| It was many years ago. The boy was not more | | | | |
| than ten years old as he stood beside the man | | | | The boy, with a puzzled expression, looked at |
| that early morning. They were both standing | | | | his father and asked: "How can this force, |
| on the shore of the Atlantic looking east | | | | this God, be within me and at the same time |
| toward the rising sun. The chill morning air | | | | be in everything else I see?" |
| caused a slight shiver to run through the | | | | |
| boy. The man, seeming to know without even | | | | "Because," the man replied, "God is in |
| looking, took off his jacket and draped it | | | | everything and everyone. God is in you and in |
| over the small shoulders of his son. They | | | | me, in those gulls you see over there, in the |
| walked up to the water's edge as the man | | | | sand under our feet and the lilies of the |
| spoke: "You see that wide expanse of water? | | | | field. God is everywhere and everything, and |
| It is made of billions of gallons, and each | | | | there cannot be two everything. God is a part |
| gallon is made of tens of thousands of | | | | of you just like the drop of water is a part |
| drops." | | | | of this ocean. Remember this well and you |
| | | | will grow up to have a sense of peace, joy |
| The little boy seemed curious. "And what are | | | | and understanding." |
| the drops made of?" he asked. | | | | |
| | | | Decades have passed since I stood on that |
| With a smile, the man replied: "The drops are | | | | shore with my father. I have since traveled |
| made of smaller and smaller drops, and each | | | | to many countries, lived in various cultures, |
| in turn is made of bits and pieces of things | | | | and experienced deep sorrow and great joy. I |
| that make the very world we live in." | | | | have seen the best and the worst of my fellow |
| | | | human beings, Yet, through it all, I could |
| "What am I made of, Dad?" the boy asked after | | | | hear the voice of my father telling me: "God |
| a short while. "Am I made of the same stuff | | | | is everywhere and everything, and there |
| as the ocean?" | | | | cannot be two everything." |
| | | | |
| The father smiled as he replied: "Everything | | | | As a young boy, I grew up in a small village |
| is made of everything else, and everything is | | | | of Hindus, Christians, Moslems and others. I |
| a part of other things. As you stand here | | | | learned at a very early age that all people |
| this morning, you are a part of this land, | | | | are shipmates on the common voyage of life |
| this shore, this ocean. Look at that tree, | | | | and that one cannot sink one's shipmates |
| the sky. They are parts of the very me and | | | | without sinking oneself. As I studied the |
| the eternal "I". There is a force that keeps | | | | Vedic writings and compared them with the |
| us together. Some call that force God, | | | | words of the Hebrew prophets and the |
| others, Allah, Jehovah, or Jove. There are a | | | | teachings of the New Testament Apostles, I |
| thousand names for this force, but it doesn't | | | | found that the common thread running through |
| matter what it's called. It just is. As you | | | | them all was love. The greatest commandment |
| grow older and wiser, you will find the | | | | ever given was "Love your God and love one |
| stirring of this mighty force within you. You | | | | another" - all others are simply variations |
| will know that it's always there, and that | | | | on that theme. |
| you're safe and happy within it." | | | | |