IMMANUEL? Yes... IMMANUELS? NO...

Often we celebrate Christmas, overlooking the very essence of Christmas. For most of us, Christmas is merely a time of shopping, caroling, feasting, partying, greeting, decorating and presenting gifts. To realize the true magnitude of Christmas, I assume, we need to understand Jesus Christ, the Messiah, through the eyes of ‘Immanuel’. As we all know, Immanuel means ‘God be with us’. But, we need to be aware of the fact that this ‘Immanuel’ is not just one of the names of Jesus, but His own very nature of being with us. Therefore, I do believe that, it is integral to the celebration of Christmas to have a full and perfect understanding of Jesus as Immanuel, residing with us.

For certain, as the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, He is with us world without end, in our pains and pleasures, sorrows and joys, tears and smiles, and despairs and hopes. He can take us through the thick and thin and hold us in our ups and downs, lead us through the rifts and ridges. His love never ends, mercy never dries and care never fails. The manger in which He was born, the cross on which He was nailed, the grave in which He was buried (and of course from which He resurrected) prove how faithful and indisputable is His ‘Immanuel-ness.’ And, therefore we ought to celebrate His Advent, not just as a season but as the very reason for this season.

However, the fact that He is Immanuel, meaning ‘God be with us,’ is not just a matter of celebration but also a matter of contrition. He was born as the most vulnerable stranger in a manger, born to an unmarried couple, through a virgin, cradled in a stable and saddled on a donkey. He was born as the Immanuel in and through these conditions. AND HE CONTINUES TO BE BORN TODAY as ‘Immanuels’ outside the fringes of the society, as strangers, born to many unwedded mothers having no diapers, cradles, feeding bottles, baby-sitters, and toys. The tears of their mothers drench their face, the weeping of their fathers becomes their lullaby, rubbish for many becomes food for them, and junk for many becomes precious gift for them.

Yes…HE IS WITH US ALWAYS…as the IMMANUEL …VULNERABLE. Do we see Him? Do we know Him? Do we love Him?

Our lives are so packed this season, aren't they? There really isn't any room for anything other than shopping, preparing, decorating, partying and caroling. Our lives are so busy and so scheduled. We pay little attention not only to the voice Immanuel from heaven, as God in Christ is still trying to find a way to get in to our lives but also to the cries of many Immanuels born outside the margins of our society craving for love and acceptance. Just as Christ had come into this world, in the grubby reality of a manger in Bethlehem, so are they born as strangers; they too are Immanuels who long to find rooms somewhere among our schedules and our busyness this season. As we pack our days and spend our money and busy ourselves with so much, will we make room for ‘Immanuel’ as well as ‘Immanuels’ this season?

imagE-nation

As we are on the threshold of another Independence Day Celebration of our nation, let us thank God for the mercies that the Almighty has bestowed upon us as a republic, throughout last year.

On July 15, 2010, while re-affirming India’s growing economic strength, the Indian government brought out a symbol for Indian Rupee that would reflect and capture the Indian ethos and culture. The symbol is a combination of alphabet ‘R’ in English and ‘र’ of Devanagari script. It is announced that this symbol would soon be introduced on computer keyboards and banknotes in India. It is expected to take a year or two for it to be fully implemented. However, experts opine that implementing a new currency symbol can be a costly enterprise. For example, when the euro was introduced in 1999, it cost Europe's biggest companies more than $50bn to update their computer systems to tackle the changeover.

Nevertheless, the ethos this symbol represents, should urge us towards a ‘psychological changeover’ in terms of our patriotic and social responsibilities. In the new symbol, the parallel lines on top (with white space between them) make an allusion to the tricolor Indian flag depicting a sign of equality which symbolizes the nation's desire to reduce economic disparity. As patriotic Indians, let us be reminded of our commitment towards safeguarding the sovereignty of our nation. Any thought or word or action that impairs the secular, democratic and socialistic fabric of our nation, be it terrorism, religious fundamentalism, cultural nationalism or extreme regionalism, ought to be avoided at any cost. Moreover, as responsible citizens, it is also our duty to foster equality and justice, fighting against all agents of discrimination and disparity. We must channelize all our efforts towards the goal of taking the country to a higher level of all- round national development. We cannot recline till we accomplish our goal which is not at all possible as long as the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ continues to increase. Such ‘psychological changeovers’, or transformation, to be precise, need not be expensive or costly but definitely precious and valuable.

Nonetheless, as Christians, our responsibility and commitment do not end in our earnest patriotism; rather it extends to our loyalty to the Kingdom of God. When Pharisees asked Jesus if it was lawful for Jews to pay taxes to Rome, He held up a coin and asked whose image was on it, and the Pharisees replied that it was Caesar's image. Then Jesus said, “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Jesus tells them to give to Caesar that which is due to Caesar and give to God what is due to God. What is due to Caesar is the coin upon which his image is engraved; similarly what is due to God is we ourselves, who are created in His own image. Yes, we are His Currency. God Himself is the monitory authority; exchange rate is His own life and the monitory policy is not one of accumulation, rather sharing. And our currency symbol is Cross, the mark of divine love.

Let us give to God what is due to Him and our nation what is due to her. Let us commit ourselves for the cause of the CROSS and uphold the ethos that the new Rupee symbol represents. Let us revere and worship our Lord who gave His life for us; let us also remember and respect our foreparents who gave their lives for our nation.

'SPIRITUAL FRONTAGES'

“Housed in a converted church, this restaurant and bar has stained glass windows, timber paneled walls and wrought-iron grills. The chef serves up classic European comfort food with a twist, like mac and cheese with black truffles. Count your blessings!”

Last month, as I was reading through the ‘Appetite The Buzz’ column of Tiger Airways Magazine’s Jan-Feb 2010, I was thoroughly shocked to read the above lines about the ‘White Rabbit Restaurant’ in Singapore.

The White Rabbit Restaurant, for me, stands as a symbol of our own so called spirituality. That which appears to be a church is a bar and that, which is promised as a blessing, is merely an extensive and expensive dinner. Aren’t we Christians too, who often tend to wear spiritual facades, like this church converted White Rabbit Restaurant? I do feel what we often appear to be are not what we really are and what we often promise to give are never what we ought to. It is high time that we realize that our spirituality is jeopardized as we have become mere ‘spiritual frontages’. Therefore, as against what we hear time and again from the pulpit to go out into the ‘world’ preaching gospel and converting individuals and communities, I do feel, the religious concern of our time should be positioned more upon our own re-conversion.

What that makes a church is not its architecture or its ecclesial paraphernalia, rather the spiritual attitude of the members, the Body of Christ. Lent, the season we spend more and more time in the presence of God speaking to Him and listening to Him, is an appropriate time to recommit our lives towards this purpose. However, the issue here is neither the quantity nor quality of time that we spend in the presence of God. Rather, I feel it is our quality as people of God that matters.

It is important at this point to examine what is it that which stops us from living as real disciples of Christ instead of mere appearances of the same. In other words, why do we choose to be Christians with no genuineness? When I asked this question to myself, I heard an inner voice asking me a counter question, “What is it that which encourages you to be an appearance than a real Christian?” The only answer that I could find was ‘Judas’ Attitude’, the mind-set of Judas who appeared to be a disciple but who in reality was a betrayer. By ‘Judas’ Attitude’, what I mean is the driving force within us which urges us to protect our selfish interests even at the cost of crucifying God’s purpose for our lives.

Often, we are possessed with our selfish interests to earn, to grow and to prosper as individuals, as families and communities. We believe these are the things that make us accepted in the society. And hence, we invest our wealth, health and time more toward that course. At the same time, we also know that it is essential to be associated with the church life and present ourselves as holy and devoted to God, to be integrated and accepted as part of her. It is in this process of composing ourselves in a manner that we would be accepted and respected both in the world and church, that we become mere ‘Spiritual Frontages.’ To achieve this goal, we do not even bother to understand God’s purpose for our lives, same as Judas who lived and walked with Jesus for forty two months as part of his discipleship, never ever trying to recognize the purpose for his life.

Lest we not turn to Him, we would continue to be like the White Rabbit Restaurant that just APPEARS to be a church, but which in reality is a restaurant and bar that offers wrong promises of blessings.