Very often we make a god out of a guru or priest and feel disappointed and even lose our beliefs when they fall.
Many, many years ago as a child I used to sit in church and like all youngsters fidget, look around and do everything except listen to the preacher. But there was one man I listened with rapt attention. He had me spell bound with his sermon. He was nothing great to look at; bald and short and dark. He was not even a flashy orator, but when he spoke from the scriptures he had the whole congregation mesmerized.
Years later as an adult I heard him speak again and I found his hold over the people hadn’t changed a bit. He was a man of God, or so we thought.
He had married a foreigner many years his senior who we heard as also a woman of prayer. Along with them was a young lady who sang hymns before he delivered his speech. She sang like a nightingale.
But it was his sermon afterwards that continued to direct our lives to God.
In my mind he was a saint.
Till one day driving down the highway with my father in law, I was told that he had been caught in a hotel room in bed with the pretty singer. I nearly slammed the brakes with shock. “How?” I asked myself, “could a man of God do such?”
I went home a disillusioned man and as I tossed and turned in my sleep that night I pondered on the failure of a human god. “Human God!” I told myself, “that’s where the problem lies. No man can ever hope to be a god, only God can be God”.
I realized that instead of putting our trust and hope and faith onto God, we find it more convenient to look for someone around, visible and tangible.
At first we think of our mothers as angels and fathers as blessed, till one day they slip and we creep into bed disappointed, frustrated. Next it’s the priest or some godman and we are upset, distressed all over again.
Frustrated we leave our religious beliefs and stop believing anymore.
How wrong we are. It’s not the priest or godman who has slipped, it’s we, for putting our faith in them. Behind priestly robe, there is a man or woman like us, with the same desires and weaknesses. As long as he keeps his eyes on God, he is able to stay focused but one blink and he falls and we fall.
Instead, fix your eyes on God above.
And as we see only Him in front, we ourselves we ourselves will imbue the purity He has. Then look back and see that others who are behind, don’t focus on you but onto the One whom you continue pointing out to them.
Don’t follow human gods or try to be one yourself..!
Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and author. He blogs at www.bobsbanter.com and can be reached at bobsbanter@gmail.com
