Short Story: Vanity

I've written this short story inspired by many event that I had seen, like how people are envious about others and as a result of that what people do. But to be more specific there are two things that have been the motivation to write this story. They are as follows:
1. A survey was taken, in which people were were asked to chose one among the two options:
Which life would you choose?:
a. you earn 100,000 rupees per month and people around you(i.e. friends, family and neighbors) earn 250,000 rupees per month.
b. you earn 50,000 rupees per month and people around you(i.e. friends, family and neighbors) earn 25,000 rupees per month
Surprisingly, many people chose "b" option, giving the reason " It is important to have more than others"

2. Pastor in church told about a guy who took a loan of 300,000 rupees so that he can buy designer clothes. Soon he was not able to pay back the loan amount and the bank issued notice stating that he should not ever be given loan again.

These two incidents show how much jealousy and greed is being a part of our culture and the sad apart is everyone is getting stuck in this cycle.

I hope this short story touches your heart. Thanks to God for giving me the strength to write this story.

Vanity

         

             

‘You don’t look so good’, Michael asked looking at his wife as he entered their apartment.

‘And you look very happy’, said Asha.

‘Remember this guy i was telling you about who was competing with me for the regional manager position, now he is no more’

‘How?’ ,Asha asked in excitement.

‘Well, just played some classic politics and pushed him out’ ,Michael said, the pride on his face was obvious.

The previous dullness from Asha’s face disappeared instantly as she screamed in joy.

Once the excitement in the air was gone, Michael went into the bedroom and came back after changing his dress.

‘by the way, why were you not looking so good when i came in’, Michael asked as he sat down on the dining table.

There was a slight sign of stress on Asha’s face as she begins to speak.                                  

‘Shamini and Raja came home today afternoon....’ she said and paused.

Michael just nodded; he guessed what it was all about but didn’t tell anything.

‘I just couldn’t control myself; she went on and on about herself.’ She said and the amount of frustration was clearly seen on Asha.

‘Ooooh nowadays i only buy platinum.....ooooo I buy only designer sarees now. ....’ she said imitating Shamini.

Michael was trying hard not to laugh; this was not the time to laugh, no matter how funny things are.

‘This girl was a no body till yesterday and now that she married this rich guy, look what she is doing’

‘With the kind of money she is having now, I guess I will be showing off too.’

‘i accidently saw  her open handbag and there was roughly 50,000 rupees.......50,000 rupees of loose cash’ Asha said with eyes wide open.

Michael was taken aback.

‘Guess what car they came in?’

‘Benz or BMW?’

‘They came in a Bentley’

Michael was totally stunted.

‘She called us both for lunch to her house tomorrow....I told that you will be busy in office tomorrow’

‘But I’m totally free tomorrow’

‘I know that’, Asha looked like that was ready to pounce on him any time,’ if she is showing off here in our house, imagine what all she will do when we go to that palace of a house of hers. I won’t be able to take it’

‘I get your point. By the way, it’s getting late, why don’t we go to sleep’

‘Sure’

They both went to sleep.

Michael woke up and saw the desk clock; it was 3:00am. He went to the kitchen drank water and returned to go back to bed. As he entered the bedroom he was surprised to see Asha wide awake as she is generally a heavy sleeper.

‘Haven’t you slept all night?’

‘I’m not able to sleep’

‘Aren’t you feeling well?’

‘I can’t stop thinking about Shamini.’

Michael was very frustrated but controlled himself.

‘Michael, now that you’ve been promoted, i want you to take that loan and buy that house and car that we had been planning.’

‘Don’t you know we already have another loan?’

‘I know but do something, do anything’

‘Why this urgency?’

‘For the past many days I’ve not been able to face any of my friends or family. All of them are so well settled i feel so inferior when I’m with them. We must do something to gain respect. This is our chance’

Michael was silent, he was in complete confusion. The idea of a new and bigger house and car was very tempting but to take a loan now would be very risky.

After thinking for awhile Michael finally gives into his temptation and agrees to take the loan.

FORTY- SEVEN YEARS LATER.

Los Angeles, USA

‘I’m very sorry for your loss, your parents, Michael and Asha were very good friends of mine.’ Said a very elderly man

Catherine didn’t say anything, she just nodded. Though it had been more than six months since her Dad passed, she still didn’t recover from it fully and she didn’t like people reminding him about it. But in spite of all this, Catherine was blown away by the man’s style and expensive clothes and diamond rings which were glaring a lot.

Catherine invited the person inside her house and the elderly person continued to talk

‘My name is Raja. You wouldn’t know me because the last time I saw you, you were six years old.’ Raja said and smiled, ‘a few days before your father passed away, I went to see him in India, and they gave me this envelope’ Raja said taking an envelope from his coat pocket and giving it to Catherine.

‘They gave it to me and asked me to give it to you as my original plan was to leave for Los Angeles the very next day but unfortunately I had to leave for London immediately and soon I completely forgot about this envelope, sorry for the late delivery’

‘It’s ok’ Catherine said with curiosity about the contents of the envelope raising as each second passes by.

‘I’ll be on my way now, sorry I couldn’t long now, keep in touch with me, your dad asked me to take good care of you’ raja smiled and gave Catherine his visiting card.

Raja stood up and moved towards the door. Catherine opened the door for him. They both shook their hands now, Raja left and Catherine closed the door behind her.

Catherine sat on the sofa and opened the envelope. It was a letter and she began to read it.

My Dearest Catherine,

I’m sure by the time you get this letter, I won’t be alive. I have been wanting to tell you many things for the past few months but never got the opportunity, I felt that I’ve got  to tell you this as soon as possible before I’m gone. First thing what i wanted to say is I’m sorry, you may not be knowing but many of the things that I had done and the decisions I had taken have impacted your life indirectly. I and your mother had been very bad examples of how to live life.

“Everything that glitters is not gold”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover”

I feel that these are two important proverbs which no one in this world follows. People do judge other by what they have or do not have; people are carried away by luxurious things. People admire people who have power and money instead of seeing who they really are as a person. This leads to people putting the pursuit of money and the need to show others that they are better than all of them ahead of their happiness and the happiness of their loved ones. The envious qualities of people are making them compete with their own siblings and friends. Jealousy is a dangerous thing. It was my envious quality that ruined my entire life; I never experienced true happiness because of it. I’m sorry, Catherine, do you know why i was not able to send you to Germany for that chess tournament? It’s not because I did not have any money at that time but I and your mother decided to buy a bigger car just because my brother bought a new car. I know how much you loved the game and know you would have easily won the tournament but none of this seemed important for me that time. Do you know why I couldn’t get you an education loan to send you to USA, because i had taken a loan of three lakhs from the bank and wouldn’t apply for a new one due to irregular payment of dues. I’m so ashamed of myself to tell you this but the three lakhs loan was taken so that your mother and I would wear expensive designer clothes when we go for parties. Thanks to God, my friend Raja was kind to help me everything i feel down. I did a lot of dirty politics in my office to move up the corporate ladder and cheated on tax payment. After all this, I’m really not happy, do you know why? It’s because I never really wanted any of this; I did not want a big house, the big car or the designer clothes. But the reason why I was doing all this was because I was jealous of my friends and family members. I wanted others to be below me and admire me, for me it was always important that I have more than others. I was competing with my own family and friends. My jealousy kept me from getting close to some of my friends who were really amazing people. I had wasted forty years of my life this way. Let me tell you one thing Cathy; know that your life is meaningless if you’re chasing money or power. People think that money will bring them happiness but that’s only an illusion. I can assure you that there are hundreds of rich people who i personally know, are some of the saddest people in this world. Let me tell you what you should be chasing after, live life to make others happy, that is the only way you can be truly happy.

I’ve always loved you very much my child. God bless you.

Yours lovingly,

Michael

 "Give freely and become more wealthy;
be stingy and lose everything."
- Proverbs 11:24

"Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind."
-Ecclesiastes 4:4

 

Wisdom from the Bible.

I always insist people that they read the Bible regularly because it is through the Bible that my perspective of life changed and the way I was living changed. You get wisdom through the word of God. When I had been reading the Bible consistently for 3 to 4 years, I developed some habits and ways of thinking and living which helped me face many challenges and grown in each and every area of my life. Then later when I finished college and started reading many books by Robin Sharma and Stephen R Covey, I realized that many of the qualities and the way of thinking that they insisted that people should have I had already had them as these were things that I had already started doing ever since I started reading the Bible. In short, your life is transformed through the Bible. When I was 12 years old, the Uncle who gave me the Bible told me that once I finish reading the Bible I will start seeing the world in a completely different way, i realized what he meant when I was 20 years old.

Thanks be to God. God Bless you all.

Short Story: Sun Rise

This is a short story that I had written. Hope it touches you. God Bless.

                                                   SUN RISE

                                               

‘I studied as hard as I if I still didn’t pass it just mean that I had a very bad luck’, I said with tears in my eyes.

‘Maybe you did not work hard enough’, said my Father looking dead serious.

‘Please leave him alone for some time, he is already feeling bad your only making things worse’, my Mother said coming from the kitchen and entering our conversation in the living room.

‘Would you please stop it, never had been able to perform well either in school or college. Now he is the only one in college with 10 arrears while all his classmates are graduating. You and I are one of the best Doctors in the country and his brother is a scientist, at times I feel if he really is our son’, my dad said this and left the house.

My Mother tried her best to console me but it didn’t work.

‘Maybe he is right I’m not your son’ saying this I called my friend and asked him to come to our usually hang out place and I left the house.

As I left my house little did I know that this day, one of the saddest and worst day of my life was going to be a turning point in my life.

I entered the coffee shop which was an outdoor coffee shop and sat down at my usually place and was waiting for my friend.

‘Hey John how did everything go at home’ asked Thomas as he sat down.

‘Very bad’, as I said the waiter came and we ordered two espresso.

‘What Happened?’

‘You know, the usually scolding but I felt very bad. I can’t take it anymore. Today he told me he didn’t think I was his son and all this because I didn’t perform well’

‘That’s bad man but cool down everything will be fine’

‘I don’t think so’

‘I really don’t know what to tell you to console you and I think there is no other solution than you clearing all your papers in the coming semester’

‘Yes and that’s the impossible part’

‘This is not the end of the world. Give it another try’. Just then the waiter came with our order. After finishing the coffee Thomas said that he had to leave and was on his way. I waited for five minutes and then took out a small tube shaped bottle in which I had cocaine. I made sure no one was watching and put some of the powder on my hand and I inhaled it through my nose. I wanted the pain to go away but it wasn’t, it was true, I had been a loser although my life. I had never been good in anything, had no talent, and failed in both 10^th and 12^th board exam, same thing in college too. Everyone is like “why can’t you be like your brother?” its not that I don’t want to be like him. I just can’t be like him. To top all of this I’m fat and ugly because of which I don’t have any friends. I was born a loser. I mean why am I even alive? What’s the purpose of my life? Who am I in this world? I left the coffee shop after paying, and then went to a super market to buy rat poison; obviously it was not for the rat but for me.

            As I walked back home I was thinking as to which spot should I use to commit suicide, my bedroom or my bathroom? Well, anyway, it doesn’t matter. As I was walking back home I saw a missionary van stop by, the volunteers with their hope ministry t-shirts came down and started disturbing Bible for free to everyone they saw and to all the shop keepers. I didn’t want to go past them just when I was about to turn and leave a cheerful middle aged man approached me and offered me the Bible. I refused it with a funny face feeling a little embarrassed as I didn’t want to upset him also.

‘You don’t look every well, whatever it is, this Bible can save you’, he said still looking very confident and cheerful.

Under normal circumstances I would have just took the Bible just because he was compelling and would have thrown it somewhere later on but I didn’t know why at that time I spoke with him.

‘I don’t think so’, I said

‘Let me tell you something, we were not even supposed to come to this part of the city today but today when I was praying, God insisted that I come here because some one was in need of our help. So young man, me coming here and giving you this Bible is not a coincidence, this can be a turning point in your life.”

Just then I concluded that I got stuck with a total nut case.

‘You may not believe what I’m saying now but I request you to do nothing but read this Bible regularly everyday, I promise you that you’ll see life changing everyday. I think there nothing harmful in reading, moreover what have you got to lose, give it a try’

After saying this he took a small piece of paper from his wallet and he wrote his name and mobile number, gave it to me and asked for my name, he noted it down smiled and left. I reached home and went to my room and sat on my study table, I kept both the Bible and the Rat poison on the table. What the man had said kept repeating in my head and yes he was right, what have I got to lose, I was planning to die so I every well might try reading the Bible, my mom was anyway nagging me for years to read it and pray. Again this is was a startling decision that I made in my life, because I don’t recall ever obeying to anyone but I listened to this man who I met for the first time. I took the rat poison and kept it in the cup board and I started reading the New Testament. After 15 minutes, the door bell rang and I went down stairs to get it. After answering the door I realized something, I had read the Bible for just 15 minutes but that itself made me feel very good. My mind was relaxed and I felt peaceful. This was fantastic; the man who gave the Bible had a point. I continued reading the Bible from then on. My out look in life started changing, my interaction with my parents and brother improved. Two weeks later I took the rat poison from my cup board and I threw it away. As days went by my faith increased and my life is becoming better, my parents were surprised on seeing the changes in me. I threw away all the cocaine and porn magazines I had and totally stopped it. Just when everything was going well, on a Sunday midnight my phone starts ringing, I answered it

‘Hello john, its Thomas’s father calling, can you please come to your father’s hospital’, Thomas’s dad voice was very shaky and mild.

‘Uncle, what happened?’

‘Thomas had a bike accident a few hours ago, please…’, he wouldn’t speak after that.

‘Don’t worry uncle I’ll be there right away’, I said and I dropped the phone, my hands were weak and my heart felt very heavy. I couldn’t believe it. It was hard for me to accept the fact. I prayed very hard, composed myself and left for the hospital. I saw my dad and Thomas’s father talking and I went up to them. Dad said that Thomas was in a coma and the chances of him surviving was very less as they had bought him in a very long time after the accident and he had lost lots of blood and fractured his skull. Just when I was feeling completely hopeless some of the Bible verses that I had read came to my mind.

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” – Mark 11:24

“The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word and my servant shall be healed……..Then Jesus said to the centurion “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour” – Matthew 8: 8-13.

I realized that it was faith that healed the centurion’s servant and also it was because people believed that they would be healed by Jesus that they were saved. I knew that I need to have faith and believe in Jesus. From that time onwards, I stopped worry about Thomas, because I knew that God will heal him. I prayed and thanked Jesus continuously. And as I knew, Thomas came out of his coma in two days and recovered very fast. I became a very humble person from that day onwards. Everything in me changed. My mom asked me one day, ‘how come you changed so much?’

‘Jesus changed me’, I said and smiled. I would see that this made both my mother and father very happy.

My dad came to me and said, ‘please forgive me for the way how I spoke with you’

‘No dad, forgive me for being careless through out my life and thank you for giving me everything.’ Both of them were in tears and they hugged me. I came across another verse which changed me,

“So do not worry, saying, ‘what shall we eat’ or ‘what shall we drink’ or ‘what shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” – Matthew 6:31-33   

For a long time I had been thinking that I’m good for nothing, have no talent, have ten arrears in my b.com, I wondered how I’m ever going to survive in life if I have nothing. But then I realized that I need not worry about any of these, if I go to God then the rest will come to me automatically, this gave me confidence. I started studying for my arrear exams and side by side I also got a job in as an accountant in a bookstore near my house, I thanked the owner for giving me a chance. I worked very hard and seriously. My mother insisted that I stay at home as it was not necessary for me to work but I felt working in the bookstore was the right thing to do. I thought about how my life changed and I remembered about hope ministries and the middle aged man who gave me the Bible. He was right; the Bible did save my life. I felt that there were lots of people out there who were suffering like how I used to so I thought I might reach out to them through Hope ministries and joined it as a volunteer. I wanted to see the man who gave me the Bible for the very first time but I was not able to see him and I also forgot his name and misplaced his number that he gave.

            As months went by, my exams were coming near and I was studying hard and at the same time was working with Hope ministries and at the bookstore. Thanks to God, I cleared all my papers and got my degree. My parents were proud of me. The bookstore owner, Mr. James promoted me to manager of the bookstore. For me everything was going fantastic through God’s grace.

            One day when I was cleaning my shelf, one of my old books fell on the floor and a piece of paper flew off it. I took it and saw; it had the name Michael Leonardo and a number on it. Then I recalled that this is the person who gave me the Bible. I quickly took the phone and dialed the number. After a few rings some one picked up the phone.

‘Hello, may I speak to Michael Leonardo, my name is John Anthony’

‘Hello my boy, how are you? It’s me’

‘ I’m excellent sir through God’s grace and thanking for giving me the Bible like you said it changed my life’

‘I’m very happy for you john’

‘Sir, I would really like to meet you’

Then he gave me his address and I dressed up immediately and was on my way. What I didn’t understand was why he asked me to come to the office building of oxygen pharmaceuticals. As I approached the building, I went to the receptionist and told her that I wanted to see Mr. Michael Leonardo; she smiled and said that he was expecting me and asked me to wait. Few minutes later another lady came and said that she will escort me. We were going on the elevator to the top floor. Finally she led me to a room and I was totally shocked at seeing the name board on the door, it read MICHAEL LEONARDO, CEO. I was totally speechless as I entered the office and there he was, as cheerful as ever.

‘Welcome john, it’s so nice to see you’

 ‘You are the CEO of Oxygen Pharmaceuticals?’ I asked barely able to speak.

‘Yes’, he said and gave a radiant smile.

‘But you were a volunteer in Hope ministries, weren’t you’

‘I started Hope ministries 10 years back. I suffered a lot in my life, I was born in a poor family and my parents passed away when I was very young, I was begging in the streets for my survival. I was then taken into an orphanage where I grew up. I thought about how my life was going and thought that I was a useless weed in this world that was accidentally born on this earth, but then one day I was given a Bible by ministry that came to the orphanage. From that time onwards everything changed for me, everyday was a like a gift to me. I kept on developing in my spiritual life and also my personal life. And that’s how I started my own company which is Oxygen Pharmaceuticals. After that I wanted to reach out to people and preach the Gospel and that’s when I started Hope ministries. I’ve been reaching out to many people and saving them and that’s gives me more happiness than anything.  This is my the purpose of my life and this is who I am John’

‘Sir, you just made me realize who I am’     

Our Belief

“Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at”

-          Numbers 11:4

We can see in the Old Testament that although God performs many miracles in front of people’s eyes, they still continued to grumble and complain about God. I used to wonder why people would not know about the greatness of God even though many miracles happen in front of there own eyes. But when I observe closer, though times have changed, people are still the same. Though God has given people many things in their lives, people still continue to grumble and complain and say God is not doing anything. This grumbling will not help us in any way other than take away our peace of mind and make us stressful which affects our health and our family life. They might have more than everything which a normal person would need but when they face a problem, it does not occur to them that the God who has given them and have shown many miracles to them in the form of  wealth, health, good family and friends in life, have the capacity to solve their problems. This is because of the lack of a very important fruit of the holy spirit-FAITH. (But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23)

 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.  If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

              -Matthew 21-22

In the above verses, Jesus clearly talks about a strong unshakable faith. We should believe that we will get whatever we ask for in pray and continue to think positively. Faith is what will help you fight against all adversaries in this world. Faith is what will help us stand through situations where others give up. Faith is what gives us peace of mind and makes us happy in this problematic world. Faith is not something which we can develop easily. My request is that every time you pray ask God to strengthen your faith. Eventually your life will change, you’ll be very happy and  have a new outlook towards everything you face in life.

Faith

“ “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.  “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

                                                                                          - Mark 11:22-24

This is one of the most important verses in the Bible, something that changed my life and helped me through the immense problems that I faced in life. Faith is an integral part of Christianity. It is only through belief anything is possible. Every word that Jesus has said is a promise to us and it will definitely happen. When you read through the Bible there will be many instances in which you’ll notice that people were never healed in particular pattern but different people were healed differently. The reason is because of their level of faith. A women was healed just by just touching Jesus’s cloak. The Centurion believed that it was enough for Jesus to just say the word and that his servant will be healed and it happened exactly that way, Jesus said, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” (Matthew 8:13). When we face a problem, we must have faith in God, we must believe and pray and it will be done exactly accordingly.

When you’ve unshakable faith in God, you will not fear anything, you’ll have the courage to face anything, you’ll have the confidence to do anything because God is with you always. Pray to God to increase your faith.

Praise the Lord.

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How I came to know Jesus & Why this Blog

I’m an Indian who grew up in Saudi Arabia, a purely Muslim country which does not allow the construction of churches or any other places of worship other than mosques. Even Bibles and Christian Books are not allowed into the country. I still remember when I was 4 years old and came to India for vacation, seeing the cross with Jesus, I asked my cousin, “ Who is this man and why is he hanging over there?”. In spite of all this, I got my first Bible from a Muslim man when I was 11 years old. I got the King James Version which I still have with me. At that time, the man told me that this Bible will change the way I look at this world. I never totally understood the impact of what he told me at that time. But now after 11 years, I understood what he meant. Though I got the Bible when I was 11, I started reading it sincerely only 2 years later. That was the start of the most amazing part of my life. God has blessed me immensely and has done wonders to my life. On 21st October 2007, I was anointed by the Holy Spirit in my College Chapel in Chennai, India. It has been three years not life is fantastic. Not only have I been transformed but through the Bible I’ve been transforming the lives of my friends, relatives and family.

In this blog I’ll be posting some of my revelations from the Bible, about how to get close to God, getting rid of temptations and following a righteous life . Feel free to ask questions and I’ll answer to the best of my ability.

God bless everyone.

Technorati Tags: Jesus,knowing Jesus,help,Christian