Children's Corner
Story for children: The gift
A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.
As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautifully wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, “With all your money you give me a Bible?” and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.
Many years passed, and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.
When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matthew 7:11, “And if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father who is in Heaven, give to those who ask Him?” As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words PAID IN FULL.
Moral: Dear children, from this story we can learn the importance of gratitude. Just as the man in the story found, when we receive any gift, whether it is something we wanted or not, it should be accepted with gratitude, as though God Himself were giving it to us. We should also be grateful to those who give us gifts, as though God were doing the giving. The best gifts we can ask for come from God, so we should make it a point to regularly pray to Him and chant* His Name, that we may receive His continuous blessings.
Spiritual experience of a child seeker
Smooth passing of the day since commencing chanting
On the way to school, there is a stretch of road that I have to walk to get to the school building. Every day when I walk that stretch I chant the Lord's Name. Ever since I have started doing it, I realize that my day goes off very well without any problems.
– Mr. Vishal Balani, 12 years old, New Jersey, USA.
Just as this experience shows us, even repeating God’s Name is enough to hasten His protection and blessings in our everyday lives.
-Editor.]
* Chanting means constantly remembering or repeating God’s Name according to our religion. Young children should also chant 'Om Gan Ganapataye namaha' (Lord Ganesh's chant) for at least 15-30 minutes daily for divine protection. Older children, who have been doing spiritual practice for some time, can determine their exact chant from the experiment in Issue 124, Message to Seekers section. Parents should repeat (chant) The Lord's Name for children too young to do so themselves.