Parables and Insights - Sundar Singh

Part-I

"Our Lord has called us to be fishers. When a fisherman is at work he makes no noise; he sits quietly there until his net is full; for if he were to make the slightest sound the fish would escape. That is why we work in stillness; when the net is full the whole world will see what we have been doing."
Once when the Sadhu was crossing the Kailas Range in the Himalayas, he came upon the cave of an aged ascetic, in the midst of wonderful scenery, not far from the Lake of Manassarowar. He was used to finding Indian Sannyasis and Tibetan monks in these mountain regions, but now, to his surprise, he found that this was a Christian hermit who bid him to kneel down and pray with him, whose prayer closed with the name of Jesus, and who then read aloud to him some verses from the Sermon on the Mount from an ancient manuscript. Then the seer told him a wonderful story. He said that he had been born three hundred years before at Alexandria, of Moslem parents. At the age of thirty he entered a Dervish Order, but neither prayer nor study of the Koran brought him any peace. In his inward distress he went to a Christian saint who had come from India to Alexandria in order to preach the Gospel. This saint was Yernaus (the Arabic form of Hieronymus) the nephew of St. Francis Xavier. This man read aloud to him the words out of a little book: "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." These words from the Bible led him to Christ. He left his monastery and was baptised, then he went out into the world a wondering preacher, first of all with his teacher, and after that alone. After long years spent in missionary journeys he retired to the holy mountain of Kailas to give himself up to meditation, prayer, and intercession. In this solitary life of prayer wonderful apocalyptic visions and revelations had been granted him.
"Once there was a man who had a beautiful garden. The plants and the trees were well cared for, and all who went by were delighted with its appearance. Then the man had to go away for a time. 'But,' he thought to himself, 'my son is here, and he will keep it in order until I come back.' But the son did not bother himself at all about the matter, and no one looked after the garden. The gate was left open, and the neighbours' cows got in and ate up the carefully tended plants. No one watered the thirsty plants, and they ; soon began to wither. People used to stand and stare in wonder at the destruction that was being wrought. But the son lolled idly at the window. Then the passer-by asked why he was neglecting the garden like this. 'Oh,' he said, 'my father went away without telling me what to do.' You Indian Christians are just like this; your missionaries have gone away, and may not be back for a long time, and you look on and do not bestir yourselves. But if you wish to be true sons, then do your duty without a special command from your father."
"Yesterday I reached Wittenberg, the cradle of the Reformation. I have seen the house in which Martin Luther lived and the church in which he used to preach. It was on the door of this church that he nailed the ninety-five theses of the Reformation, and in that church he was buried. Tonight I am to speak in this church."
"One day when I was in the Himalayas, I was sitting upon the bank of a river; I drew out of the water a beautiful, hard, round stone and smashed it. The inside was quite dry. The stone had been lying a long time in the water, but the water had not penetrated the stone. It is just like that with the people of Europe; for centuries they have been surrounded by Christianity, they are entirely steeped in its blessings; they live in Christianity; yet Christianity has not penetrated them, and it does not live in them. Christianity is not at fault; the reason lies rather in the hardness of their hearts. Materialism and intellectualism have made their hearts hard. So I am not surprised that many people here do not understand what Christianity really is."
"When Jesus entered Jerusalem the people spread their clothes in the way and strewed branches before Him in order to do Him honour. Jesus rode upon an ass, according to the word of the prophet. His feet did not touch the road which was decorated in His honour. It was the ass which trod upon the garments and the branches. But the ass would have been very foolish to have been uplifted on that account; for the road really was not decked in its honour! It would be just as foolish if those who bear Christ to men were to think anything of themselves because of what men do to them for the sake of Jesus."
'The truth is that we cannot live a single day, nor indeed a single hour, without God. 'In Him we live and move and have our being. 'But most of us are like people who are asleep, who breathe without being conscious of it. If there were no air around them, and they ceased to breathe, they would be neither asleep nor awake, they would die of suffocation. As a rule, however, men never think about the absolutely indispensable gift of the air we breathe. But if we do reflect upon it we are filled with thankfulness and joy. Our spiritual dependence upon God is something very like that. He sustains us; we live in Him Yet how many of us ever think about it? How many souls are there who really wake from dumber and begin to breathe in the Divine air, without which the soul would die of suffocation! What kind of breathing, then, is this? The breath of the soul is prayer, through which fresh currents of air sweep into our being, bringing with them fresh supplies of vital force from the Love of God, on whom our whole life depends." "All life comes from God, but most people never think about this at all; they are quite unconscious of their spiritual life. It is only when a man begins to pray that he becomes conscious of this relationship. Then he begins to think, and realises how wonderful it is to live in God."
"Once I was sitting upon the shore of a lake. As I sat there I noticed some fish which came up to the surface and opened their mouths. At first I thought they were hungry and that they were looking for insects, but a fisherman told me afterwards that although they can breathe quite well under water they have to come up to the surface every now and again to inhale deep draughts of fresh air, or they would die. It is the same with us. The world is like an ocean; we can live in it, carry on our work and all our varied occupations, but from time to time we need to receive fresh life through prayer. Those Christians who do not set apart quiet times for prayer have not yet found their true life in Christ.
"God has created both the mother's milk and the child's desire to drink it. But the milk does not flow of itself into the child's mouth. No, the child must lie in its mother's bosom and suck the milk diligently. God has created the spiritual food which we need. He has filled the soul of man with desire for this food, with an impulse to cry out for it and to drink it in. The spiritual milk, the nourishment of our souls, we receive through prayer. By means of fervent prayer we must receive it into our soul. As we do this we become stronger day by day just like the infant at the breast."
"Prayer is both the air we breathe and the mother's milk of the soul. Without prayer it is impossible to receive supernatural gifts from God."
"Prayer is the necessary preparation for receiving spiritual gifts from God." "Only longing and prayer make room for God in our hearts." "God cannot give us spiritual gifts excepting through prayer." "It is only as we are immersed in the spiritual world that we can understand spiritual things."
"There are beautiful birds in the air, and twinkling stars in the heavens, but if you desire pearls you must plunge down into the depths of the ocean to find them. There are many beautiful things in the world around us, but pearls can only be discovered in the depths of the sea; if we wish to posses spiritual pearls we must plunge into the depths, that is, we must pray, we must sink down into the secret depths of contemplation and prayer. Then we shall perceive precious pearls."
"When we are in the dark we know through our sense of touch what kind of object we are holding in our hands, whether it is a stick or a snake. Both can be felt in the darkness, but we can see them only in the light. So long as we are not in the light we grope and stumble about, and we cannot see true reality. The man who does not believe in Divine Light is still in darkness. What then shall we do to come to the Light? We must step out of the darkness and approach the Light; that is, we must kneel before our Savior and pray to Him fervently. Then we shall be bathed in His Light, and we shall see everything clearly. Prayer is the key which opens the door of Divine Reality. Prayer leads us out of that darkness in which, in spite of all our intelligence and power of vision, we cannot perceive the Light of Truth. Prayer leads us into the world of spiritual light."
"Through prayer, by the simple method of prayer, we become aware of Christ's Presence and learn to know Him." "You must go, into the stillness and pray to Christ in solitude, there you will hear the Voice of Him who alone can help you." "If you read His Word and pray to Him even only for half an hour every day, you will have the same experience. He will reveal Himself to your souls." "I am sure that He will reveal Himself to you in prayer; then you will know Him as He is. And He will not only reveal Himself to you, but He will come and give you strength and joy and peace."
"The essence of prayer does not consist in asking God for something but in opening our hearts to God, in speaking with Him, and living with Him in perpetual communion. Prayer is continual abandonment to God." "Prayer does not mean asking God for all kinds of things we want, it is rather the desire for God Himself, the only Giver of Life." "Prayer is not asking, but union with God." "Prayer is not a painful effect to gain from God help in the varying needs of our lives. Prayer is the desire to possess God Himself, the Source of all Life." "The true spirit of prayer does not consist in asking for blessings, but in receiving Him who is the giver of all blessing, and in living a life of fellowship with Him." "Prayer is not a kind of begging for favours; it is rather breathing and living in God." "A little child often runs to its mother and exclaims: 'Mother! Mother!' Very often the child does not want anything in particular; he only wants to be near his mother, to sit upon her lap, or to follow her about the house, for the sheer pleasure of being near her, talking to her, hearing her dear voice. Then the child is happy. His happiness does not consist in asking and receiving all kinds of things from his mother. If that were what he wanted, he would be impatient and obstinate and therefore unhappy. No, his happiness lies in feeling his mother's love and care, and in knowing the joy of her mother-love." "It is just the same with the true children of God; they do not trouble themselves so much about spiritual blessings. They only want to sit at the Lord's feet, to be in living touch with Him, and when they do that they are supremely content."
In another parable Sundar Singh tries to show how mean and contemptible a thing it is to beg for all kinds of everyday things when one is in the Presence of the greatness and wonder of God: "Have you ever seen a heron standing motionless on the shore of a lake? From his attitude you might think he was standing gazing at God's Power and Glory, wondering at the great expanse of water, and at its power to cleanse and satisfy the thirst of living creatures. But the heron has no such thoughts in his head at all; he stands there hour after hour, simply in order to see whether he can catch a frog or a little fish. Many human beings behave like that in prayer and meditation. They sit on the shore of God's Ocean; but they give no thought to His Power and Love, they pay no attention to His Spirit which , can cleanse them from their sins, neither do they consider His Being which can satisfy their soul's thirst; they give themselves up entirely to the thought of how they can gain something that will please them, something that will help them to enjoy the transitory pleasures of this world, and so they turn their faces away from the clear water of spiritual peace. They give themselves up to the things of this world which pass away, and they perish with them."
"Sometimes people ask me this question: 'If God does not wish us to ask for material things, but for Himself, the Giver of all good, why does the Bible never say: Do not pray for this or that, pray simply for the Holy Spirit? Why has this never been clearly expressed? 'I reply, Because He k new that people would never begin to pray if they could not ask for earthly things like riches and health and honours; He says to Himself: If they ask for such things the desire for something better will awaken in them, and finally they will only care about the higher things."
"The heat and the sun's rays, falling upon salt water, cause evaporation, which gradually becomes condensed into clouds, which again descend in the form of sweet, fresh water. The salt, and all the other things in the water, are left behind. In the same way the thoughts and desires of the praying soul rise to heaven like clouds; then the Sun of Righteousness cleanses them from the taint of sin by His purifying rays. The prayer then becomes a great cloud which falls in showers of blessing, life, and strength upon the earth below."
"Through prayer we experience the greatest of all miracles, heaven upon earth."
Such miracles also are worked through the power of persistent intercession: "There are times when one can do more good by prayer than by preaching. A man who prays incessantly in a solitary cave can help other people a great deal. An influence goes out from him which actually pervades the spiritual atmosphere, even though this influence is exerted in great stillness, unperceived by men, just as wireless message are conveyed by unseen waves, and as the words which we speak penetrate the consciousness of other people through mysterious channels of communication."
"He who searches for Divine Reality with all his heart and soul and finds it, becomes aware that, before he began to seek God, God was seeking him, in order to draw him into the joy of fellowship with Him, into the peace of His Presence; even as a child who has strayed, when he is safely back in his mother's arms, realises that she had been searching for him, with deep maternal love, before he had begun to think about her."
"O Lord God who art all in all to me, Life of my life and Spirit of my spirit, have mercy on me and fill me with Thy Holy Spirit and with love that there may be no room for anything else in my heart. I ask not for any blessing, but for Thyself, who art the giver of all blessings and of all life. I ask not for the world and its pomp and glory, nor for heaven, but I need Thee Thyself, for where Thou art, there is heaven. In Thyself alone is satisfaction and abundance for my heart; Thou Thyself, O Creator, hast created this heart for Thyself, and not for any other created thing. Therefore this heart cannot find rest in aught but Thee: only in Thee, O Father, who hast made this longing for peace. So now take out of this heart whatever is opposed to Thee and abide and rule in it Thyself, Amen."