On our last day in Calcutta, we had hired a guide and car to show us some of the sights of this incredible city. We told our guide that we would like to see Mother Teresa’s home, a temple and go shopping to get out souvenirs.
Getting anywhere in Calcutta is a exercise of patience as the traffic is something out of this world. The temple we went to is the Kalighat Kali Temple. The Goddess Kali is visited by thousands daily who bring the goddess their domestic problems and prayers of prosperity as well as returning to give thanks when their prayers are answered.
As we got to the temple, we had to remove our shoes. We entered the temple, barefoot, being caught up in a frenzy of bodies anxious and eager to get a view of the goddess. There were 100s of bodies, almost caught up in a dance of eagerness to reach the doorway. Image a $50, 000,000 winning lotto ticket floating in the breeze and the reaction of humans in a small room all trying to reach that bill. There was such a sense of desperation.
As we were taking through this room into another part of the temple, there was a little baby lamb, a man sharpening a very large knife and the family that offered the lamb for a special blessing. We could have stayed and watched the lamb being sacrificed yet I’m grateful we didn’t. I’m not sure what I would have done with that image.
Of course as we navigated through the mass of bodies, I was left with the feeling of gratitude that I have a God that I can call upon at any time, with out an intercessor.
It almost seems weird to say but as I felt the energy that was in this temple of human longing and desire, I felt God… my God, flood my being and remind me that I am never alone. I wish I could have shouted out, “STOP! I have something to tell you…” and shared with this crowd of people that there is hope. There is a God that lives and that they can go to on their own.
It will be an experience that I will not forget in a long time. I wish I could have captured this on film (no cameras allowed).
We have such a blessing knowing and believing in a God that lives and hears us and one that we can go to Whenever, Wherever.