Where does your help come from?
Not everyone imagines God the way I do. Many people use different words and concepts to form their prayers, and to “name” the God to which? to whom? to what? they pray.
Today’s devotion from Good Courage included a story about a brave and kind, committed and compassionate doctor, who set aside worries about their own well-being, to care for worried and desperate people at a huge, over-crowded, and under-resourced hospital in India.
It’s an inspiring story. When I meet people like this physician, I wonder how they do what they do. If I get to know them well enough to ask, I say something like “Where do you find the energy, or strength to keep on?”
Often the answer is they derive their sense of self, purpose, and connection to others, to the universe, from the faith in which they have been nurtured.
The doctor in today’s devotion said, “Every day I said a prayer to the ancestors to keep us safe and give me the courage to face whatever adversity. That’s how I got through.”
The doctor is of the Kodova faith. Kodovas worship ancestors and nature. Their deity is the river, Kaveri. The photo below is of that river.
According to Wikipedia, the Kaveri is a sacred river to the people of South India and is worshipped as the Goddess Kaveriamma (Mother Cauvery). It is considered to be among the seven holy rivers of India.
I had to look those things up, because I’d never heard of any of it before.
But I recognize faith, and the fruit of faith, when I see it.
Darrow Woods: Writer of Things 