Thank you...

Sharing has always been associated with a sign of love in action; the world around is the gift of God to the humanity that He/She loved so much. St Ignatius of Loyola in his famous Contemplation to Attain Love in the Spiritual Exercises, opens the contemplation with the words that Love expresses itself in action, and the world is God's great gift. But how often we forget that every thing we enjoy on earth is the gift of some one or other. The clothes I wear, the wrist watch I wear, the shampoor I bathe with, the cream I apply, the shoes I wear, the foot I eat... every thing. There is no exception to this.

Have I ever thought of this? This sharing of the things I take for granted each day, does not happen automatically, as if they were meant to be so. I so take it for granted that every time when I open the tap, water will flow. But one day if the porter had failed to put on the water pump, then my world crumbles... I feel the pinch. I take it for granted that every time when I go to the dining table, there will be enough for me to eat. But what if one day it does not happen so?

I dare not think of a day when I get up one fine morning and find that there is no Sun... or a night without moon and stars. Is it not so very natural for us human beings to take things for granted. Even our very existence. Today I would like to pause for a moment and think of all the people who have crisscrossed my path today, who had made my day, all those who made me take the day for granted... the bakers who unfailingly bake the bread without fail, the farmers who cultivate the vegetables I eat, the corporation who provide water, the technicians who make sure we have uninterrupted power supply, telephonic connection, my parents who provide all I need... The list will be endless, as you imagine each and every one of them.

Can I possibly do anything in return for them? Most of these people are faceless and nameless ones. They may not even want to be identified and thanked. But today I wish to think of each of them and whisper deep in my heart... Thank you baker for the sweet bread you offer each morning, thank you shopkeepers for providing the provision I need each day, thank you farmers for the vegetables, thank you washermen and women for the clothes you wash and press, thank you Municipal corporation employees for providing all amenities, thank you papa and mama for the food and drink, thank you friends for the company...

Thank you God for this wonderful life that I enjoy each day, for the sun and moon, the light and shadow, the flowers of the trees and the birds of the sky, the blue sky and the dense thickets... The world is charged with your grandeur O God, I thank you from my heart.