God is Our Father

My granddaughter Arya made a new friend at school the other day, when she was just nine years old. Arya introduced herself, saying that she was of Indian background. Her new found friend explained that her parents were of German heritage and were devout Christians. The two children were as different as they could be but they became close friends. One day, the German girl said something  that she had, quite obviously, picked up from her  parents:

“God is our father”.

Arya went into deep contemplation for a few seconds and then responded:

“In that case we are all brothers and sisters.”

After this, she thought some more and added:

“Also, this means that we are all one big family”.

Her parents were delighted with these words. If all the boys that Arya met in her life would be her brothers, half their parenting worries would be over!

Jokes aside,  the words of my granddaughter are full of wisdom. We may have heard these sentiments before, they may even be written into some of our scriptures, but when they are uttered by a child, straight from the heart, they carry so much more meaning.

Just imagine, for a moment, that God is our father and we are all brothers and sisters. We are all one big divine family. There is no need to fight with our family members, they are part of us. There is no need to fight with our neighbours, they are our brothers and sisters. There is no need for countries to fight with neighbouring countries, except, perhaps, when there is friendly sibling rivalry during test matches. There is no need for physical barriers between countries, people could just come and go as they please.

There is no need for any class or caste distinctions, we are all different parts of the same family. There is no need for any religious distinctions either, as each family member follows his or her own path. Everyone who serves us, or, anyone we serve, is part of the same family. Going to work for a living  would be like going for a family outing.

Just imagine all of this to be true. It is rather easy to do for those of us who belong to the Om Swami family,as we share a common bond. However, all yogis and their followers are inter-connected, and at best  there can only be  friendly differences of opinion between them.

In the words of the peace song:

“Imagine there are no countries

It isn’t hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religions, too

Imagine all the people

Living in peace

You may say I am a dreamer

But I am not the only one …”

Anything is possible in this world, including even lasting peace, if we just remember that God is our father and we are all brothers and sisters. Let’s resolve today to be one big, happy family.