Gifts are to Cherish

Developed from picture by Svendsgaard Kurt, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Every so often it happens to us that we receive something precious, good and great in life that in the final analysis a gift from the Lord and the Universe. However, equally frequently, instead of honoring and cherishing these gifts and being grateful to the Lord for them, we tend to take it for granted as our birth right and misuse them. The result is that soon the same gift becomes a curse. It vanishes, pushing us into misery in the process.

My mind went to a childhood friend who was born in a rich elite family. She grew up to be a beautiful and charming lady. At heart, she was a simple and gentle lady with malice for none. It is perhaps because of this that the Lord had showered her with so many gifts in life. But she developed a serious fault. She let herself drown in carelessness and sensual pleasures of the world. As a result she did not end up in the best possible way in later life. One of the richest men of Delhi had married her because of her beauty and charm. They had one son on whom they showered all their wealth and love. When he grew up, they sent him to an expensive school in US to study. He would return to Delhi often and his father gave him a new BMW for his enjoyment. This boy would get drunk with a group of friends and speed around on Delhi roads at night in his BMW. One night, he ran over some people killing them. He ended up in prison. Misuse of gifts takes place not only in life of individuals but also in life of organizations and nations. Nation after nation, that became great from a sense of discipline and goodness, at some stage, began to misuse its wealth and power and gradually disappeared into pages of history. Some such thing may be happening to USA. It has been spending a large part of its wealth on unnecessary defense expenditure and ruinous wars rather than using this power to spread goodness among its people and the world. If we could learn to express gratitude for the gifts we receive in life, cherish them and make good use of them, then such gifts may continue to add happiness in our lives, all our days on earth.

The reverse of gifts is difficult times we face in life. These are for our education and for us to learn from them and develop wisdom. As soon as that education is complete, the difficulty vanishes and we may then return to peace with renewed strength. However, many, instead of learning their lessons react in anger. Instead of admitting their faults, they blame others. The consequence is that misery instead of vanishing increases. Some such thing may be happening to the once great Democratic Party in USA. Having suffered a humiliating defeat recently, it seems they are blaming everyone from Russia to the stars rather than doing something to rectify their faults. They had not even been able to select a nominee for the Presidential race without dishonesty and cheating and what they put up as a result was not an honest selection.  Hopefully they shall change, because for those who do not, perhaps the Lord washes his hands off, pushing them into a bottomless pit. 

A similar story is repeating in the world as a whole. The Universe has provided humans a lovely planet to live on. However, instead of cherishing and taking care of it, human greed is exploiting and ruining it to the utmost extent with help of gifts of technology and science. Technology is not being used to improve the planet but to deforest it and fill its air, water and soil with life threatening pollution. If this continues, Mother Earth and Father Universe shall soon exhaust their patience and push the lot into a bottomless pit, an apocalypse, to prepare for a new beginning and restore goodness once again. For what has been before shall come again and there is nothing new under the Sun.