RESPONDING TO THE CALL OF GOD

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

92. RESPONDING TO THE CALL OF GOD
Worshipful homage to the infinite, imponderable Cosmic Reality, the transcendental
Absolute, which is, at once, farther than the farthest and, nevertheless, nearer than the nearest.
Remote, beyond the reach of the mind, closer to you than yourself, everywhere present, nowhere
visible to this fleshy physical eye, nevertheless appearing in an infinite variety of names and forms,
the one power behind all things, the one and the only doer and director of all things that take place
and happen, that Being is the goal of your life. Attaining and experiencing that Reality alone you
will ultimately attain total satisfaction, peace that is forever, for all times, and which peace is the
greatest of all joy, happiness and bliss.

May the grace of that Supreme Divinity be upon you all, as it has been upon you throughout
your life. Whether you know it or not, this grace has surrounded you, pursued you, impelling you in
the right direction. It has irresistibly drawn you towards a way of life that is like a light in the
darkness, that is the life sublime, the good life, the divine life.
Whether you saw its workings or not, whether you recognised it or not, it has been there
propelling, pulling and attracting you in the right direction, making you take the right decisions,
rescuing you in dilemmas and doubts, taking you through seemingly agonising situations, but
always towards the ultimate peace, the greatest good, your supreme welfare, towards that gain
attaining which there is no greater gain to be attained.
Grace pursues the sincere seeking soul, sometimes even in spite of itself. And grace does
not always appear in nice and beautiful clothing. As the poet put it: Not perceiving what it is, the
seeking soul is sometimes even frightened and tries to run away. But when God has chosen, there is
no way of man escaping. When at last, not able to run further, the fearful, panting, escaping soul
drops down exhausted, it feels the protective proximity of That which was pursuing it.
Thus, the grace of the Divine has been pursuing you and drawing you in the direction of
God, not with dire intent, but with the greatest love, compassion and goodwill and for your highest
good. It has been drawing you in the direction of God which is the ONLY GOOD. Mother is good,
father is also good, and your relatives are good to you, but God is father, mother, relative and friend.
He is all this and more too. That is the truth about your life, whether it is sweet or bitter, tender or
hard.
He is always drawing you in one direction, pushing, prompting, taking you in the direction
of your highest welfare. How much gratitude we should feel! If we only recognise it, we have
sometimes been blessed and graced in spite of ourselves.
Let us, therefore, in humility and gratefulness now purposefully cooperate with this grace,
go along with this grace, grasp the hand of this grace, and willingly, with all our being, allow
ourselves to be drawn in the direction that grace wants us to move—forward, upward and Godward.
This is wisdom. This is appreciation for what God has been doing for us. This is responding
to the call of God—allowing God to help us by cooperating with His grace.
Being all-pervading, God is present everywhere. Even so, being beyond time, He is now,
here. Not even for a split second in the life of a jivatma in this samsara, not even for a split second in
the life of any one of us, is He ever absent. It is an impossibility. All other things may be possible,
but that God is absent in the life of man is an absolute impossibility.