Musings

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me - Galatians 2:20

The verse mentioned above is one of my favorites from the Good Book.Since coming to Catholic revival I have always believed that this verse should be the motto of my life, that I should die and Christ should live in me.But even though I would like to say that it is happening in my life,the truth of the matter is that many a times(make it almost all the times ) it is Christ who dies in my life and not me.Here are a few examples from my daily life :

Christ says Rely on Me..............I prefer relying on myself.

Christ says hand me your burdens...............I prefer carrying them myself until my back breaks 

Christ says be holy................I prefer being happy.

Christ says endure all temptations.............I say well if it makes me happy I will do it.

Christ says humble yourself..............but all I seek is honor.

Christ wants me to invest in people and relationships............but before investing I want to know about the ROI.

Well,I can go on and on with the list but I think you get the drift.Dearly beloved,the fact is that every minute of our lives we have a choice to make - either to listen to Christ or to the flesh.If you are on the same boat as me, just take a minute now to reflect on the choices that you make in your day to day lives and ask God for the grace to help you(and me) make the right choices most of the times (make it all the times ).

Janta hai mera baap kuan hai – Lokpal!

Everybody in India now-a-days wants to be ‘Anna’ and as they say ‘I am Anna’. Almost everyone who appears in the television or in the print media to be more precise. So my first question is this – is the entire nation behind Anna Hazare? I can’t say for sure if the entire nation is behind him since even my visibility is as far as the television is or the newspapers are or my own friend’s circles or office colleagues and not more than that. Well lets take my visibility aside and for a while assume that the televisions and newspaper are echoing the voice of the people – and the entire nation as they say are with ‘Anna’ in his fight against corruption. So what’s the big deal about this we can ask – can’t an ex-army man exercise his freedom to fight corruption which our country is struggling against from time immemorial. Before answering this question we should ask ourselves are we struggling with corruption; a stupid question to even ask in the heat of all this I suppose but honestly are we suffering and groaning about it or have we accepted corruption as part and parcel of the fabric of the nation. If we have accepted it like the standard ‘Chaltha Hai’ kind of attitude then that’s more the root of the problem and that’s were our campaign must be directed towards. A strong lokpal is good but then it still doesn’t solve the root problem many ways since these very people will make this lokpal’s ‘Chaltha Hai’ very soon or may be like in a typical bollywood dialogue they will say– “Janta hai mera baap kuan hai (Do you know who my dad is?)– Lokpal! ‘

Law of the land can keep only a certain check on the proceedings. We have already certain laws in place to curb corruption yet the many who are expected to minimum follow it are accused of overlooking it and we have the ex chief justice of the nation, chief minister of a state, many bureaucrats as living witnesses to this reality. Certainly a stronger law on paper (Ethics) is needed but what we really need this hour is a clearer law written in the heart of the people (Ethos). This Ethos is needed at every walk of life and at every level.

As you read this – if you are employed , ask yourselves if you have shown fake rent receipts to save some tax – then you are corrupt on the first place! If you have got a land or a certificate or anything from any government office by bribing 100 or 200 INR or higher to any official or third party then you are corrupt! If you have violated the traffic rules and have paid 100 INR to be let off by the police since you had to rush in to go to the Temple or Church or Mosque to pray - then you are also corrupt and even God cant deny it ! So as per Jan Lokpal what shall we do with the corrupt – minimum 5 years or life imprisonment? I think these must be first applied to all those who are sitting and calling the politicians corrupt no doubt most are but how can you point to the dirt in some one ‘s eye when you have a big log in yours? And as a nation we need to ask these questions ourselves how corrupt are we and are we ready to take on ourselves this big dictorial and almost larger than life Jan Lokpal law.

I don’t know if which Lokpal will come – Lokpal of the people’s representatives or the Jan Lokpal of the so called people’s representatives but Lokpal or Jan Lokpal – we need to build a generation which writes this law of integrity on to their hearts. How will the coming generation learn it until the present generation teaches it? How can we teach it if we don’t practice it? How can we practice it if we don’t believe that we can do it? Believe yourselves; don’t be in hurry to get things done for yourselves, don’t encourage the corrupt, and resist them with your patience. A patient man’s curry is far better than the fury of the impatient!

Source : http://www.togglefree.blogspot.com/

This is truly what I need

Lord, much more than profound wisdom and great understanding, I desire a heart that is pure, lowly and contrite. This is truly what I need.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

They couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus - Mark 2:4

I have some great friends......no make that awesome friends.Friends who have stuck on with me for years.Friends that I can bank upon to stand by me anytime of the day or night.Friends who would bend over backwards to save my skin(this happens a lot).Friends who stimulate me intellectually and with whom I share common interests.Over the years God has given me the grace to befriend some really smart n fun people and I thank God for that.I am sure it is the same for all of you too. Isn't friendship really a great gift from God ? 

In the Bible there is this story about remarkable friendship,its the story about the crippled man and his four friends.We probably have heard this story a zillion times,but still its a good reminder as to how we can have a radical effect on our friends' life.Yes, 'R-A-D-I-C-A-L' is the correct word to describe this kind of friendship.What other word can describe their intrepidity in breaking open a roof so that Jesus could heal their friend.And Jesus heals the crippled,not because of his(the cripple's) faith but because of his friends' faith.So,today take a moment to think about all your friends and family-members who need Jesus  in their lives.I am sure there are many people in your lives who need the healing(not just physical) touch of the Savior.What are you doing radically different to bring Jesus into their lives ? Are you even doing something ? Pray,ponder and do something....something radical. 

Break open some roofs today.

Irish Wristwatch

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham - Mathew 1:1

Irish Wristwatch  - Try saying this phrase ten times as fast as you can !!

Tough,eh ? You see this is a tongue-twister,one of the many words in the English language that you can not say without sounding like an idiot. Tongue-twisters usually rely on rapid alternation between similar but distinct phonemes , unfamiliar constructs in loanwords, or other features of a spoken language in order to be difficult to articulate.So,why am I writing about tongue-twisters today ? It so happened that the other day I was reading the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Mathew (I rarely read this part of the Gospel,I think its the same for you guys too) and was confounded by the tongue twisting names of the people mentioned in it.Sample this - Zerubbabel or try saying this name - Jehoshaphat  or this - Shealtiel.......better still try saying all the three names together one after the other.Tough,isn't it ? As I was struggling through these unpronounceable names I came upon another familiar and a rather easy to pronounce name - Rahab (Mathew 1:5)

If you haven't heard about Rahab,then read the Book of Joshua.According to it, Rahab was a woman who lived in Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites in capturing the city. Nearly all English translations of Joshua describe her as a harlot or prostitute.Yeah you read it right - a prostitute.A prostitute who decided to do the will of God in faith.And how did God reward her ? Well,she is the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great..........................great  grandmother of Jesus.In other words,Jesus came through her.Dearly beloved,many times we have to make a choice - between God and the world.My advice - Be smart,make the right choice.I know it is tough but it is the right thing to do.And once you have made the right choice ,one-day you'll see Jesus coming through you to the people around you.Try it.

Be a man/woman after God's heart today !!!

The Bookshop

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:27

A few week back I was at Crosswords near Brigade Road.It is one of my favorite places in Bangalore.Why ? Two reasons - books and air-conditioning  PERFECT.I can take my own sweet time to go through the various titles,read them,review them and finally decide not to buy them .All this in the midst of perfect air-conditioning.So,I simply love that place.As I said - PERFECT.I have been a regular at this shop since the day I have landed in B'lore,and have been lately noticing the popularity of their self-help books section.That part of the shop always seems to be crowded with people.In this section you'll find books that claim to give you that perfect body,perfect mind,perfect family and all.There are books to help you become a  better husband,a better father,to help you become better at your job,better in sex,better at managing finances etc.I even found a book which claimed that the reader can become rich only by thinking and acting like he/she is already rich.

Here is the thing,I find self-help books to be extremely pedestrian and stupid.Now,don't get me wrong,its a good thing to try and improve oneself.But dude, becoming rich by thinking and acting like you are already one,will lead to only one thing - BANKRUPTCY .All of the self-help books work on this simple principal - 'You are not good enough,and that's why you should improve yourself". Contrast this with what God our Father says in the Bible,"you were made in My image" In this world we are constantly bombarded by sights and sounds that reiterate the notion that we are not good enough.Dearly beloved,whenever you catch yourself believing in this very big lie,do take a moment to remind yourself about what God thinks of you.And if you really do need a self -help book  - read the Bible.Those self-help books only claim to help you succeed in this world but the Bible will teach you how to succeed in this world and the next.

Seize your inheritance in the Lord today ! 

Jo dar gaya woh mar gaya

Those of us who have grown up on Indian television,would be very familiar with the consumer electronics brand - Onida and their popular ad-theme from the 80s and 90s featuring the devil complete with horns and tail.Here is the thing,when I was a little kid I found this Onida devil really scary.I always thought that this devil resided inside my TV,and whenever this particular advertisement came on the TV I would quickly close my eyes and ears and hide behind the couch.No matter how much my parents tried to pacify me or try to explain the science behind the television,I wouldn't budge from my hideout until the advertisement was over.According to my puny little brain the devil lived inside that TV.Isn't fear a funny thing ?

We all have our fears and on our own we seldom succeed in making them go.I'll be really surprised to find a man/woman who has been fear-free throughout his/her lives.And fear seems a natural human response when threatened.But what is God's view of fear ? Again and again the Bible tells us - do not be afraid,fear not,be courageous etc. In-spite of knowing all these verses when faced with a difficulty our first response is to get scared and take flight.But, yet God expects us not to loose our cool and stand our ground.

If you are afflicted with this disease called fear,here is a good opportunity to come clean.We have just celebrated Easter.Christ is risen.Indeed,He is risen.Through Easter,He has conquered death - the final frontier.This same Risen Christ promises us,that He shall never leave us nor forsake us.He is on our side,protecting us,caring for us and relieving our fears.So,call upon the living God today and ask him to absorb all your fears.Being the good Father,He'll definitely do it.Dearly beloved know this - when we are living in Christ's love and power nothing from this world can hurt us.So be of good cheer and do not fear.

Take a chill-pill today !!

(for the sake of re-living the nostalgia u can watch the old Onida commercial here)