One of my friends is a busy RJ. She lives in music. Still, she writes to me often. Recently, she sent me this out of the ordinary story:

In a small town, a person decided to open up a liquor shop, which was right opposite to a church.

The church and its congregation started a campaign to block the liquor shop from opening with petitions and prayed daily against his business.

Work progressed. However, when it was almost complete and was about to open a few days later, a strong lightning struck the liquor shop and it was burnt to the ground.

The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, till the liquor owner sued the church authorities on the grounds that the church through its congregation and prayers was ultimately responsible for the destruction of his liquor shop, either through direct or indirect actions or means.

In its reply to the court, the church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection that their prayers were reasons for the act of God. As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork at the hearing and commented:

‘I don’t know how I’m going to decide this case, but it appears from the paperwork, we have a liquor shop owner who believes in the power of prayer and we have an entire church that doesn’t.’

The above story compelled me to explore contextual messages in our faith, wherein I found Lord Krishna saying in Bhagawad Gita:

“If any worshipper do reverence with faith

to any god whatever,

I make his faith firm,

and in that faith he reverences his god,

and gains his desires,

for it is I who bestow them.”