As lockdown continues and the pandemic of COVID -19 has gripped the world it has been a tumultuous time. The one thing that does keep me sane in all of this is the concept of Hukam – Divine Will. That everything is being played out exactly as our Creator intends it to. My part in this is to only control what I am capable of – my mind, my emotions, my actions, and the environment in my home, everything else is beyond my control and I surrender that to the Universe.
A story that has always brought me comfort during turbulent times when faith is being tested is this:
The King’s Finger
A long time ago, in the south of the Himalayas, the great Maharaja of those lands received a visit from an ambassador from the kingdom of North Mathura, who brought him a beautifully handcrafted sword as a gift.
While the monarch was delighting in the sword’s splendid craftsmanship, he accidentally cut the tip of his little finger. The wound was very painful and the king was suffering. Suddenly his closest minister approached the royal throne and told him:
“Your majesty, do not grieve over the loss of your finger tip, life has a divine plan and everything that happens is arranged by God. The Lord is love; everything that happens to us is for the best.”
Listening to these words from his closest minister and secretary, the king became furious. With great anger, he said:
“It is very easy for you to say something like that, because it is not your finger. If you do not take back what you have said, I will imprison you.”
To which the minister replied “Your majesty, it is not possible for me to take back what I said because I would be untrue to my heart. What I said to you is what my heart has shown me. Not even a blade of grass moves without the will of the Lord.”
Considering the minister’s speech extremely disrespectful, the king ordered his guards to imprison him.
A few days later, it was the king’s customary hunting day. He was usually accompanied by his personal secretary, but as the minister was under arrest, the monarch went out alone, except for his guards. Deep into the jungle, the king and his guards were captured by a cannibal tribe. After being kept as prisoners, they were dragged to the place where the cannibals were preparing their rituals of human sacrifice. The savages bathed and anointed the king and his guards with their sacred oils, and then took them to the altar to be sacrificed.
Just before the king was going to be sacrificed, the highest priest of the cannibals realised that the tip of the monarch’s finger was missing, and exclaimed:
“Stop! This man is not suitable for sacrifice. He does not have the tip of his little finger, only those who are whole can be offered.”
The king was taken to a place in the jungle where he was freed. When he arrived at the palace, he remembered the words of his minister, and went directly to the prison to free him. Hugging him, he told him:
“You were right, apparently God decided to save my life. If I hadn’t cut my finger, those cannibals would have sacrificed and devoured me. There is only one thing I still do not understand. Was it also God’s will that made me imprison you in such an unfair way?”
“Of course” replied the minister, “If you didn’t put me in prison, I would have gone hunting along with you, as we usually do, and then they would have captured both of us. All of my fingers are in perfect condition; therefore I would have been suitable for offering, and I would have been devoured by the cannibals.”
To paraphrase that great Steve Jobs speech, we can not connect the dots looking forward, only when looking backwards so we have to trust and have faith that all the dots will connect together and we are exactly where we are meant to be.
The hardest part is to surrender and accept the situation – I know that is something I have struggled with at various points in my life. In my next post I will share how I have done this.
Until then stay safe!