How 'catholic' are we?

Have you ever noticed how every person who stands while you are kneeling during a mass is devil's minion and how every person who genuflects while you kneel is a hypocrite?

Everybody has a set of ideas about spirituality. Some may pray only in trouble, others all the time, some might yell at the top of their voice while singing a hymn(even though they may not know the lyrics or the tune), others may just be happy listening to the choir.

I remember getting the puked up feeling whenever I saw someone breaking down in tears while making a prayer(and many a times it was accompanied by the sound of sucking the snot in!), I also remember snorting at the altar servers; who would turn up sometimes even an hour early and fight among themselves to be the servers for the mass. An most of all I hated the distracting babies who just wouldn't let me pray in peace. Oh how I wished the parents would leave their wailing infants and fussy toddlers at home!

I had my set of rules, my style of praying, my way of behaving, my way of saying the prayers(loud and frequently punctuated with intonations). I thought, mine and only mine was the way that was truly catholic(or atleast was more catholic than others).

But then I encountered something that changed my whole outlook. I was sitting with a dictionary one day, trying to find some new word, and suddenly I wondered whether the dictionary had a definition of catholic.

And guess what, there actually was a definition, and it took me by shock!

catholic(n): all embracing, universal

I sat there, staring at the words. Catholic... All embracing... Universal... 

Slowly it dawned on me that my faith, and the faith of others was the same, the universal faith, and that being catholic was to embrace all those who shared my faith even if they had a different way of expressing it.

So now I don't shudder at the emotional person's crying prayer, nor do I wrinkle my nose on the parents who want to attend the mass and bring their children too so that they may learn something. I no longer mock the loud 'hallelujah' nor do I cringe at the old lady's nasal rendition of a hymn. Because for each of them it is a form of prayer, a form of offering to God, a way to communicate to Him.

Now I have a catholic approach towards my diverse friends in Christ, because they are diverse in expression, not in FAITH.

What are we ashamed of...

Why am I not ashamed of showing abusive hand gestures, but feel embarrassed to use the sign of the cross?

Why am I not ashamed of singing aloud a song with raunchy lyrics, but blush if caught humming a hymn?

Why am I not ashamed of slapping someone publicly but lack the courage to apologize even in private?

Why am I not ashamed of wearing t-shirts carrying obscene messages but hide the cross around my neck?

Why am I not ashamed of spreading rumors to debase someone but shy away from spreading the Good News?

Why am I not ashamed of hearing a dirty joke but wouldn't want to be caught dead listening to religious podcast?

Why am I not ashamed of reading a racy novel again and again, but feel embarrassed to be seen with a bible?

Oh, I could list many more! What kind of culture do I live in, where every condemnable act is commended and the fine art of practicing a religion is frowned upon!

It is 'cool' and 'hip' to sprinkle a talk with as many abuses as possible(and no I am not talking about the occasional rant) and it is a 'fad' to dress up as cheaply as can be allowed(cheap not in cost, cheap means tasteless and vulgar) among the youth and many who have well surpassed the age to be called a youth.

Call it peer pressure or attack of media or blame it on globalization or whatever else that pleases you, but the fact remains that in today's age, more than in any other time or age of this world, is it possible to behave in filthy way and get applauded for it too!

The question which arises is that how is the broadening of our mind and freedom leading us to lewd and profane lifestyle, why and how can the educated and seemingly wise world can't even differentiate between what is good and what is not and still boast of advancement and progress?

And what kind of a progress is it indeed, if it takes us back to being primitive and senseless!

I am young, educated, liberated. So why am I so very much ashamed of doing the right and the good and why don't I give a second thought before something crude!

Luke 9:26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

My Date with Time

Time and I were walking down the Memory Lane, one nice evening, and the air was cool and wispy. We entered the Garden of Past, full of fragrant and multicoloured flowers of achievements, and thorns of past regrets, glittering milestones of proud moments and pebbles of forgotten time-spans, and in the center of the garden was a pond.

He led me to it, and we sat down on a bench next to the pond, for a while we were silent. I noticed that even though there was no wind, the water in the pond kept flowing and moving around, forming small waves.

"That is the Pond of Thoughts", said Time, "It waters the flowers of Past Achievements and thorns of Past Regrets, though it cannot change the milestones and pebbles, it does keep the other two quite fresh!"

"The pond contains the thoughts of those", he went on, "who dwell on their past mistakes or glorious moments, who are either sulking around because the thorns prick them, or walking a foot higher because the flowers they had sown are beautiful."

Saying this, he got up and started walking, I followed, deeper we went into the garden, and the scene before my eyes slowly changed, from the lush Garden of Past, we had moved onto the Field of Present, there I saw huge oxen tilling a part of the land, the other part was dry and barren, with a dried out river bed adjoining it. The part where the oxen had already ploughed was being watered by rain.

I was still taking in the bizarreness of all this, when Time pointed out, "Look! Do you see that...?" I looked in the direction he was pointing at, and there I saw a beautiful rainbow, it slowly grew and covered the entire land, tilled or not tilled, fertile or barren, under its giant colourful bow.

"That is the Rainbow of Hope.", said Time with a kind smile,"It covers the entire Field of Present and also a bit of the Garden of Past and it extends towards the Void of Future!" I was still staring, my eyes wide open at the Field of Present. I wanted to asked him why only half the land was being tilled, why was the river dry and why was it raining only in a particular area and not on the entire land?

His gazed followed mine as I was looking at the dried river bed and slowly he spoke,"Ah! The River of Productive Thoughts, how dry it has become!" I looked at him, confused; he went on further explaining, "It is here where it all begins, The River of Productive Thoughts, it waters the barren land and makes it bring out produce with the Oxen of Perseverance, which is then watered by the rain of Graces from Above. But alas! You see, all the water has been pooled in the Pool of Thoughts we saw in the Garden of Past. And thus those who are busy pondering on past events have not been able to produce anything in the present."

"Close your eyes, hold my hand, I have got a surprise for you!", he added. I did what I was told, I closed my eyes and held his hand and he started leading me towards an unknown destination. We walked silently for a while and then he stopped abruptly, I could here faintly some music being played.

"Open your eyes", he whispered.

I opened my eyes, and what I saw was beyond words or comprehension.I was standing on nothing, no ground below, no sky above and all around me was plain void. In this void there was something happening all the time, swirls of colours mixing and merging, beautiful flowers being created from fire in a second and destroyed in the next, trees being formed from saplings in an instant only to be replaced by birds of various colours, shapes and size.

In every fraction of a second something was being created form nothing and destroyed. Every thing was changing so fast, so often. It seemed if I blinked I would miss an eternity worth of actions. All was like a long lasting explosion of fireworks which just never ended. This endless vision of creation and destruction of various things was what occupied both of us.

With great effort I turned my eyes towards Time, looking at him I asked,"This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. What is this place?"

Without taking his eyes off the activities he replied,"The Void of Future. No one can come here, no one knows this place except me. It is an ever changing, ever evolving place. Nothing here is fixed or permanent, nor can anything stay here. But the visions you see are formed from Actions. They do control the Void of Future in a partial way. Actions! Wonderful Actions, see how they create things and destroy them, see how they make and mar the Future, see how they affect the Void of Future by ever changing visions."

We stood, gazing at the Void of Future. Then he spoke again,"Do you want to see where I live?" I nodded and closed my eyes without his asking. We walked again.

And we stopped. I opened my eyes and saw that I was inside a huge hall made of the finest marble. And it had several windows, some looking at the Garden of Past, others at the Field of Present, while a wide sole window was dedicated to stare at the Void of Future.

"Here, is where I live. Forever", said Time.

Fashinable God...

Fashion! Oh Fashion! How various thy guise, how colorful thy visage, how ardent thy students!!!

It is just impossible for me atleast to always find the perfect match for a garment.There are still a lot of unmatched orphan pieces hidden deep inside my wardrobe, waiting to see the daylight.

Fashion is ever changing, there is a Fashion Week every week it seems, colors, palettes, seasons, collections, cuts and silhouettes and what not. Not even world class fashion designers are 100% able to produce good combinations all the time.

There is always this one piece too big or too small, one shade of color that did not match perfectly enough. Some art works of Fashionable Clothing are admired, others just euphemistically 'hmmmm'ed away.

Fall/Winter collections are coming up next, every season has a color. And I was hunting for a perfect fashion master who can create and merge different hues and cuts: none clashing the other. And I found one!

In our God! So blind was I not to see him. As I sat one evening admiring the sunset, the various colors of the sky astounded me. There was this benign sky blue and a hint of purple, a dash of orange, a queer shade of yellow for which I have no name, and amidst this all a bright orange sun, about to set over Indian skies and preparing to rise somewhere else.

I sat there mesmerized, why doesn't my blue ever match with an orange? The harmony between these different shades was beyond words. I would never dare wear anything that has blue and violet and orange and yellow and bright orange all in one fabric. If I did dare to, I am sure the effect just wouldn't be the same.

God does know how to match colors. the butterflies and the flowers and the leaves changing color according to the season too(din't know trees too had their own fall/winter collection!). Tiny shining stars on a pitch black sky, ultimate night wear! And oh how every tree, every leaf is a different green and still all the shades put together makes one beautiful vista

And those snow capped mountains, well they can give any fur capped model a run for her money. Not to mention the many feathered birds and those exotic sea animals. Reminds me of a verse in the Bible(with a tinge of jealousy)

"And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all  his wealth had clothes as beautiful as on one of these flowers" Mt 6:28,29

So well while human creations(which generally imitate those from the nature) of clothing have become more and more exotic and beautiful, owing to a lot of new fabrics and ways to cut, color and tailor the clothing, it is still juvenile in its attempt to reach the level of our uber cool, ultra fashionable GOD.

But do not be disheartened, that same fashioned savvy God, fashion you and me too. We are all worthy of a ramp walk!

My Christian One-Liners

Oneliners are loved by all, because they are short to read and easy to remember. So here are few of my own. But before you read, three thing I'd like to say:

                                                  Do Read
                                                  Do Practice
                                                  Do Comment ;)

• Jesus put a CROSS on my sins
• The Lamb, is my favourite food.
• Bodyguards are out of fashion, have a Soulguard.
• Never mass bunk. (for the slow ones: Never bunk a mass)
• Without God its Efil, with God its Life.
• Fully fill your self with the Spirit, to fulfill God's plans.
• Word of God: The multipurpose trouble shooter.

The Misinformation Age

The computers arrived. And then came the internet. Before we all knew it, the internet had us in its ever evolving, ever growing, twisted, crisscrossed web.

Now we are much more "connected" than ever. No place is too far, no one is out of reach. I remember a time when it was considered indecent to call someone after 9pm. Now a chat can go on till wee hours.

Standards have changed, the way of communication has changed, in fact what we communicate itself has changed too. With the rise of social networks, strangers have become more approachable, acquaintances more friendly, friends are reachable almost all day, every day. Nearly all information is a search engine query away.

Be it recipes. or beauty tips, science project or history report, dating tips or dumping tutorials, peace rally events or bomb making, all is available on World Wide Web. News from all over the world, views and reactions of people, past, present, to some extent even future are all over in the internet.

Today, every person worth his/her weight in salt is dumping data into the web. So much information is loaded, exchanged, formed, deformed, edited, updated, misinterpreted. There is no control or measure over what is being written, what is being shared. No proof of the authenticity of the information.


 I now have the power to spread a rumor or a twisted idea or a false information, for my own benefit or just for fun, all over the world. Because I have freedom of speech. And I have an internet connection.

Do we believe all we read? Do we crosscheck it? Has it become our nature to find scandals and if not found to make one? Do we rejoice in the downfall of the famous ones? Is slander and back-biting our only hobby?

Have we turned the golden information age in misinformation age?

Peace

Peace is beautiful..... inexplicably calming. The personal peace that settles in the heart and warms up one's entire being....


One can find peace, curling up in the arms of a person who cares..... sleeping on the lap of a mother no matter how old you are....

It is a state where I am one with the world. Nothing against anything or anyone, no doubts, no confusion, no hatred, no dislike, no dissatisfaction,  no remorse, no guilt, no worries, no past, no future, just one simple existence in harmony with the surroundings.

The calm that removes every thought from the mind, where breathing is deep and regular, and mind in a relaxed state. When silence isn't oppressing, instead is soothing.

I crave for that peace. And my Prince of Peace provides it to me, along with love and compassion