Faith
Anita Patel lived with her parents and little brother, Aneesh. The Patels were a religious family. When anything good happened to them, they went to the temple to pray and thank God. The Patels were filled with faith. Growing up, Anita was taught to turn to God when she was facing any difficulties. Not only that, she was also taught to turn to God when anything good happened to her. Her parents explained to her that God is there through the good and the bad, so she should turn to Him when anything happens.
When Anita started high school, she met a group of girl friends that didn't have the greatest reputation. They partied a lot and did poorly in school. As Anita began to hang out with them more, she picked up some of their habits. It should be noted that, before meeting these girls, Anita was top of her class. She was also on the high school soccer team. Everyone knew she had a bright future ahead of her.
(Soccer. Source: Free Stock Photos)
As Anita entered her sophomore year, she dropped down in class ranking. She was no longer in the top 1%. She was also in trouble with the soccer coach because she would skip practice far too often. Anita also stopped going to the temple with her parents. She hardly ever prayed. She complained when her parents reminded her to thank God for anything and everything. She would tell them that her life had been going great for so long that she didn't need to thank Him anymore. Her parents didn't know what to say to convince her otherwise.
As sophomore year went on, Anita fell farther and farther behind in school. Her and her friends would skip class to go to the mall and meet up with older boys. She would party every weekend. One day, when she was hanging out with this college boy at a house party, the cops came. They told every underage kid that they couldn't leave the premises until their parents came to pick them up. Anita knew she was in trouble. Anita tried to pray to God, but it seems like He wasn't listening. When her parents got there, they were enraged.
On the night before her big Calculus exam, Anita was out with her friends instead of studying. She decided that she didn't need to study because cool kids don't study. On the morning of her exam, she began to panic. She realized that if she got anything lower than a B on the test, she would not be eligible to play soccer. She started to pray to God, but again, it seemed like He wasn't listening to her pleas. When the test grades came back, Anita realized that she got a D on the exam. She couldn't play soccer for the rest of the semester.
Anita went and cried to her parents. She explained to them how she kept praying to God when she needed something good to happen. Her parents were very upset with her. They reminded her that God wasn't there just to listen to her problems. He should be thanked regularly, when good things happen. They reminded her that a true child of God wouldn't just go to Him when they needed something. Her parents told her that she needed to start thanking God for the good and the bad. This would be the only way He would hear her prayers again.
(Girl praying at candle temple. Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Author's Note. This week, I read the 18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita. In chapter 12, Of the Religion of Faith, Lord Krishna explains to Arjun that he must have endless faith in Him. I based my story on this concept of faith in God and thanking Him for everything that happens in your life.
Bibliography. Bhagavad Gita, Edwin Arnold. (1885)
Your story has a really great message. It is often, with most religion, we forget that god is not meant to solve all our problems and give us everything we desire. He is, instead, there to listen to us, give us direction and most of all to give us forgiveness. I think the very idea you spoke about your story is very lost nowadays and we are so consumed by what we want RIGHT NOW that we forget that we must be happy with what we have, the good and the bad. Also, if we want change we must be willing to change ourselves and work hard to achieve what we set out to do. Great story, I love it!
ReplyDeleteHello Roshni,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your retell story of “Faith.” I liked the idea of how you focused on how praying is important and God do listen to you. I think that was a great lesson in terms of a story. It was nice how you connected Bhagavad Gita with a girl’s personal life story. Thanks for sharing. Hope to read more of your blogs.
Roshni,
ReplyDeleteI think your story does a great job in highlighting how easy it is that one can lose sight of their virtues when they let others influence their behavior. Anita made poor decisions and I’m not sure how prayer would have solved her problems. Maybe she would have not started hanging out with the “wrong” crowd? I think this could be a lesson on peer pressure too. Anita wanted to hang out with the cool kids, which made her stray away from doing well in school and thus jeopardized her soccer career. Anyways, I thought this was a very well written story. Thanks for sharing.