Nanak says, The Great Giver keeps on giving, the receivers grow weary of receiving.
The Supreme Being gives and gives and gives, while the receiver drops with exhaustion.
These are very significant words. It is He who gives life. It is He who breathes your breath.
It is He who pulsates in every heartbeat. He keeps on giving... giving.
There is no end to His giving, and He asks for nothing in return.
As a result we mistakenly feel life to be a cheap commodity and other things appear expensive.
We are always ready to abandon life and aliveness but not wealth; because wealth is acquired with great difficulty and life is given without any effort on our part – it comes free!
Whatever He has given to us, He has given freely and we have given nothing in return.
When this fact dawns upon us, then we begin to question our own worthiness for all that we
have received:
”Would it have mattered one bit if I were not? The life potential, the flowering of consciousness that has bloomed within me – if it had not, to whom would I have complained?”
What is our worth that makes us eligible for this life? How have we earned it?
For every small thing in life we demand proof of its worthiness.
To be a clerk in an office or a school teacher, one has to be qualified for the post; we have to earn our place in life. How have we earned our life itself? It is a gift freely given and not because of some special qualification of ours.
The day we begin to realize this, then this prayer will arise within us,
”What shall I do to express my gratitude? How shall I repay Thee?”
Prayer is not begging for His gifts but an expression of gratitude and thanks for what is already received.
Nanak’s prayer expresses gratitude:
”I cannot believe all that You have given me! I see no reason why You should cover me with so many gifts, because I am not worthy. If You do not give I have no complaints, but You are such that You give and give... and give.”
How often do we express our gratitude to this Great Giver ?
We offer no thanks, show no gratitude. His gifts are un-ending and our un-gratefulness knows no bounds! We are ready to say ‘thank you’ if we happen to drop our handkerchief and someone picks it up for us, but we have no word of thanks for the one who has given us this life.
If we ever go to pray, it is always a complaint ; of all the wrong He is doing, ”My son is ill, my partner does not treat me well, my career, business is failing.”
We tend to exaggerate our complaints and even go to the extent of questioning His presence. ”You aren’t there. And if You are, why don’t You satisfy all my desires!”
Our complaints then reach such a pitch that we can no longer believe there is a God.
Atheism is commonly understood as non-acceptance or rejection of belief in God while Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a Supreme Being or God.
Theism fills us with gratitude and thanks-giving that we only see Him all around us. Everywhere we see His hand, everywhere His reflection; everywhere we feel His presence.
Theism is the peak of thanks-giving; Atheism, the nadir of complaints.
Enjoy Him and his gifts as much as you will, but you cannot exhaust Him – the Great Giver.
To empty an ocean with a tea-spoon is more possible, because whereas the scope of the spoon is limited, so also is the ocean limited. But one can never drain God because He is boundless.
For eons upon eons we have been enjoying His bounty but never has a word of thankfulness risen from our heart to proclaim how grateful we are that all He has given is boundless.
Whenever we have spoken, it has always been to express our dissatisfaction, emphasizing our worthiness and minimizing what we have received.
Let’s think it over for ourselves. Whatever life has given us – is it more or less than what we deserve?
When we reflect on this, the answer will be : It is always more – much more. For we have done nothing to earn this vast existence that we have attained – this precious human birth.