Coincidence!

“I’m more interested in the dreams of the future than the history of the past”. I came across this statement recently and kept thinking about what it meant in those times when it was actually said and what it means now, some 2 centuries after it was said. I think the statement still makes sense, but after all perceptions differ between individuals! Knowing the past is certainly insightful in terms of the evolution and existence. History not only gives us an account of the past events and human affairs, it also gives us an evidence of the culture and beliefs of the earlier times that could be preserved for the benefit of the latter times. While it is important to know the past, it is even more important to live in present and of course look forward to future especially in the current times where growth very much depends on the ability to think beyond the impossible. Envisioning a better future way ahead of time as we always see, is one of the primary sources of development of an individual or a nation to that matter.

The corporate world has opened up my thoughts to growth and development more than ever. My observations constantly revealed that positive advancements in personal and professional life, always occur to people with the ability to think ahead of time. No doubt United States of America is thus far one of the most farsighted nations in the world in terms of advancement in almost every field, given the fact that it was ruled by great leaders with intellectual thinking. It was once upon a time under the presidency of someone called 'Thomas Jefferson' to whom the statement in context actually belonged and he is none other than the 3rd President of the U.S who has been consistently ranked as one of the greatest U.S presidents. With the ideals of republicanism in the U.S, he envisioned America as the force behind the ‘Empire of Liberty’ which is a theme to identify America’s responsibility to the world in spreading freedom across the globe.

While I had my lessons for the day on the emphasis of thinking about the future for the development and betterment of the self, I also learnt quite a lot about one of the great presidents of the U.S, Thomas Jefferson. To learn that this day in history, exactly 267 years ago happened to be his birthday, is of course a coincidence. He was born on the 13th April, 1743. The fact that he shared the date of his independence from his mortal life with that of the 13 American colonies that were then at war with Great Britain is another coincidence. Himself being the principal author of the statement of 'Declaration of Independence' on the 4th July exactly 50 years before his demise is yet another coincidence! It's also very much interesting to see how the numbers '13' and '4' are of a great prominence to the nation and it's leader.

God has preferences?

Every now and then, we offer help to someone at work, in the neighborhood, at Church or wherever possible. We do it knowingly and unknowingly too, at times. It could be a word of comfort, a little favor or even a gesture that shows we care. Though I don't mean to say, we should help with an expectation of getting something in return, it really feels nice to be receiving a note of "Thank You" no matter how small the favor really was.

Let alone a note of ‘Thank You’, how about receiving a cute little card, may be flowers or some very nice gift as a token of gratitude for the petty help we offered? I want to emphasize that it would be incredible to actually know, that little deed or that tiny gesture of care, was the real need of the hour to that someone on the receiving end.

If demonstration of gratitude can bring such a great sense of delight to someone earthly like us, I’m sure it surely does to God, the one who cares for every detail of our lives, guides us through the tough challenges of life and above all the only one who is always the first to love us. He holds the complete authority to be worshipped with our offerings for his free gift of grace and mercies that help us thrive each second. God is however, never demanding and yet mindful of the ‘quality’ of our offerings, no matter how small.

From the scriptures, it is understood that Cain and Abel both worshipped the Lord. They wouldn't have brought offerings if they were not thankful to God in the first place. However, there was a remarkable difference in the ‘quality’ of the gifts they each had to offer. Abel diligently offered the 'fat from the firstborn of his flock'. Ever since I was a child and until today, I have collections of all the first things I owned and a record of the first experiences, the first things that happened in my life etc...They come very special to me and I find it very hard to let go. All of us have that 'special' love for the 'first' things, let alone the 'first born'. Abel's gratitude for the Lord was far more measurable than his difficulty in letting go the first born of his flock. His ability to offer whole-heartedly came from the magnitude of his thankfulness for the blessings he received from the Lord, both spiritual and material. He exercised care in worshipping his master and chose the best from what he could offer; to him it was more than a duty, unlike it was to Cain. 

We also see that the Lord showed ‘favor’ to Abel. He got favor from God not because of the offering but because the Lord delighted in the immeasurable gratitude that urged Abel to give the 'Best' offering. Luke 21: 2-4 quotes, the small coins offered by the poor widow, who gave away everything she had not holding back even a single coin! We need to remind ourselves that 'best' counts from what we have and not from what can be offered.

God is always the provider and is never in want of anything whatsoever. He is mindful of what we offer him in the tangible, an obvious reflection of the intangible. And I believe, God has preferences. He prefers the ‘quality’ of our offerings! He wouldn't be pleased to accept an offering by duty; namesake worship would certainly be one of his profound dislikes. 

Touched by Friday

Past 2 days have been really heavy on me. Somehow the thoughts began and I carried them to the grocery store, to the shopping mall, to my work place, you name it. In fact these thoughts about my dreams for life would haunt me everywhere I went and I wouldn’t find peace with myself. There is a world of difference between where I am and where I wanted to be. Though I undoubtedly accept the fact that I am having a blessed life, I have to admit; this is not what my heart desired to be since the time I developed the sense of imagination.

God’s silence to years of prayers and the long-standing hope overwhelmed me. My heart sank in depression; my faith questioned. I was fighting the inner battle all night tossing on the bed until I fell asleep. As the Sun arose, I wearily reached to my laptop and opened up my email for the daily devotional. Tears filled my eyes to see and know that ‘he has not forgotten me’. He may seem to be away but is waiting to act just in time.

My hope rekindled, my heart grew stronger, my tears and sorrow vanished into darkness. Friday has touched me to health inside and it has indeed been a ‘Good Friday’. 

Little things...

During college days while window-shopping at one of the famous gift stores of that time, a beautiful necklace with gold filigree studded in a combination of red and white semi-precious stones catches my eye. I like it at the very first glance and I like it even more after I try it on. As usual, the shopping spree inside wakes up to grab the smallest of the opportunities to make me go bankrupt. Thank goodness! All at the same time there is always this other self, contrary to the ‘spree’ and protects the self from the inevitable disasters. Yes, after a lengthy evaluation, the shopping spree finally accepts defeat and I leave the store saying to myself that ‘the neck that’s going to get it, is going to be the most beautiful and the lucky one’

A couple months later, my friends at the hostel decide to arrange a secret birthday party. After giving me the creamy facial for the night, they hand me a gift pack. The surprise, which in itself is a gift, comes topped with another gift. Woow! The gift-wrap slowly unfolds in my hands only to double up the excitement. Now this is a BIG surprise, guess what?? What's in the box is that necklace I liked at the store! I see it smile at me as if it were happy too about being part of the surprise. Not sure how long it was sitting in that cute little box, counting for the day to it’s liberation only to hug this 'beautiful and lucky neck of mine' This little incident of a double surprise, in deed left an everlasting memory.

When life seems to be dull and colorless with depressing problems that bring the spirits down, the soul undermines the happiness brought by small things. And this is one of those little things in my life, the thought of which brings a smile and yes like someone said, our memories aren’t big things; they are a million little things”. 

Found & lost?

Days after relentless search, I gave up. I gave up on the hope of finding my favorite bracelet that was gifted by a special friend. My hope took away with it, the patience I owned to search. With the loss of the key ingredients of the mission, I convinced myself to forget about it. In an attempt to catalyze the process, I got myself another one. Soon enough, the thoughts of it waned away until this evening when it decided to make its unexpected appearance under a stack of clothes in the corner of the closet. I wonder how it even got there. Anyways, it felt awesome to realize, what was believed to have lost is now found!

My memory flashed back to a series of such lost and found experiences, small and big, visible and invisible. Each one of them brought unique sense of happiness right after the find. It’s a feeling that every living being with a sense of memory would have experienced one time or the other.

These experiences are quite so common in almost every one’s life. I wonder if anyone has ever thought of the feelings brought by experiences the other way round. I am sure there must be many. ‘Lost & Found’ experiences may not necessarily have a history associated to them, but the ones with the ‘Found & Lost’ obviously do. And unlike the former experience, the latter is painful; sometimes to the extent of creating a void, a question whether they would ever be found again!

The Lucky Bamboo

A friend at work left a lucky bamboo with 4 stalks at my desk, the evening before he left to London. The following morning I realize he wants me to take care of it while he's gone. 

Though I was not really excited about the responsibility, I tried to take care. All looked well until I noticed the first thing at work, this morning that the leaves turned yellow. Alas, it is sick. It occurred to me that it wasn't watered ever since I left my desk for the vacation. I got annoyed with myself for having forgotten the duty of watering this little plant for several days even after the return from holiday and quickly started looking for the ways to bring it back to complete life.

My search on the internet revealed a lot to me both, significant and thought provoking; thanks to Google. Though I knew that the lucky bamboo is always given as a gift per the Chinese tradition, I did not know that there is a significance attached to the number of stalks; 3 for happiness, 5 for health, 6 for harmony and 8, 18, 28, 38 and so forth for prosperity.

When I first saw the yellowness in the leaves, I thought perhaps my happiness is at stake. Curiosity increased since the websites talked about every other number but ‘the number’ of stalks this good friend of mine left for me. The search went aggressive until I finally found that it is unlucky to have 4 since the word "death" in Chinese very much sounds like the number 4. Darn, what was the purpose behind the casual inheritance of this bamboo with an unusual number of stalks and what does it's turning yellow signify? My mind was at work. In the blink of an eye, I started feeling good. That sounded good news to me! Since the green lucky bamboo with 4 stalks is considered unlucky, could it's turning yellow be an indication of shift from left to right; Bad Luck to Good Luck? LOL! Perhaps Yes, or may be Not. 

None of this really bothers me, I am a strong believer of Christ. He is completely in control of my life, come what may. This little plant is a living token of memory that reminds me of that friend and I need to preserve it as long as I can. I feel guilty to see a beautiful green bamboo wither to death after it belonged to a new owner called 'me'. Is the bamboo protesting against the change of ownership? Well, not really! Poor little bamboo hardly had the ability to choose it's owner and if it did, it is quite possible that it wouldn't have turned yellow at all. However, for the first time after I owned this plant, I became serious about nurturing it. My mission on restoring it's health begins now. I really wish that it gets healthy in course of time and I am hopefully waiting to see it green again! 

This lucky bamboo neither brought good luck nor bad luck to me but for sure brought thoughts of Belief, Hope and Destiny!

Isn't it time?

During the days of my childhood, I recollect that I always had a longing for the “New Year” celebration. To me it was a holiday time, a celebration day with new clothes, good food and union with friends. The festivity usually began a week before Christmas, when Mom used to make all kinds of Indian cookies (pindivantalu in Telugu). Until the Christmas day, my brother and I were busy cleaning the house, decorating the Christmas tree and buying greetings cards from the little savings we had out of our pocket money which was Rs.10 a month and kept on increasing every year as we grew up.

The saga of celebration continued past Christmas and until the day of the New Year. The biggest excitement about the New Year’s eve was the midnight mass and to me it still is. The preparation included, nice little naps in order to keep awake in the church, a clean hair wash in the evening, new clothes different from the ones worn on Christmas day and packing those post card greetings to wish the friends at the Sunday School. When it was finally time to get to the church, the entire family took my father’s ride, his scooter at around 9 PM when it was chilling cold. I wonder if I ever felt the pain of standing on the rider’s footrest leaning forward to facilitate visibility to the traffic. The excitement probably outweighed the pain. After hours of preparation for the much-awaited event, I hardly remember how long I used to be awake or even participate in the worship. In the dawn of the Big day, I used to go around the neighborhood enjoying the art of Rangoli (it’s a design drawn by Indian women on the wet ground in the front yard, with a fine white powder aka Muggu) filled with vibrant colors and colorful flowers that welcomed the New Year. Wishing everyone a happy new year and collecting the greeting cards, flower bouquets, apples, cakes and diaries that both my parents received from their friends and colleagues were the highlights of the day. The day then finally made it's way to the dusk, setting forth another year long waiting for the next celebration!

Years later, I realize celebrating the New Year is much more than just enjoying a holiday, wearing new clothes, having good food, partying or even merely being present in the midnight worship. The celebration is about bidding farewell to the year gone by, in anticipation to a successful New Year. It is a time to bless and worship the Lord for his faithfulness in bestowing upon us the countless blessings each single day during the past year. It is acknowledging God’s presence in guiding the footsteps to get through the most difficult times of our lives. It is the joy of welcoming the onset of another 365 days that the Lord has added into the calendar of our life, offering prayers with expectations for a much more hopeful, peace-filled and healthier days to come. It is also a perfect time to reminisce; make resolutions for the transformation, a milestone to discipline and train the character of the self.

Isn’t it time to welcome another set of 365 days in the wake of self-transformation?