SPRINGBOARDS and WALKING STICKS

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Lead An Impactful But Quiet Life

Shakespeare’s famous words from Macbeth, "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing," may well describe our times: everyone with content and without content, with credibility and without credibility, is showing up and showing off on social media and on other public platforms. Paul instructed the early Christians in 1 Thessalonians 4: 11 “Make it your goal to lead a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands.” It is said that Buddha, the enlightened one, lived a quiet life and passed through this world noiselessly. Look at a day in the life of Jesus (Mark 1: 29-39), he is preaching in the synagogue, praying alone in a silent place, healing people, casting away demons, and more. The devil could not keep silence; but Jesus did not allow them to talk about him. Many were searching for him to hear him or to be healed by him, and some others perhaps were also searching for him to destroy and kill him. Jesus makes no big noise about neither of them. He live...

The Information Tragedy

The book, Nexus , written by Yuval Noah Harari explores a brief history of information networks from the Stone Age to AI. While Harari was interviewed on his book the host reading out this sub titles of the book, asked, I hope it is a story of progress, it is a story of things getting better, meaning, the human race moves from the discovery of writing, to printing, to the newspaper, and at each stage our abilities getting better and advanced. Does that work that way? Harari smiled and replied, the basic question of the book is, if humans are so smart why are we acting so stupid? We are on the verge of destroying ourselves. The problem is not in our nature; the problem is in our information. Most people are good, but if you give good people bad information they make bad decisions, they make even self-destructive decisions. Look at mass delusion and psychosis in the 20 th century; things like Nazi Germany, most people who voted for Hitler and voted for him were not evil peopl...

Why Wasn't Jesus An Artist?

Many a times, often confused about my own professional choices, I have thought to myself, why did Jesus not get into art, music, or adventurous chivalry? One may conveniently and religiously argue saying it is because they are ‘bad’ in the sight of God. Absolutely no. He limited his options and goals. Jesus did not get trapped into endless indulgences. Perhaps, in the language of the season of Lent, a spiritual way to say it is, Jesus fasted, he made abstinence. One of the biggest trap of our time is constant indulgence, says, Gayathri Arvind, founder of Abhasa mental wellness centre. Wherever you turn there is an opportunity to let yourself be consumed by endless options, like, endless movies, web series, etc. Even food is available anytime anywhere with just at a click. They may be useful, entertaining, and satisfying; it gives you an instant dopamine hit. The more you consume the more you trap yourself into long-term trouble, and one day you are left wondering. Constant indulg...

2025 Must Create Its Own Art

People are afraid of art, because real art brings the question and the answer into your house. Tonight’s art becomes inadequate and useless when the sun rises in the morning. The mistake lies not in creating art for tonight, but in assuming tonight’s answers will serve tomorrow’s questions. Louise Bourgeois, a French American artist, reflected, “art is a guaranty of sanity;” but that guarantee must be renewed with each dawn, each cultural shift, and each evolution of human consciousness. If some art endures through generations, it is only because of its capacity to speak, its ability to demand fresh interpretations that test and challenge the new. To guarantee sanity in the coming year, 2025 must create its own art. Why create art? Why watch art? Why read literature? True art, in the words of Sunil P Ilayidam, shakes that which is rigid and unchangeable. Art serves as humanity’s persistent earthquake, destabilising comfortable certainties and creating space for new ways of...

He Taught With Authority: Jesus Is A Case Study In Teaching and Preaching

Ben-Hur (1959) is a film directed by William Wyler showing Judea and Nazareth of Jesus’ time; it has depicted the Sermon on the Mount and the crucifixion of Christ. It is an adaptation of the 1880 novel by Lew Wallace, called, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It is a big film, winning 11 academy awards at the Oscars. In this grand tale of the Christ, interestingly, we never see the face of Jesus on screen. Realistically speaking, at the time of Jesus, that is all the visibility and prominence that Jesus had. He wasn't famous. He was just a carpenter’s son living in Nazareth. But to the astonishment of the people, he preached with authority, he healed with power; even the evil spirits obey him (Mark 1: 21-28) —and therefore the question where does this authority and power come from? The people of the time had the privilege of listening to scribes and other rabbis, but they did not convey the authority and power that Jesus did; and therefore people were astonished and said, ‘this is ...

New Year, New Beginning

The past year was different to different people. Some of us were very successful, won every battle we fought. Some others of us did not win every battle that we fought, might have found difficult even to get up from bed everyday, we just survived. But for both it is a new year. For those very successful, it is time to stand on the ground and not be overconfident, complacent, arrogant and egoistic. And it is also time to give back. And for those of us not very successful we have another new year with 365 blank pages, 365 blank days. It is a fresh new beginning. Start your dream and go all the way. “There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth—not going all the way, and not starting”, said Buddha. Every New Year tells that we cannot eternally postpone important things in our lives. We must begin somewhere. How many lives do we have on this earth? One, two, three, four, or more? One of the foremost thinkers and philosophers of China, Confucius, four centuries before ...

Mary, Mother of God

The gospel, Luke 2: 16-21, is the most romantic, dreamy scene that we see in every Christmas crib, it is the scene that we have seen on numerous Christmas greeting cards, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus lying on the manger. Angels still singing, shepherds have arrived, and a bright star is shining brightly on the Judaean dessert, indicating the arrival of the magi. When we minimise this scene we have only three figures, Jesus, Mary and Joseph. When we still minimise this scene we just have two figures, Jesus God, and Mary, the mother of God. Galatians 4: 4-7, says, in the fullness of time Jesus came, born of a woman. Today we focus our attention to that woman, Mary, Mother of God. There was a holy jealousy among the women of Judea towards Mother Mary; this jealousy is different from the ungodly, selfish jealously. They admired and looked up to Mary for giving birth and bringing up a son who exhibits so much kindness and compassion. A woman seeing what Jesus...

The Realities Of Families

Families are complex and multilayered. On one end of the polarity we are lucky we have families in which we are planted. There is a beautiful imagery given in the gospel of Luke 13: 6-9: a fig tree planted in a vineyard. Unlike vines, fig trees are not so fragile; they grow even in wild surroundings. But in this passage, Jesus talks about a fig planted in a vineyard, with a fence around it to protect it, and watered and manured to promote growth, blooming, and bearing fruit. Family is like that vineyard. We should be grateful that we are planted in a family. Whether we realise or not we would be lesser if we did not have our brother, or sister, or mother, father, grandparents, grand children, and so on. It is like not having a member of our body. Second Vatican council rightly calls families as, domestic churches. At the same time, on the other end of the polarity, family is one of the least critiqued, least audited, least questioned, and least brought to book institutions. Nobody...

Then Herod, Now Benjamin Netanyahu; The Pain And Helplessness Is The Same

The crime is the same. The gospel reports of Herod killing innocent children in Bethlehem (Matthew 2: 13-18). Bethlehem being a small town, the numbers may not have exceed 20-25 children. In the ongoing Israel-Gaza war, Oxfam reports of Benjamin Netanyahu killing 11000 children. Both killings are in the same land of Palestine; both are done by two authoritative, insecure, leaders who find no other more creative, ethical, and honorable ways of problem solving; and now on a scale of 500 times bigger. “Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children” said the spokesperson of the Unicef. Over 25,000 children have either lost a parent or become orphans, leaving them in deep emotional distress. Most children are grappling with anxiety and severe physical injuries, with many having lost limbs. A nativity scene at the Vatican has been removed after backlash over its depiction of the baby Jesus lying on a keffiyeh, the traditional scarf used by Palestinians as a national symbo...

Faith in Action

O foolish man, faith without works is dead (James 2: 20). James Talarico, a teacher and politician screams saying, Christian nationalists walk around with a mouthful of scriptures and heart full of hatred. Don't tell me what you believe, instead, show me how you treat other people, and I will tell you what you believe. Jesus’ summary of the Ten Commandments was twofold, and one of them is to ‘love your neighbour’. In Luke 10, in the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus reemphasized it—love your neighbour. Barbara Brown Taylor, an American Episcopal priest and author says, in the midst of theological confusions, liturgical conflicts, and religious fundamentalism, “The only clear line I draw these days is this: when my religion tries to come between me and my neighbour, I will choose my neighbour… Jesus never commanded me to love my religion.” As the hymn goes, they will know that we are Christians by our love. In the entire scriptures, Jesus never asked us to worship him...

Young Men and Old People's Wars

The article, Old men plot young men’s death , by Dipankar Gupta discusses how wars often come about due to the ambitions and power-driven logic of older leaders, while the young are the ones who end up paying the price with their lives. It argues that before commemorating fallen soldiers, we should remember that wars largely happen because of the "evil logic" of the powerful. The article notes that in war memorial ceremonies, the "heraldry of martyrdom overwhelms us" and we forget about the young lives that were "wasted to fulfil the ambitions of old men." It states that on Remembrance Day, we recall the "fallen braves" but do not acknowledge the "wretched schemers who sent the young to die." The article then provides historical examples to support its thesis. It mentions how rulers in Europe pursued wars that resulted in the deaths of many young people. Similar examples are provided from India, where several rulers called for war, whi...

Justice Vs. Mercy

From a large flock of sheep one sheep is lost. The shepherd leaves all his work and rest of the flock and goes in search. Finally he finds it, and there is great joy (Matthew 18: 12-14). So soothing for the ears to hear. Someone is lost from among us. He refused to think as others thought; he did things that you opposed. He was full of himself and only himself. And naturally he drifted away to the furthest end of affairs. Do we leave all other works and concerns and go in search of him? Would finding him be a cause for great celebration? Here is the great inner struggle between justice and kindness in play. Often the inner battle is bot between good and evil but between goodness in varied degrees. A just and fair person would be caught up with the rest of the flock, for justice can only give each one according to what they deserve and merit. Mercy is not earned but given. This would also be the reason why Jesus said, ‘do not judge’, for judging, even when it is done with fairness,...

Charles de Foucauld: A Universal Brother

Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916) lost his parents when he was only a boy. His grandmother took charge of him and looked after him. He joined the military; but he was rebellious and a misfit and had to leave. Charles received a lot of wealth as inheritance from his grandfather. He lived an extravagant and prodigal life—full of himself, He indulged in carefree and dissolute luxury. Fast forward to 21 st century, today we proudly revere him as a universal brother. I love the title ‘universal man’. I am sure that most of us love being identified as universal. But in truth we are full of me, mine, and we, our. We get stagnated in our language, religion, region, colour, and caste. It would be very strange and rare to see a universal person toady. Kahlil Gibran’s The Madman opens with the incident of how its protagonist began to be called a mad man. One day, as he was going to sleep, he removed all his masks and placed it a table beside his bed. After a beautiful night’s peaceful deep ...

I Am Not Worthy To Have You Under My Roof

One of the repeated expressions in the bible is ‘I am unworthy…” Isaiah, one of the greatest prophets of Old Testament, experiences a vision of God and realises his inadequacy to prophesy. He surrenders saying, I am unworthy, for I am a man of unclean lips. Paul, who was comfortably persecuting the church, is thrown off from the horse. As Jesus encountered him, he surrenders saying, I am an untimely born, I am not worthy to be called an apostle of Christ. Then we have Peter, encountering his Lord for the first time. He was a master of his trade. All that he learned as a born fisherman and a grown up fisherman did not help him to make a catch. That miraculous catch of fish, with the intervention of Jesus makes peter motionless. He recognises his God. He falls on his knees and struggles with those words, depart from me Lord, I am not worthy, for I am a sinful man. Here we have the centurion pleading, I am not worthy to have you under my roof… (Matthew 8: 5-11) and ...

Women’s Career 2.0

The article, New pathways to women’s workforce reintegration by Pooja Sharma Goyal, discusses the need for organisations to find new ways to reintegrate women aged 45 and above into the workforce. It notes that women's careers often stall during the prime years for building caregiving duties, such as raising children and caring for aging parents. A study by the recruitment firm Applied found that women were more likely than men to take a career break due to these caregiving responsibilities. According to a McKinsey and Company study, 43% of highly qualified women leave their careers temporarily at some point. This creates a problem, as women's "careers are thus, less linear and more 'curved', but once their caregiving priorities are fulfilled, they are raring to join back the workforce." The article suggests that if a woman were to re-enter the workforce at age 45, she still has about 25-30 years to reach leadership positions. To address this challenge, the ...

Expectation Is the Result of What You Do Today

There is a sense of urgency in Luke 21: 29-36. Do it now is the command, lest that day catch you suddenly like a trap. Christian spirituality has misleadingly put too much importance to passive waiting. Perhaps it is the byproduct of Israel having to wait for centuries for the Messiah to come; or having an overdose of parables on waiting in the gospels, or it could also be that we have taken the second coming of the Lord too very seriously; not giving attention to the Lord who has already come, and is with us. This sense of passive waiting limits a lot of good that could be done. ‘That day’ is a misleading reference to an ambiguous distant auspicious time. The gospel tries to tell us that there is no ‘that day’, there is only ‘this day’. If you want to do something do it today. I came across a social media post recently that goes in these or similar words. People come to office/school/college and wait all day for 5 pm to come. People wait all week for the weekend—Saturday and...

Work in Good Faith

We all have talents special and proper to us; and they are means to our self-dignity. Often we hide, ignore, and reject our talents because of other, often negative, factors that play on us, like, the other does not deserve to get what he has, the other is impure, or the leader is an unjust man like here in Luke 19: 11-28. The man who went to get crowned as a king was not the people’s favourite. He was an exacting person, and he claims ownership of what is not his. The servant had enough excuses to be justified for not using the talents. But the gospel does not accept them. The servant who buried his money lost his chance to better his life. In law there is a beneficial phrase, “in good faith’; meaning, one does his work assuming goodness, and truthfulness of he other. The doer does not spend too much time in thinking and analysing; he/she just keeps doing the good that he/she can do. The piercing question of the master in this gospel passage is, what have you done with what I hav...

Human Empowerment Vs Technological Determinism

This article, Seeking truth in a barrage of biases , presents an inspiring call to action for maintaining our intellectual autonomy in the digital age. Written by J Jehoson Jiresh, it addresses the critical challenge of navigating through algorithmic biases and misinformation while offering hope and practical solutions. The author beautifully frames our modern predicament - how even a simple online search for running shoes can shape our digital landscape - and transforms this everyday observation into a powerful message about reclaiming our agency in the digital world. What's particularly inspiring is the article's emphasis on human empowerment rather than technological determinism. The article presents three key strategies for hope and change: Active critical engagement to question assumptions and challenge biases Seeking diverse perspectives to break free from our echo chambers Demanding transparency and accountability in algorithmic systems Most uplifting is the article...

Universities Must Promote Universal Learning

This article, Universities are different from religious institutions by Faizan Mustafa highlights an important legal and philosophical discussion about the unique nature of universities versus religious institutions, focusing on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) case. What's particularly inspiring is how it emphasises that universities must transcend communal boundaries and operate with broader, more inclusive principles. The article discusses a 2024 Supreme Court judgment that reinforces a crucial idea: educational institutions, even those with minority roots like AMU, should function as spaces of universal learning rather than being limited by religious or communal considerations. It references historical figures like Sir Syed, who established the M.A.O. College in 1877, which later became AMU, showing how educational visions can evolve and grow beyond their original scope. Universities are different from religious institutions by Faizan Mustafa. In: The Hindu, Nov...

Stand Tall

Zacchaeus overcame the obstacles of being short in stature and being in the middle of a huge crowd around him. They are interrelated. If he were not short crowd would not have mattered much; if there were no crowd his shortness would not have mattered. Our deficiencies are amplified by the deficiencies of people with whom we are associated and the inadequacies of the system that we live in. A short man amidst a large crowd is doubly short. A man's shortness of stature is relative to the crowd in which he finds himself. We must stand tall with the wealth and possessions that God gives us. As the people of Zacchaeus time, we too may laugh at Zacchaeus for his short stature. But in truth, though 5.8 or 6 foot tall, most of us are short like Zacchaeus in our moral, spiritual, and social size. Zacchaeus had the courage and grace to run ahead of the crowd that is towering around him (Luke 19: 1-10), which was making him not see injustices and exploitations that he was associated with or...