Lord's response

I am missing the festivities that used to keep us up and running during this festival season. I am alone in the US while my wife is in Chennai. Generally, she used to go the spiritual center every day during Navarathri to chant Mahisasura Marthini Sthothra. Besides, she used to be invited by many friends each year and she used to drive a lot the entire day to just visit their residences for a brief period of time. She also used to arrange different types of poojas each year specifically organizing a priest to come home to systematically perform the pooja. At least 40-50 people used to visit our house during Navarathri to have dinner and prasad with us.

Navarathri started this week and I was wondering what I could do to participate in some form of worship. I understood that my wife is on an important mission to arrange her father’s first anniversary I was leaving for Chennai also next Friday. In the meantime, I was planning to go to the spiritual center as the other members of the center would be celebrating Navarathri every night but unfortunately, I was so busy and could not go at the schedule time in the evening. I had already responded to all my wife’s friends that she was out of town and wouldn’t be able to attend Navarathri celebrations organized by them at their respective residences.

This week end I am traveling to my son’s apartment to spend time with my plants, Orion and my son. My son had already taken two of the plants with him last week and I am planning to take the third one with me in the car. I already spent a lot of time with the third plant today talking to her about the trip she was going to make tomorrow and the need for her to reside in my son’s place until I return to the US. When I am so excited about spending the entire week end with my plants, grandson and son, I still miss the participation in holy Navarathri celebrations. I used to chant Mahishasura Marthini Sthothra every evening before commencing my studies when I was young and now I had forgotten to chant from my memory. I didn’t have a book to chant it at home every evening in the absence of my wife. I light the lamp every morning and evening in our Altar and I have painstakingly pleaded to the Lords in our Altar to forgive me for not chanting anything during these holy days.

When I was feeling low for my inability to do anything in the absence of my wife during Navarathri, the Lord responded to me through the very same priest who used to perform pooja at our residence every year. He called me yesterday to let me know that Lord Sathya Narayana had just received a Kridham and my wife had promised that she would pay for the cost of this Kridham. I was smiling ear to ear and told the priest that I would come to the temple to handover the check for the cost of Kridham. He told me to come prepared to take Sankalpa on Vijayadhasami day, a day before I travel to India, so that Kridham can be formally offered to the Lord Sathya Narayana on the auspicious Vijayadhasami day.

I was in tears for a long time as the Lord responded to the uncomfortable feelings of ordinary devotee like me for missing the Navarathri celebrations and feeling lonely during this festival season. It is amazing how our prayers are answered if we are sincere in our prayers and care to watch the responses. My wife is a devoted person chanting at least 2 hours every day and my prayers with the Lord are only for a few minutes every day. There isn’t a day passes without me admiring my wife for her upbringing as their parents and grandparents used to be very religious. What makes me feel very emotional is the gesture of the Lord even to respond to my prayers. The learned people say the Lord showers His grace on everyone without discrimination and this incident proved it to me. This is motivation enough for me to purity my heart further.

Lord's response