Child, Am I a Hero or a Villain?

 

Wishing you all dear Children a very happy Children’s Day!

I really hope the word "happiness" still rings with meaning as the pandemic has muted all celebrations dampening the spirits. Childhood has its share of carefree joy and minimal set of responsibilities that every adult envies. But with the world's demands and nature's prodigies one wonders will the frivolity of childhood be a thing of the past.

Today, children are trained and instilled in their tender minds that life is all about studying, aim for high scores academically, pursue a high paying job and earn lot of money. All along they are also taught that they have to achieve this with their own personal strengths, never once teaching them that they are God's masterpiece and it's important that they start giving Him due adoration in early stages of life.

For parents it has always been a rat race to somehow make their children excel than other children in every aspect, hopping and dragging them from one practice session to another, all along neglecting the fact that their Heavenly Father is longing for His children to have a relationship with Him. As parents we have failed and robbed our God of His glory and we are forcing our children to do the same unconsciously and at times intentionally. As of now children have heroes who are dangerously flawed and who teach them that they can live an immoral life and can still get away with it if you have loads of money. Today, if children are into drugs, unrestricted gaming and watching prohibited content, it is because we as adults have failed in our responsibility as parents.

How many of us as parents taught our children what morality is? Have we taught them not to cheat? Yes, you heard me right. Today, with online exams, due to the pandemic, has revealed blatant disregard for integrity, with children cheating at the drop of a hat. I am sure this will resonate if you are a teacher reading this article. There have been instances where mothers' group chats in WhatsApp discuss how they can lie to the school authorities for late submission of projects. Parents are even pampering their children to the extent of writing the online exams for them. If our own morality is skewed, what will we teach our children? Do we as parents even realise that we are harming our children to the point of distorting their view of God and morality? Then why do we lament when our children don't make it in life or worse because of all our pressure push them to take their own life?

If we as parents do not clean up our act and live a life close to God, then our children will only end up having movie stars and mafia Don's as heroes. Parents need to understand we are the heroes for our children. The Bible says that children are an inheritance from God. It means that we leave a legacy. But it weighs heavily upon us as to decide what that legacy would be. With the help and guidance from God we need to be the hands of God that shapes these tender minds and hearts directing them towards a Heavenly Father who 'fearfully and wonderfully' made them for a purpose. We will be responsible for destroying the purpose of their lives because of our stupidity and rebelliousness and God will hold us accountable.

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Wobbling Standards!

 

Photo credit: ICA

Constants like values, morality, ethics and standards are dangerously shifting and changing in the age we live in. Movements in social media and rallies on the streets support this wobbly belief system. Today, every individual is convinced that it's his/her right to believe what he/she thinks is right, including values and standards in life. There are theories that supports this view and one of such belief cites, "Belief doesn't require something to be true. It only requires you to believe it's true.". Strangely, if we try to validate this in context of our family and children it has a disastrous connotation.

Through the ages prominent individuals who made significant contribution to the society through their inventions and discoveries have uttered unverified thoughts that still echo as the final word for ethics in the society. Take for example Marcus Buckingham who states, "The best way to find out whether you’re on the right path? Stop looking at the path.". How do we understand this? In reality if we follow this, we are sure to mess up our lives. We cannot afford to live in fool's paradise. We live in the danger of assuming that if an intellectual sets standard, it should be right; failing to understand it can be skewed to suit the individual's convenience. It is important to analyze from where one channelizes moral ethics, values and standards as the source is of utmost importance.

Another prominent personality, Shakespeare stated, 'there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.'. Famous personalities in art, literature and science tampered with standards, life ethics and God, leading many astray. Standards are never meant to be wobbly and definitely are not the result of thinkers. As a society, we are mostly shaped by religious ideologies framed on certain standards, which are relative. For example, in one culture polygamy is allowed, another supports polyandry, yet another supports monogamy. Such contradictory standards devastate society and individuals.

But is there a constant moral standard in reality? To find unwavering standards one has to find an unchanging moral giver. It will do us good to observe His life and contribution to mankind. Jesus was the epitome of holiness and truth. Pilate the governor during King Herod’s rule in Jesus' time remarked, 'I find no fault in this man.'. A God who had a power to rise from the grave after three days as He told the disciples while He was alive could have kept Himself from being crucified, waged a war and destroyed His enemies like any other gods portrayed in this world. But He choose to die so that we can get forgiveness from all our wrongdoings and find salvation.

Jesus demanded that we take utmost care of our heart to keep it holy because He indwells in our human heart and not in a religious building erected as a result of discrimination, competition and business enterprise. He claimed "I am the way the truth and the Life". Life here and after death makes sense because He was resurrected from dead and promised us eternity in heaven. I recommend you get a copy of the Bible, to know what is so different about Jesus' story than all the stories in the world.

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Conditional ingratitude!

 

I am sure we all are aware of the term conditional bail. Conditional bail is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, i.e., bail granted imposing certain conditions on the person who is getting bail. These conditions are at the discretion of the judge granting bail. Similarly, Conditional Gratitude reflects some of the essence of the meaning. We have reached a time period and age where people are thankful based on conditions. Since the needs of the people are enormous and unending, one is not able to appreciate and express wholesome gratitude, unconditionally.

If the hearts of humans were to be dissected, selfishness would occupy the core of it's being. We would agree that almost every day we receive help from some source or the other. Maybe a little kindness from someone we know or from even unknown strangers. But to what extent the acts of kindness impress upon our hearts? We are constantly on the lookout for big favors, big time help and attention from everybody, all the time. Sadly, this is how it works today. As long as people keep receiving favors, they are happy and display their feigned appreciation. The moment they find they are not receiving any more favors, they can be unkind towards the same people who helped and even worse turn against them. This brings me to my topic, gratitude is mostly conditional. Let's learn to appreciate people genuinely. We will all cease to live, someday. Let's not cheat ourselves. Let's commit to be honest and grateful without any boundaries.

There are many positive quotes which says, ‘Appreciate one another’, ‘be thankful’ ‘be grateful’, ‘be unbiased’, etc. But why have they not had any effect on us?  It all starts from the basic fact of how thankful are we to our creator. The Bible talks so much about love, and the demonstration of God’s love to mankind. Our hearts need a full surgery (not physiological but spiritual) and be recreated with love and gratitude. It says in the Holy Scriptures, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”. Selfish heart is the result of sin and guilt. Can we confess our attitude of ingratitude and ask the Savior to forgive our sins and guilt? We will doubtlessly be transformed to be a genuine, loving and kind person who spreads love and selflessness around.

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SIN IS MY BRAND; CAN I GET A DISCOUNT?

It was interesting to read different news articles for the past few months, that caught my attention. They are revealing an uglier side of our existence on Earth. However, today the uglier our life is the more fans or followers or subscribers, we get. Our depravity has become our brand. Today, by going to a gala semi-nude, we have caught the world's attention and created a brand for ourselves. We can be a grown man taking drugs, yet our child-like looks and our recognisable family name can make us a future movie star material, creating a brand.

Well there are many 'Stan Swamys' who are languishing in jail for standing up for the rights of the poor but what juice is there in having compassion for them? It's their own disgrace they have to deal with. They don't have the looks, or the family name or the body that we are crazy about and they are not worth our attention, standing up for the injustices they face.

Sin has become our brand. The world has reframed its morality and has introduced relative truth. It is increasingly pushing the boundaries of unethical behaviour that the more depraved we are the more recognition it offers. The founding fathers of any nation for that matter, worked within an ethical framework. They have become like dinosaurs, fascinating but extinct. To make them our role models in the present world is a bleak possibility and a sense of impossibility is increasing with times. If this is the case with humans, what chance does God stand?

We are foolish enough to pacify God with our rituals thinking we have tricked Him into discounting our sins. We have even created gods like money and power which conveniently do not teach us morality. The Bible describes the present generation accurately as, "Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things." It can't be further from the truth as we can unflinchingly spend 37,000 Pounds or 38 lakhs for four to dine, which could be a sum that can save the life of a person or family. But it’s easy to blame it on the higher socio-economic status and it’s perfectly ok to be an idiot, emotionally.

The God of the Bible, Jesus Christ, truly amazes me that He could associate Himself with us sinful humans in spite of His holiness. He came so that we may have a relationship with Him and gave a defined moral framework. But time and again we have rejected Him. We have been stubborn in receiving Him in our heart saying, “Leave us alone! We don’t want to know your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him, and what will we gain by pleading with him?”. We know once He enters our heart, we will need to clean our act, so it's better to reject.

Sin allures us with its pleasure but will make us pay a hefty price in the form of consequences. There won't be any discounts or no cost EMIs. We will all have to pay in full, with interest. The Bible says, "Start worrying about yourselves. Worry about your own sins and God’s coming judgment, for judgment is most certainly on the way.” For this very reason Jesus loved us so much that He willingly died for our sins and rose again in order for us to have a real relationship with Him and not some surreal experience. Only with His forgiveness can we even imagine receiving any discounts for our multitude of sins.

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Reference

1. Harpersbazaar

2. Stan Swamy

3. Higher socio economic status

4.  4 Diners spent Rs 38 Lakhs

Shelter of Hope!

Photo Credit: Darkly Written

We are never completely free of fear in spite of our confidence and courage to face circumstances when life throws a low curve ball at us. We do buckle under the threats of fear and scram for a place to hide. People's hidden intentions and selfish motives has made the world a dangerous place to live in. We have become commodities on which the world is preying on our innocence every day.

Our vulnerability has become a playground, for the exploiters, with no boundaries. Our immediate reaction is to find safety behind the powerful, the influential, the wealthy and the 'godmen' hoping they have the power to protect us. Unfortunately, we fail to recognise that these are mere human beings like us and our experiment with them ends in disappointment.

In one of the Books called Psalms in the Bible, the writer pleads to God to help the poor and the vulnerable from the wicked. The description states, “He (wicked) waits in ambush near settlements; he kills the innocent in secret places. His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless.". In present times the rich and the powerful prey upon the poor and exploit the vulnerable than the poor robbing the rich. Stories of the vulnerable seeking protection behind the walls of justice soon realised its flimsiness and the walls collapsed on them turning them into casualties rather than emerging as victors.

Is there any hope of living in safety? Yes! We do in a living God. In all my blogs I try to point out to a living God because even gods are countless in religions. In pantheistic worldview gods are innumerable. Anything and anyone can be a God. in fact, you and I can also reach the state of Godhood according to some major religions. And that is why we have so many godmen in our land today. Sadly, religions of today thrive in money, politics and corruption. How do we find a true historical God who claimed to give life, refuge and shelter in Him? Unless we find a God, who is not limited to stories but have a history of Him being risen from the dead, we cannot depend on him/her for help.

Let us seek help from a living God, than merely hiding behind makeshift walls. The problem is that the walls we raise to protect us can became a barrier to the kind of transformation that we truly and deeply desire. We can only be safe in the presence of a living God. History records the resurrection of Jesus. This undeniable fact was attempted to be suppressed over the ages but the transformation stories of many lives is still powerful to give us hope. We can fully open ourselves to this God. Whatever is in our hearts and minds is perfectly safe to open up in the light of God’s loving presence. Whatever is broken can be restored in this light, whatever is soiled can be cleansed in this light and whatever is bent can be made straight in this light. Would you like to take shelter in Him?

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Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is 'deceptive' of them all?

 

The queen in Snow White's story was asking the wrong question to the mirror and it isn't a surprise she was getting the wrong answer each time. If she had asked the question posed in the title of this blog, she would have got the answer she was longing for all the time, 'It is you my queen'. The world is not very different today. Everywhere or every person we meet is deceptive, that suffocate us with their depravity and leave us gasping for breath.

Entities of all kind like media and governments have become a trap to the society. Information is no more about truth but more about what stimulates or manipulates people's mind. In the process of making profit out of viewership or subscribers the safety and well-being of the people are trampled. If you are a pedophile or a serial womanizer enjoying porn, you are guaranteed with better anonymity and safety of personal information in the dark web than those of us who just have social media account as a leisurely getaway.

A recent article on Facebook whistleblower (Please refer to the news article at the end of this blog) was an eye opener and confirmation of my fears that what I hear or see is never true. It's all about profit at the cost of societal and individual destruction. They feed on our strong human emotions like love and hate. Sadly, negative the emotional outburst towards an issue, greater are the crowds thronging to the posts. We endanger our children by allowing them to use these sites, that thrive on bullying, body shaming and instigating them to the point of taking their lives.

Now if this was a topic of debate, the point of contention would be who is fueling who? Is it that as people we have become deceptive or have we embraced deception because of the constant bombardment from all quarters? If we are honest, deception is a heart matter. Whether we are deceptive people or have embraced deception it's because we have failed to be within the moral framework of God. We live in our own debauchery. The Bible says, 'Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good! The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one! We need to also know that the God of all creation who formed us, ".. knows deceitful men; He sees wickedness also. Will He not then consider it?".

The world desperately needs a thorough cleansing of the heart and it can be done through repentance and submission to the only true and living God, Jesus Christ. He gave His life willingly so that we may live a life of abundance now and for eternity. Once Jesus lives in our hearts, we are transformed human beings. He should be the mirror of our hearts and only His approval matters or should matter.

 

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Reference:

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/five-things-revealed-facebook-fb-whistleblower-should-worry-you-156098

The Facebook Whistleblower

Dissatisfaction Quotient!

 

Defining needs and wants are important in order to understand people's dissatisfaction at any given point in their lives. We notice people confuse their needs with their wants. Maslow's theory of Hierarchy of needs addresses this with clarity. It comprises a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. These are categorized in three broad areas as basic needs, psychological needs and fulfillment needs. Under basic needs we look for food, water, warmth and rest, security and safety; under psychological needs, the need for intimate relationship, friends, prestige and feeling of accomplishment take over and; finally, under fulfilment needs, people find there is a need to achieve his/her full potential and to engage in creative activities based on what one wishes.

If we intently notice, the needs in all the three categories are a continual means to satisfy our appetite only on a temporary basis whether it be physical, emotional or psychological. Therefore, the two broad truths are 1: that we are temporary and finite and 2: identifying and pursuing the permanent and eternal alone can mitigate our dissatisfactions. We are all continually trying to spend more time, loads of money and maximum energy in fulfilling our temporary needs hoping to be satisfied permanently. In all of these we fail to attend to the need of our soul because of which all of our activities, pursuits and experiences still leave a vacuum in our hearts, giving us a sense of loneliness.

The need of the soul is to find the Creator and Savior. This does not mean following the religion of the majority, or the religion of our family or what impresses us. We need to find a God whose credential and the Lordship is not conditioned on the survival of religion but on truth. When we keep our temple, i.e. our hearts, clean for the Holy God to live in it, that's when we reach a point of complete contentment. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. Today, people misconstrue God to be in temple visits, altar worships, offering incenses and flowers to the images and statues. However, Jesus' emphasis was only on purity of heart. He demands are not religious buildings or images but acceptance of Him by faith to enjoy true peace, long-lasting satisfaction and hope of eternity.  In true sense when our Soul meets the Savior, it finds rest and is fully satisfied.

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