“When you really look for me, you will see me instantly –you will find me in the tiniest house of time. Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God? He is the breath inside the breath.” – Kabir
God's Grace: Cappadocia-region by Marge Botten via NatGeo
This week’s prompt from MamaKat’s Writers Workshop gave me much food for thought…
If you could stop time for 24 hours, what would you accomplish?
A MEDITATION
“It is the Lord of the house whom I need, what have I to do with the house?
I need to meet with Him Who said, ‘Who approaches Me by a span’s length,
I will approach him by the length of a cubit.” – Rabia
“Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason
why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is
because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are
able to continue and endure.” – LaoTzu
There I was, running around helter skelter like a chicken with two heads, when the call came. I’d been bitching and moaning for years about never having enough time to get anything done. Of course, part of the story was that Last Minute Linda here always tried to multitask when deadlines were fast approaching hence dropping the ball entirely anyway.
I’d complained for years that if only God could stop the clock, hand me a Things-The-World-Needs-Done manual and give me extra powers, I would revolutionize the world. Well, my moment in the sun had come and I was scared shitless because now I had to show up and deliver or just shut up.
“Your calling my name is My reply.
Your longing for Me is My message to you.
All your attempts to reach Me
Are in reality My attempts to reach you.” – Rumi
“The fruit of silence is prayer
the fruit of prayer is faith
the fruit of faith is love
the fruit of love is service.” – Mother Teresa
How was I going to convince my friends and family that the order had arrived? Who would believe me? I mean, for crying out loud, how many times do you get a call from you-know-who? Wasn’t it enough that I had been promising everyone that my mega million winnings were coming, were on the way… for 20 years!? Now I had to share the message from the call?
The phone kept ringing incessantly; each ring sounded more urgent than the last one. My caller ID couldn’t be lying, right? It said ID: “God Here!” I was flummoxed. Why me? Why not me? Why me? I turned away, ready to dash out of the dining room when the ringing stopped. Phew! I thought, “Thank God… For a moment there I must have lost my bifocals because it was just not possible for God to call me!”
“If you lose all differentiation between yourselves and others,
fit to serve others you will be.
And when in serving others you will win success,
then shall you meet with me.” – Milarepa
“O God! If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell,
and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise.
But if I worship You for Your Own sake,
grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty.” – Rabia
God's Grace: Blue Mosque Istanbul by W. Krecichwost via NatGeo
I reached for the tissue box on my dining table, pulled two, and gently dabbed the beads of sweat forming on my forehead. Grabbing the phone, I walked over to the bay windows next to the breakfront and sat down. I looked out the window to make sure some slick operative, real or imagined, wasn’t lurking in the azalea shrubs below my window. Hmmm, I wondered out loud, Could being menopausal be the trigger for this surreal experience that now had me hovering between magic and madness? Maybe the caller ID box said Goddy Hill, my good friend from across the pond… But I’m not so sure it did.
I was always the eccentric one back in my school days. I loved and still love spiritual texts and reading about the great masters; Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed and the mystic poets; Rabia, Rumi, LaoTzu, Kabir, Mirabai, Milarepa and more… but I don’t recall being voted most likely to speak with God by telephone. I pondered further and gratefully reminded myself that the TV show “Punk’d” was history and this was probably all in my imagination.
“Only he knows the bitterness of love
Who has deeply felt its pangs.
When you are in trouble
No one comes near you:
When fortune smiles.
All come to share the joy.
Love shows no external wound.
But the pain pervades every pore.” – Mirabai
“Feel often during the day the need for prayer and pray.
Prayer opens the heart, till it is capable of containing God himself.
Ask and seek and your heart will be big enough to receive Him
and keep Him as Your Own. The fruit of service is peace.” – Mother Teresa
God's Grace: Canyonland Utah by Scott Rodenberg via NatGeo
A CONVERSATION
The phone rang again… This time, I steeled myself and answered it. “Hello? Linda here…”
Pause on the other line, then a gentle voice said, “What is your heart’s desire?”
Me: “I’d like to see the end of strife, war and all acts of evil.”
The Voice said, “Done. What else ails you?”
Me: The end of poverty, sickness, and bitterness.”
Voice: “Granted.”
Me: “The renewal of Faith, love, service, peace, and a prayerful heart for all mankind; man, woman, child on our planet…. In 24 hours?”
Voice: “Done.”
An image flashed before my eyes, oh yeah, it’s of me back in my size 8 jeans not my current size@$%*. Okay Linda, this is not the time…
Voice: “It’s alright; you’ll get there, just not in 24 hours.”
Me: “But, but… you promised the rest.”
Voice: “And so it is… Your well meaning wishes join those of the collective and will bring change and good to the world. Thoughts that uplift mankind are never wasted for the energy reverberates on earth spreading seeds of goodwill and healing.”
“Remember: The Gift Of Devotion is renewed faith and prayer. It begins with You.”
How would YOU handle a call from God? What would you ask for that would be for the highest good of all mankind? Or what would you ask for your highest good this season? I would love to hear from you: Thank You!
PHOTO CREDITS:
All Photos: Cappadocia-region by Marge Botten, Blue Mosque Istanbul by W. Krecichwost, Canyonland Utah by Scott Rodenberg via National Geographic
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
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