God who protects the virtuous

The Holy Bible shows in umpteen ways how God walks the extra mile to protect the virtuous, because their lives are in his hands. He cannot let their lives be swept away together with the wicked. There are stories after stories in the Bible which show God’s special care for the virtuous, who follow his directives. He separates them from the evil-doers at the time of retribution and gifts them with life. Such is the case with Abraham’s brother Lot, who is taken out of Sodom and Gomorrah, before God rained fire and brimstone on the twin cities and destroyed it beyond all recognition, but he remembered to save Lot. In his old age, God promises that he would not destroy the city where he would take shelter as he ran away from the cities of destruction. That was a wonderful way how God had a special plan for Lot.

Whenever we cry to the Lord, he listens to our prayer. All that we need to do is stretch out our hands to him, and he is sure to hold us. Think of the situation of Peter, who was known for his impetuosity, and while seeing Jesus walking on the sea, he too wishes to walk on the water. Jesus loves people who dare to dream big, and therefore he invites him to step out of the boat and walk. Doubt and uncertainty grip him hard and he begins to sink, and the very next moment he seeks the help of his Master, who stretches out his hand to him and holds him tight. Jesus would not even require the request of Peter to save him from the danger of sinking, for he would not let his beloved disciple die in the sea. Such is the case with all those who seek the help and assistance of God, he would be there to protect and save them.

I may wonder if I am truly virtuous to win the favor of the Lord, and seek his protection; one thing is clear that very seldom would a mother desert her son or daughter. The children are her own blood and there is a bond which is thicker than blood; if such is the case with our human mothers, how much more would be the bond that God had bound us with himself, our creator and Lord. There is not a single person who can feel that he or she is unworthy of God’s mercy and compassion; even the most hardcore criminal and sinner could find a safe haven under the protective wings of God, because the breath that we breathe does belong to God, and he cannot forget us, even if we go far away from his loving protection. The only condition that we need to fulfill is that we seek his help and assistance, that would do, and he would do the rest.

Jesus presents himself as the good shepherd who goes after seeking the lost; as is normally the case, often times the sheep might go its own way and may lose tract of its flock, and yet the shepherd does not complain and say, let it go to hell, it was after all not my mistake! He would leave behind all the others and go after seeking the lost. There is a wonderful message in this scene of the good shepherd that Jesus presents in the gospel according to John. He is the one who leads us to fresher waters and greener pastures, for he knows better than all, what is best for me and he would do accordingly. My judgments could err, but his judgments are impeccable and they would truly lead me to life in its fullness. Today I seek the protection of God, who alone can give life in its fullness to humanity.

We have no merit to call ourselves virtuous, and if there is any trace of virtuosity in me, it is thanks to the free gift of God, which he lavished upon me gratuitously. And yet before God, we all of us can find peace and security, irrespective of how we had been relating to him. Those who refuse life are the people who refuse his free gift, and still he is not the one who would reprimand and throw us away, he would still take us close to his bosom, because life was an extension of his divine self, which he showers upon the human persons. If Jesus is the one who goes after the lost sheep, then every sinner can find a place in his heart. This is truly consoling for all of us who are trying to tie up the loose ends, so that we can find true happiness and joy all by ourselves.

God of the Fighters

St John presents God as the God of the living in his gospel of Jesus Christ; he is not the God of the dead, but of the living. God cannot belong to the realm of the dead, those who have crossed the threshold of life and have passed into the netherworld. God by his very nature is living, and his life gives life to the world. Therefore we cannot think of God as anyone different from the living. No wonder then that St Peter in his famous declaration of his faith to his Master, calls him as the “Son of the living God”. What a wonderful title for Jesus, whose life was characterized by life, life in its fullness. He had life overflowing in him, and all those who were living life half-heartedly, began to brim with the fullness of life, which made his enemies shudder.

God takes the side of those who dare to take life as it came, and not those who ran away from it. God invites the daring to fight, even with him, and he is sure not to impose his power and might on the weak creatures, but gives due weightage to the fight. The Old Testament presents such a beautiful picture of Abram fighting with God, and is also rewarded for his boldness to wrestle with the Mighty God. Abram becomes Abraham, and he gets a new identity, after winning over God for his side, and I tend to believe God would have been delighted to “fight” with his servant Abram, very much like bitches love to play with their puppies, and they have so much of fun in the play. God invites his children to even fight with him, so that they might grow from strength to strength.

The Bhagavad Gita too presents such a God who beckons his disciple to go fighting, and not to shy away from his responsibility. Arjuna refuses to fight the battle, resolving to retreat, because it would be dishonor to fight with one’s own kinsmen. It is easy to give up at the thick of the battle, and it takes a lot of guts to go forward, unaware what fate awaited him. Arjuna might have also been afraid of the consequences; what if he were to lose the battle? It takes the whole of the Bhagavad Gita for Lord Krishna to instruct Arjuna, so that he might go forward to fight, come what may. He was not to think about the fruits of his labor, but only do his duty. That is why at the end, Arjuna surrenders to the Divine Lord, saying ‘karishye vachanam tava’ (I have resolved to do your will). That is when the actual battle is won.

The world unfortunately has more losers and retreaters than fighters; there are too many fears stopping even those who have the strength to fight the battle. There are bad companions who counsel in wicked ways, and there are circumstances which puts off even the valiant soldiers. Life’s battle does not come with too many risks; there are difficult times and hardships, but they can never destroy a person; what can really destroy a person is his or her unwillingness to take the fight and do it to the best of his/her ability. Those who wish to run away from the battle are the losers in all the cases. For the brave, no army is too large to win; it is the inner battle that one has to win before winning the physical war. This is the wonderful lesson that many of the biblical stories present to us.

Let me end with yet another beautiful story from the Bible, and this time a boy dares to fight with a monster, and defeat him. No one can take David, the shepherd boy, when he approaches Saul to fight against the monstrous Philistian’s Goliath. The boy is made a laughing stock, which the boy has the heart of steel, and he knows for sure to defeat this monster, what he needed was not physical prowess, but spiritual strength, and the boy had in abundance. And we are amazed at the way the boy swings the catapult and drowns the giant. No one can believe that was possible for a boy who knew only to tend his sheep, but David is a warrior who won the battle of the heart before defeating his enemies, and he invites today every one of us to our battles, here and now!

Keeping Awake

Jesus’ earnest appeal to his beloved disciples to “Remain here and keep watch with me” (Mt 26:38/41) fell on deaf ears. They were perhaps too exhausted, not only physically but also psychologically, especially after the Last Supper, where Jesus foretold the fate that awaited him. I leave it to biblical scholars to provide an exegesis of the text, but I found the quoted words have a lot to whisper in my ears, even after two centuries. I would like to paraphrase the words of Jesus as “keep awake with me”; in fact, that is precisely the meaning of the quoted phrase. Jesus invited his disciples, who were too exhausted to keep awake.

How hard and challenging is it to keep awake, especially when we know that everyone else is fast asleep; it is hard to keep awake when the body is too frail and weak (the flesh is weak, to quote Jesus, Mt 26:41), and is too exhausted. It is a challenge to keep awake when we find no ray of hope in the distant future. Jesus however seems to be pleading with the disciples precisely because he needed them close to him, when he himself was going through excruciating pain and agony in the garden. The disciples perhaps could not understand what their master was going through and could have assessed the situation too lightly.

Looking at the words of Jesus from a psychological point of view, it is so comfortable to fall asleep, so that we need not face the harsh reality. The ostrich is said to sink its head inside a mound of sand and imagine the whole world to be in dark. We would like to live in our worlds of make belief, where everything revolves round our own interests, needs and demands. The harsh reality that we may have to witness could be something too cruel and harsh for me to witness, and therefore there is a lot more consolation in either closing our eyes, or at least pretending to be fully in sleep.

Jesus does not mind doing the unpleasant job, even if others might laugh at him. Perhaps on other occasions, the disciples managed to keep awake, but now Jesus finds them drawn by the magic spell of the Lotus Eaters. It is possible that Jesus invites the disciples to keep their eyes open and recognize what was happening in front of their very eyes. It may appear that the disciples were refrained from recognizing Jesus as the weak and frail human person, their eyes as if blinded, because they could not see the Messiah sweating blood.

To be awake, psychologically, is a big challenge today. We live in a world where to be awake is to invite trouble, because the world would want everyone to be asleep, or at least pretend to be asleep, so that they do not see, hear, feel, and touch the reality looming before them. To be insensitive to human pain, suffering and misery is considered a virtue, lest we be drawn into an endless questioning and challenging the worldly forces. It is here that we hear the call of Jesus to keep awake with him!

Worthy Treasure

Sometimes I feel guilty on how I had been neglecting one of the greatest treasures lying uncared in my cupboard – The Holy Bible! As a Catholic, I have a tendency to take it for granted, and seldom turn to it for the much needed counsel, especially when I am frantically looking for a solution to problems which are hard to find. All I ever needed to do was open its pages and follow what I find therein. Familiarity breeds contempt, and that seems to fit perfectly to the way I had been handling the Word of God. I have heard stories of how people who had turned over a new leaf because of the life-giving words, but what have I done about it?

Every time now I turn the pages and read the words reverently, I know the words seem to have been addressed to me. Lovely life stories of virtuous and wicked narrated to me by a loving Father or Grand Mother to teach me the great cherished values; principles and precepts which can show me light in the midst of darkness, words of caution and admonition, when I let the reigns of life free without any control. The Holy Bible is capable of doing in my life a lot more than I can imagine or hope for.

Centuries of wisdom squeezed out and presented to me in a platter, and it is for me to take it or refuse it. If I have a deadly malady and know for sure a remedy, and when I am offered, could I refuse it? Mere knowledge of a remedy is not going to cure me from the malady, I need to accept the remedy and swallow the pill, which may be sweet or sour or bitter. The Word of God is not sweet all through; sometimes I know it is sure to probe deep into my soul, and many a secret thought may come out as a result, but that is part of the process of purification.

I am beginning to take seriously the role and function the Holy Bible plays in my life. I have begun to carry it when I am out, so that I would not need to fear anything, I could be sure that no evil would befall me. I am confident that “He” is there always at my side, and I have nothing to fear. I may never be able to sling biblical verses one after another, or give an exegesis of paragraphs lucidly and intelligently, but I know it is sure to touch my heart and affect me at sometime or other.

This is no magic book for me, where I would get what I am looking for, and relegate it to the cupboards after my work is done; I would like to take the Holy Bible as my talisman, which is there always with me, whether I am healthy or sick, whether it is sunny or raining, whether I am happy or sad. I can hear the words of the loving Father beckoning me, anytime I open its pages. What greater treasure could I desire then?

Animated by a Fire

Seldom do we come across people who are so full of life and zest; it is not easy to be enchanted by something which turns our life topsy-turvy, that we do not think of anything else. Some years ago, Pedro Arrupe had said something which always ring in my ears. He said, “Nothing is more ractical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything”.

One thing is sure, only people who are impelled by the power of love, who could be so full of life, and I had two duos, who were so animated by what they were convinced of that I could see they had truly fallen in love with what they had found. If there are people who are half dead in our society, it is because they have not fallen in love. A priest who had realized the power of the Word of God is making ripple effects of the transformation that the Word can bring in the lives of simple and ordinary people, and there is a nun, who is young and vibrant, fearlessly taking the Word to far and wide, fully convinced of her mission to help people open their hearts and minds to the Word to be transformed.

I had spent just a couple of hours with them, and they had so many things to share with me that they could not stop talking about what they had experienced, and now feel convinced. It was their love for the Word which is drawing hundreds of people to experience personally the power that Christ is pouring out into the hearts of all those who take the first step to reach the Bible House in Krishnagar. When there is love, which can move mountains, then there is the indefatigable conviction that what they are in love has the power to do the impossible. I had the opportunity to listen to some of the wonderful stories of transformation. Many of the stories are humanly impossible stories.

The young and beautiful girl, who is a post-graduate student, had left her house on the Bengali New Year day to spend a few hours at the Bible House. A Hindu by birth, and quite traditional in approach, she did not mind to leave the house on such an auspicious day, because she felt that she had a lot more to receive at the Bible House than at her home. From lack of peace at home and in her heart, now she has an over flowing of peace and harmony within that she talks about her transformative experiences wherever she goes. She does not even spare marriage parties and even as she decorates the bride and her party (she has done a beautician course), she talks about Jesus and what he could do to people who call on him. She is not a Christian, and there is no talk if she would embrace Christianity soon, but she is a changed person, and there is fire when she shares about the story of her transformation.

The story of the young man, who also had a U-turn in his life two months ago, tells a similar experience, and after seeing the transformation that he had gone through, neither his mother or the Father or Sister, or he himself cannot explain what had happened. All that he had done was to make the effort to reach the Bible House for once, and now he behaves and relates with people in a different note. He confided that he was used to smoking and drinks and ever since he had stepped into the Bible House, he had not touched a cigarette or drinks. There is no inner urge in him to take them. He does not know how all these things happened in him. He is inviting his friends to the Bible to experience for themselves what the Word can do in their lives. There was fire in the two young people too, and I was telling myself, if only our young men had this kind of fire in them, then there would be miracles taking place in every village, town and the state. But to begin with, we will have to start with what we are in love with.

Learning to Listen (Lent 1)

It would be quite amazing to find out how many times the word ‘listen’ appears in the Bible. I can only guess it should be over a hundred times. Common sense distinction between hearing and listening make us aware that in listening we go beyond the mere sensory response by the ears. In listening, not only the ears, but the heart and mind are involved, and while hearing does not affect the person to whom the message is addressed, but listening necessarily expects a positive response from the person, and therefore while to hear is a passive verb, to listen is an active verb, which calls for action. There may also be a notion of urgency in the message implied in listening.

How is the lent linked to the art of listening? In the earlier reflection, I had made allusion to ‘Shema Israel’, which were to be the golden words of the people of Israel so much so every Jew knew the covenantal formula that the words of Shema Israel implied. While addressing the people through the instrumentality of prophets, God would often start his message with these words, Listen o Israel! Jesus often used the word when he concluded his parables, Listen all who have ears! If only we listen to the Word of God addressed to each one of us, our lives cannot be the same month after month, and year after year! We do not wish to listen to the Word, because we are afraid it might transform us into what we do not wish to be!

We live in a world where there are very few people who have mastered the art of listening, and such persons are hard to find, and they may not come with foreign recognized degrees in psychology or psychiatry, or they may not be great spiritual gurus the modern world is known for, or they may not have money or muscle power, but they may have a power which can defy anything that the world can subject them to; they cannot be killed, or their spirit quenched. There is something so very deep and strong in them that we find utterly powerless before them. These are the persons who know how to listen – to their inner spirit, to their neighbors, to nature, and to God!

Listening is impossible so long we do not stop the continuous, non-stop self-talk that goes on deep within us night and day. Even when we are seemingly quiet, our mind is talking; our body is talking, and our spirit is talking. It is one perpetual monologue, and when we keep talking to ourselves, we feel we cannot listen to the stillness of the Spirit within! Just a momentary encounter with this Spirit within, the paramatman, the eternal Being, is enough to transform us. We would realize that all our self-talk had been a vicious game that we wanted to engage ourselves in, but a face to face encounter with reality can remove the mask from our faces and we may realize nothing can equal reality, the stillness of our being.

What is listening? It is an attempt to enter into the stillness of the other; we do not listen with our ears, but with our hearts; it is the meeting point of hearts, a sangam of stillness, of Being. Here there can be no self-talk, no compulsive obsession to be self-centered, no preoccupation with the past or the future, but what matters in the art of listening is the present! I am who I am! We cannot listen to the past or the future, but can do it only in the eternal present, and that is where we will encounter the Now made into nama-rupa, what we would call God! Lent is an invitation to enter into this eternal silence of listening to our Self, our neighbor, nature around us and to the eternal present!

Befriending Nature

Come, let’s be friends! That is the theme of the three day youth Assembly of the National Council of Churches in India, organized here in Kolkata, and I had a taste of the some 700 youth gathered from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and different parts of the country. The youth are initiated to befriend God, nature and humanity, and I thought it was a wonderful way of presenting the theme, nature sandwiched between God and humanity, and in fact that is how things came to be, if we take the Bible seriously, or if Charles Darwin were true. Science believes that humanity came much after the birth of the universe and nature, and today it is humanity which is on the warhead to destroy the universe! It is a matter of concern for all of us.

I am not much worried what these 700 odd youth, equal number of men and women, from all over the country and even beyond the borders would achieve in these few days they are together to think aloud. In fact, they may go home with tabula rasa, their minds as blank as they started this workshop, and there would be nothing to be surprised about it. But if every youth today begins to open his/her eyes to see the kind of world we have made, and the kind of world we are giving birth to, then things will be in a better shape when it is time for us to bid farewell to this universe. But I already feel we are unable to give a clean earth to our children, and we are fully responsible for the world as it is today.

In this regard, we should be doing something in black and white instead of talking too much about it. [In fact, I have begun to write about it after doing some work in this regard, and so my writing about it may be taken seriously]. If every human person, be s/he is in a village or city, begins to do just one small act in order to conserve and nurture the earth, the wounds we had inflicted on her will soon be healed, and we may then be able to see the morning sun rise, listen to the song of the bird at our doorstep, find friendly insects and butterflies entering into our drawing rooms freely, doves and parrots would visit us each day to claim their due share of ration!

We all want to do great things, which can change the situation in a huge way, and if we wait for such an opportunity, then we may be too late. Let me write what I had done in the past few days. When I had gone for the New Year celebrations to a village, my friends offered me four saplings of a particular variety of chili, which is known for its pungency. After bringing it home, I had prepared two flowerpots with enough mud, and planted the plants, two each in two pots, and have been pouring water each day. I had raised the pots, so that the sun’s rays may bathe them each day. And after pouring water, I go close to the plants and whisper something nice into their ears, and I believe they are so happy to hear my voice.

But yesterday as I was pouring water to the chili plants, it occurred to me that there is another flowerpot close-by with ‘useless’ grass growing in it beside a tall plant! I had been watering the chili plants and the two Aloe Vera plant and not to others. I thought for a while: I take care of the chili plants because after a few months they will yield chili which I may use in the cooking, but what will I do with the grass? Then, if the chili plants and the aloe vera have the right to live and get attention from me, does not the grass too have the right to live? Should it also not have the privilege of being talked to with love? Does the grass not as important and significant and even precious as any other so-called useful plants? How can I differentiate between the plants, when they all live together?