Easter is the day of victory of Good over Evil – the day when Truth prevailed over Deception. A single man by virtue of His loneliness & supposed helplessness was persecuted endlessly until finally He died on the Cross on Good Friday. Good Riddance the majority thought then. Until of course, the day of Easter this lonely helpless Man, came back to life and showed to the world at large, that He is complete God too!
Easter is also the day of Freedom from Death & Sin. This freedom was obtained by the Resurrection of the One & Only Master & Saviour, Christ Jesus! None of the disciples’ death on Easter (or any other day) brought freedom from death to any Christian community. Yet, the question that remains unanswered is – has this message sunk in sufficiently in the hearts & minds of our modern day Christian leaders so as to be able to have due regard for every other Christian community? Instead, is it not true that the following verses from the first Book of Corinthians holds true even today?
1 Corinthians 3:1-7 goes as follows
- Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly – mere infants in Christ.
- I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
- You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
- For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
- What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task.
- I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.
- So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow
Being attached to Christ as He wanted of us – as between The True Vine & its branches – ought to automatically inspire us to have a Universal Vision about humanity & brotherhood. Insofar as Christianity goes, as long as the weightier matters of faith are followed, a Christian ought not to be too concerned about the differences between his complete set of beliefs, to the last letter, and those of any other person.
Thus, in my view, the message of Easter to be complete needs mankind to make a two-fold effort. First, one needs to take extra care so as not to fall into the deceptions of Satan. For, the eventual battle is not with humans, but with principalities & powers that have pursued its divisive agenda right from the days of Adam & Eve. And, as we have noticed in the recent past (regarding Indian armed forces), in the modern world these divisive forces could quite often come in the form of even respectable pillars (media) of democracy. In other words, such is the conviction that Satan brings along that, unless extremely careful, even modern religious leaders (as also lay members) could easily get entrapped. In 1 Corinthians 3:18, St. Paul clearly exhorts us not to be wise in our own eyes, but rather prefer to get branded as a “fool” by this world, because the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.
The second point is for one to be conscious of one’s body being the temple of the living God. Hence, in addition to reading the Holy Bible and following the Holy Sacraments, we also ought to be extremely mindful of taking the extra effort of changing ourselves from within based on these very activities. It is thus, and then, that we become more mindful of the presence of Christ within us as also in every other human being, including complete strangers. Upon reading from the Gospel of St. Luke 24: 13-35, we notice how the two travellers, proceeding towards the village of Emmaus, were unable to recognize Christ who travelled with them through much of the journey. Until of course, they partook of the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist with NONE OTHER than Christ.
In summary thus, let us be more mindful that the Resurrection of Christ is for all of mankind that believes in Him, and thus, open our hearts and minds to such a wider community of faithful followers of Christ.
John Jacob
Morality in society can show significant improvement only when religious institutions in our country (India) are subjected to extensive public scrutiny. But then, the question arises – who will dare to subject spiritual institutions to scrutiny? The answer here too is – the common man. For, not many religious leaders would show a willingness to subject their ethical practices to be brought under scrutiny. Rather, many would rather prefer to cover up their deficiencies and, instead, want to hog credits as and when such opportunities come their way. It is this ‘Self-righteous Swami’ attitude among many of them that actually prevents quite a few religious institutions from getting out of the rut that it finds itself in. The primary outcome of the 100-year old tussle between the two Malankara factions has been that many of the activities done by quite a few of the members of the clergy are driven more by politics, than by spiritual considerations. Instead of this, admitting short-comings and seeking to rectify them would have contributed to the development of strong values within such institutions and, in turn, also acted as better guiding posts for the masses (laity) in perusing the Perfect God with greater vigor. After all, wouldn’t this also jell well with the words of John The Baptist, “He must increase; I must decrease!”?
Moving forward, it is clear from the above that by ethical practices I am not referring merely to the financial and administrative actions of charitable institutions. It would also involve examining the rationale and morality associated to decision-making in new initiatives that happen in religious institutions. For, I do not buy the argument that there is a lot of charity left in many (not all) of the charitable institutions across the nation. I am of the view that the rot needs to be stemmed first, and then reversed.
Thus, decisions taken to make people bishops, for example, in return for Cash (the “Cash for Post”, and “Post for Property (free-of-charge or, for cheap)” ‘deals’) needs to be examined from the perspective of its correctness within their respective religious beliefs (Christianity in the Malankara Church’s case), its moral impact on the laity and the society at large, its impact on relationships with other similar institutions and / or dealings with political organizations, etc. Other similar decisions could be related to the utilization of funds – whether this promotes charity within the fold first and / or then among the society at large, etc.
During such a moral scrutiny, the examination of rationale behind decision-making needs to involve determining the possibility of achieving the desired outcomes. Take the case of strengthening the family by providing `equal rights’ to women in religious institutions – whether this will help strengthen family-ties in a commoner’s home, facilitate child-development activities, improve Care and Love for the elderly, etc. Approaching this issue with a “My 80-year-old wife and I have been on the Board of Directors of XYZ MNC for over 30 years now and we have had no gender-based issues between us” attitude and pushing this `sophisticated society’ mindset down the throats of simple down-to-earth village-folks (or, say tribal folk) who are rooted in Indian culture, would be unjust, in my view. In short, trampling on the family (and its wealth) and familial ties while building up religious institutions and their Managing Committees, etc. across the length and breadth of Indian society is, in my view, nothing short of social suicide being inflicted on the hapless `stakeholders’. In other words, isn’t it time that in true Christian spirit of togetherness, a closer look is given to complementariness as against competitiveness?
Moving forward, looking at this matter from a broader perspective, the involvement of religion in Politics of the secular world would surely need a closer look. Being a developing nation, while the immediate attention of the majority of the population is drawn towards meeting the basic needs of mankind (such as food, water, clothing, shelter, etc.), attempts to polarize the voting population by some in the political class on the basis of religion cannot be overlooked. On this front, it is unfortunate that many of the religious leaders of our nation are yet to rise above petty interests and hold on to a Universal Vision about humanity and brotherhood. However, the silver lining on this front has been the fact that the voting pubic have been driven more by domestic & local factors; and that too in a multi-party political environment, as against permitting themselves to be nationally divisive along religious lines. As such, here too it appears that it is the common man that seem to show the way forward for the nation. The question however that still remains here is – when will our religious leaders stop treating their flock as vote banks and start genuinely caring for their social and moral needs?
As to the customs & traditions followed by the people in various regions & religions (such as Karva Chauth among Hindus in certain locations, Onam & Pongal festivals being followed in the Southern parts of India, etc.) here too the religious / charitable institutions have a role to play in utilizing them, as and when appropriate, towards promoting harmony in the social and familial environments. The question is – have our religious leaders given it a serious thought on all such opportunities from the perspective of, say, promoting amity between different sections of society?
To summarize, the moot point I wish to make is – to imagine that morals within society would improve while charitable institutions go about blatantly damaging (or, ignoring) morality within, is a perfect recipe for larger social disaster. Take for example the adverse social / familial impact among quite a few in the laity by the Piravom byelections in Kerala which, as per reports, seem to have a direct correlation to the high-voltage stand-off between the Malankara Orthodox Church & the Jacobite faction. As such, it is clear that many in the clergy from both factions do not seem to be caring too much about such adverse impacts, nor the laity thinking too deeply on these matters in its eagerness to be part of the ‘approved’ crowd and, seem to rather want to ‘flow with the tide’.
On the contrary thus, it becomes imperative on the ‘commoner-laity’ to reflect deeply on all such matters before these begin to turn up in the shape of ‘monsters’ within the confines of their own respective homes / localities. After all, while Charity begins at Home, not many who matter seem to be really caring about selflessly promoting charity here!
John Jacob
Being mindful of one’s citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven is critical for one to begin valuing the currencies that matter more there. The mortal world indeed gives preference to worldly currencies such as position and stature, reputation and credits, money, property, power, and so on. Thus the worldly “I shall scratch your back if you scratch mine” barter system operates on the basis of who has how much of these worldly currencies. Thus, the weaker and poorer sections of society who may have nothing much in the form of these worldly currencies (except probably a vote – and that too if they manage to get included within the system) appears to be at a disadvantage. And hence, they end up being summarily ignored, or at best, treated with disdain for most of their mortal lives.
Having said the above, man’s greater realization of his higher calling would bring to the table additional currencies such as selfless deeds, love, sharing, equality and justice for all, and so on. It is in this context that all of mankind (and hence, each person, regardless of whether he is Orthodox or Jacobite, American or Iranian or Israelite or Palestinian, Hindu or Muslim or Christian, rich or poor, powerful or devoid of power, etc) becomes a true ally. Pretensions then get set aside and genuineness come to the fore while dealing with each such ally within mankind. It is in such a frame of mind that one could consider oneself truly spiritual and hence, a true member of the Kingdom of Heaven. After all, there is only one Heaven for one and all, be he from whatever background!
Anyway, in a world of unequals, the above paragraphs are by no means meant to suggest the establishment of a one-world-order on this planet. But it is primarily meant to encourage mankind to start utilizing these unused ‘elements’
(such as selflessness, restraint, and Love etc.) of the heavenly currencies while bartering, and asserting influence, along their journey towards the Eternal Kingdom, which is what truly matters from a strategic standpoint. It is then that Blessings from God for communities and nations become true Blessings for All!
Moving forward, if we were to apply the above principles in the armed forces thus, a Naib Subedhar’s magnanimity in having the willingness within to barter his very life for safeguarding his countrymen’s lives becomes an invaluable
currency. So does an Army Officer’s / Bureaucrat’s restraint from abusing his position to target the weak etc. get valued in the sight of the Lord. As also will the Gates of Heaven make way to a rich man’s genuine concerns for the weak, or even a religious leader’s equal regard for even the smallest and weakest (and most ignorant) member of the laity unmindful of the associated hassles and / or worldly appreciations. So the question arises then – what about the currencies owned by the poor, weak and suffering then? Well, their tolerance in suffering itself (we remember Lazarus, don’t we?) becomes the biggest currency for them before the Lord!
In the process, the democratic pillars of nations also become less taxed as these too begin to have more time (and hence, become more mindful) for attending to the basic needs (as against, the higher needs) of mankind. For this, social
responsibilities have to be recognized and equitably shared by all for the general good of mankind and thus, the private sector, for one, also has a major role to play in promoting the harmonious flow of Untainted Positive Energies
within societies and, nations at large.
Of course, such a “Thy Kingdom Come” status cannot be expected to happen overnight on earth. Yet, for it to happen, wouldn’t it be a prerequisite for our leaders (political, religious, business, social, etc.) to nurture (within) and
campaign for such a vision among mankind?
As such, may the Lord strengthen mankind’s resolve for promoting the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth!
John Jacob
St. Mark 12: 28 – 34 goes as follows
28. One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that
Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments,
which is the most important?”
29. “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the
Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind and with all your strength.’
31. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no
commandment greater than these.”
32. “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. You are right in saying that God is
one and there is no other but him.
33. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all
your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all
burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34. When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far
from the Kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more
questions.
While the above commandments are beyond any doubt two of the most important
ones, a cursory look at the modernized world today will suffice one to
acknowledge that much of its activities are in clear dissonance to these very
commandments. Quite often spirituality also gets confused with religiosity to
the extent that modernity has almost personified spirituality to the Pharisee
(in the parable of the Pharisee & the Tax Collector). And yet we all know that
when it comes to spiritual quality, it is the humility of the Tax Collector
which finds better justification before the Lord as against the cold calculative
one-upmanship put on display by the Pharisee. If modern man’s behavior were to
be any yardstick for measurement, it is abundantly clear that the moral of such
stories have only managed to sink into our brains, but not our hearts!
To have a heart that values the morals imparted in such parables would primarily
require nothing less than the Grace of God. For, without God’s Grace, our hearts
will continue to remain hardened despite our continuing to attend innumerable
church services, on the one hand, while the ‘Pharisee’ within us keeps turning
up its ugly head, on the other. And this, inspite of the spiritual depth in our
Holy Qurbanas and other prayers! True indeed, thus, is Mother Teresa in saying
that the greatest poverty in this world is the Poverty of Love.
Armed with a softer heart however, we begin to better understand, and imbibe
within us, the depth of God’s Love for us as we seek God’s help for imbibing in
our hearts love for Him and our fellow brethren. When the weighter matters
arrive, the lesser important ones get sidelined. And there can be no more
weightier matters on this planet than Love for God and Love for Man! As such, we
need to consistently pray to the Father to remove the hardness of our hearts and
put His Love within us to better enable us to Love Him and Mankind at large!
On the practical side, in a world where divisive forces are working overtime in
our churches, work-places and, society at large, Jesus needs more and more
loving hearts to work overtime on His behalf among us! In fact, if there were to
be only a single day left for us on this planet, with it we could have done no
better thing than utilizing it for loving God and loving man! The question is –
are we ready yet (or, does it still remain impractical)?
John Jacob
The contrast between the election results of the Malankara Association and the Uttar Pradesh elections became evident within a day’s time. In the former, the two trustee positions for the next five years went to the same persons as before. In the latter, the UP electorate decided to repose their trust in a fresh father-son duo of Mulayam Singh & Akhilesh Yadav. Questions now only remain as to who ought to take up the Chief Minister’s post.
In my view, the younger Yadav must insist on having the elderly statesman hold on to the baton of CM. To keep the cadres happy he could consider taking up the Deputy-CM’s post as also the portfolio of Internal Security (Home). There can be no doubt that a proper development of UP would require the goonda-elements to be reined in. For this, the responsibility to ensure law-and-order within the state is primarily on him and thus, come good on the trust reposed on him by the people of UP. He must also consistently keep channels of communication open with young leaders in the Congress for various purposes and also seek active support from all stakeholders for the progress of the state. He must also ensure that a spirit of cooperation and support prevails insofar the state’s duties in Parliament towards the citizens of India is concerned. After all, for example, going forward the ‘mayavi-appetites’ ought not to prevail in UP; right? Instead, the appetite of Food (& Security) for the people is more deserving of merit; right?
Anyway, the election results have also proven beyond a doubt that whenever leaders like the erstwhile CM of UP Ms. Mayawati get cut-off from the masses under the guise of security, red-tape, etc. they get easily manipulated and misguided by their ‘Sycophants & Associates Inc’. An elephantic error this; right?
As regards the Malankara Association, in the 5 years’ time can the members trust the trustees to untangle the MOSC from its legal tangles? Time will tell!
John Jacob
Talking of confused publicity & bad press, the RSS would probably take the cake for this. For, while hearing a petition on the bail plea for a Malegaon blast accused, it got strongly reprimanded by none less than the Apex Court for making “unnecessary” public statements. And this was directed not at a lower cadre personnel – but the RSS Chief himself! This seems to suggest as to how high profile the Malegaon Blast case actually is! Here is a link that gives some of the details – http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/SC-slams-RSS-chief-for-his-remark-on-Hemant-Karkare/Article1-818783.aspx
In fact, it appears that the Sangh Parivar is now on a publicity overdrive. Ten years after the massacre in the Gujarat riots, in one of the write-ups by none less than the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, the blame for their woes falls on the Congress & benevolent NGOs (plus any decent police officer (or the like) who dares to share notes with them in this regard). But then, how do you attempt to brand (“disgruntled” is what the police officer got branded as) the victims & their families themselves, Mr. Jaitley? They are out to get cheap publicity, is it? Anyway, here is the ‘Peaceful & Prosperous Modi’ publicity overdrive link (without the skull-cap, of course!) – http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-arun-jaitley-the-congress-game-plan-to-malign-modi/20120229.htm
While the readers are welcome to form their own opinions, I got the impression after reading this write-up that break-throughs on these court cases seem just round the corner. As such, through such painful justifications despite state-acquiesced wrongs (a euphemism, no doubt!), more and more respectable politicians only seem to be getting drawn into the muck.
Anyway, the irony of the Sangh Parivar’s whole situation is that while they appear to be on a publicity overdrive to save their skins on the one side, any uncomfortable utterances by young leaders of the ruling party are promptly sought to be put down. And that would leave who else then? Well, probably anybody worth his salt who aligns with the Congress. After all, the Congress is the Sangh Parivar’s primary political opponent, right? Here is the relevant link – http://in.news.yahoo.com/bjp-condemns-rahul-gandhis-remarks-against-advani-154800454.html.
In my view, considering their jealous & aristocratic mindsets, it appears to be more a case of their needing to remove the log from their own eyes before attempting to remove the speck of dust in those of others’. That is, assuming that there is a reference in the above link to members (like me) of the public who dare to write on political affairs to their discomfiture, out of abundant caution from my point of view, here is a ‘Disclosure Statement’ given in the paragraphs below!
None of my views so far in ICON, or elsewhere, has in any way been prompted or encouraged by the Congress or any other political party, or any religious / lay leader. They have always been my own personal views. In fact, from the time that I have been writing on ICON till date, I have not connected with a Congress leader even once. But then of course, it is my own business were I to choose to join the Congress or any other political party going forward.
Further, many (not all) of my views on contemporary affairs, nationalism and/or national interests may be more in alignment with that of the Congress (at the Centre) than with quite a number of other parties. Also, there have been quite a few instances when my views have differed with that of the Congress so far during which time too, ICON members will agree, that I have chosen to express my personal views as it stands then. In fact, it goes to the Congress’ credit that, despite being the party in power, they have many-a-times so far retained ample of humility by showing a willingness to seek consensus, on the one hand, and also change directions, when deemed appropriate, for the larger good of the diverse masses, on the other. In my view, they have been giving ample importance to the merits of an argument, than on the position and power of the ‘messenger’. These, in my view, are some of the hallmarks of a common man’s party.
As such, here is hoping for a secure, equitable and prosperous future ahead for the citizens of this great nation!
John Jacob
Having regard for the best interests of the common man is not a very common occurrence in modern societies. Yet the stability of societies, and nations at large, depend upon this very need of safeguarding their very interests. And it is through the rightful application of public opinion that such stability gets established within societies.
Take the case of the NCTC being discussed in the Indian political circles. (read this – http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-the-upa-government-gets-stumped-again/20120222.htm ). Here the Federal Govt. and many State Governments appear to be discussing about federal structure and bifurcation of authority between them. But neither seems to be thinking from the perspective of the common man. There is no denying that 99.999 percent of the population have nothing to do with terrorism. Yet unless somebody thinks from the perspective of the common man, a good percentage of these innocent citizens (and primarily those belonging to the minority communities) could end up being targeted and wrongfully added to their watch-lists. Here is a link
Clearly, while we in India truly enjoy many freedoms including the freedom of expression, it may not be so in many other countries, including the USA. Thus, for example, if during the course of exercise of such freedoms in the USA, one were to be critical of, say, the Iraq war, such criticism against the government could suffice for his being subjected to targeted harassment and also to be put on the ‘watch-list’ (listen to this video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc&list=PL35897A1B28B3207F&index=1&feature=plpp_video )
The point thus that I wish to make here is – after the formation of the NCTC, if the US Govt. were to transfer such motivated information to the NCTC, what checks and balances exist to ensure that wrongful targeting & monitoring based on the advise of countries such as the US does not take place? In other words, the common man’s interests is in ensuring that proper checks and balances are put in place to avoid harassment of law-abiding citizens, on the one hand, and thus data-cleansing takes place, on the other. While on data-cleansing, this may be a need for the armed forces too – what with some of our leaders being hyper-sensitive about their image and honour!
And by the way, what about the image of the common man (or commoner laity)? Maybe here the rule then gets applied to which Christ referred to in His words, “If they have called the Master of the House Beelzebub, how much more will they malign those of His own household?”
John Jacob
Hello world! Welcome to my world of blogs!
Technology is known to be a great leveler and the internet has proven it beyond any doubt – insofar as providing a level-playing field for furthering the cause of Public Opinion is concerned. And, it is indeed my pleasure to have my own little space on this public platform.
Moving forward, as an Indian National who is interested in varied subjects including religion (and – Christianity in particular), politics, economy, and the like, the posts that you find on my blogs could cover all these areas. For, there can be no denying the fact that each such subject makes an impact on the persona of a human being and hence, could get reflected in his writings and viewpoints.
Anyway, the primary purpose in this endeavor of creating a blog is to facilitate faster transmission of ideas and viewpoints that could have a bearing on varied matters of interest to mankind.
Here is hoping that the readers are able to derive some benefit from whatever little I can offer through these posts.
Best Regards,
John Jacob
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