From Crossswalk.com

The following advertisement appeared in a physical culture magazine:

"Here's a good test for stomach muscles. Clasp your hands over your head and place your feet together on the floor. Now bend to the right at the waist as you sit down to the left of your feet. Now by sheer muscular control, haul yourself up, bend to the left and sit down on the floor to the right of your feet. Keep this up and let us know of the result."

The first letter received by the magazine said "HERNIA"

Does God need help to boost His 'image'?

Sounds ridiculous right? Well it is a ridiculous idea but many of us have gotten this idea somehow into our heads. Atleast that is what I gathered whenever I hear rather exaggerated 'testimonies' and the so-called 'miracles'. I dont care if people misunderstand me but I want to bring this thing clear. The Creator of the Universe created us for HIS pleasure my dear and not for ours. And He has the sovereign will to decide things in our lives. And mind you, He does not need any publicist out here (down here) trying to convince people that He can work miracles and sort out things in the lives of scores of His creations. Ofcourse, you can and you must testify what God has done in your lives truthfully and be assured the Truth will set people free and not some half baked truths.
eg: no: 1- "I did not apply for any job, was just praying but I got a call from this company from US/UK!!!" and you think "was I asleep? Did I miss anything?" Why do people hesitate from giving the whole truth? What is wrong with that? You applied and God opened the door, its as simple as that and see if that doesnt encourage our fellow brothers and sisters.
eg: no.2- "I am living purely by faith and God puts 100 rupees everyday in my pocket!!" The truth could be that you have such wonderful parents (God gave them to you and we need to be thankful to Him for them) who are God-fearing and want to help you out as you launch out on your own. Believe me, not everyone is a William Carrey.
eg: no.3 - And then there are people who lie that their sickness is healed after prayer fearing that they will bring disgrace to God by telling the truth. Actually God has the soverein will to heal or not to heal your sickness. Then, just like Paul we might have to depend on His grace alone which is more than sufficient for us.
I mean there are scores of such examples but I dont want to be critical but just want to urge that please do not exaggerate, God does not want us to do that. Just tell the truth and that will bring glory to Him.

"Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it."-Mark Twain


"Swallowing your pride seldom leads to indigestion." - Unknown


"When flatterers meet, the devil goes to dinner." - Unknown

How long is long?

Years back, a young boy with long hair was confronted with a question about his hair. Long hair was considered quite a taboo then and our protagonist had his hanging down his shoulder. He asked back, “How long is long?” Well, I am not trying to be a pro or anti long hair but I had another question pop up in mind, “How civilized is civilized?” as we all consider ourselves more civilized, developed, refined than our ancestors. I know of people who pride in their great Indian culture and traditions, be it gastronomic inclinations, musical heredity or personal hygiene, despising others as less dignified and savage. I am aware of yet another group who consider themselves more civilized owing to their higher education, enviable lifestyles, and ‘broader’ mental perspectives. And when someone arrives on this land from the ‘civilized’ west, he or she finds India a place of ‘weird’ customs and costumes quite alien to theirs and immediately feel ecstatic being at the centre of uncouth and crude conglomeration of barbarians. Is being civilized mean the state where you find yourselves higher than the rest of the populace isolated and self-centered, obsessed with the betterment of the self? Or is it the state of mind regardless of the surrounding conditions when you can tolerate weaknesses and clumsiness of others around you, where you see yourself as weak as others but is keen to be a blessing for them with the limited resources you are provided with? Isn’t being civilized a glorious state where one can overlook a few mistakes, look beyond the exterior into the beautiful hearts and forgive people around? Think about, I will exactly that.

Love

If there is one word on our planet that is being used, misused and reused, it could be the word Love. Every body, man, woman, child needs and responds to love as we are provided with a heart to love and to be loved. No wonder love became the most talked after and sort after term. The moment a baby is born, it feels out of place in the chaotic environment compared to the quiet, dark and safe womb of its mother, until it feels the warmth and expressions of love from the mother herself. Love is the support or the more intellectual may call it the ‘crutch’ on which we humans lean on as we take on life’s challenges. Have you noticed the variations or shades of love around? Is a mother’s love the same as the love you have for your friends? Is it the same love that you share with your friends that you share with your life partner? Will you love your neighbour the same way as your brother or sister? Yes, love, affection, fondness, adoration, liking do carry with them different hues. There is the love that we love humanity as a whole which is quite general and often mingled with sympathy and there is the love which you feel toward a person of opposite sex looking first at the outward which gradually intensifies at the likeness of thoughts and dreams that you share. And there is yet another love that causes you to sacrifice all you possess for the better of that one person who matters most in your life. But there is one love which surpasses all this, the love that stands above circumstances, that never wavers but is the same no matter what. It is unconditional and has no strings attached. It is the love of God. It is He who causes the sun to rise on the good and the bad, causes good to triumph over evil and inspires us to love each other. His love cannot be measured as it is beyond our comprehension, limited as we are with our mortal bodies bound in time and space, yet He has shown His love by giving His life in place of our own as a perfect ransom for our liberty from the sinful world. So, let us always remember, God is love.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." - The Bible

Personal Significance

There is this song that goes, “I want to be a history maker, I want to be a world shaker…” Before you smile and ignore it let us just pause and think about it. Don’t we all wish, desire to be people of significance? Don’t we all dream that one day we would make it big in the wide world? I know about me, when I was in my teens I always wanted to be heard by all which seldom happened. There were better speakers, singers and charming story tellers than me out there, who could keep an audience of 10 – 20 in rapt silence for hours as they related their experiences and exploits of life. Is it wrong to wish that I need to make a mark in the world? No it is not. Is it possible for me? Yes it is. Every one of us can make a positive influence in the society. But how? We need to know our strengths and weaknesses, our motives and our intentions. Anybody who is confident of oneself and least cares of outside opinions can make an influence. But we need to be careful whether it would be a positive or negative one. Greed, selfish ambition can lead people to achieve goals at the expense of other’s lives but dependence on God, a desire to give than to receive, driven by selfless love can make a whole lot of difference in our love-starved world. When this happens it is no longer us that we think about but the people around us and our own personal significance takes a back seat in our life’s journey.

Purpose

Lack of purpose is the doorway to life’s destruction. This can be said in a more popular way as an “idle mind is the devil’s workshop”. What is life all about? What on earth am I here for? What is the point of living? Have you had these thoughts crop up within you? It is a sure sign of something within you that wants to seek the truth, the purpose of our lives on this earth. Every man and woman lives each day with a goal set before them, it could be a short term or a long term one. Often for many, the main purpose of life is to secure a good, well paying job, get married, bring up a new generation and then one day retire and spend their autumn of their lives under the care of their children and grandchildren. Is it wrong to have such goals? No, there is nothing wrong. But is that all life all about? Where, we think, sleep, eat for ourselves, where men become groups and clusters and islands who do no benefit to humanity around, doesnt matter if your neighbor starves through out the day and their children are orphaned? We can make a difference in this world and that’s exactly what we are here for. It was no accident that you are born in this nation in such circumstance as yours. God wants each of us to be a blessing where ever we are. We needn’t be sages or mighty holy men and women to do this. Think about this, search for your purpose, have wider vision for your life in a larger canvas that has the whole wide world as the backdrop…

A Poem

Her Story Nov 14 2002

Her eyes wandered into the dark sky

As if searching an answer to her cry,

Her face shone with tears flowing

As she looked into the emptiness looming.

The waters below shimmered,

As the moon quietly appeared

She held on the railing, her hands still shivered,

With unsure thoughts that emerged…

A solace was all she wanted

In her dull and grey life,

She had found this in her new friend

Who promised her a happy life without end.

They sat at length

And shared their thoughts,

Walked hand in hand and

Listened to the music band

She met more friends of his-

All in search of endless bliss.

They met faithfully

At their ‘den’ for a ‘shot’ daily

It seemed heaven when friends

Sat and shared their finds.

The smoke carried them often

To a land of fantasy and awe

Where reason seemed to blur

Giving way to visions to err.

‘Being pure is not the fashion

Trying all out is the new passion,’

Sang the friends in loud chorus

And danced in their world of chaos.

She laughed at the new found liberty;

And at the binding society

That often kept her chained

And left her dreams maimed.

Yet she heard a voice, or didn’t she?

A faint cry, was it a ‘No’?

She shut her ears and eyes

And followed her friends advice…

She woke up as the sun’s rays

Touched and warmed her face

Familiar faces surrounded her

With worried looks they pondered

What caused a girl so bright

To lose all health and end in this plight?

Mother and father teary faced

Came close to her and embraced.

The doctor arrived with a grim face,

And gave the details of the case –

The girl has AIDS, it can’t be denied

Her unborn child too is destined to die.

And then she felt deserted

The truth left her shattered

Her parents too now stood away

Too scared to touch her, no way!

Alone on the bridge she stood,

Weighing her thoughts for good.

A resting place was all she longed for

To put her soul at peace, nothing more.

“Come to me all who are tired

And I will give you rest,” said

A voice still and small,

But quite distinct from all.

She had heard this before

But could not place it where

Now she knew the Way

Of hope and life without pay.

With eyes that shone bright

With an answer that was right,

She walked away from the bridge

As the night grew light

The rays of the sun warmed the earth

And a new dawned on her.

It is time Nov 8 2002

The streets teem
With lives without a dream;
Mother and daughter take cover,
From the prying eyes and lurking shadows.
Thousands die on the pavements-
Just making room for new tenants!
Hungry eyes in the dark search
For leftovers and crumbs;
Cherubic faces with innocence lost
Throng the streets for the time opportune,
Dirty hands extended they jeer-
Making me think, “Am I a liar?”

We are the light of this world,
But yet they are in darkness
We are the salt of the earth,
But they are fed up with life
We have the living water within
And still they are thirsty
We have the good news
Still they are sad
We are blessed and full
Why should they then starve?

This is the nation that we live in-
The land we pray for day and night.

It is time that we thought back,
To see what our lives lack.
It is time that we stopped our debates
And got started with hearts compassionate;
It is time we took His word
As a command to ‘go into the world’
It is time that we stepped out-
To the streets and the lands in drought,
With his love being the source
Of every smile and hug.
It is time to cover the naked
It is time to feed the hungry
It is time to bind their wounds
It is time to tell there is hope
It is time to show them
The Saviour we know,
That He lives in us
And He loves them all.
It is time…It is time…
It is time…

My Light Oct 1999

“There is no use, you’ve lost it all”
- thus the enemy cries out on my fall.
I lie down low,
With my face pressed down on the floor.
Grief and shame make me blind
Guilt does seem to fill my mind
And in despair I cry out,
“O Lord, all I see is fear and doubt
Surely I’ve put you down,
Never can I make it on my own.
Now I look up to my Maker-
Who can help me through my failure.”
And then I heard the lord say,
“I’m forever with you to stay
For your weakness that you face
All you need is My grace.”
Surely God is my stronghold
And by His power I’m bold
He is Strong to lift me up
In front of my enemies I sup
And so out of joy I shout,
To the powers of darkness about
“Never rejoice over me, my enemy
For though I fall I will rise,
Never will I fear in the darkest night
For the lord my God is my light.”

God in Everything

I know the Bible says that in everything we need to thank God. But I found it really difficult to understand that God allowed even bad things to happen and that we ought to thank Him for that too. The other day I was going through a book by Catherine Marshall called "Something more". In that she too expressed the same problem.But as I was reading through I came across a vision someone had shared which sort of cleared out few things for me. It said , the lady in her vision saw darkness all around her, which is the filth,sin of the world and then a light approached her that surroundng her like a thick blanket and everything around her including the miseries, sickness, death, sin, and the viles. And it seemed to say "This is the presence of God". So she concluded that the presence of God surrounds everything around us and ofcourse ourselves and unless He decides to move out a bit, nothing can change its course or come near us. That was bit comforting for me becuase lot of unpleasant things happened in my life that caused me to question God and feel bitter inside of me. Now this sort of explains that He really was in all this. And God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.