“You Do Believe in God; But Never Listen to Him”

I had to do a day trip to Dubai on Wednesday, which meant that I had to sit on a plane for several hours. Since I left on the morning flight, I thought I would make the most of the inflight entertainment system and went on a movie binge all the way up to Dubai.

One of the gems in this movie binge was a Bollywood flick called “Thank God,” which tells the story of Ayan Kapoor, an arrogant debt-fueled businessman who finds himself in limbo after a car accident. He meets the characters of the spiritual realm who involve him in a game show where the “sins” of life are played with him.

One of the best scenes comes when the CG the game show host gets a call from Lord Hanuman (the Hindu Monkey God and the good the main character is a devotee of.) The main character assumes that “his God” is getting him off the hook because he’s been making plenty of offerings, only to find that he gets drenched and sweets get stuffed into his mouth and he finds out that “His God” is “p****ed off with him.” CG explains to him that “You do believe in God: But Never Listen to him,” and then explains that God is not interested in your offerings and rituals but in your humanity. It turns out that in his effort to prove his devotion to Lord Hanuman by buying offerings, he p****es on a beggar and her grandson, which leads to her death and the abandonment of the child.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-sgnhYJGOA

 

 

 

 

That line stuck with me because we live in an age where there are many distractions from the things that are important to us. In human relationships this usually comes into the form of the people we spend time with. Many of us chase those with “power” and “money” or both because we believe it helps us get ahead. However, we end up becoming so busy trying to be around money and power that we neglect the people who really matter and forget our real friends in our quest for wealthy friends.

In the spiritual realm, it often comes in the form of an obsession with rituals. Regardless of religion, you find people get focused on the rituals and motions of the faith they practice. Payer becomes like a transaction where you ask the almighty for some magic pill to make your problems go away in return for your good behavior.

However, as just about every religious text known to man points out – the almighty is interested in what’s inside you rather than what you try and show on the outside. In the Christian Gospels for example, Jesus talks about the “Parable of the Widow’s Mite” and teaches us that God values the poor widow’s mite more than he does the vastly superior number of coins donated by rich merchants.

Even if you discount the “illogical” nature of faith, there is a logic there. Why would a higher power be interested in our earthly things like money and offerings when they could get whatever they wanted with a simple thought? If anything, a higher would probably prefer us to be “nicer” people to each other.

What is the point of going to a church, temple or mosque on a daily basis and proclaiming your faith and devotion to the almighty when the moment you leave, you promptly kick the poor tissue paper seller in the face and try and get her arrested for disturbing your day?

While I can’t claim to speak for the Almighty, I suspect the Almighty would prefer it if people spent more time raising up their communities instead of trying to out pray each other. I think of the Catholic Priest who told his congregation that “It is not in the beauty of our liturgy or the buildings but in our compassion.” I think of the Muslim driver who said “Islam is not the first religion of man – the first religion is Salaam – shake hands and make friends that is the first religion.”

I am not disputing the importance of faith and the rituals. Prayer is a wonderful source of solace and there are times when “talking to” the Almighty helps provide one with the fortitude to get through tough times.  However, rituals without action are pointless and prayers need to be backed by sincerity. As said in the movie, we’re so used to trying to show we believe, we forget to listen to the message.