God has better things to do. So he developed a sophisticated system of Dharma and Karma which we have to follow.
When you say “God will take care of everything”, what do you mean by that? I asked my client’s father once. This was in context to a teenage girl who was brought along by his parents who are devoted and have completely surrendered to the divine. They placed their only daughter in a residential school which belongs to the particular method of spiritual practice they follow.
A very young girl that she was then, she couldn’t adjust to the place as she missed her parents and would repeatedly plead to return back home. However, parents convinced her to stay back. Thereafter she reluctantly spent all her childhood away from parents in a hostel. As she finished schooling she had to relocate to a different college and a hostel at a different place and this time it was worse as she didn’t like the place. She completed her graduation and in effect stayed away from parents for over 12 years.
Thus she didn’t grow up with her parents.
Time seemed to have finally arrived for her to unite with her parents when she moved in to stay with her mother to pursue her masters in the city, while her father continued to serve his spiritual organization. His job didn’t seem like an urgent assignment that had to keep him away from family nor was there a financial strife that required him to work.
The reason why she was brought to see me was they noticed a strained relation with her mother as they didn’t have much to share and there were times when the girl would get angry. Assessment showed that there were no significant issues that required a mental health intervention.
Having understood the entire details I asked the parents for their expectations from this visit. With the mother having kept quiet during most of the interview it was the father who expressed that the mother and daughter can’t get along and need to learn to get along. I was surprised to note if it was the lack of understanding or a denial that a several years of separation followed by a recent homecoming is bound to take time and may have emotional baggage particularly carried by the daughter. Besides both may perhaps be strangers to each other and need time to adjust.
I asked what he does to which he said “I am busy working in the spiritual organization serving the divine cause and hence can’t be with the and daughter.”
So I asked about his role in the family. He responded saying “nothing much for me” and continued to say “God will take care of her” and that he has full confidence.
I asked “How will God take care of your daughter?” to which he simply repeated with a smile on his face “he will take care.”
I finally said I know the answer for the question “How God will take care of your daughter?”
“He will take care through you and your wife. So you have to fulfil your responsibility of a father as you the Atma is the same as the source Paramatma, the God. Therefore God is you and you are supposed to take care of her as her father. To fulfil your responsibility of a father, you need to consider letting go of your other responsibility of working for the organization, at least temporarily, so that your daughter has good memories of spending a few years with her parents before she gets married or gets busy with her career.”
Dr. Malladi Srinivasa Sastry
Sohamvidya