When the Gods appeared…

Long long ago, in a holy city lived a pious man. He had a very fickle mind. He would read many spiritual books and ask for advices from every one around regarding spiritual matters.
He was in utter penury. He sought advices from different ‘wise men’ to get rid of his poverty and make a good living. One of them suggested that he worship the six faced Lord Karthikeya who would shower him with all the wealth needed.
Immediately, on his way back, he brought a beautiful photograph of Lord Muruga, got it framed and kept it in his pooja room. He prayed to the deity for a couple of days, when he felt that he should consult some more learned men before he continued this worship.
So he went to the nearby town and explained the suffering he was undergoing. The people there asked him to worship the Divine Mother. He was overjoyed that he found someone to put him on right track! He came home with a beautiful picture of Goddess Devi and hung it next to Lord Karthikeya’s picture and started worshipping the Mother.
It was not too long before he realized that his situation did not improve. He thought that he should consult more people before he continued his poojas any further. This time, he consulted a new group of people and they suggested that he worship Lord Ayyappa.
This continued for a while, and soon, his pooja room was filled with photographs of Gods and Goddesses. However, his financial status did not improve a bit.
He was on the verge of frustration when he met a holy man by the river to whom he cried out his woes. The holy man suggested that he worship Lord Hanuman. ‘One last time!’ he thought. He came home with a nice picture of Hanumanji and hung it on the wall.
The next morning, after his bath, he piously prepared food offerings for his new deity and was ready to begin his prayers. He looked around the deities in the pooja room. Then a thought struck him. He said to himself, ‘I have been worshipping all these deities for all these days. Not one day have I missed preparing ‘Prasad’ and offering them to these deities. What is the use? I am still struck in poverty. Not one of them has, till date, helped me get out of this pathetic financial state of mine!’
‘Its not fair’, he thought. ‘Today, I have prepared ‘Prasad’. But I am not going to get fooled anymore. I am going to offer it only to Hanumanji. I will make sure the other deities don’t partake of the food offering.’
He grabbed a few ropes, and started tying the mouths of all the deities with the ropes, one by one. When he had finished doing so for the last deity and saw that only Hanumanji was left, he felt contented at heart! He looked around and said, ‘Ah! Let me see how all of you partake of the ‘prasad’. Today, Hanumanji is going to have the wholesome offering.’
The moment he thought so, to his utter surprise, all the deities appeared before him!
This was because, it was only today that he truly believed that all the Gods were really present around him and would consume what he offered.

Morals:
1 When true faith arises, God appears.
2. Without faith, prayers are useless.
3. In spiritual life, never go in for a second opinion. Good or bad, stick to one belief and develop unshakeable faith. When a trouble befalls you, it is only to test your faith. Win over it by your faith on God. He will never let you down.