Category: Musings on Culture & Life

Poem Inspired by a Survivor

(Inspired by the speech of an abortion survivor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPF1FhCMPuQ) 
Wisdom cries from the lectern
Pours out a deep anguish of the soul
In a fiery sermon that pierces hearts.
A pretty face and a sweet smile
‘Planned’ by a Mercenary
To be emulsified in the womb.
But ‘Destined’ by the Redeemer
To see the light of day.
And Become the light to the dark souls
Bringing fire down from the Heavens
Setting ablaze those feeling snuffed-out
By the militant opinion-makers.
The spectacle of spell-bound admiration
Of the strong for the weak
Of the fit for the mis-fit
Of the complete for the challenged
A reflection of the ‘Image of God’
Making strong the weak,
Fit the mis-fit, complete the challenged.
For such is the glory of God!

A Super Handsome Jesus???

Malcolm Muggeridge in his book ‘Christ and the Media’ in which he was damning critical of the Media, said that the Fourth Temptation of the devil to Christ was to offer to give him a Worldwide TV channel. I doubt that that TV channel would have been a good idea, even if the Media was good per se, because the Truth about the greatest Man that ever lived is that He did not have a photogenic profile, not even to the prophets of more than two millennia ago.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. Isaiah 53:2b
This is a prophecy about Jesus’ appearance. With creation of the cosmos, God created beauty, yet He chose for Himself an ugly profile because I think He wanted to show that He would win people over not through their eyes but through their hearts. 
Some theologians say that a credible reason why the Jewish Priests of that age found Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah to be unacceptable is because the Jews were used to having ‘handsome’ and charismatic God appointed leaders. Their Matriarch, Sarah was an astoundingly beautiful lady. Moses was very beautiful even as a kid. Bible speaks good of David’s handsomeness. So the expectation of a handsome and charismatic Messiah was ingrained into the psyche of the Jewish Priests. “How could perfect Man, the Messiah, look so imperfect?” Isn’t it ludicrous that a Man who was to reverse the fall would in His very body be an epitome of the ugly consequences of the fall.
Jewish Priest made the mistake of miss-attributing value to Jesus, our mistake isn’t much different either. We envision Jesus as a 6’2 lean-muscled male with sharp Caucasian features and flowing hair and neatly trimmed beard. In picturing Jesus as a guy who’ll give our most handsome models a run for their money, posterity has done the most disservice to the image of Jesus Christ.
This photogenic image misrepresents what Jesus’s essence is, in the state of His assumed humanity. What made Jesus special was not His pleasing disposition or pleasant looks. He had neither. Jesus Christ’s essence was derived from the ‘relationship’ He had with the Father. The long lonely hours He spent praying to His Father and enjoying His presence is what made Him special in His humanity. When Jesus’ disciples couldn’t exorcize a guy, He exorcized the guy said to the disciples that failed because they did not pray ‘much’.
When Jesus’ Godly value is predominantly envisioned by modern man as being a peaceful good looking dude, and not as a prayerful God who took the form of man to show man how the life of a perfect man should look like, it is not too surprising that many modern Christians too derive their ‘personal value’ from their good-looks as seen by others as ‘religious’ or/and ‘sexy’, suiting ones personality, instead of deriving their value from their prayerful ‘relationship’ with the Father in Heaven.
A regular concerted daily Prayer time is a lost virtue among many modern Christians who pursue their happiness through their eyes, in the TV, rather than through their heart, in the heavenly Relationship. Both the ancient Jews and the Modern folks miss Jesus because they see Him as He is not, through their eyes and not through their hearts. Even God may not help a person who does not find his/her pleasure in prayer. 

Are we predestined to feel frustrated?

I seldom chat on FB. But yesterday, a friend from Church and I were chatting about the frustration in going through the cycles of applying for jobs attending interviews and going through this almost endlessly repeating loop. I commented, “God sometimes predestines us to be frustrated so that through the frustration when we look at Him, we see a different aspect of Him and ‘cherish’ Him for who He is”. I was trying to think of a good analogy to explain this… then I remember something. When I was a kid, I used to cry sometimes and that was when I would long for my mother’s countenance. When I was a kid, probably 7 years old, one afternoon, I was crying at school. My mother to my surprise came to school and the moment I saw her all my fears disappeared and tears were gone. My mother is many things to me but I specially cherish memories of my finding rest in my mother’s embrace only because there was an opportunity for me to get frustrated and I was willing to look up to her countenance for comfort.
Likewise, life gives us opportunities, through the frustrations, to look up at God and ‘cherish’ a unique comforting aspect of that relationship. God is glorified when we find Him the utmost comfort. So I think we are predestined to be frustrated so that we’ll have an opportunity to experience the comforting nature of the Blessed One. Our every day frustrations are not pointless irritations of an otherwise tolerable life, they are rather pointers to a need for a cherished countenance in a special Relationship. These enervating frustrations find its lasting meaning in that ‘cherished’ Relationship.
When we go through frustrating experiences, the challenge is to ‘truly’ look up at Him. We are perhaps more like Peter, we start looking up at Him, but soon are looking at the perilous waves come at us.  We get lost in our frustrations until we are pulled up and embraced into His bosom. Then looking back we have a greater appreciation for seeing Him in a different light and love Him all the more. But, we should be better than that. We should strive to be viscerally conscious of Him so that even as we are going through the frustrations,  we can ‘look up’ and delight and rest in His loving Countenance instead of having to ‘look back’ after the frustrations are over and retrospectively appreciate Him.
Blessed are the frustrated for if they look upwards, they can see God.

Galveston Mission Trip – Help with Home Building

A bunch of us went to Galveston from our GBC growth group. On Friday evening, when I left my home to carpool from George and Rebecca’s home, time was 6:00 pm. The next time, I looked at my watch, we were sitting on the Galveston Bay with burger and smoothie from Sonic, some of us with a beer as well, looking into the dark sea, white waves, jumping fish, bright stars and the lights from the distant ships, the time was 12:00 am. 6 hours had past. We had done a bunch of stuff. Only, I didn’t know when what started and ended. At 6:00, I was at Burdette’s place. We had some Chic a fil sandwiches and chit chatted until whatever time. Being a man of few words, I did not talk much. Sometime later, we started for Galveston. George and I were in his car. I got into one of my passionate topics, ‘Gospel and Civilization’ and spoke long monologues about the gospel being the foundation for a lasting civilization and also being the reason why the British revolution was bloodless and the French was blood, and about what the gospel said about the political elites. By the time I was done we were in Galveston. I did not look at my watch, least I should be aware for how long George had to suffer my soliloquy.
Once we reached the mission center, we refreshed and were getting debriefed about the mission by the folks that were running it. They gave some astounding statistics about how many people were affected by Ike and are still hurting because of general apathy. Their live stories and commitment kept us spell bound for however long they were talking… I have still not looked at my watch, this time either, but because I was truly in a timeless world enraptured by the joy and commitment of the people running the mission centre. We were told that we will help repair the house of one Ms. Lopez whose house was damaged in Ike was inhabitable for the past 2 years. We were told that during lunch break, we will also get a chance to play with the kids at the neighboring public housing and ‘connect with the community’. Someone came up with the brilliant idea of buying some play things for kids. We went to Walmart and bought a bunch of stuff for kids form chips packets to sidewalk chalks to water balloons. We got something to eat at Sonic and then sat on the ledge on the Galveston bay. I was filled with my cherished memories of sitting on the Thiruvanmiur Beach in Chennai, watching the sea, the moon, the stars, munching some snacks and reading a book in the most pleasant breeze ever. We talked about a bunch of stuff from relationships to postmodernism.
The conversation dispelled some stereo types about men and women. Stereo types say that  men were visual beings and that women were emotional beings and that men would be more attracted by the visual quotient and women would be more attracted by the emotional quotient. For example the stereo types dictate that some men would like the skinny-looks kind and some would like the chubby-looks kind… and women care little for looks and are are essentially looking for men who are ‘truly’ kind to them. Someone said, ‘I like a guy with nerdy looks’. Someone else said, ‘I like guys with preppy looks’. Someone liked some other look which I had never heard about before. Being a man of few words, I did not say much… it was a time for thinking than talking. I realized that in one sense, even this enlightenment by the Galveston bay did not break the stereo types after all… though men and women are probably equally enamored by looks, skinnyness and chubbyness has more to do with the physique and nerdyness and preppyness has more to do with one’s psyche. At the end of the day postmodernism or hyper modernism notwithstanding, men are men and women are women. Period.
I had done enough thinking, half-baked as it may have been, I looked at my watch… it was 12:00 am. We went back to our mission center to get some rest for some work the next. Little did I know then what type of work I was up against. I read Stott for a while and slipped into a slumber at about 1:30 am.
We got ready at about 8:00 am. After the morning devotion we loaded the tools to repair Ms. Lopez’s house and the toys to play with kids. I can’t use words to describe how tough the job was. Being a guy who isn’t that dexterous with hands, I found it doubly tough. It just did not make sense to me building a house should be so difficult. Apparently it is. No wonder poor Ms. Lopez couldn’t get easy help. We had lunch and then went to public housing facility to play with the kids. The temperature was probably in the 90s. I wondered why the folks at the mission centre sent us at such an errand. ‘Community building exercise’ they called it. Not a soul was in sight. Apparently everyone was staying cool within their homes. Rebecca and Holly took on the role of ‘community organizers’ and went about the houses giving juice packs for kids. Soon we had the kids coming out. If only they could be ambitious and lucky enough to win a not-so-tough contest to become a junior Senator, I guess they would be qualified enough to run for president (sorry, couldn’t help that).
Most of these kids were in single parent homes. Rebecca had a bruise in her leg. One of the little girls asked her if her husband beat her. What kind of a life would a person have to have been exposed to have such a question pop up in one’s mind. Another little one was crying for no reason at all. Holly had to carry her with her for quite a bit to calm her. Apparently the little girl just wanted to be carried by someone. Some of us played basket ball with the bigger kids. Some of us were having fun with side-walk-chalk drawings. Some of us threw ball. George taught me how to grip the ball and throw it the right way. I learnt something new. There was a stumpy looking 8 year old who was built to be a NFL hunk. I asked him what he name was. He was too shy to answer. I asked him three times, never got an answer. I asked him if we went to school. He nodded his head. I knew I was in good company. He too was a man of few words. He and I threw ball to each other. That guy enjoyed that a lot. I enjoyed it even more.
As we went about this, David and Jackie somehow managed to get the water balloons filled with water. Oh! My Gosh!!! The kids had a BLAST!!! My pal of few words was the guy who made most people wet. By now, some mothers had gathered too. They too joined the water balloon game. One of them even got Angela on her back. Soon, it was time to say goodbye…
We walked back to our construction site. I was thinking… it occurred to me that in every community it was the kids that were the connecting link to the community. Even in India, when we went for village outreach, the first thing we would do in a new village would be to go to a street corner and do something to attract the kids. The kids would come and sit and watch with glee at the funny theatrics we performed. Then the mothers of the kids would come closer. The men folks were always distant. It was no different here either. Human nature is always that same. The children are the most trusting and least prejudiced. Mothers, once you win their trust would be welcoming. The men folks always are wary of anyone encroaching their territory. No wonder it was the kids who went up to Jesus and touched Him. The one scene which I don’t remember seeing in any of the many Jesus films is him holding a child. But I would think that if we had the paparazzi those days as we do today, there would have been more pictures of Him holding a child than healing the sick.
We worked till 5:00 pm. I had never been more exhausted all my life. I got to travel in the back to the mission centre in David’s truck. We prayed and then dispersed from the mission centre. Some of us decided to have more fellowship over dinner. We went to a restaurant ‘Salsa’. I had the best Mexican seafood. Next time I go to Galveston to watch the bay, I know where I’ll have dinner. The food was doubly tasty because George and Rebecca were kind enough to pick up the tab. A loss for those who did not want to fellowship into the evening. 😛 For some reason free food is more fulfilling. I never knew why…
I was impressed that Stephen brought (his long-distance) girl friend to toil a whole day in the sun and the sweat, helping Ms. Lopez, when they themselves had little to meet each other. Just as we were wrapping up, we got to meet Ms. Lopez. With hurricane Ike she lost her job, her home, sometime later her husband then her mother. She was at the end of her wits. She said that our Christian concern renewed her faith and hope in life and in God. Looking back if there is one word to describe the experience it is ‘fulfilling’. True love is that which seeks for the other, that which it seeks for the self. We don’t expect life to be devoid of any pain or suffering. But we also expect some empathy from our fellow Christians. When that empathy becomes apathy, the pain and suffering would take its toll.  
As we drove back to Houston, I couldn’t help making the connection between what we had just done to Ms. Lopez who was left in the lurch by the wrath of Nature and the over-extended-but-intangible Government aid, and what I spoke to George about the Gospel being the foundation for any long lasting Civilization. After all empathy and love is the MARK of a Christian. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35). 

Aspiration and Transformation

(I have submitted this essay for a competition in our company)

Transformation happens when old conventions are broken and a new standard for conventions are set. When Americans were making the best Motorcycles, it was taken for granted that there will be frequent oil leaks, but when the Japanese bikes came into the market, it was taken for granted that oil leaks were unacceptable. Transformation happens when there is an aspiration to make something better that it is. The journey from aspiration to transformation is often a counter cultural process needing a catalyst.
In Jim Collin’s seminal work, ‘From Good to Great’, he questions conventions, “We expected that good-to-great leaders would begin by setting a new vision and strategy. We found instead that they first got the ‘right’ people on the bus… then figured out where to drive it”. Peter Drucker supposedly said, “At the end of the day we do not bet on ideas, we bet on people”. Transformation requires a right start. Transformation starts not with ideas, but with people. In fact, transformation starts with the person whom we look at every day in the mirror. Transformation starts with the aspiration to make oneself better than one is.
Back in the days of the great Socrates, the father of philosophy, the famous inscription at the temple for the Oracle of Delphi supposedly said, “Know Thyself”. In fact Socrates said that he was deemed wise by the Oracle of Delphi because he was only one in Athens who was ‘aware of his own ignorance’. He knew who he was, ‘an ignorant man who ardently pursued wisdom’ and he transformed the world of ideas for generation to come.
The first step in the journey from aspiration to transformation is to aspire to ‘know oneself’. The irony of our society is that we presume to know other people and things far from us but we do not know who we are. A literate person would know why Steve Jobs is named the best CEO by Forbes, he may even know the surface temperature of a star that is a billion light years away, but he would likely be lost if he were asked to write an essay about his passion, strengths and weaknesses.
Unfortunately, the corporate culture often seems to work against pursuit of the truth about self. If a person is attending an interview, he is expected to sell himself as someone having Narayan Moorthy-like qualities. He is expected to not expose his real passions. He is expected to showcase his passions reconfigured to suit the job description. He needs to talk himself up and sugar-coating weaknesses. We are too eager to emulate someone else without knowing who we are. Genuine transformation cannot start where one does not aspire to ‘know oneself’ for who she is. The aspiration to know one’s passions, strengths and weakness is the first stage in the journey from ‘aspiration to transformation’. The second stage of the journey is where having already known who we are, we aspire to make ourselves better than who we are.
In the book ‘Type Talk at Work’ the authors say that leaders are people who clearly understand what their strengths and weaknesses are. The authors go on to say that a person develops into a successful leader if she, while naturally being strong in her strengths, is able to go the extra mile by aspiring to work on her own weaknesses to make them her strengths.  In a culture where one is constantly expected to mask ones weakness, to acknowledge the weakness and pro-actively work on ourselves is often counter intuitive to our ‘corporate conditioning’. This is why we need a catalyst.
In the book ‘What is wrong with the World’, G.K. Chesterton says that for a doctor to set the broken hand right, he needs to know how a good hand looks like. For us to transform into people better than ourselves, we need role models whom we can observe and emulate. Transformation cannot be a self-centered individualistic effort. C.S.Lewis says, “We are but pygmies, who stand on shoulders of giants”. We need help to become better than we are. We need real-life role models who are willing to be vulnerable and encouraging coaches acting as catalysts in our process of transformation. I would learn more from observing my mangers at who are such catalyzing role models than by reading biographies about distant Charismatic business leaders.
An organization that does not aspire to bring about transformation through top-down catalyzing role models, will turn destructive. This was apparent in the recent collapse of the financial industry in the west. There was too much self-centered aspiration, but no role models who exemplified the true meaning of ‘collective’ transformation for the betterment of the world. The wall street instead of being the transformational industry doing the ‘work of God’, as Lloyd Blankfein CEO of much reviled Goldman Sachs claimed, had become a ‘den of robbers’ facing criminal charges, for having made millions off  a bubble created by misleading the public, in-turn causing pain for millions of common folk.
A great example of true transformation in the financial industry is the Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus’ Micro Finance enterprise the ‘Grameen Bank’. Yunus knew his passion was economics. His heart was with the poor. His strength was in setting up corporate enterprises. His weakness was being a man of ideas too ahead of his age in a society entrenched with old conventions. He supplemented his situational weakness with a 30 year iron-like resilience. He pursued to bring about collective transformation by doing what can truly be deemed the ‘work of God’.
The impetus for transformation is an aspiration to make things better than they are. Transformation starts with aspiring to ‘know oneself’ and progresses through aspiration to make oneself better than one is and then consummating transformation by helping each other achieve collective betterment that results in organizational transformation which in-turn makes the world a better place to live in.

Weekend With the Men Folks from GBC

To be locked-up in a camp from Friday night to Sunday morning, with a bunch of hairy legged, poker loving, bike riding, kayaking, pickle ball playing, skeet shooters who in their core are lovers of the Word of God is indeed a cool experience. The one thing that unites this disparate group is the unity we find in Discipleship that owes its allegiance to one Person. I went to the camp with my friends from the GBC ‘growth group’ I attend. We drove 80 miles from Houston to this Pine Clove Camp in Columbus. Left our luggage in the cabin, got to know the other guys in whom we’ll share the cabin with for the next couple of nights. We clarified that none in the room were loud snorers, of course mild snoring can’t really be helped.

 

We then went to the auditorium. The decks were drawn. The poker players got right into the groove. The rest of us were looking at I-phones trying to find some interesting card game with clear rules. Our group ended up playing a game called ‘Oh, hell’. It was indeed one hell of a game… The night was done. We started off Saturday morning with a message by Matt Larzen. The key point was that there are two kinds of people among Christians – Disciples and Pagans. There is no category called non-Disciple Christians, we are either a Disciple or a pagan. Matt Larzen gave a brilliant exposition on gospel of Mark about the cultural significance of unique way Jesus went about making Disciples of those rejected from the ‘high level’ Rabbinic Schools.

 

 

Then we had the entire day to play any sport we wanted. Here were the choices Wiffle ball, Basket Ball, Hill biking, Pickle Ball, Skeet Shooting, Ping pong, Foosball, Kayaking, Swimming, Rock climbing then there were a couple of other games I don’t remember the name of. We got to play many games from morning till evening. In the evening Matt Larzen continued with Gospel of Mark emphasizing the need for Disciples to trust in God, unlike the ‘first’ Disciples who after having seen Jesus feed the 5,000 and the 4,000, when instructed to beware of the ‘yeast of the Pharisees’, wondered if Jesus was being sarcastic because they had forgotten to bring enough bread with them for the journey.  Matt emphasized that we had to trust God so that that trust would impel us to take risks for the sake of the One whom we owe our allegiance to.

 

Saturday night was again ‘poker-time’. Some sat around the fire and shared interesting stories. Sunday morning, Matt talked about need for disciples to ‘correctly’ understand the Word of God so that we would give the ‘appropriate’ emphasis while teaching the different aspects of the Word of God. Unlike the folks in Israel who, in spite of Jesus telling them not to do so, spread news that Jesus was the ‘magical healer’; but completely failed to comprehend and fearlessly communicate Jesus as the ‘resurrected redeemer’ even though Jesus said that He would resurrect.

 

Matt explained a brilliant observation of some theologians as to why gospel of Mark has two endings and why the ending in earlier manuscripts is intentionally anticlimactic. In the anticlimactic ending, the women at the tomb of the resurrected Lord, do not to speak to anyone about the news of most dramatic miracle they witnessed, even though the Angel commanded them to spread the news. The reason why Mark ends with this anticlimactic response to the most astounding news of the entire cosmos is to convict the audience that they, in being eager to spread the news of ‘Jesus as healer’ and being not as eager to spread the news about the ‘Jesus are the resurrected redeemer’, were inclined to ‘Majorize’ the minor message and ‘minorize’ the Major message. Mark ended this way probably spurn his target audience to make them give more importance to spreading news about the ‘resurrected Lord’ instead of spreading news about ‘magical powers’ the spiritual world has to offer.

Matt suggested that we, as the early Church goers, ought to read the Books of the bible in one sitting to fully comprehend the meta-narrative of each book. Hopefully, I should be able to get to Starbucks on a Saturday and do as he suggested.

 

Looking back, we had been there for just a little over a day but it seemed like we had been there for a week. This I believe is because our day was packed with so many activities which we normally wouldn’t have done in a single day. I can’t recall a day in recent past when I have played cards and pickle ball and gone skeet shooting and then again played more pickle ball and was fed delicious breakfast, and lunch and dinner not to mention being enthralled by three brilliant expositions of the word of God, all in a little over a day. It was indeed a cool experience. We ended the weekend grateful to the One, to whom we owe our allegiance, for the cool weekend that was so filled with life-giving word and legitimate fun. 

21st Century Christian Monks


As we look back at history, we find that each era brings forth unique new social changes which redefine what humans value in life and how we live. I think that God uses such social changes unique to each age, to bring glory to His name. In the early Christian age, God used the Roman Empire for the sake of His own glory. As the famed Historian Will Durant says, “Christ and Ceaser met in the arena and Christ won”.

One of the most important contributions of the middle ages to the development of human progress is I think, the universities. In the middle ages, universities were places which God used to glorify His name. Historians say that ‘theology’ was then the most important course taught. But for these universities we may still be living in the world of divine right of kings. Then there were monasteries and convents where monks and nuns lived, who apart from praying ceaselessly, helped the downtrodden by managing orphanages and helping the widows with fire wood. God’s name was glorified through those celibants.

Back in those days, unmarried celibants had to live in monasteries and convents because if they tried to live with the society, they felt ostracised as everyone else was by default, married. But now, our society has changed. Thanks to the social devlopments of this age marked by individualism. The kind of individualism that we have gives an opportunity for singles to remain single live a very ‘active public life’ and not feel left-out by the society. So we all, by default, remain single and we get married if we choose to.

I am reminded of St. Augustine’s quote. “If God is God, and He is good and powerful and omniscient, He has to be all powerful to bring something good even out of something that is bad”.

On one side, radical individualism and unfettered freedom is wrecking havoc in the fabric of our social structure. But I think God is using the new freedoms, to set apart a group of singles who will live active, admirable and evniable public lives that gives glory to the name of God and possibly bring the nations closer to the heart of God.

I say this because I know some remarkable men and women in the 30s, 40s, who are single and are admired and may be even envied by many for the amazing work for God. A single businessman who in the freetime he has being a single guy, has built an amazing Christian ministry for singles. A single media director who makes the Church worship cherished by his extensive knowledge of the media he has acquired by spending time analyzing many movies and reading books. A single girl entrepreneur, who in her spare-time (thanks to her singlehood) travels across the nations building communities for God’s glory. A single girl who was a CEO herself and is now a high profile corporate trainer, training CEOs across the globe and using every opporunity to communicate the good news.

I don’t mean to say that families cannot serve God. There are great examples of folks with family lives serving God Billy Graham, John Piper etc… But what is interesting about the current generation is that unlike the immediately prior generations, in the 30s and 40s age category, it appears that an increasingly high number of singles live for the glory of God through their singlehood, even as temporary as the singlehood may be. They are, I believe, the Christian monks of the 21st century who live active community-oriented public lives for God’s glory.

Let me also state that God’s creation-mandate for us is to be married and have God-loving children. God’s redemption mandat is for us to go ALL-out and be His disciple. God’s redemption-mandate sometimes conflicts with creation-mandate. In the early Christian age, just having Godly children wasn’t going to help the cause of the gospel. So Paul said that Christiendom needed monks who’ll remain sigle for the sake of glorifying God. I believe the age we live in now, is another age where the redemption-mandate would override the creation-mandate.

I think the Christianity of the next century may be shaped heavily by the 21st Century Christian monks who are giving in to fulfilling the redemption-mandate at the cost of fulfilling their creation-mandate, perhaps just as early Christianity was heavily shaped by the life and the opinions of celibate early Church Fathers.

Good Times and Half-Good-Times

There are some experiences in life which when we look back a year or two later, we would, retrospectively, call them ‘Good times’. There are even fewer instances where we are relatively care-free and experience something good and on the way home or just after we enter our homes, we know that they were ‘good times’. Tonight, my first Rodeo experience, to me, was the ‘good times’ of the second kind. I was fortunate to have been able to go to the Rodeo with my good Christian friends at the GBC. Thanks to the Rodeo Badges they got. So here at 2:00 am, back at my home, I sit crystallizing the quintessential part of that experience in ‘words’. ‘Words’ are important to me.
I wish to expound on the words ‘good times’. First the word ‘good’… I am reading St. Augustine’s ‘Confessions’. So I am led to look at the word ‘good’ using the Augustinian lens. As per St. Augustine’s world-view, there are two types of good(s) – the lower good(s) and the higher good(s). The lower good(s) are the good(s) that are in the earthly realms, contained within the physical realities of life – the sights and the sounds and the movements. The higher good(s) are in the heavenly realms, that transcend the physical realities. St. Augustine’s seminal idea, I believe is that an ‘ordinate’ experience of the lower goods would point us towards the higher goods and help us experience the highest of the higher goods, which is, having a relationship with God.
This idea I think, was beautifully encapsulated in the song ‘Hello World’ that was sung by Lady Antebellum at the concert in the Rodeo. Before singing this song, there was a special introduction, that this song was very special to the singers in the band. To put it bluntly, that song exuded with theism. Oh, I loved it. My mind was racing as I was enthralled by the lyrics. It is about a guy/girl with a ‘broken heart of steel’ despairing over the pointlessness of life. Then he/she finds ‘meaning’ in the smile of a little girl with chocolate on her face. He/she then finds deeper ‘meaning’ in his home and his family – wife/husband and kids. This ‘unfurls’ his/her faith. And the song ends with his/her falling on his/her knees in a ‘believing surrender’ to the One above.
The essence of this song, the way I see it through the Augustinian lens is that, the little things in life, like the blissful smile of a little girl and the heavier things of life like the assurance of life that comes with home and hearth are the ‘lower good(s)’of life which give meaning in the midst of our despair. And then through the assurance of this ‘meaning in spite of darkness’, the lower good(s) help us to exercise our faith and look up above and reach up and surrender to the ‘greatest good’ – God.
Now, the phrase ‘good times’ needs some exposition, because standing alone, the phrase makes only an illusionary sense of goodness. There is a popular saying, “When the real God arrives, the half-gods flee”. But C.S. Lewis, in his book ‘Four Loves’, says that the opposite is the truth. He says, “When the real God arrives, only then, the half-gods can stay”. The ‘good times’ we experience are like the half-gods. They can only make sense only if we have the assurance of a real God who promises eternal good. In other words, if we do not have the assurance of being with God, in this life and the next, then all the ‘good times’ we experience in this life is as non-sensical as setting the board to have some good-times by playing one last game of poker on the deck of the sinking Titanic. It is only when we have the assurance of enjoying the ‘real’ good times, eternally with God, will we truly be able to enjoy these half-good-times in this world. Good-times aren’t good-times without God-time in our life.
I had some ‘good times’ this evening, I thank God for them. They are just half-good. The real good is in the relationship with God. These half-good-times are just a fore-taste of the real good-times we will eternally celebrate with the Eternally Good One. May God be eternally praised. 

Valentine Meditations: Valentine Culture and Western Civilization

So this is another Feb 14th, I am reading C.S.Lewis’ ‘Four Loves’, again, trying to get wrap my mind around the idea of love – an honorable thing to do (I guess) on the day which venerates love. I am also working on writing something about Valentines day – my valentine meditations…

Valentine’s day is predominantly a celebration of the affluent. Having lived both in the east and the west, in my experience, Valentine’s day is celebrated with fun and frolic in the affluent west and in pockets of the eastern hemisphere where affluence is pursued as the chief aim of life. In also think that in any society where the ‘social standard’ of affluence is high, the pursuit of affluence is often accompanied by an advent of a prolonged singlehood, delayed marriages and ultimately, fewer children. Affluence is not the enemy of marriages. The modern western society’s high standards for affluence and the mind-numbing pursuit of the high standards causes within the heart of man a dilemma in choosing between a high single lifestyle of freedom and luxury or a shared lower standard of family living characterized by commitment and sacrifice.

By the standards of the western society, unless one is relatively rich, to be married and to have children has become akin to being burdened by a much lesser standard of living, so most singles who are forced to pursue affluent standards by the society have no option other than to wait until they are (college) debt free and rich enough to enjoy an affluent married life. In most cases, this does not necessarily mean that singles are alone until they are married. Most end up with the compromise of living with make-shift mates and celebrating valentine’s day.  Valentine’s day in much of the affluent world appears to have morphed into a celebration for the singles, to celebrate it with their make-shift mates and still remain single.

This ‘valentine culture’ that pursues society’s standard for ‘individual affluence’ at the cost of marriage, children and family will undermine the very foundation of the western civilization. This may not be the straw that breaks the back of the western civilization, it is most likely the rottenness that is eating it from within. G.K. Chesterton said, ‘There are many ways a civilization can fall, there is only one way it can stand. The western civilization is now testing the angles’. I live in an apartment complex in mid-town Houston which has nearly 200 apartments and I hardly see any kids. Whereas in India in an apartment complex of the same size, occupied by similar demographic age group, I would be constantly and pleasantly disturbed by the sound of screaming kids.

A column in the Wall Street Journal said that to bring down the western civilization, the Islamic Jihadists need not really risk attempting another 9/11. They can just sit in their caves and continue to have as many children as they can and then wait for the western world to fall under its own weight. The western civilization as we see it, will eventually fall because this generation of westerners aren’t getting married neither are they having enough children. Without children, no civilization can exist. The theory is that when the western world falls because there aren’t enough children to prop it up, the children of Middle eastern world will, by default, inherit the world of tomorrow.

A huge part of the ‘unsophisticated’ east though hasn’t fallen prey to this Valentine culture. I read an article which said that the ‘Commission for promotion of virtues and prevention of vice’ in Saudi Arabia, (no, this is not a joke there is indeed a commission by that name in the Saudi) has banned any form of celebration of the valentine’s day. This may sound retarded, but I think, the middle eastern Clerics have the prescience that allowing any form of valentine culture of the affluent west to become the norm in their culture would rob defeat from the jaws of victory they are eagerly and patiently waiting for. In fact, Islam is the fastest growing religion, not through propagation of its ideals, but through procreation by its followers.

The Church is not silent either, it too is fighting against this decadence. I went to a Church for a Valentine’s day special event. A special speaker was flown in from 1000 miles afar and interestingly, the theme of the message was “How to stay single and find wholeness (in God)”. But there wasn’t even a cursory mention of getting married or raising families. Perhaps I am ignorant, but I really do not know why one’s pursuit of one’s sense of wholeness in God has anything to do with ones marital status. The message of Evangelical Christianity to singles appears to be that singles should behave, be patient, be blessed and wait for the marriage ‘calling’. The gist of the Christian message, I think, isn’t that different from what I get from TV series ‘Friends’. ‘Friends’ tells singles to be single, confused and cool until something happens and you find yourself getting married. The Church tells singles be single, blessed and cool until you have the ‘calling’. The Church is right fighting against the idea of having make-shift mates, but it appear to not be fighting against the root cause, neither is it giving a solution to the problem.

God commanded man to be fruitful and multiply. The modern society that dictates man to pursues personal affluence does not understand what this command from God means. Modern man is caught in a dilemma. One part of the modern man wants to be free and affluent. Another part of man wants to be married and have kids and a family. Modern man, without the Bible, does not have the framework to reconcile this dilemma that is gnawing from deep within him. This generation that addicted to affluence, tarries on in anguished confusion about marriage and raising families seeks its solace in the valentine culture of make-shift mates.

The pre-modern society had a sense of community and traditions which helped man get married and then helped him stay married. The place held by community and traditions in the previous generation is empty now. The Church, in most cases, instead of stepping into this lacuna and helping the modern man have a Biblical and culturally relevant understanding of being fruitful and multiplying, is, I think, overreacting (against the make-shit mate culture) and asking singles to find wholeness in singlehood first and then think about marriage as a special ‘calling’.

If the historical St. Valentine did what history says he did, he did not invent boxed chocolates wrapped with ribbons or red roses, neither did he ask them to wait for some special ‘calling’ or for the right opportunity or compromise with make-shift mates. He appears to have done exactly what the Christians needed to do. He stepped into a lacuna created by the ‘social standards’ of that day and helped singles get married. He supposedly paid a very heavy cost for it. No wonder he made himself the most venerated Saint of all time across all nations irrespective of religion or race or creed that the Muslim Clerics need not have a decree that no Muslim should celebrate St. Paul’s day but has a decree that none should celebrate St. Valentine’s day.

The Church (of today) I think has a great opportunity to speak into this anguished culture unable to reconcile the dilemma between society’s standard for ‘personal affluence’ and the yearning in the human heart for ‘family life’. Christianity has to reverse the damage done by this valentine culture by speaking INTO the valentine culture, in a language they understand as Paul did at Athens. If Christians cannot make themselves relevant to the plight of this culture, historians of tomorrow may observe that Christianity, which by subjugating the authority of kings to the ‘law from above’, gave mankind the basis to the creating the democratic golden era of western civilization, couldn’t save it from the decadence that had set in.

My Name is Khan – A Message to Christian Charities

I haven’t seen the new much hyped Bollywood movie ‘My Name is Khan’ which has famous Indian movie stars acting and directing in it. I just read reviews. The goal of movie’s Protagonist, Mr. Khan a gullible Muslim living in the US, is to somehow meet Prez Bush face to face and tell him, ‘My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist’. It appears that the film will have internatinal appeal as it attempts to show that one rotten apple in basket does not mean every other apple is rotten as well. Films of this kind tend to have a good and timely message.

But sometimes, flims of this kind are prone to over-stating their case by using misconstrued examples. They inadvertently tend to take a dig at a good cause by misconstruing or even misrepresenting it for a bad one. I think ‘My Name is Khan’ isn’t an exception. In this, I think it wrongly takes the US Christian Charities to task, especially in how it funds other Charities around the world.

Apparently, in the movie, there is a scene, where a ‘Christian-only’ Charity contribution is taken in the US for Somalian Christians and Mr. Khan gallantly volunteers to donate to the non-Christians in Somalia. I know quite a few US Christian charities that work with folks in Africa and India, but I have never heard of a ‘Christian-only’ Charity. It is true that Christian charities work with Churches in Africa. This is because the Chruch has the widest network and strong sense of community orientation and commitment that helps reach out to the common man in Africa. Even villages that do not have electricity will still have a Church. Places where the ‘Uncle Sams’ cannot reach, are reached-out to by the Church. To call this Church-modelled Charity giving as ‘Christian-only’ Charity, which excludes non-Christian beneficiaries is to competely misconstrue the logistics of how charities work in villages that has been neglected by every other institution of the world save the Church of Christ.

Before I delve further into what I really want to say, I think, I need to state something that the movie makers have conveniently chosen to not give credence to at all. Over the last few decades, it is the non-Christian Indian Social Service Organizations that have raised more charity money from the west than the Christian organizations. Funding to Indian Christian charity has reduced phenomenally over the past few decades. Only a few Christian institutions get funding from abroad. This fact not withstanding, during relief work after natural disasters, it is the Christian Charities that out-do the non-Christian ones. In fact, I was told sometime back that during natural disasters, the villagers hope that the relief work in their village is taken over by a Christian Charity rather than a non-Christian one because Christian Charities have least corruption and money really reaches the people in need.

My chief intent to write this is not to say what ‘My Name is Khan’ is wrong about in its depiction of Christian charity, but to state what, in spirit, it is partly right about and more importantly, what lesson Christians, especially Indian Christians, have to learn from this. I think the movie makers were, partly right in this portrayal in that it points out a glaring mistake of Indian Christian Charities. I think the impetus for the movie makers to take a dig at Christian charities is because Indian Christian Charities over the course of the ‘past few decades’ have become self-centered in as far they have become wealthy institutions in catering to Christians.

Let us rewind, go back to the times when our Christian institutions had humble origins and were more concerned about the society around then about the resources within. If we looked at the political arena of yesteryears, most Hindu leaders where people who were educated in Christian institutions and they had a positive opinion on Christian Charity institutions. Our Christian charities then, were existing for non-Christians, our Church Fathers and Mothers expended themselves in helping others as the Word of God calls for us to do. But that has changed over the last few decades. The problem with Indian Christian charity organisations and institutions of this day is that we have become wealthy and have become unable to handle our resources in that we are holding on to our resources too tightly. We have become a closed system.

We have drawn a circle around ourselves as ‘minorities’ and are ‘pooling’ our own resources to enjoy them ourselves. We think our institutions belong to us. We forget that the last person a Christian Charity organization belongs to is us. Our institutions belong to the Kingdom of God. We are just humble custodians who need to give an account for our institutions to the King.

Our institutions in many places, have forgotten the Christian principles of going the extra mile to embracing the marginalized and the oppressed and are instead fighting over which Christian institution has control over which mile of land. We have forgotten to live for others in a way that our Church Fathers did, such that others would see our work and glorify the God we worship.

The Christian organizations abroad that contribute to Indian charities often fail to realize that quite a number of Indian Christian charities do not wish to be a city on the top of a hill that is a beacon to the rest of the society, but want to be a cloistered castle in a lush green valley. Christian donors would need to do due deligence  that the money sent abroad is used to build the Kingdom of God and not the Empire of Christians.

No wonder Mr. Khan wants to donate money to the non-Christians in the third world.