About a year ago a teenaged girl came with her parents to stay at our Ashram. She would always carry with her a small basket covered with a beautifully decorated piece of cloth. I used to observe from a distance – whenever and wherever she would sit, she would very lovingly place the basket in her lap. She would also bend her head with closed eyes reverentially before it every now and then.

            One day I asked the girl, “What do you carry in your basket?”

            “My Bhagavan (the Lord),” she replied.

            Her reply delighted me.

            “Can you tell me the name of your Bhagavan?”

            “Bhagavan Krishna.”

            “What is your relationship with him?” I asked.

            “A very close relationship,” she replied smilingly.

After a brief pause she continued, “He is my brother. I love him. I quarrel with him. I feed him and what not.”

“Who takes care of him when you sleep during the night?”

“I never leave him alone. I have got a small bed made for him. I make him sleep on that bed near my bed.”

I did not ask any more questions. There was no need for it. She had revealed herself completely. She had emerged before me as an ideal child of God, fallen in love with Him.

Dear children, you should also have a relationship with God. A lively relationship it should be. Talk to Him whenever you want to. Tell Him all you want to say. Always think He is with you and you are with Him. You are eating and He is eating with you. You are walking on the road and He is walking with you. You are sitting in your class-room and He is sitting very close to you. You should always keep a picture of His in your pocket. Now and again you should look at it. This is how you can make your relationship with Him lively.

A strong faith in the existence of God is the foundation of this relationship. Read the lives of saints. Ponder over what they have said in favour of the existence of God. Whatever they have said is based on their experience. To begin with, believe without arguing in what they have been saying. Await the time – and that time shall come – when your faith in God will be confirmed.

Armed with this faith, establish a lively relationship with God. This relationship is like a love-affair. Begin this relationship with a determination that it would last till the end of your life – it would be a lifelong love-affair. This will please God immensely. And one day He will appear before you in the flesh. He has appeared in the past before many child-devotees and He will appear before you too. You faith in Him will be confirmed. You will find your dearest love standing before you. Can there be anything more precious than this?