Santa Claus Funda!

With the advent of winter setting in and the climate getting pleasant, people choose to engage in different relaxing activities with the loved ones. Most of the people if you notice also prefer to go for vacations during this time of the year and chill out with their near and dear ones. Also, in most part of the world in some culture, children anticipate this moment where they receive and exchange gifts during the Christmas season and widely believed to have received it  from Santa Claus.

People understand Santa Claus to be the main protagonist of Christmas and revolve their belief system around it, which is completely contradictory to the actual fact. In real life if you notice, always the counterfeit (unreal, fake) takes the precedence and draws the attention of the people, be it in any case. 

Although Santa Claus is a mythical figure, his creation is based in part on a great Christian man named Saint Nicholas of Myra, who lived in the 4th century. Nicholas was born to Christian parents who left him an inheritance when they died, which he distributed to the poor. He became a priest at a young age and was well-known for his compassion and generosity. He had a reputation for giving gifts anonymously, and he would throw bags of money into people's homes (and sometimes down their chimneys) under the cover of night to avoid being spotted.

Christmas is the celebration of Jesus whose birth, salvation to mankind through crucifixion and resurrection was predicted in history thousands of years before ruling out any possible myths existing around it. 

Let's take all effort to ensure facts for  any matter does not turn murky because of unverified opinions and assumptions. May our hearts be filled with joy in this season as we take stock of everything and with the help of God be a transformed better version of who we are.

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Fair game please!

A difficult topic to discuss about. Anytime there is a demand or requirement for honesty, integrity, compassion, altruism, faithfulness and other value-based trait, then the immediate reaction is to move out from such zone or not talk about it. People generally categorize these values under moral science category and  think it has to be learnt during  school days only. Moreover, people assume they have got enough from their parents and elders too, in the form of lectures while they were frustrated and it has no implication  while dealing in real life whatsoever. Am I right?

Shiv Khera in his book ‘You can win’ emphasizes on value education; “Education that builds fundamental traits of character--such as honesty, compassion, courage, persistence and responsibility--is absolutely essential. We don't need more academic education; we need more values education. I would stress that a person who is morally educated will be a lot better equipped to move up in life or succeed than a morally bankrupt person with excellent academic qualifications.”.  It is unfortunate to live in a world and a society where we need to be constantly vigilant in order not to be cheated

If you want to buy a product you need to already have a good amount of knowledge of its features and price in the market or you end up being cheated with sub-standard product and shelling out exorbitant price for it. Actually, if you notice, it is just not possible to be aware of everything all the time and during such situation we want to take the help of “TRUST”, which works well sometimes but  at several cases we get dumped too. 

Sometimes people go to an extent of even taking the name of God to swear in order to make you and me believe that everything they do is fair and yet cheat us brazenly. There are also people with whom we are familiar who are waiting to take a better advantage of us. 

Personal corruption overshadows in all the spectrum of our life. This is the real cancer that can spread from us to our children and they learn to survive this way in an even professional way. Can we take the initiative to apply the values that are connected to God to become our lifestyle? Your prayers and commitment to a real God will make you a better person and help all of us to live in a better place. Think about it!

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When counterfeit looks real!

We have moved to an era where the virtual world is trying to replace the reality in all aspects. We are almost there. The inventions of smartphones, smart robots have done a great job contributing towards the substitutions. A decade ago, playing outdoor games, like soccer, cricket, cycling etc. was fun, energizing and satisfying. We were physically fit, agile and connected. 

Now with SMARTPHONE in our hands, majority of our children including adults still play outdoor games but not anymore on the fields but as indoor games on their smart phones. We are depleting physically and emotionally but have never given a serious thought about it. We are proud to use and give the smartest and most expensive phones to our children while they are toddlers.

Technology is getting more and more successful in eliminating the human companionship with gadgets, especially with smart phones and robots. We are soon becoming a victim of virtual world and staying alone and pushed into isolation. We respect and value the virtual time more than people. Since we believe we live in a time with high corruption in every arena therefore we feel secure to eliminate people from our lives. When we want, we use people like things, most often from our vantage point only. I do strongly believe technology and smartphones have made life easier but definitely not successful in building stronger and healthier community.  

The inventions of robots replacing and substituting human lives is gaining full attention. Relationships are substituted, because there isn't a demand for commitment and the power of evil works best in this context. Recent trend is where people are looking for an opportunity to buy robots and have it as their fiancee or wife. They are able to trust and be intimate with it physically and emotionally than real lives.  A toy will not have a sense of morality or a sense of right and wrong, unlike the amazing creation of God - the human being. 

We live in an age where we have power to design and make technology that suits our ego and budget. Now, the technology is playing its game to eliminate human being from every dimension. We set standards to God and make him comply to our whims and fancies, which is a scary prospect indeed.  Check this brilliant quote, “I do not want a God who is only right when I am right, but I want a God who is right even when I am wrong.”.

Check this Video, the statistics  are alarming.  Man dating Robot on a long term basis

https://youtu.be/TsHuu2JsoW4

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Is life a matter of Fate or Faith?

Based on the creation story recorded in History, carefully analyzed and scrutinized by science, anthropology, Metaphysics, quantum physics and other field of study, we are believed to be created in the likeness of God with a divine significant character like emotions, love, intellect and free will. Unlike animal kingdom that operates based on instinct we operate by emotions, instinct and intellect. When human being yields to instinct alone, we then witness heinous crime like brutal rapes, murder, embezzlement, etc. 

The power to choose is what sets us apart from all other creations, and that is a lot of power we have been given when we really think about it.  I hear this general saying from people which says. “Whatever will be, will be.”. Have you ever heard this statement too? If we look deeper into that statement, it is actually scary to think that whatever happens in life was meant to be, but unfortunately that is the formula of the world we live in. But I beg to differ that if this belief system is true, then what is the reason for prayer, medication, fasting, or even going to any religious places? If our lives were meant to be lived with this predestined path of unfortunate and tragic events with a few happy moments in between, then why would we even need to believe there is supernatural power who we call God. Think about it. 

Fate is defined as something that unavoidably befalls a person or that which is inevitably predetermined: destiny. With this definition it gives the idea that if someone has a wonderful end to their destiny, it will happen to them no matter what and nothing they do can change it. This sounds great but on the flip side, if someone has a bad end to their destiny there is also nothing, they can do to change it. This belief system sounds very flawed and very unfair.

We live by faith in God which translates to trust one another and live by hope, good works and accepting the salvation from God in order to enjoy the abundant life from Him and to enjoy the fellowship of our families, friends and with all others for perfect harmony and satisfaction. Nothing is a matter of mere chance.

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IQ (Intelligent Quotient) verses SQ (Spiritual Quotient).

One thing that we all witness in our time is the knowledge boom. It is just incomprehensible compared to two decades or earlier. It is a challenge for people who exist before this time to cope up with so many areas where it demands high IQ (Intelligent quotient), EQ (Emotional Quotient) and most importantly, TQ (Technology Quotient). We explore the frontier of the information revolution: The Hybrid Age. The Hybrid age is the transition period between the information Age and the moment of singularity (When machines surpass human intelligence) the inventor Ray Kurzweil, author of the Singularity is Near, estimates we may reach by 2040 (perhaps sooner)

Each of us are expected to better adapt TQ to a future in which robots are going to be the normal social actors in our lives, healthcare becomes a vehicle for physical enhancement, academic descendants’ dissolves in a global skills market, and virtual currencies are expected to enable tax-free transactions.

All the innovation and revolution if you notice is not central to addressing human problems it is only creating more and more panic and uncertainties of survival. Huge masses of people are thrown out from all sectors, may it be IT field, banks or multi-national companies. They don’t need you anymore. Why would they, when technology is able to replace the work of big number of people. More and more people are becoming incompatible for this period of time. 

Having said all this, I want to introduce SQ (Spiritual quotient) to you. Do you have an eye for the spiritual? When you look at the world, do you see only space and time, mass and energy, logic and reason? Or do you also see connectivity and design, purpose and meaning, faith and mystery? Indeed, in many ways, our Spiritual Quotient is shaping up to be more important than even our Intelligence Quotient. Our devoutness to God appears to be a fairly reliable interpreter of how well we’ll do, not just in school or the job market, but in life as a whole, which ultimately is what matters most. 

Ohio State University psychologist Robert Arkin states: “The cycle of materialistic pursuits is disappointing and exhausting in the long run and can make people perpetually unhappy.” To counter this most of us confine to spiritual disciplines and follow rituals by worshiping money, prosperity, creation items as God. Think about it, and commit yourself to a God who is worthy to sustain peace and cohesiveness. 

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Are you a branded product?

You Are Not a Brand — You Are a Person.

We live in an age where brand matters a lot and majority of us are familiar with all major brands in the market. I know we are all aware that there are countless online markets and they are at our finger tips today. The uniqueness about it is, that it identifies and remembers your choice while you browse and the next time when you look for a product it displays the product of your choice including the brand.

What people have done is that they have taken the marketing side of it and applied to people. They think you are a product or service. In today’s job environment the competition is so high, they suggest that you reorganize yourself for today’s environment. You are in a pressure to brand yourself and target your life with effectiveness in order to achieve your career and sell yourself.

Let me ask you, are you just a product or a service? You are much more than that, you are a person. May be the market reduced you to skills and talent but you are deeper than that. The image and brand stuff are very temporary, it is good for career development but it is not good for character. If you are reduced to a product and services that diminishes your person-hood, if it reduces you to skills or talents that diminishes your uniqueness.

God says “you are His masterpiece”. Be a person of value to you, to others and most importantly to God. This will give you the ultimate joy and satisfaction of being a good person and being useful.

Your personal brand should represent the value you are able to consistently deliver to those whom you are serving. Managing your personal brand requires you to be a great role model, mentor, and / or a voice that others can depend upon.

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"More Please"

‘More Please’ is the title of the autobiography of Dame Edna Everage, a character created and performed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries. He writes that these two words, ‘More please’, were his first intelligible utterance.

He went on to say, ‘I have always wanted more. I never had enough milk or money or socks or sex or holidays or first editions or solitude or gramophone records or free meals or real friends or guiltless pleasure or neckties or applause or unquestioning love. Of course, I have always had more than my share of most of these commodities but it always left me with a vague feeling of unfulfillment: where was the rest?

Greed has many faces, but speaks one language: the language of more. Epicurus noted, “Nothing is enough for the man to whom" enough is too little.”. In the name of pleasure and relaxation people try alcohol, cigars, usage of substance, finding intimate pleasures in all wrong places. People can become pleasure addicts – always seeking the next fix. But these experiences of pleasure come and go. The wrong sources of finding MORE of any kind can only lead to acts that are detrimental to oneself and others as time passes.

Let us not confuse pleasure with contentment and joy, nor try replacing the same. ‘Contentment’ is a longer term – being satisfied with your life, your home, your job and your relationships. But there is another kind of happiness that we call ‘Joy’. It is not a fleeting emotion, but a deep way of being – a state of mind that is available to everybody. It is not found in things, but in a Person.

Seeking pleasure for ourselves will always leave us with ‘a vague feeling of unfulfillment’. If you notice, it is mostly the spiritual vacuum that we try to replace with more stuff and wrong pleasures. Note, your quest for MORE can only end when you find God the savior. The peace  of God can fill our hearts and our family with joy and contentment which cannot be substituted.  Scripture says, "True godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.".

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