Unexpected Help...

Day: 18th March
Place: Some street in Helsinki, Finland
Time: Around 8pm

Few days back, I was feeling lonesome and distressed with the ways things were happening in my life. These were mixed feeling of penitence, anger and disappointment. I usually go to a temple when in India. But finding temple in Finland was out of question. I never heard anyone talking about temple in Finland and assumed there is no sense to inquire for one. Moreover, something told me that I would rather become a laughing stock among friends if I did so.. anyways... The next natural thought came that how does it matter if I cant find temple, there will be lot of churches in Finland and I can visit any one of them. But there were different set of problems in going to church. First, I had been to church only once and was not aware of protocols of church. There were chances that I might do something wrong which may offend others. The next was to find a church which was a big problem in itself. I was new to the place and its very difficult to communicate with locals, especially when it comes to taking direction about places. My poor sense of direction made the situation even more hopeless. So considering the level of effort it demanded (or I must say out of laziness) I decided to postpone the idea for some more days till I know the area better...

Few days after that, while returning from Gym I met an old lady in late 60's. She came to me and spoke something to me in Finnish. I apologised and told her that I dont know Finnish.

"Bless you, Bless you" She translated in english.

"Thank you, Thank you" I said with a smile .

There was a twinkle in her eyes and smile on her face.

But before I could say anything, she begin to rush towards her tram that had just arrived. She could barely reach near her tram that something occurred to her and she turned suddenly turned and came back to me. I was standing speechless, wondering what her next step would be. She opened her purse, took out something and handed over to me. Then without saying anything she scuttled towards her tram. In a few moments she had developed some kind of bond with me and I was concerned whether she will be able to catch her tram. She was the last one to get in. I saw her tram leaving till the time it was completely out of sight. I felt happy that still there are good people in this world who unselfishly take time to pray for others.

Later, I looked at what she gave to me. To my surprise it was a card of International Christian Center which said "We welcome you to our English Worship Service every Sunday at 2 pm in Temppeliaukio ( the Rock Church)". It not only had church's contact number, detailed address and timings but at the backside it also had a small map to reach to the church.

God has his own ways to help us when we are in quagmire (I wished for church and He gave me one). He constantly sends us signals to guide us whenever we are in dilemma. Its only us who overlook or are unable to decipher them.