Closer home

 A natural human tendency that one gets to see most often in strenuous or long pilgrimages or journeys: no matter how weary or tired one is, the awareness of being closer to home or destination spurs us on greatly.  There is an adrenalin rush when one sees home or the finishing line in sight.  

I remember the Student cross pilgrimage walk from Ely to Walshingham nearly 5 years ago.  As we were getting closer to the Shrine, the sound and gusto of our hymns and singing increased. Our feet naturally gained fresh strength, even though we were dragging our feet after three days of continuous walk and climb. A couple of youngsters even broke down in joyful tears when we stepped into the small chapel at the place.  Embracing one another, jumping about, shaking hands... all with such enthusiasm and freshness, as if we just started our journey that morning.  There were no traces of our long journey (except for our stench of not having bathed for three days!).  

Missionary zeal

The apostles and early disciples of Jesus were truly a brave lot.  They traveled extensively, often to far off unknown places, encountering a totally different culture, language and people, carrying with them and witnessing a 'strange' doctrine.  They were often misunderstood, looked upon with suspicion, treated with prejudice, imprisoned, tortured, mocked at and also sometimes accepted.

And as if these 'extrinsic' factors which were well beyond their area of influence or even grasp, were not sufficient, the inner turmoil of those already professing allegiance to Christ and His gospel... and the church.  The Greek widows complaining of them being neglected in the rationing of alms.  The Pharisees challenging the entry of pagans into the christian faith, asking them to be circumcised and adhering to the Law of Moses as pre-requisites.  The dissensions and betrayals of those claiming to be close collaborators.

Then, I suppose, they also had their own inner demons to fight. Personal anxieties and tensions, likes and dislikes that constantly found themselves pitted against that what they preached, their own fledgling faith...

Truly, if they did all that they did, that too with such passion and zeal, as is evident in what history stands witness to, then how strong and deep was their conviction of their love for Jesus.

Like a potato...

Mummy began her conversation with me today with a direct statement:

You seem to be like a potato which can be put in any dish! People take you here or there and seem to insert you in to any job, ask you to take up anything, none of which is really related to your initial training.  

Being a Salesian I consider that a compliment!  Truly, I believe a Salesian is one who is able to insert himself into any situation, any context and make the most of what he is/has for the best of those around him.  I suppose it is something that is within that matters and not merely some limited acquired skills.  If one is genuinely interested in the children or young people, I suppose one will do one's best.  If one is already prepared or equipped with skills related to that context, good. If not, then one will acquire the related skills.  As simple as that!

Merely having skills and qualifications which do not get translated into empowering young people, is like having a transport vehicle and using it only as a show piece... one might as well have a coconut!  Bereft of zeal for those whom we work for, no amount of qualification will be enough.  The best and ideal is zeal + skill.  

The 20-60 formula

A couple of days ago, a person was sharing his experience about one of his friends.  At the end of that sharing he added, someone driven by a passionate desire to learn something new and different, even though aged 60 will behave like a 20 year old - fresh, energetic and dynamic.  Bereft of any desire to learn something, even a 20 year old will behave as a 60 year old - dehydrated and constipated!

Small pockets but large hearts

Last night commenting on the parable of the multiplication of loaves by Jesus, Fr Palli offered the boys another version of the 'miracle'.  He said that perhaps Jesus did not really 'multiply' bread and fish.  But how then did the five thousand men eat to their fill?  Well, they certainly had their own tiffin boxes and carriages.  All that Jesus really did was touch their hearts to help them be generous enough to share with all what each one already had.  Thus not only was the food sufficient but there was extra/left overs too.

He concluded his goodnight thought saying: Even if the pocket is small but the heart is big, wondrous things can be done!

I guess this is the real story of most of our benefactors.  People with small pockets but large hearts!

Praise... the right kind

I came across a very interesting and highly educative RSA doodle about the link between praise and learning.  The basic premise is about what are the success indicators, the educators or adults endorse? We may praise a kid for being smart ... and possibly ruin his future efforts or praise the kid for his effort and keep alive the innovative streak in him.  It is ultimately important to challenge and help children try different and difficult tasks and all along praise the effort, not the results or the already gifted skills.

Some profound insights from the video: 

• Praise the process rather than intelligence itself.
• The latter leads children to a performance or achievement oriented direction; the former (praise for process) leads to further efforts, even if the child suffers setbacks or failures.
• The focus is to help children stay engaged and eager to learn, rather than achieve results.
• When a child says 'it is boring', it actually means the child is afraid to try!
• Convey a value system to children (that hard work is more valuable than rank; that effort is more fulfilling than appearing smart; that honing one's skill is better than resting on one's talent...)
• Keep alive the learning curve... learn at all times and at all costs.

Creative enthusiasm

Two youngsters, whom I've met a couple of times already, in the past two weeks or so have begun to earn my appreciation. One has an MBA and another is a web designer by qualification.  Both of them have teamed up to bring out a rather qualitative year planner.  Not just a planner but one with some thought and research involved.  They tell me that this is not their maiden venture either.

What I find interesting in these youngsters is the enthusiasm to do something new and different.  In the process they are also earning something.  But the freshness and creativity and enthusiasm for finesse and quality is something worth emulating.  They are not just a couple of guys who are keen on earning big bucks by getting employed by some corporate sector bigwig.  They are out on their own, experimenting, kindling their creative genes and exploring... and most importantly enjoying!

Burning with a hunger

I spent the morning at our novitiate house interacting with the 8 novices of our Province.  It was good.  After long, engaging myself in a discussion and that too discussing matters concerning vocation and religious life... it felt good.  Moreover it was good to be questioned about some of the things I said or what they had heard of religious, or priestly life.  Though most of it was the usual set of questions that I am asked: Difference between Brs and Priests? Response of my parents to my decision to be a Br?  Formation course of both?  My experience as a Br among Priests?

However, there was something that I emphasised most during the interaction with them: A diminishing HUNGER or PASSION for anything in life.  That they seemed to have grasped and acknowledged too.  I did not speak of passion for Christ or God, at all but rather insisted on having a passion for atleast something in life.  Unless there is that hunger we live a very complacent life ... and modern notion of religious life, further strengthens that lethargy and mediocrity, I added.

Goodness boomerangs!

In contrast to the rosary recital in Karunapuram, here at Punganur there is a literal verbal fight to pray the first part of the 'Hail Mary', every night! Add to that the fact that these boys are all Hindus!! The verbal fight is a very tenacious one with no one willing to give up their chance, even till the ninth 'Hail Mary'! Or else the Brother has to intervene and literally plead with a couple of the boys to let someone else continue. Rather than dampen or come down heavily on their enthusiasm, I devised a plan to channelize it to something constructive. So a couple of days ago, I announced during the night prayers, that only those who consciously do atleast one good act during the day, should lead the rosary.

Imagine my surprise the next night when there were more contestants than before to recite the first part of the prayer! And each of them had already informed me the good they had done during the day – without me asking them or telling them to report it to me! I guess that's why 'the Kingdom belongs to such as these!'

My learning at Punganur

It has been two and half months since I set foot in Punganur. As I reviewed my own stay here to see what are the three most important discoveries I've made which have helped me see things differently, I realized the following:

1. Children are much MUCH more enthusiastic and eager to learn than the Brothers! It is too evident to miss. 
2. I have been enjoying the luxury of free time – plenty of it. Devoid of a full time responsibility, I have lots of time for myself. This has given me the possibility of indulging myself in all sorts of handiworks, manual labour and maintenance works. It has also challenged me to make the best of the available unstructured time. 
3. This period of stay and interaction with the children has taught me that some of the ideas and principles I lived by and taught others are not that easy to practice in reality. They truly are ideals... but true all the same!

Enthusiasm

It is Rene Descartes who once said

To be incapable of enthusiasm is a sign of mediocrity. 

There are people in whose presence we feel all charged up.  They exude enthusiasm and make the whole atmosphere lively. There are others who are wet blankets! Some have this special grace of charging others but remaining inert themselves... just like the ones at the baseline of a sprint race; they call out 1, 2, 3 but while the sprinters charge forward they remain where they are! Some are conks in a desert.  Drained of all vitality they are as dead as can be.

Changing times

Some years ago, when it was time for the young confreres to be assigned their primary mission field, the most studious would be earmarked for formation, mostly M.Ph. It was then an honour to be sent for studies in Philosophy.

Then came a time when young confreres were 'told' to go for philosophical studies.  There was not much of honour in it for it basically meant, that one is destined to be in formation houses, at least for most of one's Salesian life. That was not a very comforting or easy proposal.

I wonder what time are we now in? Do we have people capable at all to be sent for studies in Philosophy?  B. Ph. itself seems a herculean task (for that matter, any studies!). Do young confreres show an aptitude for anything at all?  What of that passion, the fire, the zeal...?

Free but must!

Quite a few of the Brothers find the recitation of the Breviary very routine and boring.  At every opportunity they get to skip it, they'd gladly replace it with something as fickle as an extempore bhajan service - every week!  This bhajan service at times is so extempore that nobody knows who is going to do what!  Very many of the same Brothers do not feel bored of the game they choose to play everyday.  Given an opportunity they'd play football every day... the same game, the same court, the same rules, the same position... but this is not boring or tiring.

What then distinguishes something as boring and irrelevant  from something else that is interesting and meaningful?

Baruch Spinoza while speaking of God states that he must necessarily emanate while still holding that God is free.  He explains that God's choice to emanate is not decided by someone else.  There is no compulsion from anyone external to him to emanate. Yet, he does emanate. It is his choice to do so.

Explaining this in class, I presented the following analogy:  A young boy is very fond of prayer and he does pray every day especially early in the morning. He perseveres in this choice and is happy about it.  He later decides to join a seminary.  At the seminary there is every morning a bell to rise and later for meditation and morning prayers.  Now in this present situation he 'must' pray!  Is he free now to pray?  Most of the students got the point.  Bell and the timetable does not in any way hinder this young man from praying.  If at all, they serve as an 'additional' help.  But even without them, he will continue to pray - primarily because it is his choice.  The rest of the crowd, who drag themselves to the church to pray, have to make sense of what we are doing once there!  It is often the bell that prays and not me!  

So is the bell and schedule really helpful?  To a certain extent, yes! For those who have not had the facility to fall in love with prayer, these offer an ambiance.  But very often they are seen more as deterrents than aids.

Tugboats: A Bicentenary Initiative

As part of bicentenary of Don Bosco's birth, Br Manu came up with this good idea of bringing forth a sort of short publication (online/pdf format) for private circulation.  So the first issue is out.  Anyone willing to have a glance can shoot off an email to Manu (manunsdb@yahoo.com).  The title of the publication is TUGBOATS.

CONGRATULATIONS to Manu for his initiative and brave effort!

Something that I'd like some to dwell upon - myself included, but perhaps at a later stage than the prejudiced mind that I dwell in currently - is the following:

Is this bicentenary celebration (and such similar programmes) an overflow of our love and commitment to God and young people, or a glossy substitute to camouflage the decline or lack of it? 

Or

Is this initiative (and such as this) a genuine expression of our gratitude for Don Bosco and service of the young, or a desperate attempt to enliven our Salesian charism which somehow seems to have lost its sheen, down the ages? 

The fire within...

The other day Fr Maliekal was speaking about Moses and his interaction with the Egyptians, his fellow Hebrews and his subsequent encounter with God. He highlighted the transition of Moses from one who was all strength and power (wherein he tries to settle things with the oppressive Egyptian and intervenes during the fight between the two Hebrews) to one who surrenders to God and His plan (before the burning bush) and that too with lots of reservations - I'm unable to speak, I'm not courageous!  What happened to that vigorous Moses? What happened to his fire?

I believe this is a real transformation.  I set out on my own and then in due time and occasion ask God to add His bit to my effort.  It is not that I initially set out in rebellion against God or out of pride.  No, not at all!  Rather I set out in respect and confidence that I've been blessed by God with those skills and energies to do my bit on His behalf.  As much as I can, I do... for what I'm able to achieve, is again not totally my own, but something gifted by Him.

Contrary to this strategy is the one wherein I 'surrender' outright and do nothing! This is a real lame excuse, according to me, of very many who call themselves spiritual or pious.  If God did not consider you and me worth anything, He'd have made us as sticks or stones, not human beings!  So rather than insult the creator or one who gifted me with what I have, I put to use these to do my bit.  That's prayer; that's respect; that's partnership; that's treating God as a person! 

Mandela

In class today, while speaking of freedom, as part of my class on Anthropology, I spoke about Nelson Mandela and today was also his 95th b'day.

There is no such thing as part freedom.

Truly, an inspirational icon of our era... and as someone greeted him on this occasion, "Thanks for making this world a better place!"

I came across a couple of his inspirational words here.
And given my present state of mind, the one that really caught my eye (and heart) is this one:

Lead from the back and let others believe they are in front.

And this one too...

There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. 

The shark within

Fr Maliekal, in one of his inaugural goodnight talks, spoke to us of the need to be brisk and alive in everything that we do.  He shared with us an analogy he read from the book of R. Gopalkrishnan (The Case of the Bonsai Manager: Lessons from Nature on Growing).

Japanese love sushi and at one point of time, realised that the fish tasted different.  It was then felt that the duration it takes to reach the table from the time it is caught in the sea was the cause. So the fishermen tried to keep it fresh and alive in water tanks. That did not solve the taste issue. Some tried fresh water instead of sea water.  That didn't help either.  Then someone tried a novel method.  They introduced a shark into the water tank transporting the live sushi to the mainland.  The sushi had to be alert and constantly on the move since it did wish to become shark food. This method solved the taste issue.  The taste of an active sushi was noticed by discerning customers in mainland immediately.

Good lesson to begin the academic year with: Be alive and active (not because the shark is behind you but within you!)

Choices and consequences

My last goodnight thought of the year to the Brothers...
Life is all about choices.  Every and any moment of our life, we are surrounded by choices.  Even in the most trying of situation, we have options, to choose from. However, every choice has consequences.  To choose something and not accept the ensuing consequences is foolishness, is a sure sign of immaturity.  Another aspect of choice that I stress on is the fact that not making a choice of the available options too is still a choice... and like every choice that too has consequences.  One may argue that he or she did not make a selection, but 'abstained' from making a choice hence not responsible for the consequences of that.  Wrong!

The Church, as an institution, and individual, is an expert in this aspect of not making an direct option, knowing, willingly and joyfully FOR...  I cited the example of the holocaust where the Church as a whole was a silent spectator to the most gruesome evil by man.  The same is repeated most often, unless of course, any Christian or a Church is touched!

Blessed is he who makes a deliberate choice for something,  that too with great joy and enthusiasm, knowing well the possible consequences of it, and is ready to pay the price of that (however high it may be) for he knows that what he chooses is true and good. 

Learning to grow...

I did not approve one of the students final dissertation paper today.  He was furious when he was told about this by the Principal.  He stormed into my office and demanded why I did not approve his paper. He initially accused me of not guiding him at all and then now insulting him by not approving his final paper.  I stayed calm and asked him to get all his drafts in order of their submission, along with all the comments and remarks that I passed on to him, each time he submitted a chapter. He banged the door and left to get his drafts.  He came in a couple of minutes later with a pile of papers and started to put them in some sensible order - which he was unable to do.  I asked him to take his own time and come back with the papers put in order.

He returned after 3 hours, still unable to trace the order and sequence of drafts of his own paper!  I then took him along a 'guided tour' of all his papers. Since I knew all his crazy stuff better than him, I showed him his lethargy and irresponsible attitude all along, in spite of my repeated warnings and instructions - all written in black and white, all along the year.  Soon he realised he stood no chance of arguing or that his anger was meaningless. He had no one but himself to blame.  His last question, "What shall I do now?" I only asked him, "Did that question occur to you any time I returned your corrected drafts?"  He had no answer.

As I type this episode, I still am calm and in total control of myself.  All along I kept telling myself that I only intend to show him his laid back attitude which has cost him his academic certificate.  I should not break or insult him.  Never to shout or raise my voice.  I did it and feel that I've been just.  I know well, it is not about me, but about him.  

The Energy Quotient

In Physics there is a law which states that energy can never be created nor destroyed; it only changes form.  I was reflecting to see if this is applicable to the energy within human beings.  Well, as for creating energy, I'm not sure if one is not capable of generating energy within.  However, one thing I feel convinced about:  Energy necessarily does exist; it is only a matter of application!  Whatever be it, energy is consumed!

If I do not use the energy within, for something or anything, I end up using the same energy for 'doing' nothing!  From another perspective, if I do not invest my energy in something constructive, I'm all the same using (dissipating?) my energy.

I ask myself if I'm making the optimum use of my energy for something creative and progressive or am I spending my energy in wasting energy?