A school principal once said to her teenage students as they were leaving for their annual school trip – “Always remember that you are the ambassadors of this school – what you do outside will always reflect on the school that you represent.”
A wise advise. An immense responsibility on tender shoulders. Or at least on those who took the advise and lived it. For those who didn’t, perhaps it was their loss, perhaps it wasn’t time yet, perhaps it was by ignoring it that they found the lesson that was waiting to be learnt.
But what if we covered more ground and said, “Always remember that you are the ambassadors of the Land you call your own – whatever you do, think, feel, speak, will always reflect on the country that you represent.” It is not enough to claim one is Indian, nor will it suffice to simply live on her soil. There is a sense of duty, an obligation that goes hand in hand with being born an Indian – we owe it to the Motherland, we owe it to the world.
And then suppose we went one step further and said, “Always remember that you are ambassadors of this Kingdom of God on Earth – what you do, think, feel, speak- what you are at every living moment, is a reflection of the Kingdom that you represent. In other words, you are the representatives of God.”
The onus of this thought is enough to make one take a moment for reflection.
The 15th of August – what better day to pledge ourselves as true ambassadors of this school of self, this school of soil, this school of soul?
