Freedom accompanying freedom?

Here's another great philosophical insight I never could have managed to get even after celebrating my platinum jubilee teaching Philosophy:

The gift of freedom is always accompanied by freedom.

Now I could have very well passed it off as a mistake or error of words. But no! The Brother who wrote this had an explanation for this! Yes, this statement! Now that's when a student surpasses the teacher... into insanity!

"Leaders" of the Church

Tonight I let the third years have a piece of my mind... I know not what impact it will have, or it will have an impact at all or not. The final crux of the issue, I concluded with, after having heard and debated and argued over their reasons and my justification to be angry at their lack lustre performance in their theme presentations, was this:

You expect me to believe and be faithful to a 'Church' the leaders of which I know are happily ignorant, perfectly lazy and solemnly wallowing in their own slush, rather than give their best to the community - leave alone, God - the community, which trusts them as men of God and prayer. Leaders who will show them the depths of spirituality and the magnificent meaning of union with God. You still want me to go to such kind of a 'Church'? Attend services, receive sacraments, participate in Mass, pay attention to sermons, go to confession and be 'faithful' to my Christian vocation?

Vows for doctors and Immortal blindness

To help the students - or rather 'drive' the students - to read, study and reflect something and gain something out of their three years of study of Philosophy, the staff this year changed the methodology of the final B.Ph. paper. Rather than a research work, we adopted a reflective study mode. The students were given a set of twelve themes, two from each of the six treatises, at the beginning of the year. They were supposed to read, reflect and write the answer to those 12 questions, BY THEMSELVES, and submit them by the end of the semester. Next semester they are to summarise a book, just one book and apply these 12 themes to that book. That was the approach. A couple of days ago the Brothers submitted their themes. Most them, mind you 'most of them', merely got their neighbour's answer and copied it. And where did the neighbour get it from, of course, his neighbour. There were just a handful of them really working on the themes during the semester, in spite of repeated reminders and instructions from the Principal. The net result is evident. I now have some samples, just a couple of them, from the first four sets of papers I went through, today...

Here's one Brother, who copied another's example of a Priest's choice of life. He merely changes the word 'Priest' in his paper. Here's how the example begins:

For example, I have chosen to become a doctor and I should accept the life of doctor like poverty, chastity and obedience. (emphasis added)

Wow! What would become of the world, if all doctors begin to live the vows!!

From the same Brother's answer sheet, here's another. This time he is speaking of evil and 'trying' to exalt God - that's what the question was about - explaining reasons how and why God can be exalted in spite of the existence of evil.

Blindness is a physical evil, it can exalt God. If there is no blindness for beings then we would be immortal which God alone can be.

I never really could understand what blindness has got to do with immortality, until I read the next lot of answers. Another Brother had the same statement, albeit, the evil therein was 'death'. It then dawned on me that my good friend had merely replaced 'death' with 'blindness'!

There surely will be more along the way, but none better than these I believe... anyway, hoping against hope!!!

Be the miracle

During my classes on Theodicy, more than once this topic of miracles came up. For very many people, miracles are really great and wondrous things that happen only once in a way and that too to manifest God's great power. While I have no problem in agreeing to the latter, I certainly am not convinced about the former concept.

It is at times as these that the quote from the movie Bruce Almighty comes to my mind:

Parting a soup is not a miracle, Bruce. It's a magic trick. Now, a single mom who works two full-time jobs, and still finds the time to pick up her kid at soccer practice, that's a miracle. A teenager that says "no" to drugs and "yes" to an education, that's a miracle. You want to see a miracle, son? Be the miracle.

I've shared this with the Brothers too. But somehow, their idea of miracle is only that happens during charismatic prayer services amidst all that 'hullabaloo'. My comment on those 'occurrences' as 'magic performed in the Church' infuriates them all the more.

Here's the video clip of the above quote:

Be the Miracle

Earth's grandeur

I'm surprised I did not include this quote of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in my collection, even though this has been one of the most inspirational quote since long:

Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round and pluck blackberries.

These words make me wonder what exactly am I doing with my life: enjoying the beauty of life or just sitting pretty tight and swatting flies?

English at its best!

Here's a real gem from the English conversational exam held today under the guidance of Fr Rector. As two 'scholars' of English conversed, Fr Rector asked them to frame a statement in active voice and the other to change that to passive voice:

Br A: I climbed the tree.
Br B: The tree climbed on me.

Fr KT says he was privileged to hear quite a few such 'insights'. However, we never progressed beyond this one. We just couldn't...!

Sustaining changes

In his homily this morning, Fr KT used a very beautiful analogy to drive home his point. He was speaking of changing one's life and attitudes for the better and more importantly offering help to sustain those changes. He used the analogy of the caterpillar that transforms into a beautiful butterfly after it period of hibernation in the cocoon. As a caterpillar, it just eats and eats lot - but only leaves. Once it transforms into a butterfly, something so different from what it was earlier - it sustains the change, mainly by changing its food habit. It no more eats leaves. It merely feasts on nectar (The picture is that of a tiger swallowtail butterfly).

Moral: Wish to sustain changes you adopt in life, change your feeding (thinking) habits!

Perseverance of St Francis

The little poverello, as he is called, St Francis of Assissi was indeed a giant in holiness. His life always fascinates. Simple yet radical; never imposing but powerfully inspirational. The fact that as a young man he was anything but interested in Christ or spirituality. The changeover, though slow, was firm and sure. As I always believe, what most of us lack is not the moment of conversion, but the perseverance to sit through the darkness and anxiety that follows during which God asks us to let Him guide us. Just like St Paul encountering Christ on the road to Damascus, the real journey begins when he awaits to regain his sight. That's the real point of conversion.

Having encountered the Lord, there was nothing that would stop him from being His and His totally. I wonder how many of us will have that courage and strength to leave everything and trust in Him alone. Among the many things that he inspires me with, for today it is this ability to persevere in a chosen path of life... not just change for a day or two but be willing to tread the path, come what may!

The ant philosophy

You can check the original here. Written by Jim Rohn.

1. Ants – they never quit! Try and stop them, and they will look for another way. They will climb up, climb under, climb around. They never quit looking for a way. If they are headed somewhere, they will get there.
2. Ants – they think winter all summer long. Don’t think nice when it is nice. Things are easy in the summer time. It’s warm. Resources are readily available. But the ant is thinking about gathering and working during this time. Think ahead.
3. Ants – they think summer all winter long. They say, “This won’t last long, we will soon be out of here.” When the first warm day comes, the ants are out! First warm day and… the ants are out!
4. And finally, how much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All that he possibly can. What an incredible philosophy, the "all-that-you-possibly-can" philosophy.

The rape of God

Today as I sat for the Theodicy exam with the third year students (oral), I felt ashamed of myself. The answers of the Brothers were so mediocre and senseless, not just to me but worse, to themselves! I felt so ashamed of having taught them this subject with such zeal and fervour. They literally raped God right in front of my eyes, one by one and all I did was hung my head in shame. Their ideas of the subject were so weird or unrelated that any one with the minimal of common sense would kick them in the place where it pains the most.

Here are some of their thoughts:

• Evil is some higher perfect good.
• Evolution is from a single cell which is transcendent and that is God.
• Polytheism started 400 years ago. (I, like in every such statement, asked: sure? You mean, it started in 1500 or so? Yes, came the confident reply!)
• Leibniz proposed the idea of 'anticipated world' (God alone knows what that is! or which Leibniz was he talking about!)
• When there is good, evil will attack.
• God is a silent, community, idolatry, particular...
• God as crotch! (Crotch or crutch?. No Brother, it is crotch.)
• Moral evil is due to order in the universe.
• Physical evil is caused by bad - due to perfection.