Reflections on Life and Death

conditions, God gives everyone an opportunity to openly express whatever is inside them. A person with a criminal bent of mind will commit a crime when he finds an opportunity to do so, and so will become eligible for being punished in accordance with God’s law. On the other hand, a person who is devoted to the Truth will act truthfully and justly, and so will become eligible for being rewarded by God. Decisive Day T he Bangalore edition of The Indian Express (9th September 1983) carried a report titled ‘Glitter is not Gold’. It was about a certain Ms. Sybil D’Silva, a resident of Bangalore. One day, a 35 year-old woman came to Ms. D’Silva’s house. She was carrying a six month-old baby. She told Ms. D’Silva that her husband was very ill and that they needed five thousand rupees immediately for his treatment. She took out a gold chain from her pocket and said, ‘I am not begging from you. I want to sell this gold chain. It is very precious to me, but my husband’s health is even more precious. In the market, this chain’s value wouldn’t be less than ten thousand rupees. But because I am desperate, I will give it to you for five thousand.’ Ms. D’Silva declined to take the chain, but the