State of Idleness!

We live in a world of frenzied action, transforming each of us to great multi-taskers. We have become extremely busy people, yet there are considerable number of people who idle away their time. The crux of the matter is there exists a dichotomy, with a group of people busy to the point of sacrificing what matters to them and a group who just spend their lives utterly doing nothing. Though there are disadvantages on both sides of the spectrum, I personally feel idleness is a greater snare to our existence because it deeply influences our thoughts and actions. Therein, starts our loneliness and deprivation.

It does not help to be inactive and unproductive. As the saying goes, "An idle mind is a devil's workshop". We need not idolize work but being  jobless gets us into trouble. Each of us hold personal, corporate and social responsibilities we need to carry out every day. A decade or so earlier digital options were less, we engaged with real people and experienced productive interventions. Today, work load is very demanding and strenuous in the digital world. One is lured by its luxurious lifestyle it could provide but lose our soul in the process putting our spiritual and emotional health in jeopardy.

The key to keeping oneself in balance and under the control of a moral framework, depends where one is and at what he/she is occupied with. If we recall our days of busyness and our days of idleness, we will observe in any given busy day we not only used our time productively but also involved less in things that led us astray both in thought and action. We are less likely to fall into temptation when we are fully occupied and in the right place. At the same time if we are with a wrong friends or bad company with nothing much to do, then more likely we will want to do things, which can be harmful or sinful.

There cannot be a personal parameter for right and wrong but a moral standard of God alone. Jesus unlike any gurus or leaders takes it to the heart level before talking about the action. The Bible says, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts- murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.”. The fascinating principle laid in the Bible is, “For we are the temple of the living God.”. Jesus completely qualifies for the same because of His resurrection from the dead. When the spirit of God lives in our heart, our heart becomes pure and love takes over. Love for God and love for one another. We don’t have to train ourselves to be good, we are transformed to be a better person. But the key to keeping ourselves in good parameters is to avoid staying in a place doing nothing. Let's not give evil an opportunity to hunt us down.

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Fairy Tale of God's Reality!

All of us yearn for the fantasy world of fairy tales being in need of a king, a warrior to rescue us, irrespective of our gender. In present times, we have transitioned from a mellowed down prince to action packed Hollywood superheroes (one wonders where they were when the Taliban forces were taking over Afghanistan? So much for being superheroes!!!).  We have been brainwashed into believing these fictional characters and as a casualty God becomes one of them.

We expect God to come and sweep away all our troubles and rescue us from our crisis situation with no effort from our side. My dear friends, even Cinderella had to clean up and dress up appropriately to attend the ball and meet her handsome prince. We continue to wallow in our sins and debauchery and still expect God to keep blessing us. Is it because we throw alms to God in the form of rites and rituals and trick Him into believing we have changed? Where is our sense of reverence, fear and commitment from our part to reconcile with God, to even stay alive, leave alone receiving blessings from Him?

We want this fairy tale god to provide us immense wealth, allow us to be promiscuous and give us leverage to lie and cheat. In reality, it seems ridiculous for us to believe a God who is alive, holy, pure and just.  At this point, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is it is impossible for us to achieve a happy ending to our life, living and breathing sin. The good news is we can experience Godly romance in accepting the love of Jesus Christ as the Bible says, “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted;..." Now does that not sound like the king or savior we are all looking for.

Jesus Christ gave His life so that we may not perish in our wretchedness but spend our entire eternity with Him in royalty.  He promises us this by saying, "they will [be privileged to] see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads...; and they will reign [as kings] forever and ever.". This is the reality with a fairy tale ending. The world has messed up our minds into thinking we can become good by doing good works. We are so wrong. Our goodness comes from God alone and if we want to be kings and queens happily ever after, we need to submit our lives to Jesus Christ who can give us that very privilege, if we accept Him and put our trust in Him. But are we ready, is a point to ruminate my future kings and queens?

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Happy 75th Independence day!

 

As India is commemorating its 75^th Independence Day, I extend my warm wishes to all Indians, A Happy Independence Day! We owe our immense gratitude to all the freedom fighters who dared to lay their lives for our country and got us the freedom we enjoy today at a cost. Freedom is the right of each individual of every country. We are all privileged to have human rights in place. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination.

We wish and pray that this freedom thrives devoid of abuse and manipulation by anyone in this country. No one has the right to take another human being captive. Abraham Lincoln remarks, “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves”. Freedom is a gift from God. Let us not spoil it by our irresponsible thoughts or actions. Our quality of thoughts defines our freedom in life. Many live under captivity due to their own negative thoughts resulting in faithlessness towards God and leading a depressed life. The fear of tomorrow creeps in and takes control of people. Aung San Suu Kyi cites, “The only Real prison is Fear, And the only Real Freedom is Freedom from Fear.”. Independence Day per se definitely brings joy and happiness but more importantly how we live our lives with freedom is what matters.

A quote by Peter Marshall talks about a framework, “May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”. When each one of us use the opportunity to do what is right on a moral framework rather than an individual standard, it promotes harmony and joy in the family, community or work area.  

The Bible states, “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”. The primary commandment is love. Let's respect each other and owe nothing except love. When we couple freedom with love, things become beautiful. The Bible further adds and exhorts all of us to “Live in freedom, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil”. May God bless our nation and help us to find the genuine love that God demonstrated to all of us, so that we can experience true freedom.

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What are you afraid of?

 

If we can answer this question, we have most probably narrowed down to the core of our issue. Our fears or anxieties camouflage the anger, frustration, and perfectionistic tendencies that rage beneath. No one is free of all their fears of the present or future. Even the ones who are well off are apprehensive and are anxious of their tomorrows. Our anxious thoughts are not intimidated by our possessions and position.  Fear is real and we all have to face and handle it at an entirely different level.

Feeling our fear is key to maneuvering through it. We spend all kinds of misdirected energy trying to hide, suppress, or numb our fears. That is when trouble starts in the form of various addictions. With time the same addiction enslaves people and makes them victims to greater problems and fear.

Fear looms, tramples and muddies faith. Now the question is faith on whom? Normally faith is established on tangibles, on things we can see and feel. God becomes a casualty of rituals that He is looked upon more as a duty than a supreme existence on whom we can place our faith.

If one has to write all their fears, I am sure the list will be endless. But we have a God who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. He can be totally trusted for His claims. Jesus stated by these words, “Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what will you wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns yet your heavenly father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?”. Some may wonder who is He and why should His words matter? Is it even possible the worry and fear, which are allies, can disappear by putting our trust in Him? Yes, it is possible!

It is important to have basic facts about God accurately clarified before we believe on all His claims. Jesus was not just a mystical figure or a protagonist of an epic saga or drama. He was neither a moral teacher (religious guru) nor a philosopher but one who was incarnated and lived among people. His story was not about a personal family drama or trying to establish a kingdom of His own or trying to find a life partner for Himself. For God it was not about the pleasures of the world but holiness. Though being one of us He never succumbed to the world's cares and defilements, like us.

We find forgiveness by His death and have hope because of His resurrection. Thus, we can trust on His promises and ask Him to help us from all our fears and worries. Tell your fears and challenges to Him. He has promised “I will never leave you helpless or abandon you as orphans..”.

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What do we really want?

The question posed is simple, intriguing and forthright. For a poor person, basic needs such as food, water and shelter are the priority. For the upper middle-class and the rich, their basic needs drastically differ as luxury, wealth and stability. Children and youth have different needs more to satisfy their physical and emotional.

It is interesting to note that out needs keep changing in different phases of our life. For example, when young, our body burnt calories due to our robust metabolism rate but as we near midlife the same food becomes a health hazard. As a result, our health deteriorates. Added to our woes, we live in a digitally fast world, which has made us impatient for everything. The urgent need to fulfil our desires dominate but what we fail to understand is our sense of urgency will only lead our desires to spin out of control. Hurry creates a centrifugal dynamic that can suck us away from the vital centre. Hurry can cause us to feel insecure, unsafe and unstable.

The tailspin leaves us dizzy making us forget the purpose for which we were created and where we are headed. I would like to quote an example from the Bible, which talks about a rich young man who meets Jesus.  He asks Jesus of what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus says, "you know the commandments, do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness do not defraud; honor your father and mother.". The interesting thing is that this young man though being rich and self sufficient, ardently kept the moral law. Yet he knew something was missing. He lived an unsatisfied life having questions on God and eternal life. Jesus simply said sell all that you have and give to the poor. The scripture records he went away grieving. Our material stability and luxury are not antidotes for our satisfaction in life.

The purpose of every human being is to find who the creator is and understand how to live up to His expectation. Moral creeds and religion do not help. What we need is to find a Savior for our soul in whom we can find forgiveness from all our sins and guilt, and at the same time find hope in the matter of life after death. Jesus claimed, “I am the way the truth and the life..”. And further added, “The one who believes in the son has eternal life.”. Let us not take chances in the matter of our life. Let us seek on things which can satisfy our soul and transform us as a person.

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