Journal

During my brief stay in the US, I did a lot of church-hopping; an unitended side-effect of not owning a car, and being dependent on others to drive me places. But I was rather richly blessed as I got to witness how many different types of churches ministered to the people of Atlanta, GA. One morning in early 2015, at a church that I was visiting, the Pastor kicked off a season of Giving titled, 'Be Rich'. The goal was to raise over US$1.5 million which would then go to several partner-organizations across the globe. It got me thinking about Christian Giving once again. It is a topic that we often discuss in my circle of friends, and I find it rather fascinating. The Old Testament is very clear on the subject of tithing - the first 10% of everything - land, livestock, income, etc. It is repeatedly mentioned in the Old Testament, with some serious warnings of the consequences of not tithing. But what about in our present day and age? Is tithing still relevant today? And if yes,...

"Send forth your light Send forth your truth I depend on your might to bring me to you Bring me to the Mountain to that Holy Place the place where you live, Lord the altar of God My Joy, my Delight My soul - why so downcast? My soul - why so disturbed? Your hope is in the Lord So praise Him yet, Praise Him yet!  Praise My Savior and My God" 

With a name like Prarthana (which means Prayer in Hindi), 'prayer' is something I tend to think about often. It is one of those things that transcends most religious, and cultural barriers. Most people have no issues praying for the more generic, widespread things - like World Peace, Hunger relief, End to Poverty, Healing for the sick (both personal, and general in this case) etc. Some go a step further and pray for more specific things - Job security, better housing, a promotion, good grades etc. The truly spiritual will pray for even more specific, truly personal things - That God's Will is done, Spiritual growth, supporting missions, etc. All of the above are good, noble prayers and as Christians, should be part of our prayer life. However, this year God has introduced me to a whole new dimension of Prayer - "Little things". The little things that don't really matter, and probably have no global significance whatsoever, the things that are special only...

Remember the Parable of the Talents? Here's a quick recap (Matt 25.14-30), if you don't need one, then just skip to the next para! A Master goes away on a trip and before he does he gives 5 talents to one servant, 2 to the second and 1 to the third. The first one traded with his talents and earned 5 more talents to add to the original 5, the second did something similar and was able to earn 2 more talents for his master. The third on the other hand, decided all this was too risky and dug a hole in the ground and buried his talents there. Well, the master returns and he is very pleased with the first two servants who used their talents so profitably, he rewards them by entrusting them with more. When the third servant walks up and explains what he did with his talent the master is less than pleased with his efforts, and says that he should have at least invested the money with the bankers so it could earn interest. His one talent is then taken from him and given to the one who ...

So it occurs to me that there are some sayings in life that aren't really totally true. Like the one that says 'Actions Speak louder than Words'. This one isn't false or anything but it just isn't true - totally and completely. Imagine a world where no one says anything but we all just did things. I mean wouldn't that be sad? Ok so I'm only thinking in a romantic sense at this point. I mean as it is the guys that we like will use any excuse to not talk about their feelings etc. but with this one phrase they all feel like they have a license to do what they want and never talk. I'm not saying regular talking I mean the real heart to heart in depth conversations about life, the future, relationships etc. Of course its also good that they do romantic things for us and not just talk. But the talking has to be there also - doesn't it? Their excuse always is that - "at least I act like that way so isn't that enough? why do I have to say the words?...

So its another day and more things to do today. One thing that struck me today as something that I want to talk about was advertisements on Television. Actually I strongly feel about many ads on TV. Several of them are completely unnecessary and very demeaning to majority of society. Btw I'm talking from a strictly Indian point of view. There are two kinds of ads that bother me most - 1) the Sexist Kind and 2) the Racist Kind - or maybe the second one isn't strictly racist but I'm not sure there is a word to describe it. Anyways you'll see what I mean when I explain it. I have always been bothered by the second one. But I never saw the first as a threat till my first year at college where one of my professors actually explained how this viewpoint was in fact very very sexist and it must be changed before causing more damage. Of course in India we give this form of sexism a new name and we say it is our culture. I mean of course ads that portray women in a specific dome...

So it's another day and time for another journal entry. Christmas is coming near. And with it it's bringing lots of dinner invitations, baking, eating what you've baked, eating what other people have baked and general fun and games indoors. (well I can't really speak for people from the southern hemisphere as they probably enjoy their fun and frolic outdoors in the sun. I love Christmas and winter. The Cold and the Caroling and all the baking- I love it all! I know it seems a tad early to be talking about all this but what can I say - when the Christmas Spirit is in the air - you can't help but feel it and rejoice! Every December for the past few years I begin with the same thought - I need to plan things this time - plan what gifts to get, plan what decorations to reuse and what to buy and plan what I want to wear to all the different things that everyone inevitably gets dragged to at this time of year. And every year without fail, even with all this planning somet...