God, with His people maintains a bond, To their prayers He’d always respond. They may not get the way they desire, For He knows best what they most require, Hence, He listens to prayers and goes beyond.
Have trust and let Him decide the way, How He would provide for what we pray. Many times to make us stronger, Our prayers, to realise, may take longer, You may not have it delivered the same day.
There is a difference between prayer and demand, He is a Master and not a servant at our command. We should bow our head in gratitude, And don’t erroneously conclude, That He has rejected our prayer out of hand.
Many of us tend to do something extreme, We ask of God to be part of our scheme. Our life, we forget, is already a gift from God, But, we expect our every effort He’d reward. We keep record of our every good and right, And demand that we should be made knight.
Our system, we feel, is best suited for Him, He shouldn’t follow His own fancy and whim. How dare He favour whom we know to be bad, Whilst the “righteous” are hungry and unclad? “Something is wrong with His system of recompense, Many a times His gifts are at someone’s expense.”
‘Let’s stop playing God’ is my humble suggestion, At every step of life, let’s not crib and question. Do we have, than Him, better inputs and sense? Isn’t that the most arrogant and egotist pretence? How do we know what He gave to whom and why? None of us can ever get over self, ego, I and my.
So, accept with humility whatever He has given, Whilst rewarding us many sins He has forgiven. “God, let me be worthy of whatever you give, Let me be grateful to you for as long as I live. Let me never question your judgment or plan, For you are my Master, I am just a small Man.”
Of all the methods God gave us to cope, The most promising is something called Hope. You don’t have to frown, When the chips are down, Or when you are actually walking a tightrope.
If it hadn’t been for Hope, we’d be dejected, When in our lives we feel sad and rejected. The silver lining on dark cloud, Doesn’t make us feel cowed; We look forward to be pepped up by the unexpected.
Hope gives the impossible too a chance, When we’re down and out it makes us dance. Like a promise of God, That we often applaud, Our chances of success appear to enhance.
So, don’t abandon hope in any situation, You and Hope are indeed a strong combination. In God always have trust, He never lets Hope catch rust, Hope should be next to Love in your calculation.
Since each one of us has unique point of view, Each one finds others as ungrateful and unfair; It is similar to what drivers on Indian roads do, “Of the othermad drivers on road just beware.” It is human nature never to be worthy of blame, “We are different but the others are all the same.”
Look within and we shall find all the wrongs, That we are forever trying to find in others; Each one of us to the same family belongs, Though we’ve different fathers and mothers. If we want our own view points to be respected, How come of the others are always suspected?
It’d be boring if we were identical in all respects, Variety indeed adds colour to everyday life, Yes, it appears to make life a little more complex, And it looks like we’re always headed for strife. The solution is not with others but with us: Just stop making, over others, all the fuss.
Let’s just remove our glasses and clean the dust, And consider that others too have a right to be. Let’s not forget that savouries with hard crust, Often have soft cores that we don’t ever see. People are as good or as bad as we care to think, Forget others let’s in our armour look for chink.
Someone, to you, has done some wrong, And a feeling of revenge is overwhelming. You can’t get over it, it feels very strong, Inside your body, like a fire, it is burning. The act by your bete noire did little harm, But your hatred is indeed cause for alarm.
Hatred is just the opposite of the feeling of Love, Its aim is only to cause immense destruction. Whilst the elements support you as a dove, When you are a hawk, they cause obstruction. I don’t suppose about it there is an argument, That Hatred is like self-imposed punishment.
But how can you make his for his sins pay? Surely, he needs to be told right from wrong; He should have done better than to go astray, And plunge into his despicable action headlong. So be it if you are to be the agent of God, But, the feeling of Hatred is still flawed.
Love unfailingly achieves more than Hatred, There are really no limits to its amazing powers; It is blessed by God, it is divine and sacred, Your way is not thorny but paved with flowers. Try to assimilate Love in everyday life, And see how gradually you cut out strife.
If someone were to put you in a Time-Machine, At what point in Eternity you’d make your scene? Would you like to be there in some unknown future, Or in the distant past where Man has already been?
Most dream of the past with the capability of today, Or have some future skills and live in yesterday. If being elsewhere in Time makes you so excited, Why not love the present before it goes away?
Present Time is actually a present, God’s gift, There is no requirement to give it a face-lift. If we live it well, it would become golden past, And simultaneously our future won’t be adrift.
We don’t need the Time-Machine for times ahead, We don’t need to access what’s gone and even dead. Just live your present the way it ought to be lived, Your past and future you would never never dread.
If you were to get yourself a pet, What kind of life for it you’d set? And if you’re the parent of a child, What all would you care to provide? You’d worry about your own control, Whilst selecting for it an aim or role.
Just a few of these and you’d be tired, Especially when things ain’t as desired. You guard your home and protect them, And you always worry about the outcome. You sleep at nights and rest when needed, And yet there are times you feel defeated.
Now imagine looking after the universe, Trillions of beings He is required to nurse, Continuously, without beginning or end. And to each single one an ear He has to lend. And all this without ever having a break, Many go to sleep but He is always awake.
And yet He doesn’t seek to exercise control, You are largely left free to choose your role. He provides even when you don’t believe, Or no thanks or gratitude he would receive. This must be Love beyond our imagination. Our Creator is the Guardian of His Creation.
Mind is one of the greatest gifts from God, It really has powers beyond imagination. One has to bow one’s head and applaud, With a leap it can cover God’s total Creation. We are connected to God through our mind, Our Maker through its powers we can find.
But for that it needs to be properly trained, Or at least kept under complete control. Experiment how long it can be maintained, Without wandering from its singular goal. Try to have a clear and focused mind, And see if all the while it stays aligned.
Remind it that it is a slave and you are master, See to it that it follows your every command; Make it slow down when it goes much faster, Than concentrating on the given task at hand. Don’t give in to its desire to wander, Don’t let it its own powers squander.
The one who has really learnt to control it, Has the most powerful tool given to Man; His path even through darkness is totally lit, What other can’t accomplish he easily can. Enjoy going places with your mind, And see, under your control, what it can find.
Whenever we ask God for more and more, We never never try to keep a score; That we haven’t used what He gave, At our birth in a single wave, And it kept lying idly in our store.
We, on the average, use just five percent, Of the faculties that to us God had sent; We lay waste our powers, And deny what is ours, And never try to gauge their full extent.
The past knowledge of the world holds us back, We are afraid to be labelled as maniac*, If we want to go beyond the mould, Or explore beyond what we were told, So the courage to break these bonds we lack.
We should be inspired by those who try, To make it possible for them to fly; The world gains by their resolve, Whilst a new way they evolve, And peg their aims really very high.
….we should consider what He gave and is lying wasted.
We have, in our lives, much to learn from Water, Almost everywhere in God’s world it is seen to fall; We take ‘fall‘ as negative but it doesn’t seem to matter, It looks magnificent in fall and doesn’t feel small at all. Isn’t there a beautiful lesson there for us? We get emotional about ‘fall‘ and make fuss.
Water’s fall, at most times, is welcomed by all. We harness it to produce many types of energy. On parched land when it falls as rain or squall, Not just with children, it brings all round glee. As rivers or rivulets it looks so lovely, Changing courses, colours and being bubbly.
Lets then change our attitude about our own fall, And think about it that sometimes that we must; We can quickly rise again and feel strong and tall, And just because of it not lose our life’s thrust. Falls small or big shouldn’t be seen as setbacks, These are transient and never the climax.
Life is just a collection of memories, Make happy ones whenever you can. Later in life you need all those stories, That remind of shining phases of your lifespan. “God gave us memories for roses in December”, Have more of these than bad ones to remember.
Be aware your Today would be Yesterday, All that you sow will sprout to become trees. If deeds are to be later recalled with dismay, It’s not worth spending your time on these. Your future may not always be in your hands, But your past is simply footsteps on sands.
Past is, of your life, a very significant part, Without it you can’t even hope to survive. All that you have learnt has made you smart, So in your today and tomorrow you can thrive. Store it well in the layers of your mind, You’ll need it if the future becomes unkind.
Ah, time and again I sound like a preacher, But, it is as far from my intention as can get. Remember, the keenest student is a teacher, I’m the most inquisitive student you ever met. Life is still teaching me a great deal, I am sharing with you what I learn as I kneel.
What would be the best way for us to pray? Do we, to God, need something erudite to say? What if someone is born dumb? And he or she can merely hum, Would God angrily turn him or her away?
If to the above we give some thought, One thing would become clear as it ought: God requires our love not our knowledge; To reach Him we don’t have to go to college, He comes to one who has with loving heart sought.
Eons ago when there was no knowledge and languages, God came to ordinary people and not just to sages. If one were to require special skills, And rituals and ostentatious frills, God won’t have been with us throughout the ages.
Billions of beings and yet with God we are one to one, And each one of us is like his daughter or son. He listens to our heart’s cry, And doesn’t ask ‘What’ and ‘Why’, He doesn’t rest until what we asked for is done.
I have been giving you these poems since the First of June 2018.
(Image courtesy: Discogs)
From 4th Jan 19, I started doing something different. In addition to my own inspirational poems everyday, I started giving you, on every Friday, a song or poem that has inspired me. Today is the sixth and it is a Grammy Award winning soundtrack by Neil Diamond for the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull based on Richard Bach’s famous novella by the same name.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull, written by Richard Bach, is a novella that I feel everyone must read. It is about a seagull but applies to all of us. It is about how Jonathan Livingston learns to go beyond known speed barriers of flying, is expelled from the flock, seeks perfection by himself and hence happiness and finally become a teacher for all those like him who are outlawed for not conforming.
Richard Bach wrote a series of short-stories that were published in the Flying magazine in 1960s. The novella in the present form was first published in 1970. It remained on top of New York Times Best Seller list for the greater part of the year.
Here is for you to understand the award-winning soundtrack and the story of the book:
Side one
No.
Title
Line notes
Length
1.
“Prologue”
And here begins our story – the sky, the sea, the flock.
3:19
2.
“Be”
Introduction of Jonathan – his flight and fall.
6:28
3.
“Flight of the Gull”
Jonathan is carried to the heights of ambition, and to near catastrophe.
2:23
4.
“Dear Father”
Battered, and near death, Jonathan asks for reasons.
5:12
5.
“Skybird”
Returning home to show what he has learned, his acrobatics only serve to anger the flock elders. He is put on trial, and forever…outcast.
1:12
6.
“Lonely Looking Sky”
Alone and adrift.
3:12
Side two
No.
Title
Line notes
Length
1.
“The Odyssey (Be – Lonely Looking Sky – Dear Father)”
And so begins a journey, an odyssey, a test of the spirit.
9:28
2.
“Anthem”
“Transcend, purify, glorious.”
3:03
3.
“Be”
Jonathan returns to teach the flock.
1:06
4.
“Skybird”
The lesson
2:18
5.
“Dear Father”
Rebuked again by the elders, Jonathan attempts to rally the flock.
1:14
6.
“Be”
Recapitulation and farewell to Fletcher
3:26
I am only giving you ‘Be’ as an illustrative example of the outstanding soundtrack.
Before I do so, here is a small introduction by me:
Limits are meant for us to be broken, Even though for years these are written and spoken; But when a man tries to go beyond, The others with unkindness respond, And declare him as outlawed and outspoken.
However, you are never alone when you’ve God, To your resolve He always gives a nod; He gives your resolve wings, And arranges all those other things, So that finally even non-believers applaud.
All that you’ve to do is just ‘Be’, In your new pursuit find joy and glee, Don’t give up hope, And think you can’t cope, For finally the world belongs to thee.
Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy ‘Be’ by Neil Diamond:
Lost On a painted sky Where the clouds are hung For the poet’s eye You may find him If you may find him
There On a distant shore By the wings of dreams Through an open door You may know him If you may
Be As a page that aches for words Which speaks on a theme that’s timeless While the Sun God will make for your day
Sing As a song in search of a voice that is silent And the one God will make for your way
And we dance To a whispered voice Overheard by the soul Undertook by the heart And you may know it If you may know it
While the sand Would become the stone Which begat the spark Turned to living bone Holy, holy Sanctus, sanctus
Be As a page that aches for word Which speaks on a theme that is timeless While the Sun God will make for your day
Sing As a song in search of a voice that is silent And the one God will make for your day
If at life’s most memorable you look back, You would recall those when you were appreciated. You didn’t have to be presented an expensive plaque, Or for your efforts to be monetarily compensated. Just a few words of simple praise, Worked wonders for you always.
If that be the importance of appreciation, There is a valuable lesson for us all: Everyone around us can do with a bit of admiration, Like the stage actors during a curtain call. So, if you want to see the best in men, Give them praise every now and then.
Always be quick to praise and slow to condemn, Rather than being the other way round. You don’t want to lose a shining gem, By deliberately razing it to the ground. People respond to praise better than to money, They value your tongue dipped in honey.
The best part about it is that it doesn’t cost a thing, But its effect is at most times priceless. If you count the all round happiness it’d bring, It would be a step even ahead of politeness. Volumes can be written in praise of praise, We can all, in its honour, a toast can raise.
So you want, in your life, to make a change, But are waiting for right time and tide. The fact is that it is really very strange, That you feel such wait is justified. All time to make a change is good, Neither a delay is necessary nor you should.
Strike when the iron is hot, When your resolve is at its peak. Go for it with all that you’ve got, Don’t let the doubts make you weak. The right time to make a change is now, Tomorrow never comes anyhow.
Resolve strongest, doubts are weakest, You can’t come across better stars. It is not the time to act like the meekest, But to be like the bravest heroes of wars. Usher in the change with a smile, And let that become your lifestyle.
Soon you’ll see doubts no longer trouble, And frustrated they leave you alone. Hence, easily your efforts you can double, Your resolve, in strength, would’ve grown. Change then becomes a way of life, Cutting out from it the earlier strife.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull, written by Richard Bach, is a novella that I feel everyone must read. It is about a seagull but applies to all of us. It is about how Jonathan Livingston learns to go beyond known speed barriers of flying, is expelled from the flock, seeks perfection by himself and hence happiness and finally become a teacher for all those like him who are outlawed for not conforming.
