Easter

Nothing moved on Sabbath. They had to wait till Sunday morning. As soon as it was time, the three Mariam's went to the tomb. They found Jesu's tomb open. They could not find the body in it, they came early as they had to walk away a day ago in a hurry after burying Jesus towards the end of the preparation day. 

Mariam's miserably sad plight, her helplessness, her silent fury, when she thought those who have killed Him has now taken his body away too and there is  nothing she could do against it. She is grief stricken so much so that she did not even look up to the man who walked up to her silently. She thought he was the gardener. She replied to him rather mechanically when he asked her "Woman, why are you crying?"

We too go through this phase in life. When we are helpless and powerless to react to certain events in life, we live through it rather mechanically. We have to, to survive. 

Imagine, Mariam's joy, when she recognizes the voice which calls her by her name, "Mariam". She turns around and find Jesus standing infront of her, alive. 

Her heart goes out, when she calls out "Rabboni" in sheer delight and disbelief. 

For me, this is my Easter. Sheer delight, that my absurd impossibility could be changed in a moment to an everlasting glory. The one who we believes in, for Him its possible.

So we keep running, without knowing, with all our might to the tomb like Peter and John when Mariam told them that she saw Him alive. They just could not help running to their Rabboni, to see for themselves with their own eyes, that  He has overcome death.  

Memories

Time and Tide waits for none. Our lives has to pass. What stays back in the mind of the living are the goodness of heart, and what console us at the moment of grief is what we could return to such goodness. Bye bye John. You are a beautiful memory.

Do Not Give Up!

Easy to say. Give up what?

We have decided to walk The Way. The way will keep us away from the "Mayas" of life which can take us up or bring us down. That is the way our human minds are. We are designed that way.

The Way, make us-help us look at Life in a different way. Not the ability to control events from happening or not happening, but the blessing to react to events differently from our default.

Abraham is an example, Job is an inspiration, there are plenty in the Bible; stories that can keep us whole.

May our Mind has the Grace to be with Him always and in everything.

Advent

A small prayer for all those who do not have much to look forward to and celebrate this festive season. May Angles keep you company. Yes! they do break into 'lonely' worlds and light up the stars.

Every Day worries

Boatmen struggling with the water weeds to moor the boat at Vallarpadam Kadavu (Jetty)

The more we think of Jesus, we wonder at the kind of troubles and tension he had to face every moment and everyday of his public life. When the scholars and keepers of the law were very much around, here was a very ordinary Man without any titles and power talking about the right interpretation of the very scriptures which the others thought they knew very well.

As we ourselves go through our day, there are a lot of things which we wish we could handle very well. Not so life threatening, but these little issues sometimes take up our sleep and mind space. Contemplating on how Jesus handled his days in the times He lived is a very good inspiration.

Edward Gibbons   "The decline and fall of Roman Empire" give us a very good idea of the time and lives of the People in Jesus time.

An unexpected Gift..

There are some incidence in our lives which make us aware God is watching over us and He see to every aspect of our lives. I was aspiring for two books which I wished I could own for my recent reading and research I am doing but could not 'cos one was expensive and the other was out of print. One of my friend who has both loaned me one of them for some time and I had to return it before I could finish with it as he himself was referring to it for his work.

Yesterday, I accidentally got an opportunity to meet the spokesperson of the big organization which had actually printed the expensive book and he considering my interest and the work I am doing gifted me a prized copy of the very book I was longing for.

Without realizing, I stood up and bowed as I saw God's Hand working through him.

Wonderful are your ways and amazing the way You read the minds of your faithfuls...

Illusion

Life and its illusions. Its difficult to see through the happiness, sorrows and the other emotions and its phases life bring to us. We go up and down with it. Some elate and exhilarate us, some broke us. But the end we know we are carried away and has missed the point.

At those times, when we are blinded by the "Maya" the thought of the eternal existence, the memories of the titbits of the true colors of the real being, keep us going, without being too much affected by the illusion.

PS: Picture borrowed

Thank you

Any merit, any worth,
If any little streak of beauty shining through,
The coils of my mind, in my deeds,
Its Your Way, My Lord,
Though miserably I fail often,
When I try to follow.

Thank You for giving me a heart, atleast to try to Walk Your Way and be at peace with the world. 

Beauty

Life is beautiful when highs and lows goes hand in hand. For some it is high for a while then the lows. For some it is lows at first, then  the highs. But for some lucky few, highs and lows goes at the same time. Beauty of such simultaneous impact is we know exactly how to deal with both.

Neither jubilant nor sad. The best example of being spiritual.

First Commandment

Our mind is a power house. Most often we are amazed at the amount of thoughts it generate, how far it goes and what all it comes up with. Since we are bound by the connections and networks of the world around us, most of our thoughts are in relation to the world around us, our ambitions, our work, our relations, the way world perceive us etc...

It's no wonder sometimes we are bowed down by the weight of these thoughts that churns our mind out. When I hit a horrible patch like that, I was gently reminded by a good soul that forgetting of the First Commandment is what leads our mind and us to such an emotional carnage.

Understanding God the supreme is the first thing in our lives and He is in control of the world and us help us direct our mind and its thoughts in a better way which help us to think thoughts that we can live and deal with bearably.

David

In Second Samuel, chapter 7 : 28-29, David is thanking the Lord of Israel for the good things He has announced through Prophet Nathan for the Kings family. True to God's promise David's name remained and Jesus who has descended from Him became the Lord to the whole world. It's not worthy that David, even at his height of glory was always committed to God and stayed humble before Him. He always prayed he remained that way.

I had to go through a personal set back this week. But with the Grace of the God, I could withstand it and remain hopeful in life. Just like the day and the night God has created, I take my happiness and sorrow to God and enjoy/bear it in His glory.

Picture of the Altar at Vallarpadam, yesterday. This Sunday is Peter & Paul's feast.

Secret truths

Who did Jesus came for? What was his purpose?

"...to give good news to the poor, to give freedom from bondage, to give sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed and to proclaim the year of Lord's Mercy..."

So that even the most unfortunate find peace and happiness in this life and this world. It means too, the journey starts within ourselves first. The urge and need for a way to live this life, without being jeopardized by the "maya" of this world.

May we all have the grace to seek the way!

Syria War

Another UN report and another strike on a war torn country. Yes, indeed the use of chemical weapons is an act of cowardice and cruelty. 

Innocent children and helpless women have to pay for these crimes.What a shame!

Does anyone care how it feels to be living under the fear of air strike in these days of highly destructive mass killing bombs that falls from the undefended sky. 

Dear God, may good sense prevail and your beautiful creation - the humans co-exist in peace.

Thank you

Thank you God for the way I am feeling today. My gains and my loses. My happiness and My sorrows. 

You are the creator of Emotions too.  I offer unto you what I am going through this moment good or bad. I praise your majesty for being in everything, being everything. 

Thank you for giving me a heart to acknowledge it the right way.

The Great Commandment

Deuteronomy 6

4.
Israel remember this! The Lord- and the Lord alone- is our God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 
6.
Never forget these commands that I am giving your today. 
7.
Teach them to your children. Repeat them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working.
 8.
Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder. 
9.
Write them on the door-posts of your houses and on your gates. 

Certainly I have failed many times to keep the God's commandment. And yes, I have paid with my own life for it. The failures, the sufferings, the disgraces, the emotional worries etc. 

Being with the Lord is a beautiful experience. The commandments are the ways to maintain it.

10.
Just as the Lord your God promised your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, he will give you a land with large and prosperous cities which you did not build. 
11.
The houses will be full of good things which you did not put in them and there will be wells that you did not dig and vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant. When God brings you into this land and you have all you want to eat, 
12.
make certain that you do not forget the Lord who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. 
13.
Honor your Lord, your God. 

I guess I have failed in honoring my Lord when my cup was full....

Thank your God for giving me the opportunity to realize this and correct my ways.   

  

Loving the cross...

As the Lent days are progressing, my days are emotionally getting harder and at times the situation gets so much harder to bear I am afraid I will fall apart.

Even still, the observation of the first day of the Lent is holding me together and keeping me steady.

If you love Me, you will pick up your Cross and follow Me.

Yes, Jesus, I love you so much.

PS: Picture is that of the Oil Lamp at  Syrian Church at N. Parur.

The Bond

As the Biennale is drawing to its close, my favourtie installation at the Aspinwall House. I named it "the Bond". 

Of hearts and love. The way life should be.

 Mostly I have a bread roast and a banana fry along with a hot cup of tea from the small hotel near the last busstop on my way to the Seminary where I teach two commerce subjects for the young "would be" priests.  On hungry days, I eat two each.

Today was my last class there for the Academic year. 

Just like the classes, I have come to like this restaurant too. The staff there were very friendly and they always gave me their best in their hearts.
  

Thank you My Lord! for the wonderful opportunity. I tried my best, to give them, the students and everyone else, the best of the wonderful gift you have bestowed on me.

Missing already the morning trail and the hearts.

A gift...

Gift of a friend, when she moved away from our neighbourhood. Made out of Palm leaf splinter with colored plastic twain. 

She might have spent hours making, that makes it more dear than any other gift worth more in money. 

Thank You!

Lent Days

The month of "Kumbh" is the breakaway month from the cooler winter months after the monsoon into the hot summer days. Its also the time when the summer fruits bloom. The mango trees looks beautiful with its yellow blooms. Usually, the hot days brings the air pressure down in the land and the water vapour from the sea moves onto the shore, sometimes resulting in very consoling rain. Its called "Flowering rains". It brings the blooms of the summer fruits down, the flowers will be all littered over the courtyard, a beautiful sight.

Beautiful part of the Kumbh month is the clear blue sky and the amazingly clear sunsets. The picture is the sky from my home a few days ago before the flowering rain.

Lent days are going good. Most of the time I attend the 7.15 am mass. There is an inspiring preganent young lady at the church who attend the morning mass regularly with her full bump. She make me wish that every carrying woman have such a happy and peaceful months. Yeah! One should be lucky indeed.

Some countries, like UK, they have the Pancake  race to mark the beginning of the Lent days. They have event everywhere even the MP's have to run around with a frying pan tossing pancakes. Every society have their own customs and events. What is mine..?