Short story: The search for God can never substitute itself for God

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John Fredlink, a student of various religions, and spiritual teachings, was a seeker, still, looking for something worthy enough for him to become a member of. One day, he was sitting, resting against a large old oak tree, when he had an experience, where he thought that the tree was giving him a message from God. At first, he thought that he must be imagining things, or maybe that he was going a little bit mad, but he could definitely hear this old tree whispering a message to him. Anyway, he just sat there and listened then, as what did it matter where the message was really coming from, if the quality of the message was indeed worthy of being listened too, he thought to himself. "The world only works when the works of God are working with it, and his works come in three ways, through his love to you, and to his creation, through your connection to him, via your serving him, and from your love, compassion, and kindness shown to your fellow man." The student was listening so intently to what he thought was the old tree talking to him, that he was ignorant then of what was going on around him. There were ants crawling up his legs, and biting his ankles. There were birds in the tree, dropping their excrement onto his cap. He was lost in oblivion to everything, but the tree's message, which he thought was something special, and sacred enough to warrant his full attention to it. The tree then cracked off an acorn that fell, and hit him on his chest, but even this, the student ignored. A small branch was loosed, and fell on his head, which at last was enough to bring him out of his swooning. The tree then said. "No message is worth blocking off any other message to you, and the ant's message to you was as important as mine was; ignore nothing, take all in, that is my final word to you, my son." said the old tree. The man got up, brushed off the ants, and went down to the river, and washed his cap there; then he walked home again, and he never searched for anything again, as he was contented with the message of the tree, and would thereafter live more attentively, and awarely, to his surroundings, and how they connected him to something greater than just to himself. This something was God. We all need to live connected to God, and not connected to the search for God, instead of to actually God. Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com Connect to God, connect to nature too, but not at the expense of God. Do not see the trees, and not its maker.