There once lived a woman in a town, who prayed to God everyday and wanted to meet Him personally. She thought continuously about God’s vision.
One day, before going to bed, she remembered Him intensely. That night, God appeared in her dream and promised to visit her the next day. When she woke up the next morning, she was very happy and at once began preparations to welcome Him. She cleaned her house and arranged all the furniture to make the house look festive. Then she started preparing delicious food for God.
While she was preparing sweets, someone knocked at the door. She rushed to open the door. She saw a salesman, trying to sell some magazines.
She was quite irritated and almost shouted, “Please do not disturb me today. I am waiting for an important visitor, so keep my doorway clear. Do not waste my time.” She turned the salesperson away and almost slammed the door.
The woman cleaned the kitchen after preparing the sweets and sat in the drawing room waiting for God.
After some time, someone knocked at the door. She rushed to the door again, expecting to see God. She was disappointed to see a neighboring girl, who had come to play with her daughter as usual.
She said to the girl angrily, “I am sorry, but please don’t disturb us today, as we are expecting some important guest. You can come back tomorrow to play with my daughter.” She closed the door without waiting for the girl’s reply and returned to the drawing room, waiting for God to show up. Hours passed by and day turned into night. There was no sign of God! She was disheartened and wondered why God did not keep His promise.
Finally, she fell asleep crying, while thinking about Him. God again appeared in her dream and said, “My dear, I visited you twice today and you turned me away.” She was surprised and said, “It cannot be! I waited for You all day, but there was no sign of You. When did You visit?” He said, “First I came as a salesman and then as the neighbor’s child, but both times, you turned me away without even hearing what I had to say.”
The woman realized her mistake and said, “I did not recognize You.”
God said, “I am present in everything and everyone.”
Moral : Like the woman in the story, we too, may treat people or other living creatures and things around us without respect and love, and still keep waiting to “see” God. We must try to develop the quality of Seeing God in every animate and inanimate object around us.