Fair Weather
Saturday April 9 2005 08:46 IST
By Karmayogi
People fall into two categories. One is endowed with foresight. The other is used to crisis management. Those with foresight continuously receive Grace. The others create crises by their casual attitudes and the incoming Grace is fully absorbed by the crises.
There is one more category of people who are immune to Grace. They are casual, refuse to shoulder any responsibility, pay little attention to their duties, do the minimum necessary to survive. Well-wishers point out to them the value of being serious and responsible, but they are deaf to such importunities, because they are unaware they are refusing Grace. Their standard reply is, Everything is fine with me. Why do you raise an issue now?
They are unaware of two factors. One is because they live in such an atmosphere of Grace as Mothers, a far greater prosperity awaits them. They, of course, miss it. The other is by living in a positive atmosphere of Grace, they are recipients of more than their due. It wont last long if they are casual. Someone gets a job in the US almost without any effort of his. He takes it as Mothers Grace. It is. He should deserve it by the way he receives it.
The very best method is to feel a deep gratitude in the very cells. The next best is to know it came by Grace in spite of the lack of several qualifications in him. The moment he has received the job, he must endeavour to remove the disqualifications. That way, he will physically deserve what comes. In a school, children eagerly await the holidays.
In your school, if children come to you on the last day and ask whether they can continue to come to school even during the holidays, it speaks volumes about the methods of the school. It makes any teacher proud. What does it mean?
If your methods, your teachers, your ideals have created that response from the children, it is great. You know that you dont deserve it. It is because of Grace. At once you should go about raising the quality of teaching, the equipment of your teachers and your own receptivity to the level of the childrens response. If you take it for granted, when the fall comes, it will be an ignoble fall.
Such a misfortune comes only to talented people who have vastly accomplished at one stage. Or it comes to lucky people who receive an overdose of success at the beginning. Really, it should be a warning signal. In Tagores words, Woe unto the man whose fame has outshone his worth.
Mothers dose is always an overdose. Very few people can keep up with the rate of Mothers self-giving. She has a thousand hands and gives with all of them. We have only two hands to receive. Our lap quickly overflows. It takes a spiritual alertness to continuously received Grace.