Parable of a Kite

“To follow the Lord and find freedom…”

This is how one of the Church hymns begins. I’ve sung this song many times, like many of us sing during Mass or service – in auto-pilot mode – without paying attention to the words and meaning of the song. Just recently, I was drawn to pay attention to the meaning and I was confused, stunned and awed at what I realized about the meaning of the first sentence!

I realized that the sentence was ironical. “Follow”, “freedom” – how can they go together? How can someone follow another and still be free? Freedom means no strings attached, right?

And then, I was drawn to think about a kite. When does the kite fly high? When it is connected or when it is detached? We know the answer. A kite flies high when it is connected by the string and the spindle to the flyer on the ground.  The moment the string breaks, the kite falls to the ground or is blown away by the gust.

A great realization filled my mind and I was wowed at the meaning of the sentence – “To follow the Lord and find freedom.” There were days, weeks, months and years that I spent away from my God thinking I was free, thinking that was absolute freedom. But instead of being free I was like a detached kite, falling to the ground, being tossed and turned, being torn by the forces within and outside me. And then I found God! A God who loves me, knows me, supports me, strengthens me, a God who is always there for me, a God who understands me like no one else does! Once I came to know and to be with this God, I realized what true freedom felt. There are gusts for sure, but I sail through it as long as I’m connected to my Creator, my God, my Heavenly Father.  In following Him, I find my freedom.

“The person who entrusts himself totally to God finds true freedom, the great creative immensity of the freedom of good… He becomes truly himself.” – Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

God Bless!

Thats my King!

While in school, one subject that I dreaded the most was History!!! Long lessons, boring lectures, too much to study about things I thought were not relevant anymore; dates, events and names which were too many to fit into my small brain! But the one thing that interested me was kings, their stories and their royal lifestyle.  Lately I found the interest being renewed.

Spending more than a year in Hyderabad gave me an opportunity to see and experience the royal lifestyle of the yesteryears. From Golconda Fort to Salarjung Museum to Chowmohalla Palace, each one of them showed the luxurious lifestyle the earlier Nawabs had. The icing on the cake was the visit to Falaknuma Palace, where an entire part of the palace has been renovated and restored to how it was hundreds of years ago. From the Nawab’s office which had his books, his pictures, his royal seal and papers, the quill pen with which he used to put his  royal signature, to the banquet hall adorned with crystal chandeliers, to the dining room which had gold plated cutlery, the longest dining table I have ever seen etc etc etc. I was just dumfounded as the guide took us from one room to another!!! The grandeur in which they lived just took my breath away!

Well all thats exactly what comes to my mind when I think about Kings - palaces, forts, wealth, gold, silver, luxurious lifestyle, armies....... But all that fades away before my King! He is a king who had none of it, who didn’t have a place to be born and when He grew up He had no place to stay, who was a nomad wandering from one town to another, who never had the luxury of hosting banquets, who never had any wealth or Gold , who didn’t have a mighty army, but instead whose followers were a bunch of illiterates, outcasts. In spite of this, He is a King whoHHHhhjj is more powerful than any other king, whose kingdom spreads farther than any others, whose reign is everlasting, who has touched and transformed more lives than any other, who is and will forever be called the King of Kings. That my King! Do you know Him?

Watch the video below.

He’s a king who said,  “The greatest  love a person can have for his friend is to give his life for them . And you are my friend. I do not call you servants. I call you friends... This, then, is what I command you: love one another.” (John15:13-17)

God Bless!