The Greatest News
The greatest issue facing man is the Day of Judgment. One cannot see it, but it is the matter most worth talking about, the most important news that anyone can hear.
An old acquaintance with a master’s degree in science is now a civil servant in Delhi. Once, I was out for the whole day. On returning home, I was told that this gentleman had called to see me several times during the day. Just at that moment, the doorbell rang. I opened the door, and there he was again, smiling. “I have come to give you some good news,” he said: “I have been promoted, and my salary has been increased a thousand a month.”
It struck me that if one has some important news to tell, then one cannot hide it. Tell it, one must, even if it involves searching for a listener. For example, if someone buys a new house or a car, he instinctively wants it to be the focus of attention. If it is not brought up in conversation, he will somehow bring the topic around to the cars or houses, just so that his new purchase may receive a mention. It is true of everyone, without exception. It is only human nature that he should seek to tell his important news to others.
What a mass of information there is clogging the atmosphere nowadays! Everyone has some message to convey to others. However, in all this confusion, no one is seeking to convey the message of eternal life; no one is anxious to break the news of salvation and damnation in the world to come. All people have to discuss worldly matters; no one has time for matters pertaining to eternal life. It means that no one knows the meaning of eternal life—no one has that news to tell —for if they did, they would never be able to keep it to themselves. Indeed, the importance of this matter is so critical that no other news would seem worth telling. They would expend all their time and energy telling people about the world to come. They would make it their prime task in life to inform others of the dangers of Hellfire and the joys of Paradise. If someone knows there will be an earthquake in a few moments or a volcano is about to erupt, then he can think of nothing else; he leaves all other matters aside and talks only of the dreadful fate about to descend upon him. However, speakers make their speeches, and writers write their lines, but their words do not contain mention of man’s coming before the Lord to be judged. They do not even know of the coming of that fearful day.
People’s minds are occupied by political, social, and economic matters of individual and national concern. They experience these things in the world about them; the effect of these matters is there to be felt. That is why they consider them important and worth talking about. However, the greatest issue facing man is the Day of Judgment. One cannot see it, but no future event exceeds its importance. It is the matter most worth talking about, the most important news that anyone can hear.
