Eusebio Gomes
George Herbert, an English poet and priest of the Church of England has written a thought-provoking poem titled, ‘The Pulley’ which I studied in Class X from the English text-book. In this poem, the conceit revolves around the pulley. He uses it to depict humanity’s restless nature and the reason why human beings are incapable of being satisfied. The poet in his beautiful poetical language tells that God has given us all blessings such as strength, beauty, wisdom, honour, and pleasure but withheld from human being the gift of rest.
According to the poet, if this jewel also was bestowed by God on his creature, he would have adored his gifts instead of Him. Hence if not the goodness of gifts, at least the weariness of life may lead him to God, the Creator. When considering this conceit, we need to think about the way that a pulley creates force and leverage. God kept ‘rest’ to himself in order to always be able to pull mankind back to him. Just like a pulley pulls up water from a well with a rope, the restlessness of man winches him up to God’s embrace.
Today in the hustle and bustle of life, the humankind is continuously running from place to place seeking out satisfaction. The human beings are in the pursuit of happiness through the various channels such as man-made things, luxurious and exorbitant items, extravagant life-style, use of costly ornaments and cosmetics to beauty their bodies, relishing sumptuous food, living in extortionate bungalows, accumulating wealth and riches. Do these external things give man the happiness which he seeks? In fact these worldly things are the items of momentary pleasure or transitory satisfaction. The real happiness we can achieve in the divine presence of God, our Father; in his loving embrace and in our selfless and charitable service to the poor, the needy, the people living in miserable conditions; in the philanthropic acts for the welfare of the society. Jesus Christ said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
In this world of tumult and callousness that brings poignancy, we need to connect with God, the source of peace, joy and tranquility. Man with his reasoning power and logical mind has no answer to the incongruities and the mysterious problems of the humankind. The scientists thought that they could answer the human problems but they were flummoxed by the complexities and intricacies of life’s problems. Only God has answers to all our problems. Therefore we need to carry our problems to God and enter into deep relationship with him. We are exhausted and live a worrisome life. Restlessness makes us to run to God, no matter to what creed or religion we belong. The famous American singer Elvis Presley in his song ‘Crying in the Chapel,’ tells that we will never find a way on earth to gain peace of mind and therefore we must carry our troubles to the chapel. He calls us to get down on our knees and pray. If we do that he says, our burdens will be lighter and we will surely find the way. St Augustine says: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”