 2014

dear shyamala,
that was truly our mistake , done inspite of having earlier misgivings .

Cheeniya · Sep 1, 2014

Dear stillwaters
The basic question here is whether our belief in God should be built around his ability to come to our rescue whenever we are in difficulties. How tiring it must be for him to act as an Eternal Troubleshooter for his creations! Whenever I see in National Geographic or Discovery channels a tiger or a lion chasing a hapless deer for prey, I used to wonder if the deer would be praying to God to make its escape possible while the hungry tiger would be praying to help it catch the deer so that its hunger could be appeased. On whose side, God would stand? If he saves the deer, the tiger would curse him and if he helps the tiger, the deer would curse him! It occurs to me that as long as we keep praying God for his intervention in our affairs, he is going to be in great stress! He has a greater role to play in the universe rather than running to our rescue day in and day out.

The best policy is Cromwell's- Trust in God and keep the gun powder dry. Most of the things happening in our lives are our own making. I am with jayasala on this. But after carefully going through your narration, I find that you were not at all in favour of taking that journey. It was not as if you took it leaving the burden of conducting it safely to God. You were not even aware of the inherent danger in your trip and you became aware of it only at daybreak. In your case, the help came from above because you did not seek it and you were totally ignorant of the danger for your life.

The believers of the modern times expect too much from God. Even the routine things do not get our attention that they deserve because we expect God to complete them for us. Students do not prepare well for the exams hoping that God will see them through. The Temple walls are all smeared with the roll numbers of such candidates! We cause greater harm to God through our faith than the non believers cause him through their negation of him!

Sorry I rambled a lot here. Your writings always tend to make me introspective!
Sri

Viswamitra · Sep 2, 2014

Dear Stillwaters,

I am so sorry to hear the bad trip you had experienced 9 years ago. Definitely, you were unfortunate to be part of that trip. Some situations are beyond human control but we need to exercise our best possible effort to control such situations. For a trip that was planned for departure at 6 a.m., leaving at 1 p.m. is a sign of upcoming ordeal. The communication comes in different forms and shapes and we fail to recognize. If we listen to our inner conscience in silence, it would guide us better and there is no need to give that much importance to displeasing a friend especially when it comes to our personal security or endangering our life. We have a duty to preserve our body, mind and intellect healthy and active as much as we could.

While science is the method through which we find the Creator through creation, spirituality is the method through which we learn about the creation through the understanding of the Creator. In science, we seek knowledge from outside whereas in spirituality, we seek knowledge from the source inside of us. In real life, we use our experience to gain knowledge and sometimes, our gut tells us about an upcoming and eminent danger which comes from the source. Unfortunately, we listen to our mind more than we listen to our conscience.

The Source otherwise known as Universal Absolute is smaller than the smaller and larger than the largest. It is like ether and there is no place the Source does not exist. The Source separated itself to love itself. That is why grace is showered on everyone whether he/she or believer or not. If we learn to divine love for the fellow beings, we find the way to the Source.

Viswa

stillwaters · Sep 2, 2014

Dear cheeniya sir,
i am honoured to receive your feedback and whatever length your fb is , it is valuable and not rambling.
As you rightly understood , before this incident my beleif in god was just a formality of the indian traditions . I would follow them mechanically without much thought .
Although we started the journey with lord ganesha's name , i was not even thinking that god will or should take care of us.
We were newly married and new to the place and these friends were elderly and had taken to helping us around. So , inspite of having doubts we could not say anything . I guess we still had to come out of the parent - child relationship and take charge of our lives.
So when this incident occurred , where we landed into extreme danger due to our foolishness , it forced me to think - what was it that got the vehicle stuck just 2 meters before the plunge and which prevented our plunge into the valley during that treacherous drive ?
Was it god ? Or can it be explained in any other way ?