Prayer In Need??????

All of us pray in times of Need. Greater the need ,the more we pray.The need drives us to pray.Sometimes we feel our prayers have been answered and we talk of The Benovalent God.The times our prayers are not answered God becomes cruel, heartless and noncomprehensible to us.
Once a storm broke out in the middle of the sea. A ship had to face it's brunt. It was rocking like crazy. Everybody on board got terribly scared and fell on to their knees ,praying to God.Strong pleas , complaints, promises were being made to God crying to be saved . Tears were running down their faces,loud sobs escaped their hearts and the ship was being thrown up and down by the ruthless storm. The messengers of Death were taking their positions to carry away their charges soon. They looked at everyone and suddenly their eyes fell on one person. He was the Captain of the ship and he alone was trying his best to keep the ship in control.There was no panic on his face and with all his concentration he was trying to steerhis ship through that storm.
One of the messengers asked the Captain,''Are you not afraid of the storm?How is it that you are not praying like others to ask God for help?Do you not want to live?''
''Oh yes, I do want to live,''replied the captain''and I love life so very much that I say my prayers everyday. I pray to God asking Him to grant me the strength to face adversities ,whenever they come my way.He has granted me the same with which I am fighting this storm and I will get the ship out of it.''
The captain prayed and prayed in Deed. He had the wisdom to know that the good and the bad that happen in our life are mere translations of our own actions. So it is much wiser to pray to God to give us the sense to understand our actions correctly so that the results do not shock us.
Life is what we make it to be. It is as valuable as we value it to be. People who understand this become eager learners and so they learn.The saying is so very apt that says...
It is but Human, to make mistakes;
It is the foolish ,who keep on repeating their mistakes;
It is the clever ,who learn from their mistakes;
But it is the wise ,who learn from other's mistakes.
We have an ocean of knowledge in the form of life all around us to learn from. It is only up to us how much we truely value life to pick out the pearls of wisdom and string them to beautify our lives or just spend our lives as a sheep of a herd.
The wise will always pray in DEED to sail through in the time of NEED.

The Serenity Prayer

''Lord,give me the SERENITY to accept the things that I cannot change;

give me the COURAGE to change the things that I can ;

and give me the WISDOM to know the difference.''

Is the prayer not wonderful?

Is it not so very relevant to our lives?

I love this prayer. I say it everyday.I feel that is these are the most precious things that I can ask from God.

We set out to change things around us to our liking.

We set out to change people around us for our happiness.

Sometimes we also try to change things for their own happiness.

We must understand and remember that it is for each one of us to find happiness so we cannot find it for others.

We still try doing it with the purpose of sparing them pain,but nobody can do so for others...we need to remember that .

It is us,only who can keep ourselves away from pain.

So does it mean that no-one should teach the right from the wrong?

No, we must teach till a certain age and then only when the want to learn is there. The rest of the time we must remember that life is indeed the greatest teacher and each can derive one's knowledge from it depending on how much of a learner we are .

Imposing our thoughts and knowledge does more harm than good. for imposing means applying force and force is always assosiated with unwillingness.
Unwillingness will have unreceptivity so any teaching will not have a positive result.

Each one of us is different from each other so naturally there would be difference in opinion.

It is always wise to develop the tolerance for the differences...to have the open mindedness to accept these differences...and not make them personal issues.

Who knows when we realise that there are so many even better views than our own....the views that are more relevant with times ..
All we need to do is to keep saying this prayer with all our humbleness and gratitude so that the Lord grants us what we pray for ...
Amen!

Home Sweet Home

How familiar is this expression to all of us?How often we say this after a long tiring day?How often we long for it when we are away for long periods of time?How most of our happy memories are assosiated with this word 'Home' ?
Undoubtedely,Home is a word that fills us with a sweet warmth and comfort. An inexpressable joy surges through our heart at the mere thought of it ,while we are away.So how is Home so special? It is basically a nonliving surrounding ,that we choose to make special with life.
Any amount of luxury and splendour alone can not make a Home sweet. It is the love we feel for it ,makes it special.So Home is actually where the heart is.
Something that is so special ,we needto nurture it. We need to give it our love only then can it remain special.Heart thrives on feelings and expressions. If expressions are missing or even lacking, nothing can compensate them.
I speak of this because yesterday I got to know that a Home has broken. The couple has separated. What stood out from the conversation was that the husband felt that the wife did not do anything for the Home. Ofcourse this was just one of the things . The wife never had the time nor the energy after work to tend to and nurture their Home. It is definetely a joint thing but active participation from both is essential.Any one being passive or inactive will have it's toll on the Home.
The other day someone was mentioning that times have changed so fast . Till some years back Homes signified people,their laughter ,their sorrows,their activities ....the Homes looked ALIVE. Now most of the Homes are shut through the day ,to be opened to rest the nights. Housewives did not like the designation and so the term Home-makers evolved...now that too is getting obselete and so no surprise that minus the home-makers the Homes are also going for a toss.
I do not know if Education is only about being unidimensional. I would feel Good Education would help a person to see things with better clarity and so would make it easier for them to carve their own path to happiness.

Any achievement is desirable,appreciable but Education should help us see the price that we pay for it.In the times that we value are materialistic needs over our emotional ones....where we give ourselves to only acquire rather than GIVE ....Home Sweet Home may just become an expression of the past ...
We want name, fame, big house , even more wealth for what for who? For our own loved ones ? But we do not have the time to give that Love NOW...we only live for the future and in the processs do not even realise when the present slips away from our hands...

Homes will be sweet only if we keep infusing that sweetness regularly with our expressions and actions ...otherwise like Plants die for lack of water ...Homes will also crumble away for lack of nurturance.
I hope our education teaches this to all of us.