Why Did My Son Get Killed?

A father received the message that his son, who was a soldier, was killed in battle. The father became absolutely insane with grief. Everywhere people were trying to console him, but nobody could console him. The father said, "My son was such a nice boy. He was very brilliant, very strong and very handsome. This is what has happened to him in the army! I hate the army! Why do they fight against other countries?" The father was cursing the country, the army and everything else.

Then the father went to a priest for consolation. He told the priest, "I am so miserable. I have lost my only son. Please, please tell me how I can get consolation."

The priest said, "What can I do? I am willing to do what you wish, but please tell me what you actually want from me."

The father said, "Consolation."

"I can only pray to God to console you. This is what we priests do. When somebody dies, we try to console the dear ones with our prayer."

"I know," replied the father. "But can you tell me one thing?"

The priest said, "What is it?"

"When my son died, what was our Heavenly Father doing? Where was He? Can you imagine? My son was in the army serving his country. He was a military man and he was killed. What was God doing? My son was doing something great and good for his country, and God did not save him. I am asking you, what did God do?"

The priest answered, "I know what God did. I am getting the message from your heart. Your own heart is telling me that God was right beside your son when he was killed."

The man was so puzzled. "God was beside my son? Then why did my son have to die? Why did God not protect my son? What kind of stupid thing are you telling me, Father? If God was beside my son, then God could easily have saved my son."

"Yes, God could have saved your son. When we sincerely ask God to fulfil our desires, we feel that He will automatically fulfil them. But beyond our sincerity, there is something called God's Need and God's Will. We do not always know what they are."

The man asked, "Now what can I do?"

The priest replied, "Why? Your son has died as a soldier. Do you know that in his next incarnation your son will become a commander general?"

"Commander, my son will become a commander?" asked the man.

"Yes, we all make progress. God wanted him to die a hero. You are feeling a great loss, but your son died heroically. Your own heart is telling me that in his next incarnation, your son will become a commander."

"My son will be a commander? My son will be a commander?" the man asked. He started crying at one moment, then smiling at the next moment. The man was practically going crazy.

The priest said, "Please do not act like this. I tell you, whatever God does is for our good. Our haughty mind will not accept that, but our inner heart will. My oneness with your heart and with your son's heart is so strong that I am getting the inner message that God will make him a military general in his next incarnation.

"Outwardly you are now crying and crying. But when I think of your heart, your heart tells me that your son will become someone very great and you are so happy to hear that. Always look forward; always look upward. If something bad or sad happens, try to feel that something better is coming; something more illumining and more fulfilling is coming. Please try to see today's loss as part of a supreme Game. Tomorrow God will expedite our progress. Today's death does not mean that your son is gone forever. No. Today's death is only a preparation for tomorrow's birth. With tomorrow's birth, your son will transcend himself and become both great and good."

This is how the priest consoled the father. Indeed, the man was deeply consoled. He fell at the feet of the priest. "Father, now you have illumined me. I thank you with all my heart. I am all yours."