Laying on her deathbed, an old woman was reflecting on her life. Drowning in melancholic sadness she was seeking something. She was seeking one specific thing her whole life, but as luck had it, she couldn’t find that which she sought. In these dying times, in time of complete desperation, she gathered all the strength that her spirit could summon up, and with her dying breath, she asked…

“Oh, my dear God, why were you hiding from me my whole life? I am dying now, but my whole life I have been dying to see you my Almighty God. My greatest wish, my greatest desire was to see your divine face at least once before I die and forever leave the face of this Earth.”

The dying woman had faith in God her whole life. She felt that God was guiding her life in times of happiness and sadness. She believed in His higher power. She believed in His divine presence. But now in times of near death, even she started to doubt God’s existence. 

God was nowhere to be found. He remained forever a mystery.

In the heavens above, God heard the question of the dying woman. In mercy to her dying wish, He decided to come down to Earth and for the first time in all eternity, he showed his face to a mortal being. 

The dying woman saw the face of God. She felt the grace that enveloped her place. She could not believe her own eyes, she could not believe her own ears.

“My child,” said God. “I have come here to respond to your dying wish. But before I answer your dying wish why I was hiding from you your whole life, I would like to ask you a few questions myself. I hope that is fine with you?”

“As you wish, my dear God,” said the bewildered dying woman.

“A long, long time ago, when you were a little girl; when you were learning how to make your first steps on this Earth, who did you admire most?”

The dying woman was confused with the question, but she had to answer to God. Thus she said: “When I was a little girl; when I didn’t know anything about the world; I admired my mother the most. She was the one that gave me love, and I loved her in return.”

“And when you grew older; when you yourself became a mother, did you feel the same towards your mother?”

“When I had my own children, I loved my children the most. I still loved my mother, but my love for my own children was greater than the love for my mother. A mother always loves her children more than the children love their mother,” said the dying woman.

“Thank you for the honesty, my child,” said God.” But tell me, when you grew a little older and walked alone this Earth as a young adult, who did you admire the most then?”

“When I was a free-spirited adult, I admired an insightful professor at my university. She was so intelligent and so wise. I liked to be more like her. The wise professor who unselfishly shared all her wisdom with all her students is who I admired the most then.”

“And later, when you too became wise; when you became a professor yourself; did you feel the same admiration towards the professor that you so admired in your youth.”

“Not really, my dear God. When I gained the wisdom of my professor, I no longer admired her. But then, I started admiring my students more. My students who were full of life and innocence, I admired them and I wanted to share everything that I had learned with them. A teacher always loves his students more than the students appreciate their teacher.”

“Again, thank you for being honest with me, my child. I think now you are ready to hear the answer to your original question. I think now I can reveal the mystery of why I was hiding from you your whole life.” said God.

“When you were a little girl, your mother sacrificed her time and love to give you the love that you needed. If she didn’t care for you, you wouldn’t have such a caring and loving soul as you have now.”

“Later, when you became a young adult, your professor sacrificed her time and wisdom to give you the wisdom than you needed. If she didn’t share her wisdom, you wouldn’t have any wisdom to share with your own students when you yourself became an adult.”

“A great parent is the one who raises his children to be independent of them. For only when they are independent, the children could have their own children. A great professor is the one who teaches their students everything they themselves knew. For once the students know everything, they too could become a professor and profess their knowledge onto their students.”

“A great God is the one who creates all his children and students without the need for a God. The main reason why I was hiding from you, my dear child, is because I had to. Your mother and professor sacrificed their time and knowledge to give you their love, but I, my child, I had to sacrifice myself to give you my love. I had to sacrifice my whole life; I had to sacrifice all my love and wisdom in order to give you your life. I had to die so that you could be born. I had to become nothing so that I could give you everything.”

“Your dying wish was to know God, but my own dying wish was to gift you the gift of life.”

“Throughout your whole life, I know you loved God with all your heart. But my child, God always loves his children more than the children can ever love God.”

With those last words of God, the dying woman merged into the light of God. On the Earth, there was no longer a God or a dying woman for they were both one light, forever extended above the heavens.