CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

WHEREEVER THERE IS SHARING, THERE IS GOD.[ CHRISTMAS MESSAGE] - 

Narrator: Once there was a man; he was a very good and conscientious man, just in his dealings with others and full of love for his wife and children. God had been good to him and his friends said that whatever he laid his hands on turned into gold. You would say that he had nothing left to wish for but one day he spoke to God….

Man: I have served you faithfully all my life. one thing however, I would like very much; I want to see you!

Narrator: God replied:

God: but that is impossible. I am too great for you. Just imagine I have a wide coat on with a beautiful belt. That belt has a buckle with innumerable small diamonds which radiate light. You are one of those small diamonds. You cannot see me!

Man: But if I go a little further away from you? Can’t I see you from a distance?

God: impossible. If I am the seashore, you are a grain so sand. If I am the sea, you are a drop of water in that sea. No, I am sorry but you cannot see me.

Narrator: and the man insisted:

Man: But if I go much further away? Suppose, I go and stand among the stars, it is then perhaps possible to see you?

God: If you go so far away, you will cease to exist. No, you cannot see me!

Man: if I really cannot see you, then, please, let me hear you. Is that possible?

God: All right! I will allow you to hear me. You must go to a great forest, where you do not hear anything other than the rustling of leaves. There when you put your fingers in your ears, you will hear me.

Narrator: then the man went to a big forest and searched for a quiet spot. He put his fingers in his ears and listened. He felt a soft breeze passing by and then he heard a voice saying:

God: I love you!

Narrator: And the man knew that he had heard this before, but he had not been able to discern it in the midst of the noise of the city. Then the man spoke to God:

Man: Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me, nut if you really love me, you must make it possible for me to see you. You cannot back out.

God: Okay. You have won. I will show myself to you. Please, close your eyes.

Narrator: and the man closed his eyes[god stands in the ordinary clothes.]

God: now you can open them again.

Narrator: the man opened his eyes and saw a man like  himself standing before him.

God said: you are too small to see me as I am; hence I made myself small for you. I became a man like you.

Narrator: and God opened his bag, took out some sandwiches and shared them with the man. He opened his themosflask and both of them enjoyed the coffee. And the man returned to the city; he walked through the streets and over the squares; where he found people, he told them:

Man : I have seen God!

Narrator : the newspapers wrote about hem and he even made the newsreels in the cinema houses. Soon the people began to ask him whether he show God to them too. The man replied full of enthusiasm:

Man : Of course, come along.

Narrator: he took them to a family, where the father tried to understand the concerns and aspirations of his eldest son, whose norms and values were so different from his own. the mother was nursing her baby, her eyes full of love and concern. The people shouted: you are cheating  us, we cannot see God! but the man replied to their angry shouting:

Man: Don’t you see God has become man in these parents? Come, I will make you somewhere else.

Narrator: And he too them to a factory. A dangerous and risky job had to be done. The foreman had just selected 10 men for it. One of them was Marttin, the father of a family with school-going children and grandfather and grandmother living with them. Suddenly a young man jumped forward: I will take the place of Martin; his family cannot live without him, but no one really depends on me. Once again there were only angry faces and they threatened: we are going to take you to the police-station! The man did not lose his patience, although he found it difficult to understand that they still had not understood that God was alive in people, who reflected His selfless love and concern:

Man: Please, don’t act in a hurry. I will show him to you somewhere else.

Narrator: then he took them-the group following him had become quite a crowd by now-to a small house in a narrow street of the city. Through the window the people saw a young couple made place for her at the table and shared their scanty meal with her. Now the people were really angry. They teased and mocked him. When the man remained calm and refused to admit that he was wrong, they took him in triumph to the police station and accused him of being an imposter. The judge sentenced him to three year’s imprisonment.

          After two years he was released because of his exemplary behaviour. As soon as he was free, he returned to his family and took them to Orissa. There he began to organize the people who suffered almost every year from ravaging monsoon floods. He dug canals and dams with them, found land or work for the landless ones and a market for their products. His wife worked with the women, taught them about proper diet and showed them how to look after their children. Their own children went to school with the children of the village. Whatever they had was shared with that community in Orissa.

Narrator: then people understood that God had come to stay with them.