Thanksgiving rather than a petition

 Lord, stay with us! 

This was the theme of our recollection talk yesterday.  Drawing it sensibly from the passage of the Emmaus story and the numerous instances in the Bible, the talk highlighted the importance of this short but effective prayer: Lord, stay with us! Also a very very Salesian theme (accompaniment!). 

The talk also included the narration of an incident in the life of Mahatma Gandhi.  He was once travelling by train to Bhuvaneshwar to attend a rally.  He chose to travel in the general compartment, packed with people. Those accompanying him and others who knew him offered him a seat in that packed compartment.  A bulky man too entered soon after and noticed the extra space for this 'skinny man' - people out of respect dared not to cramp Gandhi and hence had made extra space for him.  This hefty man, not recognising Gandhi, was infact going to the same place to listen to Gandhi! They did interact a couple of minutes but not much.  Only on reaching the station and noticing the crowd gathered to welcome Gandhi, did he realise that he travelled a long distance beside the very man whom he wished to hear - without knowing and engaging in a conversation! 

Such is also our rapport with God.  While the prayer, 'Stay with us, Lord' is a very genuine and heartfelt prayer, I believe it is not always the right kind of prayer.  I believe, God is ALWAYS with us.  It is we who do not feel his presence.  Hence rather than ask Him to be with us, we ought to pray that we realise and cherish His presence.  From another perspective, more than a petition, the latter attitude or realisation is a prayer of thanksgiving: THANK YOU Lord, for being with me! 

Pick your battles

 This evening while in prayer it struck me that I ought to share with some young Salesians this advice: Pick your battles. 

With more and more complexities in community life and apostolate, the major hurdle often is lack of communication and discord within the community.  While there is much to be done outside, when there is discord within, there is hardly anything substantial or meaningful achieved elsewhere.  But when there is communion within the community, in spite of and through the internal disagreements and fights, miracles happen! 

In those places where there are people who are well intentioned and hard working, there is also this sort of ego clash that breaks the harmony.  The disagreement is not about the task as such but perhaps about the way of going about. Such and other trivial matters need to be cleverly handled and understood. They are often not the crux of the matter and hence need not - and should not - becomes obstacles for the process of good.  

If the matter is not concerning basic primary principles or values, but only accidentals, one can give in for the greater good rather than fight it out for the trivial matters and miss out doing the greater good.  Hence the need to be prudent to pick one's battles.  Not every battle is to be waged, leave alone won.  Not worth dissipating our energies on the non-essentials.  But if it pertains the core matters of our life and living, and it makes a world of difference to the beneficiaries, then it certainly is worth battling it out.  

Inadequacy of words

 I personally prefer to spend time in silence while in the Chapel.  Words and long prayers really don't offer me much of help.  But in silence and personal conversation, I find peace and great meaning.  

There is only so much that words can express.  Emotions and feelings often are on another level. The inadequacy of words is apparent all the more when the words and text are of someone else. While prayers and words of someone else often has a supportive character, they fall short of always being personalised.  I am unique and so is my context and life.  Hence it is very very difficult to match that with someone somewhere sometime and his or her life and context.  Sometimes even my own words feel insufficient or even obstructive. 

The best is that silence which does not easily let one be idle!  Silence in prayer has a totally different aura about it and the impact it has on oneself. 

 

Appreciation

 There is on some rare occasions a fervour aroused and a passionate appeal made on behalf of certain sections or professions in the society.  All of these professions are certainly noble and praiseworthy.  It is just that the fervent stirred is short lived!  Take for example, the focus on farmers.  Then there is the patriotic sentiment aroused in the name of the armed services. Or the doctors. The whole country is carried away by these 'advertisements'.  But their genuine needs and protests are not something that touches or moves us.  

The farmers agitation in north and south India went on for months.   During that time, there was much media publicity about these protests.  Slowly that wound up - the broadcasting, not the protest.  What happened to those farmers and their attempts is unknown!  But we had our supply of fruits and vegetables - and we were happy! 

Each of these services is truly of great importance. But when the span of attention and appreciation is very short and passing, the respect due to them is not genuine.  It is only a fad.  

I came across someone sharing their experience of some shops in Japan displaying, with the farm produce, the name and photo of the farmer who cultivated them.  That's something noble. A truly personal touch and link between the end-user and the producer of the fruit or the vegetable. 

Unnecessary complications

 As it is we have been having great trouble keeping up with the numerous Income Tax demands and notices that keep coming in every other day.  Added to that there is the constant flux of FCRA norms and rules.  

But the icing on the cake is when we have to explain to confreres how to send out mails: where to find 'reply all', how to log in using the recovery phone, that there is a thing call 'incognito mode', to send out a reply the main first mail using the text received in one of the subsequent mails in the same conversation, where to find 'bcc' or even 'cc' - leave alone explain to them what each stands for and does! 

Today is one of those days, where explaining a simple thing as sending out a multiple reply or logging into a mail account lying dormant for months, was more complicated and taxing than what those mails were about!!

Prayer and meaning - mismatch

 This particular thought occurred to me the first time when I was in the UK.  All of a sudden, when deeply engaged in reading the heavy philosophical texts as part of my study, it hit me that I was not really paying attention to what I was reading!  It was true that I wasn't distracted, or was not paying attention to the text I was reading, just that my mind was simultaneously busy with something else. 

I could conveniently read a text and still be gladly letting my mind think of something else altogether, without breaking the flow of reading. I tried if reading aloud helped me concentrate on the text, rather than let my mind be on something else and surprisingly I found that it was easier that silent reading!! 

I couldn't get my mind around this strange phenomenon that I noticed in myself and tried to see how and where could I have picked up this habit of disconnecting my eyes, mouth and mind! I soon found the source: during prayer! One day, sooner than later, it struck me that I was praying the breviary, the psalms, but my mind was elsewhere.  That's when it hit me that over the years, I've learnt to think of something totally unrelated to what I am reading - thanks to my community prayer moments!  I can confidently, in a loud and clear voice, read the psalms from the breviary, all the while thinking about my office work or plan a budget!  

Over the years I've tried to break this unhealthy habit, but with no success. I realise I've deeply imbibed it unconsciously, perhaps. 

'Head'lines

 Some headlines and the accompanying photos are a hilarious mismatch... 

The arrived

 Every group has a variety of members and a greater assortment of leaders! The Salesian community or Province too is no exception. 

Glancing at the working style (without making any moral or character judgement) of the leaders of our communities, we get to see a wide variety.  There are those who are simple. They know they are not complicated or omnipotent and therefore go about their work, seeking assistance and are open to guidance. Then there are those who go about as if they know it all. No consultation. Unwilling to alter course, even if they recognise they have made a blunder. And it is always somebody else's fault - everytime.

I remember a particular phrase Fr Camillus, the former Provincial of Chennai, would use to describe the latter: the arrived confreres!

A little help, please

Five-year old Jack was in the kitchen as his mother made supper.  She asked him to go into the store-room (the place where much of the provisions were stored) and get her a can of tomato soup. But li'l Jack didn't want to go in alone there and cried: "It's dark in there and I'm scared, Mamma" 

She asked again, and he persisted in his refusal. Finally she said, "Jack, look… there is nothing to fear in going to that store-room. Jesus will be in there, with you…" 

 The constant request and this assurance made Jack to walk hesitantly to the door and slowly open it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, got all frightened and started to leave… … when all at once an idea came, and he said: "Jesus, if you're in there, would you, please, hand me that can of tomato soup?!"

The anecdote ends here.

But just to add a twist... Jack does get his request fulfilled and he gets a can of the soup, standing at the door. He is ecstatic. Runs back to the kitchen clutching the can like a trophy. And tells his mum what happened. What would mum have said?

Medical donation

While in the UK, I was fortunate to enjoy good health.  So much so, I had to visit the local health centre only once in 5 years.   Nonetheless, I am also aware that in some centres, getting an appointment was sometimes so delayed that by the time your appointment date draws near, your ailment has either naturally healed or aggravated to such an extent that one would have to call for an ambulance.  

The primary reason for such delays was because some (particularly elderly) would book appointments practically everyday.  And that too for small petty health issues, which actually need no medical intervention. Their health anxiety and fear of mortality was so high that they needed constant treatment. 

Luckily in India, we are a bit more resilient.  Perhaps it also has much to do with the financial burden that one would like to avoid.  We visit a doctor or a hospital only in extreme cases.  Otherwise, most of us resist going anywhere near a health centre.  When all home remedies and suggestions of every aunt has been followed, but with no improvement; or rather, one is totally bedridden, then we think of visiting a doctor. But among the Salesians there seem to be a few who prefer this medical tourism. Every other day they come asking to be taken to some doctor or the other, on the pretext of some ailment or trouble. To one such, I had the joy of saying, "'No!  There is no need of visiting any doctor or going to a hospital.  There is nothing wrong with you!" But I'm aware he is approaching everyone, in the hope that someone will actually take him or let him go by himself to the hospital.  

I have a better proposal: offer him to Gandhi Hospital (government hospital of Hyderabad) for medical research.  He can stay at the hospital itself, offering his illness for experimental treatment. It would do a lot of good to everyone!