Srila Prabhupada said that death is the final exam of life.
What spiritual practices we have engaged in throughout our lives are tested at death.
Not so easy to call out to God when you have not practiced it .... God is not so cheap.
Today we received a call from a man at Hammersmith Hospital. His son in law was dying and a 'Hindu' priest was required.
I went to the hospital with another devotee.
The dying man looked in his late 40's. His hapless wife and 2 kids sat opposite him.
We took with us a maha garland, maha water, maha tulasi, a picture of the Deities, and the Bhagavad-Gita.
Turns out that the woman's father was not asking for a priest right away... he just wanted to know if there was one available if he needed one.
Anyway I said he should take the maha articles we had brought anyway as the spirit soul needs to be spiritually nourished NOW while it is still in the body and not later when it is left the body.
The father was a Hindu who was not prepared to listen so I appealed to his daughter who was soon to be a widow.
I told her to put the maha articles on her husband and that she and her family can also drink the maha water.
I also gave her the Bhagavad-Gita and told her that she should read to her husband while her father protested they have a Hindu bhajans tape playing in the background ... and so don't need our items.
I insisted and the daughter took the sacred articles.
I told the daughter she will need spiritual solace, as will her kids, after her husband leaves and so she can then lean on the Bhagavad-Gita.
I am thinking of the poor dying man... we came to chant to him but were thwarted by his father in law...
Maybe we were supposed to give Krsna Consciousness to his wife and kids instead ....
I pray he has an auspicious departure and that his wife and kids dip into the tranquil waters of the Bhagavad-Gita.
