Survival of Humanity
Sometime in the 1920s
“You’re early
today,” said the mother when her ten-year-old daughter walked in. Her daughter
is usually cheerful even after a day of hard work, when she sees her mother.
Today, however, something was unusual. The mother peered at her child. “What’s
the matter?” she asked.
“I saw Christ today Mother,” she answered.
“How did you know it was Him?” she raised an
eyebrow.
“I felt him Mother,” she shook her head. Raising her
eyes onto her mother, she spoke again, “it was as if our Lord wanted to speak
to me when I gave that old man on the street, half of my meal.”
“Agnes!” groaned the mother, “I must applaud your
bravery my child, but what have you eaten all day then?”
“A light went into the man and he smiled, Mother.”
The girl sat at the feet of her mother. “That man’s smile erased my hunger. It
was our Lord smiling through that man; I’m sure of it.” Her mother paused, unsure of how to go on. This wasn't the first time her Agnes had put strangers over herself; but this time, her daughter's face was radiant as she recollected the events of the day.
“Yes child, it must’ve been Him.” Dranafile patted
her daughter’s head proudly.
26th August, 2020
110 years later, on her birth anniversary, I was
reading a newspaper column, insignificantly sized at 16.5x3.5cm2
that still talked about the life and contributions of that Icon of Love. Unlike
the twenty odd lines that attempted to glorify her, I knew she was never a
‘show-off’. She did everything
without expecting anything in return.
Her reason for it – she saw Christ in every other face.
Not everyone can
be Mother Teresa right? That’s a tricky
statement. Who said anything about being
her? The World doesn’t need another Mother Teresa; it needs humanitarians like her. It means the
World needs more of those who put the needs of others alongside their own. It
desperately wants those who can transform pain into smiles. It requires those
who can see the bigger picture; vis-à-vis we humans are a small and insignificant component
of this vast Universe.
You must think that
this is about putting someone else’s needs before your own and being ‘selfless’
right?
Wrong! Please do
take care of your needs; just don’t
trample anyone’s hopes slash dreams slash identities on your way to ‘success’.
If and when you can, take responsibility for another life. Show them how life
can be better. Show them how ‘the grass isn’t always green on the other side,
its green where one waters it’. Ofcourse, at a time when the World is in a
crisis, talking about kindness, charity and peace may seem overrated; but before
we throw ourselves into the pessimistic philosophy of life and declaring that
the World has no hope left, let us remember that the change needed begins with
the need of becoming humble, kind and merciful to ourselves and others around us
‘through thick and thin’ which in itself, is a sign of survival – the Survival of Humanity.
A Note from the Author
A shorter version of this post (because of word limit constraints) has been published as an article by the Youth Wing of the Mar Thoma Church (Diocese of North America and Europe) in the first edition of their digital magazine titled 'Survival' released in February 2021.
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