When a person observes the signs of Providence, Mercy
and Justice of the Almighty all around him, he is drenched with a profound
sense of gratitude. This is the feeling that induces him to worship the one
and only God and to seek His help in every difficulty encountered in life.
Just as this feeling of gratitude is the natural outcome of reflection on
the signs of His Mercy and Providence, the sentiments of worship for the
Almighty that arise in a person are the natural outcome of this feeling of
gratitude. Every action that excites the feelings of a person induces its
natural reaction. In man, the direct response of the feeling that he
develops to express gratitude for his real benefactor is only His worship
and seeking His help. Who do we owe real gratitude other than the Being Who
nourishes us with such magnanimity and care, Whose Providence is not subject
to meeting certain personal motives. Nor is His Providence conditional to
good deeds; Whose Providence and Benevolence are not confined to this
ephemeral life, but Who has kept the blessing of everlasting life in store
for His devout slaves. If it is only He who deserves our real gratitude,
then who is entitled to our worship and whose help we ought to seek save the
Almighty?
The feeling of gratitude, so to say, takes a man on to
the doorstep of his real Benefactor so that he may apotheosize Him and seek
His help. In other words, the feeling of gratitude, in fact, creates an urge
of worship in a man. By doing so, this feeling lays the foundations of
religion.
|