No Golden City

“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” — from John 8

Ramabai’s family never had a home of their own again. For about fifteen years they travelled from one holy place to another. They read the old Sanskrit books aloud in temples and under trees, and people listening gave them rice, coins or flowers. So Ramabai grew up reading in front of crowds when she was still a child.

When she was about thirteen, the family spent a year at a town called Dwarka, by the sea. People there told an old story. Long ago, they said, a golden city had sunk under the waves. Once in sixty years, on one special day, the god would show that city to people who had no sin.

The special day came while Ramabai was there. Thousands of people waited on the shore all day. At sunset the clouds over the sea glowed gold. Many people did not dare to say that they had seen no city, because then everyone would know they were sinners. Ramabai and her family kept quiet too. But in their hearts they knew they had seen only ordinary clouds.

Ramabai saw sad things on her travels. When she was about nine, she heard a young wife crying as she was beaten. Many years later she wrote, “Her cries went right to my heart.” She said it was the first time she felt called to help other girls and women.

Her parents gave her one more gift. In those days most girls were married when they were still little children. Ramabai’s father and mother said no. They wanted her to keep learning. Some people turned against the family for it, but her father, she said, “did what he thought was right.”

Ramabai would not pretend to see something that was not there. Jesus says the truth sets us free. God wants you to be truthful too, even when everyone around you keeps quiet.

Dear God, help me to love what is true. Give me courage to be honest, even when it is hard. Amen.