What gives

 Yesterday I read about my seven feet tall imposing paternal great grand-uncle who was the Governer of Pharedjong in Tibet ,Rimshi Doti, had the distinction of bailing out five united states pilots who were caught in their bomber during war. While doing a bit of research myself I also found a cup somewhere in a musuem in New Zealand which had been presented by him to William Dunning. The books from where I take the referance are 'Out of this world-Across the himalayas,to forbidden tibet.', 'Flight to adventure,to Alaska and Beyond 'by Lowell Thomas Junior.

This year I do not get to celebrate Christmas or my mom's birthday at home but I sit here in my room ,crushed by deadlines and health indisposition(Slight asthmatic attack which resolved) listening to her favourite song. This song talks about the creation's beauty, God's greatness and the celebration of the difference we as human beings enjoy and yet when we come before our God the creator all the differences melt into one resounding praise of gratitude to Him. Somethings remain with me this season. When my dad was getting sicker,one day he slipped out from bed as usual to accompany mom to the kitchen and he could not get up.As he grew older he found it difficult but never missed doing it because he knew mom would find it difficult without his help. The last conversation I heard him make was the one I overheard while talking to my brother.His question was ,'Is mom allright?' I did not know that he was not all there then. The entire month I was there ,mom would pick ...

Is there really a closure when a parent dies? My dad passed when he was 90 and I ,his youngest am 49 years old.I had an unusual journey this season.The covid pandemic rages on.The government seems to be see-sawing between closing and opening the lockdown.In the meantime I could spend three whole months with my family.It was a sort of time we have never had the opportunity to spend since our childhood.We have been away in boarding schools ,colleges and our work places  with short spells during vacation at home.Our father taught us a lot of things about the bird and the bees.My sister and I often wondered to ourselves what a blessed time it had been with parents understanding the nature which has been given to us in bountiful by the Lord who cares. Less than a week after I left home,my dad fell ill and passed away.With the strict covid rules I had just finished a week of quarantine in my workplace and it was time for me to pack my bags again homeward bound .My dad was ill.The s...

  .Infinity was a rejected puppy in a bin.She was one of the many puppies born to a stray mongrel in the streets of Delhi. When my sister picked her up to take her home all of us wondered how things would work out.My neice Annie chose to name her Infinity.A lone child in the family ,suddenly overnight   their life changed in infinite ways,hence the name Infinity. Looking from afar we often thought she was a nuisance.Their movement as a family was severely restricted and their social life needed adjustments.Each time I visited her she was ferocious while greeting but gradually we settled down to an uncomfortable equilibrium I was often the stick the family used to discipline her.She had had her shots so feared the vet so at the mention of a doctor she would cow down with her tail between her legs.I was the doctor. 0nce the pandemic started the family has had to spend much time indoors. My father passed this summer.There has been a deep sadness in the family.My sister wo...

The Aaronic benediction. A few days ago , Our prayerful Pastor visited us from his house on the top of the hill. We had been remembering him just a day earlier. He read the Aaronic benediction from Numbers chapter 6 versus 22 to 27 and prayed the blessing on us and my uncle’s family who has been through their own changes.He graciously    remembered our Godly heritage and blessed us that we would continue it forward in the coming days. Thought I would spend some time just looking at the benediction in the context of the Hebrew meaning of it and Got around to painting a mental picture of it.  I found it beautifully comforting and was awestruck by the picture it painted. The benediction as it is in Numbers 6 versus 20 to 27 reads,  “The Lord bless thee, And keep thee, And be gracious to thee, The Lord make His face to shine upon thee. The Lord lift up his countenance on thee And give thee peace.” “The word “Bless” in Hebrew is the word “Barakh ...

The bible being what it is ,one would assume that the writers of the bible would be the strong majority, influential individuals,who prevailed during that time. However one would be surprised to know that it has always been the minority report. What exactly was the function of the Hebrew bible? 1.To remember and retell the story about how God rescues his covenant people.(Exodus 17 vs 8,9,14). 2.The scripture becomes the terms of the partnership between God and Israel, much like marriage vows.(Exodus 24:3–4 ). 3.It functions as a story of the people’s failure and God’s plan to raise up a prophet to come.(Deutronomy 31:19-26). The pattern of the Hebrew bible is salvation, covenant, human failings and divine faithfulness. This pattern continues and completes itself in the new Testament and is every believer’s story. The prophets throughout the old Testament were the afflicted ones, they were the rejected minority, people who existed in the periphery,sometimes looked upon as a laughing sto...

The old Testament is often a source of confusion for most people. It seems like a conglomeration of individuals with partial victories and great losses ,disobedient and rebellous sinners,messy ,not the ideal examples,and bipolar often. How does one approach the Old Testament? I stumbled upon bible project in the net and I have been doing the study ever since. The Hebrew bible from which the Old Testament originates is divided into three parts Torah,Neviim, and Kethuvim. Torah is the Pentateuch ,Genesis ,Exodus,Numbers,Leviticus and Deutronomy. Neviim is the prophets Isaiah,Jeremiah,Amos,etc. Kethuvim are the writings like psalms,proverbs,etc. The difference between the old Testament and the TANAK(As the Hebrew bible is called ),Is the way the different books in the bible have been put into different categories and unlike the Hebrew bible the prophets are placed at the the end of the old Testament whereas the writings are placed last    in the Hebrew bible. In the 1940s, The de...

  (Acts of the apostles chapter 3 verse 1 to 8.) One of my favourites sunday school songs was based on this event from Acts. As is narratedI–  NowPeter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter    and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed on to them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, silver and gold have I none; But such as I have give I thee;in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And they took him by the right hand, and lifted him up; and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up ,stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping, a...

  Obadiah Is a minor prophet in Jerusalem during the time when the Babylonians invaded the southern part of Jerusalem..He is prophesying against Edomites. His complaint against the Edomites is that while the plunderers and invaders have invaded Israel, the Edomites have proudly stood aside ,watching it all and to add fuel to fire ,has taken advantage of the situation, plundering and killing Israelites whenever they could see their weak position. Who are the Edomites that God has expectations from them? Israelites and the Edomites share a common ancestry. Abraham’s son Isaac had two sons. The older one was Esau and younger one was Jacob.The Israelites were the descendants of Jacob and the Edomites were the descendants of Esau.They were neighbours. From the verse 15 onwards he warns the nations at large who go against the nation of Israel. Vs17 But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness;and the house of Jacob shall possess their possesions. Vs21 And saviors...

Augustin of Hippo or Saint Augustin was born in 354 A.D. in a small town in North Africa.He was born to a pagan father ,who got baptised in his death bed ,but his mother Monica was a zealous christian. Augustin ,from his childhood,was familiar with the attack on Christian church from within and without.However, he was more interested in living a wayward    life of over-indulgence. He remembers instances where he used to join with friends to steal pears from his neighbour’s vineyard ,not to eat themselves ,but simply to throw them to the pigs.Later, writing about the pear stealing of his youth he reflected, “”A real pleasure consisted in doing something that is forbidden. The evil in me was foul, but I loved it.” At 17 years of age Augustine was sent off to a school in Carthage where he immersed himself in the writings of different philosophers and forgot about his mother’s religion.  After his studies were completed he returned to his home town.,where he taught ‘rhetoric ...

Unlike the other minor prophets who spoke to the people with messages from God the book of Habakkuk is a dialogue between the prophet and the Lord. Habakkuk’s prayer is from that time in Israel’s history when the last good king of Israel ,king Josiah dies.Timeline would be somewhere between 609-586 BC. King Josiah was a mere child when he became the king of the southern part of Israel. While he was in power he put in a lot of reforms that was God-honouring ,besides one of the priests in the temple found an old Torah, on reading it the king realised that the Israelites had sinned and gone against the Lord so he repented for the nation and went about setting things right. However, after he passed away ,It was all downhill journey for Israel. God’s people wilfully disobeyed the Lord. Habakkuk laments before the Lord,”Oh Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear.........” There are six different problems he attributes to the Israelites of that time. Sin, wickedness, destruction, v...

The Ten Boom family were devout Christians. They were Dutch and from a family of watchmakers. During the Second World War their house became a hiding place for fugitives who were hunted down by Hitler’s Nazis. On February 28, 1944, the Nazis raided the home and they were arrested. 10 days after the arrest the father died and the two sisters were transported to Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany. Life in Ravensbruck was terrible but Betsy and Corrie spent the time there sharing the love of Christ. Betsy passed away while at Ravensbruck but Corrie survived the ordeal. After Corrie Ten Boom was released from the concentration camp she toured the world sharing her story and to testify of God’s love. She authored books and movies were made on it. In 15 April 1983 on a 91st birthday she passed away. Corrie famously recounts an incident from one such tour in Germany .She was sharing about her time in the concentration camp and testifying of God’s love. After church ,she was waylaid by ...

Simon Peter is perhaps one of the most enigmatic disciples of Jesus Christ. He was for all practical purposes a leader among the disciples both during Jesus’ time and after His ministry on earth was over. I am trying to look at different facets of Simon Peter’s character and the qualification he had to be a disciple or lead them. Background -We get introduced to Simon Peter in    the gospels ,by the sea of Galilee, casting a net into the sea, because he and his brother Andrew are. fishermen. According to Charles Pope,’Fishing was not necessarily a lucrative profession but was considered honourable because it supplied an important part of the diet. The disciples worked in the sea of Galilee which was a fresh water lake. Fishing was a huge industry specially in Bethsaida    (the fishery) and Magdala (the fish tower or dried fish). Commercial fishing was done by nets. The fishermen’s life required courage ,firmness as well as patience.’ We come to know Simon Peter is ma...

. “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound  That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I am found Was blind but now I see.” Thus goes one of the most popular hymns ever composed. This hymn was written by a man named John Newton. John Newton was born in 1725. He went to the sea at 11 years of age which was quite common in those times. He was very unpopular in the ship and when he was a teenager ,due to his disobedience he was stripped of his rank ,tied to a mast,and was given 60 lashes and was reduced to a common seaman.He continued to be unpopular so he was kicked off that ship and got onto a slave trader’s ship on the way to Africa. One fine day his shipmates kidnapped him and sold him to a slave trader. He remained a slave in Africa for four years until his father sent a search party for him and he was rescued at the age of 25. However on his journey back home his ship faced a terrible storm in the sea and half the crew of the ship died. John N...