A child's conversation with God

Finding Love and Forgiveness A child has a series of questions and let’s see how he puts them forward to God and what God’s reply is.

God: Dear Child, how can I help you? Child: Dear God, I always find myself getting into petty fights with my friends and  feeling sad about it later. Now, after a lot of pondering, I think I want to install Love and forgiveness and I wish you could guide my way! God: Sure. I am always available for your help. Are you ready to proceed? Child: Umm…..well, I think I am ready. But, hey, what do I do first? God: The first step is to find your heart and do you know where your heart is? Child: Oh yes, but there are several other feelings filled in it. Can I find love while they are other feelings? God: What are those other feelings? Child: Umm, I have Past Hurt, Grudge and Resentment in there. And now, I think these are the feelings that prevent me from forgiving my friends. God: Yes, you are right. Glad that you have started realising. Not to worry. Love will gradually erase your past hurt. However, you have to completely turn off grudge and resentment. Those feelings prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off? Child: I don't know how to turn them off, God. How can I do it? God: Look into your heart and invoke forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until grudge and resentment have been completely erased. Child: Oh that simple! And I thought forgiveness had to be brought from somewhere outside my heart! Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. And, I feel good about it! Whoa! God: Right! Do not forget that the most wonderful person in this planet is you in the first place. Child: Err...umm...what does that mean, God? God: It simply means, you have to love yourself before you can love others. Child: Oh, that sounds good. But do you think I can love myself when I feel low about myself? God: Definitely. This is when you need to put ‘self-acceptance’ to use. Forgive your self,  realize Your worth and acknowledge your limitations. Child: Okay, done. I feel good about myself! God:  Make sure you get rid of ‘self-criticism’ just so you don’t go back to feeling low again. Child: Hey, got it!. You got a smile on my face  and happiness in my heart. God: Cool! Make sure you share your love with others and see how magnificently it keeps building within you. Child: Thanks God.

(This article has been written for a children's magazine, on order)

Family – The way you see it

Relations are an integral part of life. Such relation to be everlasting, blissful and be a mutual source of happiness is very important. The first set of relations for any individual is the family – the place where one is born, or spiritually speaking, the place where one chooses to be born. Most of an adult’s behavior is based on health of the relations in his early childhood. Though a person cannot exactly remember how he/she had been treated in the first 5-6 years of his life, subconsciously, it is that crucial 5-6 years that play an important role in shaping the social personality of a man.

So, the big question parents have is – how can we be sure that our kids are being brought up in a positive manner. The immediate thing that is to be pondered over is – how is your relation with your spouse? How is your relation with your parents? How is your relation with your immediate family members? This actually means that, for any person to grow with good sense of maturity, not just his but every other relation within a family must be healthy.

What does a healthy relation really look like? Are there no misunderstandings? Are there no differences in opinion? No! There are, definitely, unique personalities in a family which lead to them having different opinions that in turn, may cause misunderstanding. But, people should have the open heart and patience to hear out others’ view, have discussions, and come to a conclusion in a positive manner. That being mentioned, it is clear that such healthy relation should first be implemented among the elders as kids spend most of the time with their parents/elders and it is them who they consider as role model. World’s most powerful recording system is a child’s brain. Everything that parents do, the way they act with others is being recorded only to be played back when they grow old.

(This article was written for an order)