Cheer Leaders!

How wonderful would it be if we have a few dozens of “cheer leaders” in every locality! I am not talking about the professional cheerleaders at every sports stadium, whose duty it is to cheer up competing teams. We do not need such professional cheer leaders, often with limited fittings, so that they can cheer up the audience and the teams, not only by what they do, but also by what they are. But we need cheer leaders in every locality to cheer up every person living in there; we need others to cheer us up, and help us to realize that beyond our personal pain and agony is there a world of joy and happiness, of human communion; that we are all united by the bond of pain and sorrow, happiness and ecstasy.

Maybe it is not possible to have a group of cheer leaders who would go from house to house, spreading cheer in every person they come across. They could help people forget their worries and privation, and help them to smile for a while, make them laugh at something stupid, give them the comfort that they are not alone in their suffering. I feel the world is badly in need of cheer leaders, and I would not be surprised in a few years some people invent a system of artificial cheering up persons and families, and make a thriving business out of it. After all, with the way the world is expanding, there are all the chances that we would need artificial means of cheering us up.

I was told about a very old woman, in her late eighties, in Germany, who would sit at the entrance of the railway station of this small town, and would wish everyone who entered in there. In her old age, she had nothing to offer to the many people who entered there to catch a train to go to their offices, or to their relatives, and all of them entered in there with their load of worries, pain and anxieties. And this senior lady would greet them with a smile, and for a moment the people would forget their worries and wish her the same. This was her mission at the fag end of her journey. But I found this is a wonderful way to spend the last years of one’s journey.

How beautiful it would it would be if all those who are posted at the entrance of corporate houses were trained in the art of cheering up people, so that everyone who entered there would be charged by their cheer and smile; our offices and working places would be more joyful then. What we need today are men and women who feel certain joy deep down their hearts, and would like to transmit to other people, especially those who do not know what joy and happiness in life are. We need such people to occupy our security system. Technology is so advanced that in many places we can manage without security personnel, but no machine or technology can really replace genuine and true cheer leaders.

I have known about a few such cheer leaders, who would take time to voluntarily visit those persons languishing in sick beds, or in old age homes, or in self-imposed exile, in order to spend a few minutes with them; and what a difference their few minutes of stay with them could make. People can change their perspectives and pains within a few minutes, and look at life positively, thanks to the magic that these cheer leaders can make. But these people are those who experience deep down certain joy, and they cannot contain this within themselves, and therefore feel the urge to reach out to others. I wish their spirit spreads all over, and fill all our localities with the cheer that can make us laugh and smile, and take life with a courageous smile.

Through the Rough Weather

At one moment of the interview, I myself felt embarassed for asking the boy something so very touchy, that he was almost in tears. From his early childhood he had lived with his mother, after his father divorced his mother and began to live with his elder brother. He had never met his brother nor his father, until one day in the school library he happened to meet his brother, but did not know that he was his own elder brother. After putting together what he had heard from his mother, he knew that he was his own brother, now living with his father. He had the guts to tell his brother that they were related by blood.

But what he shared after this piece of information was chilling for me. His elder brother had invited him to the house where the former lived with his father. When his father asked his elder brother, who he was, it seems his elder brother told him that he was his friend. Even now, his father does not know anything about him. He lost his mother about ten years ago, and had been living at the mercy of some priests who had adopted him, and brought him up. I felt very sad for the man, whose eyes watered as he narrated bits and pieces of his life story. Even my seeming innocent questions looked very strange to him, and he struggled to answer me.

He is a fine young man, who had a lots of will power to fight against all odds to go ahead with life; he said he had taken special interest in psychology, not so much to help others, but to know about his own background, the psychological limitations he had grown with and how he could find some sort of remedy for them. This is something beautiful in him – the strong determination with which he pursued his studies and completed his undergraduation with first class, and thought of something greater for humanity, a life of commitment and dedication to the service of the wider society. I know he has many other riddles to unravel as he moves forward in life.

If I were in his situation, I wonder if I would have reached as much as he had done; embittered with life, many people attempt to find short cuts to remedy the agonizing situations; it is easy to give up hope in these situations, and luckily there had been some good-hearted priests who had helped him to recover from the loss of his only hope, his mother, who died of cancer at a time when he needed her the most. His lift support had been removed, and he would have felt that he was a lone boat in the midst of the endless sea, unable to find a way. Thank God, now he seems to be aware of where he wants to go, and how he wants to organize his life.

If there is one reason why many of the youth these days are disoriented early in life, it is because they have not seen the hardships of life, and they do not know what it means to find their own way. The families these days do not want the children to get into the waters, because they are afraid that their children might get drowned, and as a result most of them never learn swimming, and when they have to get into waters, it is too late for them to learn swimming, and that is when the fatal accidents might take place. I am happy that this young man has learned swimming through the hard way, and now he is prepared to teach other young men how to swim. And he knows he would be able to teach them better than others, because he knows the nittygritties of this new art.

Searching for Smiles

One of the lessons which I had learned at the death of one of our friends, 13 years senior to me, is that whatever we do, and wherever we are, could we do something to unburden the others who are weighed down by worries of the world, chased by problems which make them hate life, made to believe that life on earth is not worth living! There are many around us who go through this kind of hide-n-seek game with life each day, without realizing that they are slowly pawning their lives with forces which may one day snatch their lives and hand them over to the angel of death! Just a kind act towards these people can change the way they look at life, and once they realize the beauty of the world and its people, then things can take a positive turn.

Ours is a tortured, battered, mutilated world, which yearns for some respite, and it may sound an insurmountable task for us, but if we all put our shoulders together to look at this world which is groaning with pain and agony, probably we may be able to find a way of relieving her pains. It is not an impossible task; it all depends how each one of us is convinced of his/her personal responsibility to extend healing balm to the neighbor behind or in front of him/her. It is easier to curse darkness rather than lighting the candle, and we all may resort to easy solution, instead of doing our little part to ease the situation. Luckily we do not need to do spectacular works, or need really to sacrifice our lives in order to save the dying humanity. We are not saviors of the world, but we can surely become the angels of kindness and mercy to each one around us.

I become more and more convinced that what we on earth need today are not great scientists who would make the impossible into possible, who would find solutions to all the problems the humanity had been facing down the centuries, who would unravel the mysteries of the universe and find greater avenues for harnessing the resources of the greater earth, who would make us believe that faith in God and human touch can be sacrificed at the altar of self-centeredness. Nor do we require persons who would find a way of feeding every person going hungry to bed each day. We are not looking for spiritual gurus who would make every urban dweller happy and peaceful! If we want to save the world, then all that I am convinced we are called to is : to spread a little bit of human touch.

There is one little way I am confident we can do this : I take a little trouble to go out of my own self to reach out to someone in need, in whatever way I can. It is for me to choose how I am going to reach out to the other! If at the end of the day I can make a person smile, then I can consider my work done. It is not an impossible task. Yesterday after hanging around in our college to arrange for the funeral mass today, one of our friends, offered some fruits for our community. There were mangoes (the look alone was so tempting), grapes and another kind of fruit. As I walked home with a polythene bag in hand, near the park I put the bag down, took out a mango and offered to a girl who had made outside the park her home for the past six months. There was plenty for us, and I was not going to lose much by giving one to her, she also would have the joy of tasting a mango even before it fully entered the markets.

I have realized a secret of what really makes us smile: when we are able to make someone smile, that is sure to bring a natural smile in us. Check it for yourself. I have checked it and it works like a charm. It is like an echo, or a reflection on the mirror; and this can create a ripple effect. My smile can create some one smile too, and it can go on unending. Smiles are becoming too costly in our world; even the best of make-up and ornaments sans genuine smile may be meaningless; but a gentle genuine smile even in the absence of ornaments can make a person really glitter, and that is the secret that we all can become partners in. I can only imagine a situation when the whole world is filled with smiles all around, and it would be like a garden with flowers in full bloom and that is really a joy and feast to our eyes.

Trifling with the Third (SS 09)

Calvary is almost reached, but there is no more energy left in the body, and as I look at your frail body limping step by step with the burden of the cross, you look at your final destination : the hillock which will immortalize you for all generations to come! But when you fall to the ground for the third time, I know you are at the fag end of your journey, and you can stretch it no longer! The good news is that Calvary is just a few feet away, but the bad news is that you may make it only with great difficulty! Not all soldiers are harsh and cruel to you; maybe there was one soldier, who had a little sympathy for you, and he helps you rise up from the ground, and gives his hand to move forward! Not everyone on earth is bad, I know! Thanks to these sympathetic men and women, we still experience humane treatment.

Most often I get annoyed with people who cannot stop their falls; they keep falling endlessly, until there is no more energy left in their bodies. And yet I cannot stop cursing and shouting at them, because I know if only they put a little more effort, they could have prevented the fall, but your third fall demonstrates before my very eyes that even when the spirit is strong, the flesh may still be weak, and sometimes too weak to with-hold! How beautifully the Savior had accepted his third fall; he knows that it is the reign of darkness, and he had nothing more to do than submit to the whims and fancies of the king of darkness. Helplessness and weakness have crippled him to this state!

When I fall on life’s journey again and again, quite often without myself wanting them, I feel terribly depressive and annoying! I cannot understand my own inclinations and vile attractions, some of which seem to have grown as I grew into adulthood! I cannot blame anyone for the state I am in, and I have to accept all that I am and all that I have, wholly and completely, without any ifs and buts. Then actual life is not as simple as that! I cannot complete even a single paragraph of writing without using ifs and buts, conditions have become my favorite, not only in the blogs, but also in life, and I live thanks to the ifs and buts!

I cannot imagine the Savior using ifs and buts, not only in his speech, but also in his life; if that were the case, then my fate would have been quite different. How do I treat a person who has ran out of all his/her resources, and stands before me seeking shelter and security, be it moral, social or spiritual! It may not be easy to seek such a person with a warm smile, and a bouquet, but then what would be the plight of this person if I were to throw him out of my household? Could I ever be so very hard-hearted as to refuse the little what I can possibly give? The earth has been so very kind and generous to receive the Son of Man with her outstretched arms! Would I do the same with the people who come me for help?

There is an innate tendency in me to keep fighting against all odds, even when I know for sure that I am fighting a losing battle; quite often I tell myself that what matters is not so much the success or failure in such a battle, but the fact that I participate in it whole heartedly, that is what really matters. If that be the case, then it would be rather easy to give up when all my resources run dry; but how could I handle the false pride and arrogance which may not permit me to give up fighting, and accept defeat, knowing well I had done my best to fight against the external forces working against me. I realize that embracing defeat in life does not necessarily mean I accept failure and defeat!

After every fall the weight of the cross seems to be increasing manifold, and the weight of the wooden frame seem to be pressing upon him. The will power in him is strong still, and that is the reason why he does not give it up; he puts his foot forward and knows for sure that he may stumble and fall, together with the cross. The determination and the will power that he had made him complete his journey, though with three falls! For a man whose body has been torn apart by the flagellations and crown of thorns, who had been whipped throughout the journey, the scorching sun added insult to injury, and he would still accept it, because it is through this kind of falls and rises that he is to enter into his glory!

I am too frightened of placing myself in your position and imagining the way of the Cross; the very thought of it makes me sweat. But you had warned me much in advance that unless I carry my cross and follow you, I cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven! Even after your third fall, you had the determination to rise up and continue your journey, though with much pain and agony. Often after my fall, I have no strength and energy left in me to rise up and walk further; I wish to give up hope and surrender defeat, but your demonstration of so much of will power pushes me to fix my eyes onto Calvary and keep moving! I remember your words, anyone who has put his hands on the plow and looks back is not worthy of the kingdom! How true you are!

Careful Carrier (SS 05)

It is seldom that I happily reach out to help someone who is in dire need of a helping hand. When I am in need of help, the world can hear my cry, and I fume when the by-passers look at me teasingly and pass by without even saying a word of comfort! But when others are in such a situation, I do exactly what all the others usually do! The species of men and women of the sort as that of Simon the Cyrene is fast disappearing, and who knows after a few decades, such men and women may be unheard of in the world we live. That may be one of the saddest episodes in the history of the universe, and I only hope not to be a witness to such a horrendous reality.

I do have my great regards for this man, who was in a sense forced to help an altogether strange criminal, whom he lent his helping hand rather reluctantly. He might have been an innocent man who looked down upon a criminal, especially a political and religious, and he would have desired not to be part of the blood of such a man, and he might have tried to hide himself from the crowds, but something in the soldiers had made him a helpless victim to help another hapless victim of circumstances. Maybe that is where the similarities between the Savior and the sinful Simon begins, and they may go a long way in helping each other’s crosses.

When someone is dead and lying on the road, there may be thousands who would stand and stare at the person, but might not dare to do even the least they could do – inform the police about the person; each one would only try to wash their hands off, from what had happened to this man on the road. I do not like to dirty my hands for the sake of another person, especially when that person is least known to me; why should I bother about every Tom, Dick and Harry? It is none of my business! But if Simeon were to say that to the Roman soldiers, then the savior would have been more miserable, and helpless than he ever was.

Here is the Good Samaritan, who was ready to walk not only the required distance, but was even prepared to walk all the way to Calvary. I wonder if Simon had ever heard about this wandering preacher, who had been curing the sick, feeding the hungry, and casting out spirits! There is no curiosity in him to meet the man, who gave life to so many people, but out of compulsion he is here to help… the compulsion to help the stranger soon becomes a compulsion in him to walk all the way. If only I can learn a lesson from this rustic Simon, and pass the message on to others, then the world would not lack companions to carry our crosses. There would be too many Simons ready to give a helping hand to anyone in need.

Simon did not mind getting out of his narrow-minded perspective of reality, in order to include the savior in his life journey, and that made so much of difference in his future life. His life would not have been the same after meeting the Messiah; he might not even have realized that by helping the wayfarer, he was not helping the criminal, but the hard core criminal was helping Simon to recover from life what he had lost. As he beheld the cross, the symbol of shame and humiliation, Simon was able to shed all the contempt and shame he had for the criminals and the social outcasts. He had turned a new leaf after his encounter with Jesus, but why is it even after so many retreats and recollections, I am not able to come back to God and one another?

I am much worse than Simon, and I don’t need others to tell me this, or remind me this truth; I cannot move my finger even when I hear the cries of agony of others in need, even when I hear their cries, I pretend not to listen to them, or close my eyes from seeing their pathetic situation. It is here that I become so very inhuman and cruel that I become more ferocious and wicked than the worst criminal the world has ever known. If only I can hear the cry of those in agony around me, and do the least that is possible within my capacity, then I would have many things to be happy and proud about, and the world would look so very beautiful, and I may have many people to be grateful to. I often miss the seed of sanctity buried in listening to the cries of those in pain and agony! Today I seek this seed with sincerity.

How lucky you were to have a stranger who was so very fortunate to have your company, and your healing touch! Those few moments Simon has spent with you, carrying the burden of our sins and offences, those were the most precious moments of this man, who had the rare privilege of accompanying you to Calvary! Today I long to touch and feel you, to carry your cross, but every day when I get so many opportunities to carry the crosses of my companions, my neighbors, my dear ones, how many excuses I make to evade the challenge! I wish I get the guts and the stamina that Simon had to dare to accompany you, not only the requested distance, but all the way to Calvary, because I know that is where my salvation awaits!

Beyond the Horizons

There is something common between Ivan and I: both of us were reporters for a Catholic news agency for a while, and both of us had tried our hands in writing, though Ivan thought it was his "special calling", and I considered it as my "first love". Not that we liked factual reporting, but liked creative writing, where we could synthesize the knowledge we have garnered and reprocess them on the basis of our experiences, and re-present them in a palatable way to the masses. I was struggling more than Ivan, given the background from which I climbed up the ladder, and I was not envious of the youngster too!

Today meeting Ivan after some years, was a pleasure; we had spent several hours discussing about our lives in a religious congregation, which bade farewell to Ivan about ten years ago, and he continued to pursue his career with a news agency in Bangkok. As he poured out his pains and agonies in working with people of different nationalities, the way how they treated him because of his 'not-so-fair complexion' paying him just one third of the salary they paid for the house rent of an office companion, I felt sad for him, but I had not much words of comfort and consolation. It is his life and he has chosen it voluntarily, and would find a way to get through!

But what was more important for me to recall was the way how he got back to settle his personal scores with life; he had gone through unexpected alleys and valleys before he could find the plains, and as he stood at the endless vast canvass of life, he found an unseen Power leading him through. Life had taught him great lessons, and he would be ever grateful for whatever that had moulded and shaped him, and he would not regret for what he had to go through, though much of those moments were mingled with sweat and tears. The past sweet and sour experiences had paved way for his present, and today he is grateful for his past!

There are two ways of approaching our bitter past : either to curse the experiences of the past, and refusing to acknowledge their role in shaping our present, or to accept and acknowledge them as part of our life journey, and move towards the sign posts the past had placed our way. The people who opt the first option often end up bitter and defensive; they would find all the reasons to blame the world, and even themselves. The people who approach life in the second way are often wiser and happier; they would not have regrets but only gratefulness to the experiences and the people who had contributed towards those shaping moments.

Those who stand by life's stepping stones, and keep looking back at the thorns and thistles they had passed through and forget to look yonder towards the future in store for them, are bound to end up stuck up on the way; is this what Christ meant when he said, those who have put their hands on the plough and look back are not fit for the kingdom of heaven? I very much think so. Every past moments have shaped our present, and pave way for the future; but those who are not able to look towards the horizon beckoning them to reach the North Star, so that they can at least reach the end of the horizon, opening the gates to yet another horizon! I am happy my friend Ivan have stood at the end of one horizon, and is able to see the other horizon beckoning him tenderly and lovingly!