I have often been asked this question, as I am sure most of you have been at some point in your life, -
Do you believe in God?
Of course I do. I believe in God just as I believe in good literature, good music, good cinema or any good work of art. I believe in literature. I believe in God. If you believe in God it becomes easy to explain away a lot of things. Let’s say that you’ve been a kind, considerate and generally nice human being all your life and yet when your child is born, he is born with a brain disorder. If you don’t believe in God what do you do? With eyes glazing over you look for explanations and find none. You are mad at the injustice of it all. If you believe in God, it’s a piece of cake; put all the blame at His door! He must have a very good reason, you tell yourself, His mind works in mysterious ways and it is not for you, a mere mortal with bad breadth and bad belly, to take His measure. It just might be that you are not a decent human being at all. It’s all in your mind, and you do not deserve a good turn. Who knows? And, just for the record, there are millions of decent human beings like you in God’s kitty and if one or two of them get a raw bargain what’s the big deal? God’s mind works in mysterious ways. God is the biggest and the most efficient life-jacket invented by man. God keeps you afloat no matter what the calamity. What would we do without Him? Men would go mad. How would you explain away the tsunamis, the earthquakes, the hurricanes, the famines and the epidemics that kill millions? How would you explain the stampedes at the temples that kill children? How would you explain the world wars, the holocaust, and the killing fields of PolPot? How would you explain Idi Amin, Hitler, and Karadzic? Or the gun-slingers who have occupied the white building in Wasington DC? If you believe in God you have the luxury of looking after yourself and your family and leave the rest to His whim. If you don’t believe in God you have to bear the burdens of this world because there are no shoulders (read God’s) in sight, to shift them to. So it is always smart to believe in God. You can be at peace with yourself. No guilt conscience for any wrong that you may have committed because it was God’s hand at work and you were a mere instrument. So who wouldn’t believe in God? Who wouldn’t make the most of such convenience? He is the ready-reckoner you need at all times and in all places. He is the Swiss Army Knife you must carry to all places and at all times. If your marriage is falling apart, blame it on God. If you find a new soul mate give the credit to God. What would we do without Him? How would we search for the black cat in the coal- celler? So I believe in God! I believe in literature, I believe in feel-good stories, I believe in 'God'.
NB: The picture above is the result of a random search in Google images! But I do remember, when I was in school about 35 years back many pages of The Old Testament did feature a patriachal figure with flowing beard levitating in space and I was left wondering if God doesn't age why does he look old!
