The Invisible Saviour

Once, a little boy named Gopal saw that many mangoes had fallen from the mango trees in the public garden near his home. There had been a huge storm the previous night. With his mother's permission he went to gather some mangoes. No sooner had he begun, a big storm struck again. Rain came pouring down. Lightning split the sky and thunder rumbled overhead.

Gopal was terrified. He remembered his mother's advice and started chanting (repeating God's name). He ran under a mango tree to find shelter. Soon though, he felt that someone was calling out to him from nearby. He tried to listen over the sound of the pouring rain and again there it was, "Gopal! Gopal!" He looked around but saw no one. The whole garden was deserted. He was surprised that he could not see the person who was calling out to him although the person seemed to be very near. He heard the voice again, and chanting loudly he ran out from his "shelter" into the rain, to look for the person who had called him.

He had not gone fifty-sixty feet from the tree, when a streak of lightning flashed down, followed by a loud crash. It struck the mango tree under which he had taken shelter. The tree was completely burnt.

The storm finally subsided and Gopal began to walk back home. After covering a little distance, he saw a lady and a little toddler playing in the garden with a small dog. He asked her, "Did you call me earlier?" The lady smiled and answered, "No, I did not. I did call my son, Gopal, who is playing with his dog." Once again, she called her son and told him not to go too far.

Now Gopal realised that God had saved his life. He thanked God and returned home, wet, shaken and repeating God's name in a tone of gratitude. He noticed that his faith had increased. He hugged his mother and narrated the incident to her. His mother led him to the altar and they knelt and said a prayer of gratitude unto God.

Moral: We can also pray and chant before getting out of bed each morning, going to bed each night, while waiting for the school bus, walking, eating and so on. This will gradually help us increase faith.