The PUSH of the Lord...

 

A man was sleeping at night suddenly God appeared in his cabin. The Lord told the man he had some work for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of his door. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might.

The man agreed and did this, day after day. For many years he toiled; his shoulders set squarely against the cold and massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all of his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

One day, the devil decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind:

"You have been foolishly pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't moved."

Satan said, "Why kill yourself over this?Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough. The rock is not going to move anyway"

The man was in dilemma and decided to consult the Lord.

"Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"

The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to simply push.”

“And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. You haven't moved the rock. You were never meant to. I wanted you to do this only so that you grow strong. This you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock."


Excerpt from: http://aravindb1982.hubpages.com/hub/PUSH-First-speech

Wasting time?

"Don't waste time, go, do something useful!" is one phrase so often thrown at people who seem to be involved in mindless activities. Wise men and sages say that time waste is life waste. Pragmatists say that bygone moments cannot be retrieved back.

But what exactly is wasting time? What activities qualify to be called as time waste? Is it watching movies? Is it sitting on the facebook to post about the snacks you had in the evening? Is it partying with friends on the roadside or in malls? Or sleeping in the afternoons?

And more importantly, what activities qualify to be called as proper utilization of time? Is it planting a tree on the roadside? Or reading religious/ spiritual texts? Or rendering some voluntary service to destitutes? Or making money?

I tried hard to understand what the concept of utilizing/ wasting time is. Fortunately, after 12 years, I seem to have gotten some convincing answer.

Any moment not lived in accordance with one's real life purpose is a moment wasted. And any moment that is not wasted is the moment utilized.

Now in real life scenarios, this may translate into something like: If our life purpose is to become free in spirit, then a moment spent in feeling bad about your friend's prosperity(which you  apparently don't possess) is a moment wasted. While a moment spent in relaxing your tired body/ mind or a moment spent in appreciating the beauty of nature or a work well done, or a moment spent in making your life easier to live is a moment utilized!