Misunderstandings

The St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Parish of Philadelphia was blessed with the visit of H. G. Mathews Mar Barnabas Metropolitan on Sunday, December 13^th, 2009. The Sunday was celebrated as “Annunciation to St. Joseph” and the gospel reading was from St. Matthew 1: 18 – 25. The reading is about a misunderstanding Joseph had about Mary and the events following. Joseph at first thought to “divorce her quietly” (Mat 1: 19). Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him clearing the confusions and telling him that the child in Mary’s womb is from the Holy Spirit. Joseph was able to listen to the words and understand.

Related to this Gospel portion, Thirumeni said two stories about misunderstandings in the human lives. Once upon a time, His Grace was visiting the patients at a hospital. When he entered one of the rooms, the patient did not pay attention to Him. He did not greet him or initiate any interest to acknowledge the presence of Thirumeni. Even though Thirumeni did not want any special respect, it is the common courtesy for a human to greet another when seen. Thirumeni was surprised by this response and thought about leaving the room. But he did not and made the decision to start a conversation. When Thirumeni asked him “what made him come to the hospital”, he said “I am blind”. Thirumeni felt relieved for not leaving the room due the misunderstanding.

He also said another story which goes like this. There were two female teachers once. They rented a house and were living together. Both of then left the house in the morning and came back in the evening after the classes. One day, both the teachers left the house at different times. One of them came early after the class and found a cigarette on the verandah. It was unusual as neither one of the ladies smoke and thought that some man came to see the other teacher. She kept the misunderstanding to herself. The other teacher came late and saw the same cigarette and thought that some man came to the home while she wasn’t there. She misunderstood the other too. But both of them kept the doubts to themselves, and both of them thought that they will not ask about it and will wait till the other tells. A couple days later, a man came to the house for some work and said that he came a couple days earlier and neither one of them were there, and hence he left!

In both of the above stories, everyone had reasonable doubts. But, when the attempt is made to work beyond the doubt, it turns out to be positive like in the case of the blind man.

Personal Reflection: As humans, we often assume things! When it comes to relationships and personal matters, as we saw in the second story, how often are we understanding? Many times, we tend to link the doubts to make stories and convince ourselves that the story is the truth and become unable to listen to the other person. Often people tend to see the wrong side, and the worst reasons.

What happens if the two teachers in the second decided to talk? It is possible that both believes in what they thought as the truth and will not bother to trust in the other person’s story. In this case, neither one of them knew what happened. It was all guesses. There is the possibility that their relationship might end being unable to trust each other. Or they might believe in each other and continue their friendship. What will we do? Will we be patient enough to listen to the other side of the story and trust it? Our assumptions shouldn’t be judging the honesty of another and that shouldn’t cause issues that will make the other in pain. I am as everyone else guilty of assuming things.

What if I cannot talk? Like in the above case, both of them were not ready to talk to each other. How often can we carry the misunderstandings? Often we think that the misunderstandings we have are the truth! The issues and its depth to be communicated with another person are related to the depth in their relationship. Each person will have a comfort zone of talking to another. I cannot go to a stranger and talk about the issues I have in my life. There will be a close friend with whom I will share it with and another close friend whom I will not be able to share it with. It all depends! Therefore, if we are unable to talk, why shall we make conclusions of our own? Can we rather look at the good side and avoid misunderstandings?

            God is the help in cases of serious misunderstandings that shake relationships. The only option is to trust in Him and make the decisions in prayer. He is the source of divine wisdom that overcomes all knowledge and He is the guide for the sinful human being. Let Him be our Way. 

Religious Tolerance - Response to ICON

Different viewpoints on Christianity and Hinduism have been seen in the forum and some might be fanatic and some are tolerant. Either way, each person has the reasons to believe in whatever they say. But a couple questions and concerns that arise in my mind after reading the posts are below.

India has been accepting and tolerant to all the religions from ancient times. And therefore, we are able to see a follower of each and every religion in India! Indians accepted Christianity from St. Thomas also. From some of the posts we had, it seems like we are arguing that everyone is saying the truth and we are too and that all are different ways to God! All religions have the reasons to believe in whatever they do, and there are explanations too. We do have meaning for everything we do, and they might look weird for someone outside the Church who has no idea about what is going on. Similar is the case when a normal Christian looks at Hindu practices, especially under the impression that we are the truth and they are not. This cannot be fully accepted! But at the same time, while trying to teach the Christian fanatics to try to understand the meanings in Hinduism, aren’t we getting too liberal? It almost seems like we are saying everyone is correct and we are too, and we have no idea of what God is going to do, and hence we are not bothered!

True that we cannot fully understand the reasoning behind God’s plan of who is getting saved. At the same time, are we forgetting the sacrifice that Jesus made? Didn’t Jesus lower Himself to the humans becoming a human to make us reach God? I understand Jesus Christ as the ultimate revelation of God to the humans and the ‘only’ way to reach God. If it was not, then what was the point of His sacrifice? If Hinduism gives me an option to reach God, then why shall I be a Christian? Why did the apostles preach the good news to the whole world if Christ wasn’t the ‘only’ way?

This does not mean in anyway that whatever other religions are doing is wrong. I have been amazed by the verses in the Upanishads like "He is the source of love and may be known through love but not through thought."  All of them might be teaching to lead a good life, and might be teaching about the Almighty in different ways, but how does all that refer to the sacrifice that opened an entrance for the sinful humans in to God’s presence? And therefore, how shall we deal with the tolerance of other religions? Aren’t we supposed to preach about Christ to others? Isn’t what the apostles did? That does not necessarily mean to preach that whatever you see outside the Church is wrong like some do!

 

What is the view of evangelization in our Church? And when I say evangelization, it is not the way Protestants see it, and I am not overwhelmed by their ways! But, I do believe that evangelization is a mission of the Church. How do we evangelize if we are forgetting to preach the sacrifice of Christ and is accepting other religions as other ways to God? 

“The Most Wonderful Time”

Uncle Scrooge is the main character of the classic play ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. He is a very rude and money oriented man with very less or even no compassion. He would never help the poor, will not give anything for charity, and is concerned only about the money he has and about saving it. He will not even do any favors for his employee. The play continues with a series of events occurring in a couple of dreams of Uncle Scrooge, showing different events from his past, transforming him to a better man with a selfless and helping mind. Characters of this extreme behavior are often not seen in our societies. But I doubt that all of us, at least once in a while, become an Uncle Scrooge. It is good to rethink at this Christmas season.

"The Son of God became the Son of Man, so that the sons of men can become the sons of God" said St. Athanasius. Christ came down from the heaven in to the world to suffer so that he can have the humans reach God. It is the ultimate purpose of human life too. Therefore, to reach the oneness with God expected from humans, one shall suffer in God’s name, as Christ came down to earth and suffered. “But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” (1 Pet 2: 20, 21).  It is through this suffering that God expects that we partake in the divine nature. “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Pet 1: 4).

It is our duty to see the concerns and suffering in the world while we celebrate ‘the most wonderful time of the year’. It is also our duty to partake in those sufferings so that those who suffer may be blessed by the Christian love we emit following His words. While a hungry is fed and a naked is clothed, comes the real meaning of Christmas, and it makes it the most wonderful time of the year.