Garden of God!

The father-daughter relationship is the most satisfying, the most interesting and intriguing, that defies any definition. Our pact starts and ends with bedtime stories - the daughters always think that the father is a treasure trove of interesting stories. The story below is being put in my blog on the insistence of my daughter.

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Once upon a time, there were two great friends- Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Tortoise. They were inseparable and spent most of their time together.

One day, Mr. Tortoise called upon Mr. Rabbit and said, “Good morning, Mr. Rabbit. How are you today?”

“Not very fine, Mr. Tortoise. Not very fine”, said Mr. Rabbit.

“Why? What is the matter Mr. Rabbit? What is bothering you today? Can I be of any help to you?” said Mr. Tortoise.

“I do not know, Mr. Tortoise”, says Mr. Rabbit. “I have been thinking that, we have spent all our lives living here in this beautiful forest, but now I find that we are running short of food here. Carrots are becoming very scarce.”

“Yes, Mr. Rabbit. Even the juicy leaves and grass have become scarce”, said Mr. Tortoise.

They both sat down under the shade of a tree and started to think on what to do next.

Mr. Tortoise turned to Mr. Rabbit and said, “Why don’t we go and find a new place to live?”

“Great idea. Let’s go now”, said Mr. Rabbit.

Together, they start their journey to find a new place to live in, a place where there would be plenty of food for them. They keep trudging along and get deeper into the forest.

The trees have become bigger and are greener as they walk along. The flowers are of many bright and vibrant colours. The fruits on the trees are ripe and juicy. They feel happy that they are walking in the right direction.

Mr. Rabbit says, “I think we are approaching a very beautiful garden, Mr. Tortoise”.

Mr. Tortoise nods his head and says, “Yes, Mr. Rabbit. I hope they allow us to live here”.

“Why do you say so?” asks Mr. Rabbit. “This is a very beautiful place and I am sure we will be welcomed here.”

Mr. Tortoise said, “This is indeed a very beautiful garden. I am sure, this garden is being looked after by someone. We should seek his permission to live here.”

Both of them walk slowly looking amazed at the beautiful garden, when they hear a very sweet voice singing. They look around and find Ms. Koel atop a tree, singing a melodious tune.

“Good morning, Ms. Koel” said both Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Tortoise together.

Ms. Koel stopped her singing and looked down and said, “Good morning, Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Tortoise. What a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

“Yes, indeed, a very beautiful day. Could you please tell us, where are we?” said Mr. Tortoise.

Ms. Koel smiled and said, “You are in the Garden of God!” and she flew away.

Both, Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Tortoise were very surprised, and together said “Garden of God!”

“See, I told you. This garden surely belongs to someone who is maintaining it’s beauty” said Mr. Tortoise. “His name is God, I am sure.”

They walk a little further into the garden. The flowers are very beautiful and so are the hundreds and hundreds of varieties of plants and trees. They keep admiring at all the beautiful plants, trees and flowers, as they walk deeper into the garden.

Suddenly, a nut drops from the tree above in front of them. They stop in their tracks and look amazed. They look around and find Mr. Squirrel running down the trunk of the tree towards them.

“Hello, Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Tortoise. I am sorry that my nut caused you trouble. I hope that you are not hurt by it”, said Mr. Squirrel.

Surprised, both of them nod their heads together.

Mr. Squirrel comes near them and picks up the nut. He sees the surprised look on their faces and asks, “What happened? Why are you both surprised?”

“Could you please tell us where we can find Mr. God”, said Mr. Tortoise.

“I do not know where Mr. God is”, says Mr. Squirrel.

“How is it possible? You are staying here at the Garden of God, and you do not know God. This is really surprising. I am sure you know the owner of this garden – God. Please let us know where we can find him”, said Mr. Rabbit.

Mr. Squirrel ran up the trunk of the tree and said, “Yes, I am living here in the Garden of God. But, God is not the owner of this garden”.

Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Tortoise looked at each other. They were very surprised and intrigued. “If this is the Garden of God, then, how is it possible that God is not the owner of this beautiful garden? Said Mr. Tortoise.

“We should solve this mystery” said Mr. Rabbit.

They walk further into the garden and find Ms. Butterfly flying gracefully from one flower to another.

“Good morning, Ms. Butterfly. We are new to this garden. Would you please clear one of our doubts?” said Mr. Tortoise.

Ms. Butterfly slowly sits on a beautiful sunflower and smiles at them and says, “Yes, dear. What is your doubt? I will try to clear it if I know the answer.”

“This is the Garden of God. We wanted to meet the owner – God. We wanted to seek his permission to stay here”, said Mr. Rabbit.

“This is indeed the Garden of God. But, God is not the owner of this garden. You do not need to seek his permission to stay here” said Ms. Butterfly.

“That is our doubt. If this is the Garden of God, then how come God is not the owner” asked Mr. rabbit.

“It’s very simple, Mr. Rabbit”, said Ms. Butterfly.

“This is called the ‘Garden of God’, because, God created this garden. He put in all the good and beautiful things here in this garden. But he is not the owner of the garden. He has put us also in this garden and made all of us the owners of this garden.

We all, including you and Mr. Tortoise, are the owners of this Garden of God. It is up to us to maintain this Garden of God and enjoy it’s beauty for a long long time. We are the people who have the power to make this garden more beautiful, or to destroy it completely.

We are the owners of this Garden of God. Let us all live together and make this a very beautiful place to live in. You do not need permission to stay in your own home.”

Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Tortoise smiled and said, “Thank you, Ms. Butterfly. We are now at home and will make all efforts to make this Garden of God a very beautiful place to live in”.