A Day With Sambhu

SAMBHU, I am glad to see that you are an early riser. It is a healthy habit to get out of bed with the first faint streaks of dawn. See, how fair, mild and bracing are the early hours. This is just the time, Sambhu, to let yourself be at one with Nature and give an hour to God. There are many beautiful things around you. Only you should use your eyes, Sambhu, to see them, and your mind to enjoy them. Unless you begin to observe and think even as a child, you will never gain this valuable power late in life as a man. What is your age, Sambhu ?-Twelve?-charming, just the age when the innocent play of childhood ends, and the long and serious play of life begins. 'To-day is my twelfth birthday, Sadhu,' Sambhu meekly replied in a low and attractive voice.So much the better, Sambhu, let us celebrate it together.  Promise to spend the day with me from now, the break of dawn, till evening darkens into night and you yawn for sleep and rest. Let us begin the day with a brisk walk in the open air. Nothing like a free ramble to reveal to us the many lovely things in Nature, and the morning hour more than the evening tells us the precious secrets of God. Which do you think, Sambhu, is the most beautiful sight in Nature? Think quietly for a moment and give me your choice. Shall I tell you mine? From my infant days the early dawn has struck me as the most beautiful thing in Nature. To see it in its pure and full beauty you should go to the seashore even now. Sambhu, stand without fear on the breezy shore in front of the foaming sea. Fix your eyes far beyond the breaking waves. The infant sun will soon peep above the sky-line, mild, broad and full, reddish and charming to the eyes, and greet you with a merry and bright twinkle. Return the salute in any way you choose with humbleness and prayer at heart. For the sun is the giver of light and life to our earth. But, Sambhu, if you are in a place far away from the seacoast, take a brisk run in the early twilight to some open meadow, far beyond the village limits, not hedged by trees, which gives you a clear and free horizon. Stand there, still and calm, facing the East.