There is a story about how God sent two angels to earth to listen to the prayers of humanity. One angel was asked to collect all the prayers in which people asked God for something. The other angel was asked to collect all the prayers of thanksgiving.
The two angels descended on earth and began their task. They agreed to meet in a month with their findings. The angel collecting prayers asking God for something soon became extremely busy. The angel filled the basket with prayers that people had for worldly objects.
The other angel travelled far and wide looking to fill the basket with prayers of thankfulness. One day passed, then two days and then the third, but no prayers of gratitude were heard. The angel visited the young and elderly, men and women, people of all countries, all religions and all classes. Still, not a prayer of thankfulness was heard. Wondering whether s/he was missing something, this angel contacted the other angel to ask whether his/her basket of prayers was getting filled.
“Oh yes! I have not only filled one basket, but many more,” said the angel. “But I too have not heard any prayers of thankfulness,” s/he added.
For the rest of the month, the two angels fulfilled their mission and were ready to return to God. The angel collecting prayers of request was laden with many baskets. The angel collecting prayers of thankfulness hardly had any.
When God was presented with these findings, he sighed. “This is nothing new,” said God. “You now have a taste of what it is like being God. People are always praying for something from Me, which is all right because at least they are thinking of Me. But few ever thank Me.”
This story illustrates our human condition. In life, many people request others to do something for them, but how many people take an equal amount of time to thank them? Similarly, we pray to God for so many things that we want, but how many take the time to thank God? The next time the two angels are sent by God to come to earth, let us not disappoint the one collecting prayers of thanks.
(Sant Rajinder Singhji, head of Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission, can be contacted at www.sos.org)
