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Topic: Poor (10/25/04)
TITLE: You are never poor By sharmila sanka 10/28/04 |
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‘Wait for few more minutes dear. Your dad has gone out to get some bread for you.’ Mom started to pacify her until she heard her 6 months old daughter Jasmine crying for milk. She took the cereal tin but found just one teaspoon of cereal. She fed her in no time.
‘How long does dad take to get me bread mommy?’ said Lilly.
‘Baby, dad has no car. He has to walk all the way to the grocery store and come. Just bear for little time’, told mommy hugging her to her heart.
‘This is the only food which is with me at all times to feed my children’s hearts.’ She thought to herself. ‘Oh Jesus, will there be some time I can feed their stomachs too?’ she cried in despair. Atlast Robert dragged his feet to the house. He bought bread , cereal and some fruits for the family.
‘If they cry again I will not be able to get anything for them.’ He said helplessly. He took some medicine out of the little sack and gave it to his wife Rita.
‘Don’t you want to eat some bread?’ asked Robert.
‘A mother’s heart is filled at the fullness of the child’s stomach. What more do I want for today?’ she said.
That day ended somehow and they relaxed themselves on a little bed in that single bed room house.
All were asleep except Rita who got up from her bed. She went into the living room where she always had the habit of praying with the little cross of Jesus in hand. She kneeled down and prayed to Jesus thus-
“Dear Lord, I might have committed some sins due to which I see my family suffer. You are the embodiment of sacrifice. Please take my life and grant them the necessary money to live in happiness. I humbly bow to your will, but before that, promise me you will give me strength to face and live it. Prayer turns the impossible into possible. It acts as a bridge between the problem and the solution. Now I pray to you for your grace. I heard that faith fortunes one’s Life with Miracles. My faith in you is not like butter which melts away but a hard rock which stands the rain and the heat. Troubles became perennial waves in the Ocean of my 'Life.' Please take pity on us. What is limiting you to shower your grace on us? Let my faith receive an answer” she cried.
Rita went to bed in tears. She woke up at the touch of the sun rays. Her happy heart is flying high in the air. She didn’t know why but gradually remembered her dream in which Jesus placed his soothing hand on her head and said- ‘God is not a rock. He has a heart which looks after all the hearts who have placed faith in him. Dear child, you are not poor. You are all rich in kindness, humility , sacrifice and endless faith. Lack of bread makes you feel poor but I shall feed your hearts and so will your stomachs be filled from now. Just have faith in me.’
Rita’s eyes are now filled with tears of joy. She started to cry. That is the first time in her life she ever cried out of happiness. Her heart is heavy and her tongue tightened. Robert and the kids stared at her surprisingly not knowing what happened to her. Like a small child she narrated her dream of the Lord which filled their hearts too. She folded the sheets of the bed and lo she heard the phone ring.
It was her grandmother from Illinois speaking to her - “Child, how are you? Now that I am old with no one else and my last moments are approaching, I have decided to gift you a will of million dollars. Sorry dear child that I forgot you all this while. Jesus opened my eyes, I dreamt of Him last night. He said I was poor and asked me to become rich at heart by giving away my property to you as my end approached.”
Grandma continued, “Child, your Honesty is your invisible crown which is seen by Him. Never lose it. You are rich with his mercy and grace but never poor.”