Sachin is just a manifestation of a Creator who can gift such rare talent and sportsmanship to mere mortals
By Robert Clements
“…A temple for Sachin Tendulkar came up on Tuesday in a Bihar village with a life-sized statue of the cricketer….”
I felt a terrible sense of sadness as I read this: A temple being built for a man like you and me who did extraordinary things because of a god given gift!
Therein lies our problem: We see the ray of light, and instead of looking up at the sun which sent the beam, instead of looking farther at a God who created the sun, we worship the ray!
The ray is just a display, a demonstration of the great power that sent it.
Sachin is just a manifestation of a Creator who can gift such rare sportsmanship and talent to mere mortals. The message that comes through is that this is attainable for all of us.
We can all become great in our respective fields.
We can, if we work hard, become millionaires, even billionaires.
Our focus should be on thanking the Creator who gave us mind, body and spiritual quality to achieve the near impossible.
But we believe in worshiping the ray of light, don’t we?
It is like a messenger who is sent by a winning general from the battlefield with news of victory. When he arrives at the city where he has been sent to, he is astonished that he is lifted on the shoulders of all the citizens, put on a pedestal and even crowned king.
“But I did not win the battle!”he shouts, “The general did and is on his way home with his victorious army!”
“Forget the General!” the people shout, “You are our hero!”
Sachin is the messenger who has revealed what anyone can achieve.
He is an example we can follow.
Instead we build temples to the messenger.
I felt a terrible sense of sadness as I read about this. I realized also that we are so bereft of heroes in this country, where even a so-called ‘good’ man pays a bribe, says his share of white lies, and bluffs his way through life, that we adulate, amplify and worship anyone who achieves anything more than the average human being!
And then one day news comes that some so-called god we have installed on a pedestal has been found guilty of something or other. We see the ray of light grow dim, we find the messenger with feet of clay and our worship, our adulation comes crashing down!
Instead, dear friends, worship the Creator of the light, the One who made us in His own image and thank Him for blessing us with the gift of excellence.