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Short story:
The man who forgot
Upatissa ATTYGALLE
Malik Podikabala sat up in his bed with a jerk. His cherubic face was
covered with sweat. He squinted his beady eyes embedded in his face and
tried to focus them on the hazy tall luminescent figure standing at the
foot of his bed. He realized that his corpulent adipose body too was
bathed in perspiration and that his Japanese silk pyjamas were sticking
to his wet skin.
He wondered how this was possible when his air conditioner was giving
its usual low purr to keep his bedroom comfortably cool. He looked to
his left and saw his wife sleeping peacefully. Malik�s hand
automatically reached for his pair of spectacles by his bedside. When he
had put them on, he not only had a clearer vision of his bedroom but
also of the tall white figure at the end of his bed.
 �Who...who
are you?� Stammered Malik �and how did you get in here?� �I am the Angel
of Death� replied the figure in a clear pleasant voice, �I am sure you
would recall coming across me in the Bible or have you forgotten me
too?� �But...but why are you here? Surely not to take...take me away.
God knows I have so many charitable projects going and that I am needed
for their continuation.�
�Malik that�s where you are sadly mistaken. The Lord does not need
anything or anyone to see his plan for this earth implemented in exact
accordance to his will. It is man that needs God for everything, every
moment of his life. But calm yourself I have not come tonight to take
you away but to warn you.� �Warn me? What is there to warn me of all
people?� asked a bewildered Malik.
�I have come tonight to warn you about your memory lapses which you
find to be very convenient for avoiding tasks that the Lord expects you
to do. Remember that you can be very easily conferred with total amnesia
if you continue to abuse your memory excuse.�
�But...but what have I forgotten to do in life? God knows that I
never forget the poor and that I do more for them than anyone else in
the Island.�
The glowing figure seemed to grow even taller as it loomed over Malik.
�I shall tell you whom you have forgotten, you have forgotten God!�
�That...that is ridiculous� said Malik cowering under his sheet,
�When I am so busy doing good deeds how can you possibly say that I have
forgotten God?�
�I shall show how you have by refreshing your bad memory. Firstly,
remember the state you were in when the Lord picked you up. You were
like David who said in his Psalm 40 verse 2, �He pulled me out of a
dangerous pit, out of the deadly quicksand. He set me safely on a rock
and made me secure.�
God�s warning to men in your circumstances is found in Deuteronomy 8
verse 12 onwards, �When you have all you want to eat, and have built
good houses to live in and when your cattle and sheep, your Silver and
Gold, and all your other possessions have increased, make sure you do
not become proud and forget the Lord your God.
�He sent hardships on you to test you, so that in the end he could
bless you with good things. So, then, you must never think that you have
made yourself wealthy by your own power and strength. Remember that it
is the Lord your God who gives you the power to become rich.�
�Secondly,� continued the white figure, �you must never think that
your good deeds are going to lift you heavenwards. Do you recall what
the Lord said, �Did you want to lift yourself upto heaven? You will be
thrown down to hell!� This is recorded in Matthew 11.23. Man�s good
deeds are well described by the Prophet Isaiah in chapter 64 verse 6,
�Even our best actions are fithy through and through.�
�May I please interrupt you?� said Malik peeping over his sheet, �My
good deeds are pure through and through. I do not gain a cent by them
but thousands of poor people are helped by them.�
�The trouble with your good deeds Malik is that man finds it very
difficult to shed his vanity. That is why the Lord said, �You like to
receive praise from one another, but you don�t try to win praise from
the one who alone is God: How then can you believe me?� This is found in
John 5.44 and again in John 12.43 it is stated, �They loved the approval
of men rather than the approval of God.� Why do you think Pontius Pilate
handed over the Lord to the Jewish authorities to be crucified? Because
�Pilate wanted to please the crowd� as stated in Mark 15.15. Man can
fool people and even himself to think how good a man he is but King
Solomon in his Proverb 16.2 said, �You may think everything you do is
right, but the Lord judges your Motives,� Paul too confirmed this in his
first letter to the Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 4, �we do not try to
please men, but to please God, who tests our motives.� You are engaged
in a remorseless quest for public approbation.�
�Malik did you know that man is not judged by his actions but by his
motives? This is because man has no control over his actions. Proverb
16.9 confirms this fact, �You may make your plans but God directs your
actions.� I Samuel 16.7 tells you how the Lord judges man, � I do not
judge as man judges.
Man looks at the outward appearance but I look at his heart.� Malik
today you have no friends only useful acquaintances. You have
conveniently forgotten your relatives and childhood friends who are of
no use to you. Proverb 27.10 states, �Do not forget your friends or your
father�s friends.� You are now like those described in Proverb 19.6,
�Everyone tries to gain the favour of important people; everyone claims
friendship of those who give out favours.� You have now made God only an
acquaintance.� �You are quite wrong wrong there Angel. Thousands of poor
people love me now and say that I am the best friend they have in the
world.�
�My poor Malik. How you do deceive yourself. The poor may consider
you a friend but you certainly do not consider them as your friends. You
only patronize the poor for the praise and publicity you receive.
The bigger your charitable projects the greater the praise and
publicity you receive. It is better to help one person without expecting
anything in return either in the form of praise or publicity but purely
because he came to you for help and you were in a position to do so.
�The Lord explained how man should do his acts of charity in Matthew
6 verses 2 to 4, �Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a
trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the
streets, that they may have glory of men.
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest
alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth; That thine
alms may be in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret himself
shall reward thee openly.� When King David decided to build a temple to
honour the Lord, he said, �Yet my people and I cannot really give you
anything, because everything is a gift from you, and we have only given
back what is really yours already. This is found in 1 Chronicles 29.14.
King David knew that all glory belonged to God and David claimed none.�
�We also find that men like you who have become rich and crave praise
and recognition by their fellow men, are guilty of being ashamed to
acknowledge Christ in public.
This is because they think by being neutral, they could obtain the
praise of people of all faiths. Remember the Lord�s words recorded by
Mark in his gospel in chapter 8 verse 28, �If a person is ashamed of me
and my teachings in this godless and wicked day, then the Son of Man
will be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of his Father with the
holy angels� Now listen to me carefully Malik! The reason for all man�s
errors in life was clearly stated by the Lord, �Ye do err, not knowing
the scriptures nor the power of God� In case you don�t even know where
these words are found, they are in St Matthew�s gospel chapter 22 verse
29. I advise you to read The Bible more often than balance sheets.
Finally I wish all men like you never to forget the greatest fact of
life recorded by St John in his gospel, chapter 15 verse 5. The Lord
said, �for WITHOUT ME ye can do NOTHING.�
The next morning Malik woke when his wife shook him by the shoulder
and said, �Malik get up! get up! Have you forgotten that we have to
attend the reception given in our honour by the Moratuwa Social Service
Club at noon?� Malik slowly opened his eyes and cautiously looked around
the bedroom. Everything was usual.
The air conditioner was working at the set temperature and his silk
pyjamas were not wet with sweat. He tossed aside his sheet and swung
himself out of bed. He then stretched himself with his arms raised, his
head held high and began to laugh loudly. His wife was quite surprised
by both Malik�s surprisingly agile exit from his bed and his loud
guffawing.
�What on earth is the matter with you Malik?�
Malik pulled himself together and said, �I had a horrible nightmare.
It seemed so real, I am so relieved that it was only a dream.� Malik
then put on his favourite The benignant Mr. Pickwick expression, slipped
his feet into his bedroom slippers and walked towards the bathroom.
He stopped suddenly and began staring at the floor with his mouth
open in wide eyed wonder. On the floor at the foot of his bed was a
feather as large as that of an Ostrich but unlike a feather of any bird
on earth it was absolutely, completely and immaculately pure white in
colour. |
