Shaily Mishra
One night God appeared in my dream and asked me to have dinner with Him the following night. The venue was the restaurant not far from my home and the time was 8 p.m. I was confused. Should I go ahead and keep my dinner appointment with God or dismiss the invitation as a crazy dream?
I was haunted by the dream the whole day. The dream was vivid and I knew I would regret it all my life if I did not go. I did not tell anyone about it for fear of ridicule. I would be the laughing stock of the family. This will have to remain a secret. By 8 p.m. I was already seated at a corner table in the restaurant where God had said he would meet me for dinner.
All my five senses were on high alert — I didn't want to miss even the slightest clue of God's presence. My ears were eager to hear the sound of a slight movement of chair, my eyes wanted to see the chair moving back a little and again taking position with no one appearing to move it. After all, God is invisible! But He would definitely give me some indication of His presence. May be He'd whisper into my ear! Finally the chair moved, but to my disappointment it was my uncle — who I hadn't met in a long time — who plunked himself on the chair.
"Are you waiting for someone?" he asked. "No", I replied quickly. "I'm alone, too, so let's have dinner together", he said. I nodded uncertainly. "How about some chicken curry and rice?" I looked around but saw no sign of God. Where could he be? May be I was taking my dream far too seriously.
"Er... I won't eat non-vegetarian food", I replied. "Great, so when did you give up non-veg?" asked uncle. "Actually, I haven't given it up, it's just that I don't want to eat it tonight", I said. Uncle said: "But if you think it's wrong, you shouldn't have it at all. Why turn vegetarian on a particular day? OK. We'll have vegetable curry".
' Dinner was over. God did not appear. It was uncle, who spoiled my dream. I was upset. When I went home, I blurted to my parents the story of my dream and the dinner with uncle. Dad said: "It's good to see God in your dreams. Dreams do come true. It's only we who refuse to see the dream coming true as it happened in your case. You have been waiting for God with all your five senses alert. But to feel the presence of God, you to invoke your sixth sense. If only you'd used your sixth sense, you would've realized that you did in fact have dinner with God — only, He appeared in the form of your uncle". I laughed at the idea. Then what was His message to me?
"Well", said Dad. "He did give you a message. Didn't he say that if you thought that something was wrong, you should avoid it all days rather than only on specific days?" So, does God want me to turn vegetarian? I asked. "No, God said if you think it's good, you can have it on any day... for God all days are same, all months are holy".
Dad went on to explain to me that religions are created by us, human beings, with dos and don'ts. However, it is more important to have an honest (personal) relationship with God. So it is better to treat God equally on all days of the week and all months of the year.
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The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."
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Shaily Mishra
One night God appeared in my dream and asked me to have dinner with Him the following night. The venue was the restaurant not far from my home and the time was 8 p.m. I was confused. Should I go ahead and keep my dinner appointment with God or dismiss the invitation as a crazy dream?
I was haunted by the dream the whole day. The dream was vivid and I knew I would regret it all my life if I did not go. I did not tell anyone about it for fear of ridicule. I would be the laughing stock of the family. This will have to remain a secret. By 8 p.m. I was already seated at a corner table in the restaurant where God had said he would meet me for dinner.
All my five senses were on high alert — I didn't want to miss even the slightest clue of God's presence. My ears were eager to hear the sound of a slight movement of chair, my eyes wanted to see the chair moving back a little and again taking position with no one appearing to move it. After all, God is invisible! But He would definitely give me some indication of His presence. May be He'd whisper into my ear! Finally the chair moved, but to my disappointment it was my uncle — who I hadn't met in a long time — who plunked himself on the chair.
"Are you waiting for someone?" he asked. "No", I replied quickly. "I'm alone, too, so let's have dinner together", he said. I nodded uncertainly. "How about some chicken curry and rice?" I looked around but saw no sign of God. Where could he be? May be I was taking my dream far too seriously.
"Er... I won't eat non-vegetarian food", I replied. "Great, so when did you give up non-veg?" asked uncle. "Actually, I haven't given it up, it's just that I don't want to eat it tonight", I said. Uncle said: "But if you think it's wrong, you shouldn't have it at all. Why turn vegetarian on a particular day? OK. We'll have vegetable curry".
' Dinner was over. God did not appear. It was uncle, who spoiled my dream. I was upset. When I went home, I blurted to my parents the story of my dream and the dinner with uncle. Dad said: "It's good to see God in your dreams. Dreams do come true. It's only we who refuse to see the dream coming true as it happened in your case. You have been waiting for God with all your five senses alert. But to feel the presence of God, you to invoke your sixth sense. If only you'd used your sixth sense, you would've realized that you did in fact have dinner with God — only, He appeared in the form of your uncle". I laughed at the idea. Then what was His message to me?
"Well", said Dad. "He did give you a message. Didn't he say that if you thought that something was wrong, you should avoid it all days rather than only on specific days?" So, does God want me to turn vegetarian? I asked. "No, God said if you think it's good, you can have it on any day... for God all days are same, all months are holy".
Dad went on to explain to me that religions are created by us, human beings, with dos and don'ts. However, it is more important to have an honest (personal) relationship with God. So it is better to treat God equally on all days of the week and all months of the year.
DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."
Courtesy: