The Tears Of The Sinner

A spiritual man and his friend, plus an atheist and a sinner, were all in a boat on an excursion. All of a sudden, a terrible storm rose up from the ocean, and threatened to capsize the boat. The spiritual man folded his hands and started praying to God. His friend was watching him pray. The atheist, who did not believe in God, knelt down and started praying to God, most soulfully, to save their lives.

The spiritual man looked at the sinner and said to him, "Hide! Hide! If God sees you, He will be displeased with all of us, and He will allow the boat to sink. You must hide!"

The atheist, who was praying most soulfully, stopped and said, "No! No! God will come to save us only because of the sinner. I can see that the sinner's eyes are full of tears. But what are you doing? You are a spiritual man, true, but you are just showing off. You are praying to God, which you do every day. In your prayer, there is no sincerity, intensity or humility. Your friend is useless. He is just watching you and is not at all involved."

The atheist continued, "I myself do not believe in God. But at this moment, who can save me, if not God? God has entered into my life because I am afraid that I am going to die soon. True, the sinner has committed many, many sins. He has done many wrong things. But just look at him! I clearly see that with all his heart's tears, he is praying to God for forgiveness. If we are saved, it will be all because of his tears."

At that moment, the storm subsided and the boat started sailing smoothly once again. The tears of the sinner saved all their lives.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The mind-jungles and the heart-gardens of life, Agni Press, 2001
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/mjh