This is a story that one of my friends shared in class
when we were asked to speak on the most memorable moment of our life.
“As you all know, I am an atheist. I have denied the existence of God
for as long as I can remember. But there was one moment that changed things. It
was during college that our class went on a trek. I was a little hesitant to go
because of an accident I had in my childhood and the fear of heights I have had
since then. But perhaps the sense of wonder got the better of me and I went for
it. And it was great! A fairly simple hike, until we reached a small stretch
where we had to do a bit of Rock Climbing.
“Our Trek leader went ahead, showing us the proper footing to do the
climb. I was quite athletic and followed him with relative ease... till the
middle of the climb... at which point I made the tragic blunder of looking back.
I was at the edge of a cliff, and one slippery foot would finish me off. I
froze as the childhood phobia, my worst nightmare stared at me in the eye.
“My body couldn’t move. I was drenched in sweat, my hands started
shivering and I started crying. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t even move
a finger, stuck in the middle of a steep climb, unable to go up or down, too
far away for my friends below or my boss above to lend a helping hand. I was
alone, I was desperate, I was helpless! In that moment of crisis there was only
one thing I could do. I said, “God! Help me!”
“And then somehow my teammates figured something out and got me out of
that situation. But that one moment, will stay with me forever!
“There is something that I learnt from that incident. It is this, that
you need a LOT of courage to call yourself and atheist. You may contest in
philosophical debates, engage in metaphysical conversations about the existence
of some omnipresent superpower that rules the world, and even come out
victorious in those exchanged. But when the chips are down, when you are all
alone and there is nothing you can do, you instinctively turn to God. Ever
since that happened, I call myself an agnostic. I don’t have to guts to say I’m
an atheist.”
Now, I myself am yet to figure out my religious belief,
and the spiritual journey I am going through has thus far not given me such
clarity that I can share it with anyone, or even describe it one word. However,
the story I just narrated is an important lesson and right now, I feel the urge
to share some of my thoughts.
God may or may not exist. But prayer certainly exists!
There are moments that push you to a corner where you are all alone, and there
is nothing you can do about it. Any action taken by you will only make matters
worse. There is absolute darkness, and the sheer hope for light is bleak.
Moments, when you feel all is lost. And at that moment there is only thing that
can be done. Pray, with every ounce of your mental strength, that some Superman
will swoosh in and save the day. Pray, with such strength that the universe has
no choice but the stand and take note, that some miracle will make all the
darkness go away. Pray, with the promise that you will give everything you have
and everything you can, for light in your eyes. That just this once, things get
alright and you never want anything, ever again.
I don’t know if God exists. But right now I am in
prayer. And I desperately wish that someone, either God, or someone God sent,
or just anyone would just step in and solve this mess. And that prayer gave me
a thought.
Maybe God exists. Maybe God doesn’t exist. But in such
moments of crisis, you wish for someone to swoop in and pull you out of the
cliff. And someone does save your life. That someone may not even know that you
exist. Maybe he is God sent and he doesn’t know it. Or she just happened to be
there and saved you out of the kindness of her heart. And sometimes... That
someone is you!
