Self-Sufficient or God-Sufficient?

by Sarita Earp
Halifax, Canada

One winter I had seriously burnt my foot. After a few days I was to see my doctor, but it snowed heavily all day and the evening before the appointment. I knew that I would be unable to hop to my car through the snow, and that I needed to shovel the walk. I had always been an independent, self-sufficient person and was not used to asking for help.

As I was thinking of the options, I suddenly said, “Give it up, Sarita, ask for help.” It was a case of giving up my ego and my pride, and asking in the form of a prayer for heavenly assistance. Immediately there was a knock at the door. I opened it up to see a man with a snow shovel over his shoulder who said, “Lady, you need your walk shoveled!”

The difference between
The human in me
And the divine in me
Is this:
The human in me wants
To prove to the world
That it is self-sufficient.
The divine in me wants
To prove to the world
That it is sleeplessly
And breathlessly
God-dependent.

Sri Chinmoy 1

• 1. Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, Part 15