Unwanted pregnancy?

 I've come across the phrase 'unwanted pregnancies' many a time and perhaps it is standard term in vocabulary and linguistics. Nonetheless I prefer we rather use the phrase 'unprepared pregnancy' to refer to the same meaning. Or even 'unintended pregnancy'.

One can't 'want' to have sex and be 'unwant' about one of the natural outcomes of the same. Most importantly, I prefer the proposed change of vocabulary since the former phrase appears derogatory in its reference to a child, who has had no say whatsoever in its own existence. 

The living Eucharist

 Yesterday I came across two pieces of information and news that seemingly are unrelated, but to me appeared very VERY much connected.  

One was a letter written by a Bishop in Maharashtra, denouncing the desecration of a school chapel and that the miscreants had taken away the sacred host from the tabernacle.  He therefore appealed to the Catholic faithful to conduct an adoration service in order to restore the blessed Sacrament.  

The other incident that is still unfolding in a nearby state of the country is that of the death/murder of a teenager in Patna.  An 18 year old student was found dead in her hostel. Initially it was declared as suicide and now it is revealed that she was brutally raped and murdered!  

Is not the life of this teenager as sacred and worthy of respect as the Holy Communion?  ("You are the temple of the holy Spirit") I am right now struggling to come to terms with these incidents - more so, with our response to these incidents! I don't know... but I'm feeling very very disturbed and uncomfortable. 

The commode theory

 A few months ago, I came up with this 'commode theory'. It is basically a personal experience that has got me thinking and linking to life. 

You see, the flush tank in my room is a very moody one.  At time it functions with a single push of the button. At times, I have to keep the button pressed.  At times, after the flush tank is emptied, it keeps leaking and there is a whole lot of water wasted, by the time I realise it. 

Anyhow, the commode theory is about the commode!  The basic premise: Shit does not always get flushed properly! This depends on a couple of factors, beside the 'quality' of shit! At times the flush tank isn't sufficiently big. Sometimes the commode itself is not designed well enough to utilise the pressure of the flush tank's water. Other times, the plumbing isn't done well.  

Not everyone pays attention to this.  But I'm sure everyone experiences it!  However, not everyone needs to know this.  Neither is there any harm in everyone knowing this.  Some who know this apply the knowledge in selecting the type, model of commode.  Most just don't bother, as long as there is a flush tank and a commode! Perhaps the engineer or the plumber is one who actually needs to have the best knowledge about it, but it could also be that he isn't using one (I mean, a western commode!). 

At times, the ones who reflect about this, can do nothing about it - because the commode is already in place!! One only has to find hacks - like me - to make it work, the best it can! 

So the theory itself? Shit happens to everyone; but not everyone thinks about it. And not all those who do, can or need to do anything about it! 

The Emmaus journey

The passage of the Emmaus journey, never fails to inspire me and offer new insights, everytime I read or hear it.

What I found interesting this time was the fact that Jesus joins them on their journey! It is not Christ who is leading the way or taking them somewhere He intends to go.  Rather it is he who is joining them on their path. He goes in to their home, at their invitation.  He does not take them back to Jerusalem or to the places where and what he is explaining about. 

This insight very well fits in with my favourite perspective with regard to God's presence with us and the notion of prayer.  God does not drag us to places, we do not wish to go to.  Rather he accompanies us.  It is therefore best not to ask God to accompany us in our life's journey - He already and always is!  The best thing we can do is ask ourselves, 'Do I feel His presence with me, with us?'  The prayer then, is a conversation with this God whose presence I feel with me, always. 

Philosophy and wisdom

If philosophy is the love or study of wisdom, then by that logic philosophers should be the most wise people on earth.  Now that statement can be treated more as a joke than a reality!  Why the lacuna between study of wisdom and being wise? 

I think the chasm lies in the fact that most philosophers get embroiled with logic, arguments, reasoning and reading, it is purely at the intellectual level.  In life, these hardly make an impact.  When these do not percolate my convictions, principles, values and day-to-day decisions of life, how would it make impact others, leave along the society at large?  Wisdom comes from letting these ideas and theories being worked out in real life, with real people and relations. Not merely in the abstract world of ideas and thoughts.  In that sense, I still hold that my Mum is a more wise person than I, in spite of my years of study of philosophy!

I agree that reading and thinking and philosophising helps.  But wisdom comes from living life, not merely reading about life or thinking about life.  We become wise engaging with real life-situations and people - the more challenging and complex these are, the better the possibility of we growing wise.  Reading and thinking and engaging in an intellectual debate (however intense) are safe bets - not life-altering.  Real life situations and the challenges they throw up, demand radical decisions and careful consideration.  That's the route to wisdom. 

Spanning the spectrum of life

While at Cambridge, was keen on visiting the Christ's college Chapel.  Had visited the King's College Chapel on a previous visit.  Had heard much about the former from the Rector.  However, did not find it appealing - perhaps, had raised my level of expectations too high!

Anyway, two things that attracted me most: the mosaic behind the sanctuary and the marble carving on the right of the sanctuary.  Couldn't really get a good picture of the mosaic, but it depicted the risen Christ (or was it Christ, the King?) over the college campus.  Looked good!

The marble carving on the side were of two people - couldn't get their names or details since the description was totally in Latin. However what caught my eye was the carving of a small kid holding a skull in one hand!  Felt a bit strange to see the two ends of life juxtaposed, yet ignorant or oblivious of each other! The child is in no state of mind to know what the skull means.  The skull didn't have a clue of what infancy is all about.  But the viewer, who is aware of both, is left 'halfway through'.  The other side infant too had something in hand, but couldn't really make out what it was - most probably, it was damaged, and not complete. 

Life in precious

One of the arguments of pro-abortion activists is that the fetus, until it is born is not a living person or a human being.  Some would grant it a little more time and say only after a certain number of weeks in the womb does the fetus become a human being.  Till then it is basically nothing more than a 'tumour', a lump of flesh.

Travelling to London the other day, I noticed a pregnant woman being offered a seat as soon as she entered the train.  Wonder if an obese person too would be granted a seat in the similar fashion... after all, both have extra lumps of flesh!

I know there are very intricate issues involved in the arguments for and against abortion.  However, I do believe that standing up for those who cannot stand for themselves is what actually defines the quality of humanity.  It speaks more about the ones who stand up - or don't - than the ones who cannot!  

To belong, to be at Home

The prayer of Jesus to the Father in today's Gospel, on behalf of his apostles and disciples, is a very poignant one.  He asks that they be strengthened, they be protected from the evil, that they be consecrated in truth... they are the final bidding prayers of a person who loves those he is leaving behind. 

The whole idea is that the apostles and disciples do not lose the full picture.  That they get lost in the merely mundane but be able to look beyond and have a comprehensive vision of life and faith.  However, does the line, in the centuries to come, this whole notion somehow got diluted or corrupted to mean that this world, here and now, is something that is to be avoided.  Something that needs to be viewed with suspicion and therefore to be on the alert. 

We can choose to be merely suspicious of the here and now and therefore concerned with merely 'preserving' the divine nature within us or strive for the broader vision and work towards enhancing that divine nature! 

Defining human nature

Human rights are sometimes based on human nature.  Meaning that there is something special about the human species that qualifies it to be treated in a more dignified manner than say a chair or a lamp post.  But this human nature is not merely something natural.  For that matter even animals have a nature. So if we consider naturality the chief characteristic of a nature then there would be nothing special or unique about human nature.  The emphasis needs to be on 'essential trait' but this cannot be something static or frozen.  There are aspects of it which change but others that ensure continuity.  So perhaps, the following definition (as found here), could be taken as a functional one...

Human nature is best conceived of as a cluster of homeostatic properties, ie of traits that are dynamically changing and yet sufficiently stable over evolutionary time to be statistically clearly recognisable.

And just like life cannot be shown apart from living, human nature is not something that can be identified apart from the human person.  It is not something that exists independently or abstractly.  It inheres.  

Respect life

The ongoing case of Alfie Evans and the efforts of his parents and a few activists is quite an alarming indication of the stance of the law, the medical practice and the society as a whole.

I thought the motto of medical profession was to 'improve the quality of life', not 'ensure death'.  And if one cannot improve the quality of life, one ought to be put down.  Going by that dictum, most people even the healthy ones, should be put to sleep once and for all.  Furthermore, the standard of a society is measured by the way it looks after the marginalized, especially the weak and the disabled.  If measured by that standard, the UK would not rank high in this and related episodes.

Following the logic of the hospital and the judges, even George Young a four year old who has dementia and is expected to soon lose sight and other vital organs, should be left to die, without any further medical intervention - not even food and water!

On the one hand there is the whole celebration of the birth of a new prince, and the royals paying homage to the dead at the Anzac ceremony, and on the other a concerted effort to end one life.  Seriously, the dead are revered and the living murdered?  Wonder if the law would prevent a royal family from taking their child to another country for treatment, even if that treatment is no guarantee of better health? So if Alfie can be taken home, he can well be taken to Italy - go for a family vacation, if that be!

In Alfie's case, the doctors had initially claimed that Alfie would not survive long without the ventilator. But he has outlived their prediction and made it on his own since three days.  So there is a possibility - a very wild one - that science has got it wrong.  Yet it need not be a defeat of science.  There is nothing called good science or bad science.   The fact that science has not yet found the cure does not mean that there isn't one.  Furthermore, some remedies used today were experiments some time ago. Only when they've been proved beneficial have they become 'life-saving' today.  So even if one gives into the logic of the hospital and the judges, that Alfie's condition cannot be improved, one can at least try unexperimented modes of treatment with the sole intention of improving his health.  It is not as if healthy people are cheated into being experimented on - which is ethically wrong.  But here is a case where every possible means of available treatment has failed, so why not?

In most such cases where there is no visible sign of agency, human life is considered not worth continuing.  Actually it speaks not so much about the sick person but of those healthy and those taking decisions on behalf of the sick.  In passing judgement about the worthiness or non-worthiness of their continued existence, we are passing judgement on our own ethical and moral standard.

How can taking someone's life be for the betterment of one's life? 

Remembering Sr Modesta

I can't but think of Sr Modesta today.  Not that I'm mourning her death... I'm actually happy that I've had the chance to meet and know her. 

She was not a very gifted person, from what I know.  She had no special skills or talents, leave alone a world-class education or academic qualification.  I'm sure, she never held any 'privileged posts' during her lifetime.  Am quite sure she never even made it to being appointed 'principal' to any rural school.  I know for sure that she taught hindi in schools, but that's it.  Nothing more.  Yet, she endeared herself to so many people... to me.  What she lacked for in terms of academic excellence or intellectual calibre, she made up (more than merely balancing) through her personal relational skills.  She was a 'other-centred' person.  Her heart and mind sought out what others felt and needed, much more than what she needed for herself.  She was contended with herself, no matter how little she possessed or the lack of titles she was bestowed with.  What she was blessed with, she made the most.  She was happy and that happiness she gladly and generously shared with others. 

Life is better because you are happy; but life is best when others are happy because of you.

The following quote, perfectly sums up her life:

Murder, most brutal

Everytime I dig out a grown up plant in the garden, I feel a bit bad.  Not because the plant is a rare variety or that it is a 'good' plant for the garden but because it has taken more than a year to grow to the stature it is.  And my act of 15 minutes is going to undo all of that year's slow painstaking effort of the plant to keep growing.

The same logic is applicable to people as well.  Whenever someone is killed, however or for whatever reason, that single act of an instant negates years of growth.  Not only of that person but of all those involved in the life of that person, right since infancy.  Surviving all those years of childhood's vulnerabilities mostly riding on the gracious and generous sacrifice of parents, the risks and dangers of youth, dodging those viruses and fatal bacteria, carving out a life, building up relationships and a worldview... all of it, everything is destroyed by one senseless act of someone.  And most often why does one murder?  Merely because something the person said or wrote is not to my liking, or because the other person's belief structure is different from that of mine... If only one would weigh all what goes into making a life against that one particular differing aspect, just for one silent minute, may be several lives would be spared.  

Resurrection and Jesus

Raising of Lazarus (April 2, 2017)

Resurrection defies all logic and human reasoning. Even after two thousand years of history and tradition we Christians still find it hard to explain in rational terms. Imagine the state of mind of those who had not yet witnessed anything close to it.

We often think of resurrection in terms of our body, that too after death. Perhaps, Jesus' delay in coming to Lazarus' tomb has something to say about a fact greater than resurrection: Jesus Himself. In this sense, His words, “I am the resurrection and the life...” would mean that it is the presence of Jesus that matters most. Where He is, life abounds.

When Jesus asks Martha if she believed in the resurrection, she replies that she believes that her brother will rise. However, she is only thinking of it as an event in the future. The resurrection is an event. Jesus is the person. Embrace the person and He will take care of the event.

Death. Birth. Wedding.

I think this is the first time in my life that I get to attend three different events, in quick succession.  Yesterday was the funeral of the mother of one of our confreres. Today was the birthday of a confrere.  Tomorrow I'd be driving Fr John to London to help him preside at a nuptial Mass.  Death. Birth. Wedding.

Perhaps a priest would have many of such events, but as a Brother this is the first time I'm experiencing this series of events in succession.  Honestly, find a distinct reflection on each of these aspects possible - and in a way meanigful too, though not always perfectly intelligible or complementary.  Yet to see them as all as one, as life itself, is getting too complicated.

Perhaps that's what life is all about: great and interesting in its diversity, complicated in its totality! 

Tug of war

Spending immense amount of time these days reading Husserl and the like, don't feel the winter cold much!  After repeated readings of his own works and that of others about topics he dealt with, I see the point he is trying to make.  The utter comedy of the whole episode is that, he states exactly what I have in mind: reworking philosophy on the founding principles of the early Greek thinkers. The difference however is that he has somehow managed to list out how to and I'm still wondering what is he saying - leave alone what I want to say!

I earlier thought there were two spheres of understanding and operation: the one that we occupy when speaking about religion, faith, and belief and the other, the actual mundane reality of today.  The attempt then was to bridge the divide.  Talk of faith and belief made life so 'smooth' or 'defined'. But life in reality with all its confusions and complexities seem to be anything but what faith says it is, or should be.

Now I realize a third dimension to my world: that of abstract thinking.  As if grounding pious thought was not enough, this highly intellectual stuff is sapping energy!  Worst is this feeling that in the name of making the life-world tangible and substantial (as per Husserl), this does exactly the opposite!  Feel torn apart between keeping my feet on the ground and be of some little help to at least someone, and soaring the heights to change principles that affect a large population.

(Statutory warning: If this post sounds 'heavy', you know whom to blame!)

The everydayness

This temptation to do something great is always there.  Most often we choose the grand than the simple.  Grandiosity is a great attraction, not just for the rich and powerful, but for everyone, even the poor and lowly. Most of us spend a lifetime waiting, planning, preparing, hoping for the 'great event' in our life... forgetting to relish the normal, mundane, 'everydayness'.

Dealing with success

From Markings, of Dag Hammarskjold...

To rejoice at success is not the same as to take credit for it.  To deny oneself the first is to be a hypocrite and a denier of life; to indulge oneself in the second is a pleasure for children which will keep them from growing up. 

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

For the first time today, I picked up a book from our own community library to read. It was The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne.  

I knew that this book was made into a movie too, but somehow never got myself to see it for it has something to do with the Holocaust.  This morning I said to myself, I will read the book and then watch the movie to see which is better.

The book is the poignant story of two 9-year olds on either side of the fence of a concentration camp in Poland.  One the son of a German officer and the other a Jew in the camp.  The book is narrated from the eyes and mind of the German boy, Bruno.

In spite of the tragedy and gloom all around, the story is lively and the child's innocence keeps it heart-warming - even through and to the extent of death.  There were times in the book, when I wanted to intervene, especially towards the end.  But found myself too stunned and lost for words. I still feel the hair on my hands stand up - watching helplessly as the two boys march on. The fact that those boys go through death, without being aware of it, makes it consoling; yet offers no comfort at all.

Few points that stand out for me:

• How children grow up - or to be precise, fed with - prejudices and theories which are totally contrary to their own world-view.  But still children grow up to believe in the 'theories' or 'rules' set before them because they are done by the ones they love most - their parents.  Their initial innocence is over-ridden by the 'truth' they are told, which they then retell others, even if it meant they do not understand or even do not accept them.  
• How right the children are and as an adult reading the book, you cannot but see it; yet in reality we act as adults! 
• As one reading it I could not but feel the pain and agony, but how much more would the ones who were in that context have gone through.  Not just the victims (Shmuel and the Jews) but even those who stood by helpless but vocal (the grandmother); the silent trying to make sense (Maria); the utterly helpless (Pavel). 
• How harsh realities of life make one mature way beyond ones years. Shmuel knows more of life than Bruno.  His occasional silences are an added confirmation of this fact, besides the times he shares about his life.  

Makes me question, more than wonder, the worth of my own life.

I will never get myself to watch the movie. 

Lush life (Zara Larsson)

Nice catchy song with a sort of hippie lyrics:

I live my day as if it was the last

Live my day as if there was no past

Doin' it all nite, all summer

Doin' it the way I wanna

Yeah I'mma dance my heart out 'til the dawn

But I won't be done when morning comes

Doin' it all nite, all summer

Gonna spend it like no other

Philosophy and life

Yesterday the whole morning I spent reading a book of Richard Rorty, as preparation for the class. I had missed a couple of classes and was therefore trying to reach up to the page to which we were expected to read before this week's class.  Somehow I never managed to reach that syllabus.  More than once, I felt like shutting down the computer (if it were a printed book in hand, I'd have thrown it out the window)!  It was truly very very high or intense ... very intellectual.

While in class, the professor who was keen to finish reading the text but gave much room and space for all the doubts and objections raised by the students, said something very honestly.  He said Rorty himself felt disgusted with "philosophizing" after some time.  In fact, he made some very cutting remarks again philosophy - after he had written a couple of books, including the one above-mentioned book.  Towards the end of his life he spoke more plainly and in very simple language about democracy!  Those books were read by different groups of people but the first one was only picked up by the philosophers.  And which did make a real difference in life, the professor asked.  Certainly the latter, he himself replied.  The professor went on to say, it is guys like me who write books and publish them are called philosophers, but the one's really making a difference in the world are someone else.  Surely the issues of Brexit, or Aleppo or Haiti are far more important and meaningful than mind, and epistemology and language.

After a brief pause, one of us, softly stated, perhaps we've to find a balance to which the Professor replied, "Hopefully!"