Frustrating times, and how to deal with it

Oasis

Take a piece of wax, a piece of meat, some sand, some clay and some wood shavings- put them on fire and see how they react. Each of them is being acted on by the same agent, yet the wax melts, the meat fries, the sand dries up, the clay hardens, the wood shavings blaze. Just so, under identical influences of circumstances and environment, one person is made better and stronger, another weaker and another just withers away.

This is the situation the world is in now, leaving everyone frustrated and dejected, with diseases death and uncertainties prevailing all over. Each one reacting differently - but one emotion common is ‘frustration’.

Seems God is hammering the world, to shape it, mould it into a better shape which only his methods can. We have all become unruly, insincere and selfish. We call him the Master, but obey him not, we praise him as the eternal light, but see him not, we call him the most compassionate, but trust him not, we call him the Supreme most, but follow him not, we call him the very source of our life, but seek him not!

If only we can understand and lift our hearts to see Him who knows our every action, our every despair, our every heartache - we will see that He keeps a special grace for each one of us.

According to a Greek legend, Aesop, the great story-teller was found playing with small children and he was rebuked and laughed at by a man. So Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string and placing it on the ground and he asked the man what the unstrung bow means. The man looked clueless, so Aesop explained - if you keep a bow-tied and bent always, it will break, but if you let it slack it will be more fit for use when you want it. People are also like that- they all need to slacken a bit and rest for a while. I am enjoying and resting in the company of these children”.

This pandemic taught us the value of family, friends and taught us to rest and contemplate. “ Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.” When our frustration ends as does the pandemic, we shall all be free as butterflies.