The Journey 272
Saturday, September 29
Read: Luke 19:1-10
              Money and Marriage. There are normally number of reason that may cause rift between husband and wife. Reasons for these rifts could be flimsy while some serious.  In a study that was conducted by Utah University,  many marital couples had issues even on reason like who gets to hold the TV remote control, who has the maximum time watching TV, or who takes the trash to the waste bin, who irons the clothes and so on. But one of the major issues that has brought about marital breakdown and ultimately leading to separation is the fight over money. It is the battle over money that is causing havoc in many families. What is strange in the battle over money is that it cuts across all income groups.  Most people think that fights over money happens only among people coming from low income group, but talk to people who come from the higher income group– sometimes the fights that happen over money in these homes can be worse than the fights in the lower income groups. Two individuals both who work in financial matters have released books that helps spouses to deal with  conflict that arises out of fight for money. The first book is written by Jane Honeck who is certified public accountant and she has published a book titled “The Problem with Money? Its not about Money”. The second book is one written by Mary Claire Allvine who is a financial expert and the title of the book is “The Family CFO: A Business Plan for Love and Money”.  She has been recently featured in the CNN news and her article is also featured in HLN. Both these authors suggest both short term remedies and long term goals. One of the main principles that they suggest is that priorities of married couple should be first  made right. They need to have goals for each other and also collectively. They also talk about how responsibilities have to be shared by the spouses– it is not the duty of either the husband or the wife to pay of the debts or loans or the insurance amount, this is to shared together but more than that one of the major aspect that these authors suggest is that- the spouses  first need to create an environment of mutual trust and understanding between themselves and in their homes rather than building a hostile environment of mutual distrust and blaming. I think this is something we all could incorporate in our family. How can we as Christians look at the concept of money and how can we bring about harmony in financial matters that will ultimately bring harmony in our home and in our relationships?
                    We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living”. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Luke 19: 1-11. This passage talks about Zacheus, the individual whose love for money caused not only havoc in his life and also in all areas of his relationship. Here is a man who focuses only on money and whose objective in life is just to amass wealth. We do not know what was the quality of family life that he lived, and whether he had arguments and fights with his spouse over money. But one thing is for sure he had no social relationship and he was hated by everyone and considered a sinner [ Lk 19: 7]. One aspects of the life of Zacheus that made him a recluse and an outcaste was his love for money. I think his only goal in life was to make money…….more money. For him it did not matter how the  money came, as long as money comes, I think he was happy. The priority of Zacheus and sometimes the priority of many of the married couples today is the same. They forget to live and the only objective in life is to make money and then fight with their spouses telling that “I make this much of money, I contribute this much of money to the home, while you have only contributed this much…..”And the arguments continues daily. When Jesus encounters Zacheus the transformation that He does in the life of Zacheus was in creating a new priority in life. All these time he was concerned about “What I will get” and it is this priority that made him crave for more money. But Jesus changed his priority in life from “What I will get -to What I can give”. Jesus taught a truth to Zacheus that it is in giving that we receive the best and are blessed. If money is the root cause of issue in your life, change your priority from what I can get to what I can give. Then see the difference. 

The Journey 271
Friday, September 27
Read: Luke 2:41-52
         Justin Bieber: The famous pop star Justin Bieber is a household name. But what are the values that this pop star upholds and how was he nurtured in life and what does it take to raise to raise Justin Bieber?. The answers to all these questions has been answered by the  mother of Justin Bieber, Pattie Mallette. She recently released a book titled “Nowhere But Up” where she recalls the trauma that she went through her life and the bitter but wise lessons that she learnt in life and how she consciously raised and nurtured Justin Bieber in true Christian faith. Pattie recounts in her book horrors of how she was repeatedly abused as a child and later in life and finally comes to a stage where she felt that abuse was normal. That is when addiction takes over and she resorts to petty crime to sustain her.  At the age of 17, she becomes a mental wreck. Later as she starts dating Justin Bieber’s dad, and she is slowly brought back to normalcy by her friends and the community. That is when she turns to Christian faith and experiences the joy of salvation. At this stage she realizes that she is pregnant with Justin Bieber. Life circumstances was tough for her and though she had thoughts of aborting the child, she decided against it and takes steps to raise the child, truly faithful to the Lord. She gets kicked out of her home and she is forced to live in a home for pregnant woman. But Pattie kept her promise to the Lord that she would nurture Justin in Christian faith and values. One of the things that Pattie did for Justin was to have a pastor who would always travel with him, to have Christian tutor and finally organized a management team who had faith based backgrounds.  Moreover she says that what was important also was the necessity to keep Justin surrounded by good people, not necessarily “the yes saying friends” but on the contrary who will also convict him what is right and wrong. According to Pattie, God has given Justin gifts and talents for a reason  and to seek what that reason is– is the goal of his life. Everyone knows Justin Bieber but I am sure no one knows that this was the kind of nurturing that his mother gave him. In a world of today I believe some of the steps like appointing a travelling pastor, a Christian tutor and also seeing that friends and community needs to become correcting force  Justin Bieber life is something that stands out, as we examine the nurturing patterns that the mother did for Justin Bieber. God has given us the duty to nurture our next generation and what are the steps that we take to nurture is what we need to seriously think about.
             The theme for our meditation is Transformed Living and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is very familiar portion found in Luke 2: 41-52. It is in this biblical portion that we find as to how Jesus Christ was nurtured in his family. One of the beautiful aspects that I find in the life of Jesus Christ is the way he nurtured himself in the company of teachers and the community in the temple. When Joseph and Mary finds that Jesus is not with them in their return journey, they rush back to Jerusalem and there they find Jesus sitting in the midst of teacher sitting, talking  and  listening to them and raising questions [Lk 2: 46]. Here is Jesus Christ submitting and allowing himself to be nurtured in the company of teachers and the community in the temple. The family has a role in raising and nurturing their children but giving them avenues and experiences where they encounter older members who are mature in faith, teachers who can nurture them in Christian faith, and a community that can also help them in their growth in Christian faith and values is what is needed today. Today many parents do not allow Sunday school teachers, community of believers in the parish or even older members in the family or church to correct their children when they do something wrong. As a result even when children do mistakes the community keeps quiet, and instead of correcting the kid, gossips. Justin Bieber mother made a conscious effort to see that her son is surrounded by a community who will correct Justin and also impart to him certain values. Jesus also made himself available to the teachers of the law so that he could learn about doing God’s will in His life. Can we also follow these nurturing patterns?

The Journey 270
Thursday, September 27
Read: Luke 23: 33-49
             Who are role models in life?. Role models are ordinary people but with an extraordinary sense of purpose and  vision in life. Yesterday, many news agencies reported about an ordinary woman who did an amazing and extraordinary feat, in the most dignified way. Meet Balpreet Kaur, who can be a role model for the people of the world today. Who is Balpreet Kaur?. She is a Sikh woman studying at the Ohio State University, aspiring to be a neurosurgeon. As she was waiting in a queue at the airport, a stranger took her image and posted in Reddit without her consent and placed her image in the funny category because Balpreet sports her facial hair. Instead of being embarrassed and agonized, Balpreet took a proactive, dignified and also an assertive stand  by explaining on the web page, that mocked her, to the reason as to why she grew her facial hair. She asserted that she belongs to a Sikh religion, which has five  important tenets. They are Kanga [comb], Kara [bracelet], Kach [shorts], Kirpan [sword] and the last one is Kesh [Hair]. Since hair is an important aspect of their religious beliefs, what the Sikhs do is to let hair grow naturally without cutting it. With her facial hair not being cut, her gender was often confused as she looked different, but Balpreet emphasized that every baptized Sikhs believe in the sacredness of ones body and that body is God’s gift to us and should be submitted to do the divine will.  Though many people attacked and accused the man who posted the photograph of Balpreet, she never sought revenge nor attacked him. On the contrary, she sought “revenge” in a positive and dignified way.  She went to Reddit and explained her understanding of beauty and life. According to Balpreet, she said that she focused more on her actions than her image and that she wants to leave a legacy not her body image or physical memory. Most awesome was another response where she said that more than the face it is the smile and happiness that lie behind the face that is important. One can read the whole article on this link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2208772/Sikh-student-defends-facial-hair-photo-goes-viral.html.  Here is an ordinary lady who looks life in a very different perspective, reacts in the most positive and pro active manner. At a time when people get hurt and offended especially in matters concerning faith, and this hurt and anger often leading to mindless violence, Balpreet Kaur stands as a towering pillar of role model in the strife torn society and world of ours. What is it that Balpreet Kaur teaches us and what can we inculcate from this dynamic lady?
               We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Luke 23: 33– 49. This is the portion that depicts not only the crucifixion of Jesus but also the attitude of Jesus as he dies on the cross. As He is crucified, soldiers mock him while the onlookers sneered at him with the sarcastic remarks that “He saved others but cannot save himself”[ Lk 24: 35]. All that Jesus said as people mocked him was “Father forgive them…”. Even as Jesus did His ministry and as He lay dying on the cross, He very clear and assertive about his purpose and ministry– To do God’s will in God's way. He was never hurt by the sneering words, on the contrary, He takes upon suffering willingly, so that through His death on the cross, the sneering people could be redeemed. What is needed in our life is to be very clear about our faith and also learn to respond in a dignified and proactive way to situation where our faith and our religious belief may be mocked by others. It is in such healthy proactive retaliations that we bring glory to God and also become witness to our faith. Balpreet Kaur was clear not only about her faith and her religious beliefs but also about her values and morals that she should uphold in her life. Moreover she defended her faith and her values in the most dignified and appropriate manner. As we live in this world let us affirm our faith in manners that are dignified and appropriate, so that through these approaches we bring peace and transformation in people who tend  to look down upon us due to our faith and religious belief. This is what God expects us from all of us.

The Journey 269
Wednesday, September 26
Read: John 4
             No Subscriptions– Then No Holy Communion. Strange Isn't it? News Agencies report that day before yesterday on Monday, September 24th, a strange and unique decision was taken by the Catholic Church in Germany. The Catholic Bishops Conference have issued a new decree that those who do not pay church tax will be denied the following sacraments. They will not be allowed to participate in Holy Communion, Confession, Confirmation and Anointing of the Sick. One cannot also become a God Parent too in the sacrament of Baptism. This moves seems to be taken because the Catholic Church was worried about its dwindling numbers and wanted to take certain steps to stem the rot and the drop.  In Germany, every individual have to officially declare their religion and pay church tax which could be about 8-10% depending on where he lives, or be classified as Non Religious, thus being exempted from church tax.  If a religious burial is needed then the person has to display regret for leaving the church and then burial would also be permitted. In Germany, where the overall population is 82 million, it is presumed that about one third of the population is Catholic while another one third is protestants. A large number of people are leaving both the Catholic and the Protestant church’s and wanting to be classified more as Non Religious than being termed Religious. This move of the Catholic Bishop Conference has been decried by the progressive Catholic groups who have expressed shock, dismay and are also angry at this strange decision. According to them what is needed today is not decrees of threat but the church needs to motivate the people to be loyal to the church. I think the questions that the progressive catholic groups have raised needs to be taken seriously. There are many issues that needs to be addressed as we think about this decision taken by a church  in a country that are both alien to us. One of the main issue is how can the church as an institution, make itself meaningful  and relevant in the present day context. This is something that not only the church hierarchy that needs to think about,  but also every person who is associated with the body of Christ needs to seriously think. 
                            The theme for our meditation is “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our  meditation is from John 4 . This is one portion in the bible where Jesus redefines both place of worship and also what constitutes a true worship. When the Samaritan woman encounters Jesus Christ, He brings about certain transformation in the life of the Samaritan woman. The major transformation was  in her understanding of worship. Her belief of worship was that worship was directed and done at a particular place– for the Samaritan woman that place was Jerusalem. But Jesus transforms her understanding and teaches her that in the sight of God more than the place it is the attitude of the believer that makes worship meaningful and the church “ a community of believers”. It is then we are able to worship in Truth and in Spirit.  In the Old Testament, God does not accept Cain’s sacrifice because of the attitude behind the sacrifice, which was not worthy and befitting. What has happened to us today is that for some, Church has become just a space for meeting and fellowship, rather than a place of true worship, where the worshippers constantly think and evolve new ways of making both the church and worship relevant and meaningful. It is this attitude that sometime drives the youngsters or people who truly want to associate church more as a spiritual space from the vicinity of the church and also from being active participants in the church. Unless the community of believers truly engage in transforming the patterns in worship and the life in the church as a whole, the church could find itself outdated and then the only option we will have is to find scapegoats like the bishop, or some clergy or some members forgetting that we all were equally responsible for the spiritual degradation in the church.  

The Journey 268
Tuesday, September 25
Read: John 16:21-33
Last Sunday night we had a fantastic and a close game between Ravens and Patriots in the National Football League match. That match was memorable for both the Baltimore Ravens and one of the Baltimore Ravens player– Torrey Smith. Memorable for Ravens because they beat Patriots by a close  margin of 31-30.  One of the key players who made this victory possible was Torrey Smith who played a fantastic game, with two touch downs and 127 yards on six catches. But CNN news reports that,  behind this spectacular showing by Torrey Smith, that day was one of the most agonizing day for Torrey. He had lost his younger brother in a motorcycle accident in the morning hours of the game and he did not know how to deal with this sudden death of his brother, who was everything in life and now he had also a game on hand. The news agencies reports that Smith slept for a few hours and then with a heavy heart decided to play the Sunday match.  Smith decided to play for the honour of his departed brother. According to him, death of his brother drained him emotionally and he was unfamiliar with these types of experiences as he had never experienced death of a loved one in his family. He was encouraged by everyone at this time of grief. His Pastor comforted him by telling him that his brother is now in the presence of the Lord and he is in a better place than us. Another individual who helped Smith was safety Ed Reed,  who gave him a portion of Psalm  and told him that God is in control and that God had a bigger plan than all of us, and that we are for Him and He is for us. All these gestures strengthened Torrey Smith who put his best in the game and Ravens won because of that game show by Torrey Smith. The head coach John Harbaugh of Baltimore Ravens after watching the spectacular performance of Smith told the news agencies that looking at the way Smith played on Sunday in a faith perspective, he said that that God works in mysterious and wonderful ways. What was amazing about Smith,  was how a player even when going through life severest adversity, faces it boldly with hope and comes out winning. Torrey Smith felt happy that his club cared for him and he says in his hour of  grief his club, his teammates and his friends showed that they cared for him and that is why he is proud to play for Baltimore Ravens. We all go through crisis but there are some crisis that literally overcomes us and we are stuck in our tracks and totally  numb. It is in such context that we look up to get peace and strength to face these crisis. How did Torrey Smith face and overcome  his crisis so boldly and victoriously and how can we also face crisis in the same way that can sometime over power us?.
                        We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from John 16: 23-33. This is the portion where we find Jesus Christ teaching his disciples about the suffering and the death that He has to go through and also empowering his disciples with the promises that a person will receive when he lives a prayerful life. As Jesus talks about his death and resurrection and the various crisis and life situation that we all will go through, he tells his disciples that they will face a lot of tribulation, pain and crisis in life. But what will help them to face these crisis and over come them successfully and meaningfully is the faith perspective that should have. The faith perspective is that they have a Lord who has over come the world and all the crisis in the world. It is this  power, strength and peace that God gives to us today and it is that strength and grace of God, that helped Torrey Smith on Sunday to play the most spectacular game even while going through crisis. If our Lord can strengthen and help Torrey Smith to over come his crisis victoriously, let us also trust in the grace and strength of the Lord whenever we also go through crisis. In this world let us affirm that we may go through crisis but let us praise God because we have a God who has overcome this world, and hence let us trust and seek the Lord so that there is no crisis that can over power us.

The Journey 267
Monday, September 24
Read: Genesis 41
             Unconditional is a new movie that has was released last Friday, September 21. It is a movie directed with a cause and is based on the life of a person named “Papa Joe” and his organization called Elijah’s Heart, an organization aimed at bettering the lives of underprivileged children. Who is Papa Joe?. Papa Joe is name fondly called by children when they see a native of Nashville, Joe Bradford. It is a story of a how a person who encounters the wrong side of the law, finds himself in prison and then freed, tries to live in a society where you are condemned because of your past.  Joe was an ex convict whose childhood and his youths days was that of images of poverty and no one caring for him, since he never saw his father.  After his release from prison he got married to Dennis and they both loved music. But soon Joe realized that he had contracted a kidney disease. The treatment and the recovery later put a lot of financial burden on the family. With his past, he found it hard to live in certain neighborhood and this led to lot of housing and financial issues. On day a young girl who was deaf came to their house, and they offered her a candy, but she later came back with her sister and her brother. Soon many other kids slowly started coming to the home of Joe and Denise. This is when Joe realized that these kids needed not just candy but had to be given emotion and spiritual caring.  As they were both musicians they decided to form choirs with these children. More and more parents started sending their children to the Bradford home. One day during a choir rehearsal,  girl with swollen eye, who seemed to be abused by her drug addicted mother, approached Joe and told her story and asked Joe whether he could be her dad. Soon the other kids also asked the same question “Will you be my daddy”. From that day Joe Bradford became Papa Joe. As more and more parents got involved with the couple, Denise starting making fliers so that she could raise donations to run these programmes and soon they decided to form a non profit organization called Elijah’s heart. It is Michel Ealy who plays the role of Papa Joe in the movie Unconditional. A man who feels ostracized in the society decides to focus not on his circumstances and the hostility that he faces on the contrary focuses on the needs of the underprivileged and it is this refocusing that helps him to find meaning and goal in life.
As we meditate on the theme “ Transformed Living, there is one character in the Bible, who just like Joe Bradford, refocuses his life to a more worthy cause. The person is the old testament character Joseph. In the book Genesis 41 we find Joseph helping Pharaoh in interpreting his dream. It was not just the interpreting of the dream that was important on the contrary the objective of the dream. Here is a person who is going through severe crisis in life, crisis that came about due to the treachery shown by his brothers, the crisis that results from due to the separation from his father, the crisis that come about because of the false accusations leveled on him, and finally the loneliness that he was experiencing. But Joseph puts behind him all these traumatic experiences and helps a king in their time of crisis, thus helping not only one nation but also people in the neighboring nations also, whose needs was taken care because of the foresight of Joseph. What Joseph did all through his life and what he show us in our life journey as we try to live transformed living through Christ is not to focus on the crisis that we go through on the contrary to refocus on the way we could be a help, healing and blessing to others. It is this refocusing of life that transforms Joe Bradford to Papa Joe and also the crisis ridden life of Joseph to a transformed life that was a blessed experience not only to him but to others too. Have you refocused your life?

The Journey 265
Saturday, September 22
Read: Luke 1: 5-7
            I Phone 5 was released yesterday, and as  I driving to New York I saw huge line in front of the apple stores of people both young and old waiting to get hold of the new Apple product. Whether it is the Apple I Phone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S3, these phones have totally revolutionized human life.  When the mobile phone first hit the market, it was a device of communication, later it became a device for high speed web browsing, but of late these phones have become a utility tool in taking care of ones life– in every realm and in every aspects concerned. Yesterday one of the news agencies brought out a feature as to how one can track the way our body functions, with help of different apps in our phone. In this news feature, the news correspondent  reveals as to how the applications in these mobile phones are used by individuals to literally take care of their health, since getting an appointment and then going to a doctor consumes too much of a one’s time now. The new correspondent tells about an individual in California who uses different application and small devices that helps him to track the vital signs in his body. One of the application mentioned is “FitBit” that measure ones caloric intake daily. Another apps that is used in the night is a device called “Zeo” which measures one’s sleep cycle., people who suffer from sleep disorders or sleep apnea understand what sleep cycle is all about. Another app that is mentioned is “Instant Heart Rate” which uses his phone camera’s flash to measure pulse rate while the app “Stress Check” measures ones stress level.  There are other people who also use a lot of other application to track the vital signs of ones body like “Spark People” to reduce weight and be fit and healthy. There are also hundred of Bible applications in market, where one can download books and commentaries into your I Pad or I Phone and the numerous meditational apps. These biblical apps has converted the space of a huge library literally zipped inside a small phone. I believe each of us also has our own individual applications that suits our taste and life style. Thus more than the phone, it is the applications in the I Tunes store or in the Android market that boosts the sale of these phones. Applications or Apps is here to stay and is transforming human life beyond our imagination. Just as  the apps in our phone redefines and transforms our life, I think in the same way what is important in our Christian life also is the relevance of apps or the application that enhances our Christian living and is a witness to the society.
                  We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living”. The  Biblical portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Luke 1: 5-7. Here we find the life experience of a couple who is very old in age. A couple who goes through crisis in life because they had no children to support them as they were moving to their old age. The couple is Zachariah and Elizabeth. But the remarkable aspect of this couple is the applications that they use to sustain them in their faith and also to meaningfully transform the developmental crisis in their life. According to the Luke [1:6], both Zachariah and Elizabeth were righteous, they walked blamelessly and also observed all the commandments of the Lord. Here is a couple going through life crisis but deals it in a “Faith-ful” manner by using applications like living righteously, walking blamelessly and observing the commandments of the Lord. It is these applications of their faith that makes their life a blessing and also a source of hope. What is needed today in our life is that the Faith living has to be translated into meaningful actions through the applications of these truths in our life. Hence let us ask ourselves whether we use apps only on our phones or do we have applications in our Christian life that helps us to transform our life in the midst of crisis and challenges and thus helping us to live qualitative Christian life. What are the apps that you have to track vital signs in Christian life?

The Journey 264
Friday, September 21
Read: Mathew 19:1-12
                The marital status of Jesus Christ is the topic that theologians, historians, biblical scholars are now discussing. This discussion has come about when Professor Karen King, while speaking at the Tenth International Congress of Coptic Studies in Rome, unveiled a fragment of papyrus containing a phrase in Coptic which says that “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife’.  According to King, who stressed repeatedly that the text does not prove that Jesus had a wife. According to the news agencies like Christian Post, the aim of this analysis which King is going to publish  in the January 2013 edition of Harvard Theological Review, the author states that her intention is not to reconstruct the historical Jesus nor to argue whether Jesus had a wife or was a celibate but on the contrary to bring new voices within the diverse chorus of early Christian faith tradition about Jesus Christ, where some Christians use to argue that Jesus was married. According to certain biblical scholars there is no evidence of any debate among the earliest followers with regards to the marital status of Jesus Christ. It is claimed that this debate surfaced later probably in the third and the fourth century when people started spreading their own beliefs about various aspects of the life of Jesus Christ especially with regards to his childhood and his marital status. But most of the authors now argue that with the discovery of this papyrus, a hype is being created which is meaningless. This papyrus belongs to a private collector and contains about eight incomplete lines of script. Many biblical scholars have also expressed reservations about the papyrus since nothing is known about the circumstance of its discovery and King believes that this may have been excavated from an area in Upper Egypt. With these news doing rounds I read that lot of people have jumped into the discussion band wagon that this proves that Jesus is against the celibacy of priest in Catholic Church and that Jesus propagated an inclusive community when he did His earthly ministry. I feel even without getting into the marital status of Jesus Christ, the biblical accounts has been very strong that Jesus always promoted an inclusive community. Hence I think some discussions related to the discovery of papyrus is going overboard. How I look at the whole issue that has been raised by King is that “ How does the marital status of Jesus Christ- whether Jesus was celibate or married,  makes a significant difference or in other words contribute significantly to the existing biblical tradition of faith that we have in the Bible, that will enhance the ministry of the Church in the world?.                                                           
                        As we meditate on the theme “Transformed Living” the portion that we shall use for our meditation is two portions. One is from Mathew 19: 1-12 and 1 Corinthians 7: 1-9. In the first portion we find Jesus honouring the institution of marriage and strongly defending the right of woman, when the Pharisees asked the question of divorce. Here we find that Jesus maintaining the unity and the sanctity of marriage. But later from v: 10-12 there is a discussion between the disciples and Jesus Christ on the topic of marriage and the challenges associated with marital life. That is when Jesus quotes that there are some eunuchs who have been made so from  birth while some have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of God [Mathew 19: 10-12].  Here is Jesus Christ emphasizing that whether you are married or celibate you need to work for the extension of the Kingdom of God. Some work for the Lord by being married while some other work by being “made eunuchs” for the Kingdom of God. This is reiterated later by Paul in his epistle to the first Corinthians where he states while addressing unmarried and widows that  it is well for them to remain unmarried as he is but they should marry if they are not able to control their passion [ 1 Corinthians 7: 8-9]. Here in this context also, what is emphasized by Paul is holy living whether married or celibate, a life that is lived for the glory of the Lord and for the extension of His Kingdom. What Jesus also communicated through His life and ministry [ Irrespective of His marital status] is that He had come to fulfill the will of His heavenly Father. I think as Christians what is important in this context is that whatever be our status, whether married or single, or the so called guesses and discussion about the marital status of our Lord, is whether we are becoming a tool in the hands of the Lord for the extension of His Kingdom on the earth and are ready to do His will. That should be the focus of our life and the objective of discussion of the marital status of Jesus Christ- our Lord.

The Journey 263
Thursday, September 20
Read: James 1: 1-6
While studying in High School I remember studying the lesson about Robinson Crusoe written by Daniel Defoe, in the English subject class. It was all about a sailor who gets shipwrecked and is lost in seas and then survives after going through different ordeal both in land and sea. Fox News and the music station K Love broadcast yesterday a news similar to Robinson Crusoe. It was about woman who got lost in Nevada wilderness but survived on sheer power of faith. This is a wonderful testimony about Rita and here husband Albert Chretian  who were driving from their home in British Columbia, Canada to Las Vegas for a trade show. In the middle of the journey they wanted to take a stop at a small town and when they directed their GPS to that route, the route that GPS took them was to a remote forest road, a treacherous mountain range which was very unfamiliar to them. Soon the vehicle also got stuck and Mr. Chretian set out on foot after staying three days in the vehicle to get help. He never returned. Rita became desperate but she was one who had  a strong faith and one who always had a close walk with the Lord. She started surviving on trail mix, some fruits and she would always pray to the Lord to give her a contented feeling while eating fruits that she a full meal. Finally the rescue team found her after 49 days and airlifted to a nearby hospital. Her husband has still not returned and is presumed to be dead. The first thing Rita Chretian wanted to do once she recovered was to speak to her parish priest, because she wanted to thank both the parish priest and the church helping her grow in her faith journey, which was the source of hope for her, in the time of this ordeal. She attends the First Church of Nazarene where she recalled her ordeal and witnessed to the congregation on how the faith that she was nurtured as a child helped her in one of the strongest battles of life. A battle where everything seemed to be lost, a battle where one is fighting every inch regain hope and life. Rita Chretian stands as a glorious witness where faith is not only tested but what has been taught or nurtured is made experiential in the most difficult circumstances. Maturing in Faith especially in times of deep distress is what helps Christian to have a new perspective about our life and the purpose of God.
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our  meditation today is from James 1: 1-6. In this portion James teaches about two  fundamental truths that every Christian needs to hold on life, truths that helps them to make faith living more practical. First he says that whatever be the issues in life and crisis in life, when crisis comes, it has some positive effects and lessons in faith learning. Most of us think crisis as a negative term , but biblically understood crisis is an opportunity to develop the character of endurance in a believer and also an opportunity to trust in the providence and purpose of God. Secondly James says that in all our life struggles we are not alone, there is God with us and it this presence that helps us in our varied life situations and each of this life situations helps us to become more wise in our understanding about life, about God and his purpose. Every individual goes through crisis situation in life when you feel you are battling against hope and you are all alone, and it in such situation just like Rita Chretian depended on God and saw to it that her faith nurturing help her to endure the crisis situations in life. We also need to consciously understand that every crises situation is an opportunity to grow in our Christ like character in us and move to a more mature understanding not only of faith but also of life. Let us think whether we have developed the quality of endurance through the nurturing of our faith.

The Journey 262
Wednesday, September 19
Read: Romans 12
Going for Family Oriented Movies, and Family theme Parks. There are certain aspects that people would want to do things together as a family. One of the famous destination of the people all over the world is the Disney World. But recently the Disney World has courted a controversy. The reason for the controversy is the decision to sell wine and beer in this family park. According to the news agencies, the announcement to this effect was  made on the Disney Park Blog by the Beverage Director of the Disney Parks and Resorts that as a part of enriching the overall experience of the park, the guest will also be treated to French inspired cuisine which includes wine and beer. For this  they have earmarked three separate restaurants. The decision to open up beer bars and serving wine has cause mixed reaction among the people here. People who are for this decision of serving alcoholic drinks, argue that since other parks serve alcoholic drinks, there is no big issue in Disney park serving alcoholic drinks and moreover no one forces people to buy these drinks and hence to buy or  not is the prerogative of the guest who come to the park. But the people who oppose this decision argue that Disney World is a family park, where parents and children come for some wholesome fun. Selling alcoholic drinks can ruin and spoil the whole climate of the family atmosphere which some people enjoy when they spend time with the family. But one of the major criticism that people tent to level is that finally even for family parks like Disney world it is money and making more money and profit is what ultimately matters. In a country where Christians have no qualms to serve alcoholic drinks during receptions that follow after wedding or baptism service, or a in a social function, people who have no problem to hold a glass of alcohol even in the midst of an august gathering, these decision of Disney Park does not surprise me as I feel this decision is nothing strange and quite normal in the context of this country. The issue to be addressed is not why is Disney park has taken a decision to serve alcoholic drinks, on the contrary the issue that needs to be addressed how can we tackle  the issue of alcoholism and addiction that is now so rampant in in subtle way even in the premises of church, openly in church related functions like wedding and baptism, in social functions and finally so prevalent among the Indian Christians here in United States. The theme that we meditate is “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Romans 12. I think this is the most powerful passages on how as believers we are supposed to channel of transformation of change and transformation. Paul exhorts us that if we need to live authentic Christian life by discerning the will of God daily what is expected that we should not confirm to the patterns of the world and take always renew ourselves by the renewing of the mind. In a world where every person stresses his individual freedom and has his own ethics and morality that he subscribes to validate his immoral living, Christ calls us to live in way that is separate from the passion and patterns of the world.  As a set apart community, I think we Christians need to consciously think whether our bodies are offered as a living sacrifice to the Lord or used as an object to fulfill the desires of the flesh and for intoxicating it with food and drinking habits that finally contaminate not only the body but the “soul”, causing irreparable harm to ones family, community and to the church. It is ironic that fellowship sometime in the church is now becoming not  true fellowship but  “Fellow-Sip”. Let us be concerned not about alcohol served in Disney World but alcoholism in our Church.

The Journey 261
Tuesday, September 18
Read: Luke 22:
           Yesterday was  Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year.  According to the tradition of Jews, this is the celebration of the anniversary of the creation of the world, a day when God takes stock or judgment of all His creation including human beings, and this judgment determines the course of the coming year. Translated from Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means “head of the year”- “Rosh” means Head while “Hashanah” means Year. This celebration is has both festivity and seriousness associated with it. One of the important observance of this holiday is the blowing of the horn in the synagogue. According to the Jewish tradition about 100 notes are sounded each day. The observance of Rosh Hashanah is also a time of  spiritual renewal done through prayer and deep personal reflection. This is also a time when families and friends get together, seek each others forgiveness and take a decision to make the new year better than the last. It is these decisions and realizations that will be weighed and judged and will ultimately result whether one receives eternal life or damnation on the Day of Atonement also known as Yom Kippur. In order to reverse a life that may be damned, the religious tradition of the Jews, tells them to take a spiritual journey consisting of three key elements. The first action is eshuvah which means repentance in life , while the second is tfiloh and this means having a prayerful life, while the third is tzedakah which means giving  charity. The rabbis help the people to undertake this  spiritual journey so that the life of every Jew is renewed and they are not condemned on the day of judgment. When we read this we all may be astounded at the similarities that exist between certain understanding of our Christian faith and Jewish Faith and these similarities comes about because of the common thread that we find in Old Testament, that tends to unite and bring similarities in these two faiths. At a time when a movie made in the United Sates that denigrates a particular faith, is wreaking havoc in many Muslim dominated countries resulting into loss of lives and also a means of persecution of innocents Christians, I think it is in such a context that we need to bring about harmony in the world and among the people of the world focusing on how certain unifying thread in each of our faith helps us to strengthen our relationship and fellowship. In the Gospel of Luke 22,  we find Jesus celebrating the Passover meal. Jesus and his disciples come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover as required by the Torah. He also assigns two disciples to make the Passover preparations. This means they would have ritually clean the leaven, buy the necessary provisions like the Passover lamb. But Jesus transforms this Passover meal as a messianic meal that needs to be celebrated till the coming of the Kingdom of God. Thus the Passover feast becomes the redemptive act of Jesus Christ, for the whole humanity, through the shedding his blood and breaking of his body. Here  is Jesus Christ transforming and also giving a new meaning to an existing celebration. At a time when the world is torn by strife's and animosity between people of different races, culture, creed and religion, what Jesus Christ is teaching us is to consciously use our celebrations and events more as a mark of redemption and transformation in the context of relationship and fellowship. Let every celebrations that people involve be made meaningful, bring about not only bring about transformation and spiritual renewal in the ones who celebrate but also become a means of bridging the divide that is happening in today’s world, thus bringing about a new paradigm of unity between people of different faith. 

The Journey 260
Monday, September 17
Read: Amos 5
            Every person who uses a mobile phone or other electronic devices knows that when a phone a jammed or a device does not function properly there is a small button in the device that helps the device to function again properly. This button is called as the “Reset” button. If we touch the reset button on the device, the electronic device like the phone, or media player automatically reverts itself to the original factory setting.  Anugrah Kumar, a Christian Post Contributor recently cited a speech by the well know actor and producer Kirk Cameron, who was speaking at the Values Voters Summit at Washington DC last Friday. The whole gist of the speech made by Kirk Cameroon was that if United States had to get out of the mess that this country is finding itself in, then it has to return to the original factory setting. What he meant was that one should listen to the principles set by the founding fathers of this great nation, who relied on wisdom that comes from faith in God and His Word. According to him, the principles that influenced the founding fathers and that should govern the nation that is the fruit of Faith which is Freedom, Morality, Law and Education. I think what Cameroon said is something that every individual needs to think about. In Genesis 1: 26, 27 we find that God made us in his own image, but now years after we have lived on this earth, I am sure if each one of us would evaluate our life and the way we live on this wonderful planet, I am sure we all would understand that it is high time that we have reset our life according the God’s plan and purpose of our life, which I call it as the original and the masterpiece plan. Resetting our lives…...
                 We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall  use for our meditation is from Amos 5. One of the main criticism that the prophet Amos directs against the nation of Israel is that they have taken the concept of election more as that of privilege rather that taking it as a sign of responsible, moral, holy and ethical living.  According to the prophet, just because Israel has been elected by God, this does not mean that they will enjoy blessing all the time. Blessing from God come only when the people take the concept of election seriously and reorder their lives according to the commandment of God.  The people of Israel instead of being faithful to God chose to live very immorally and unethically. The people were corrupt and justice and peace was never the hallmark of the Israelite society now. Every law was perverted to favour the rich and the society had become rotten and sick. It is in such a context that Amos opposes these unjust system and the immoral living in the most condemning manner. He tells the people of Israel that until they return back to God this nation is going to perish. A nation and a people who were elected by God has now chosen to live totally in opposition to God’s law. I think when we look at our life situation, if there were also some prophets today, they would also have condemned the way we have ordered our lives. We also live in such a way that we have corrupted all the areas of our life– personal, societal and also our life in the church. It is here that I believe Kirk Cameroon stand as a prophet when he tells that we need to reset our life back to the original setting. Let us take a decision that if we have missed God’s plan and purpose and if we are running away from God and are living our life in contradiction to the laws of God, what is needed for the hour is to “Reset” our life. Turning back to God is the need of the hour and this means let us press the “Reset” button in our life so that we can allow God to achieve his plan and purpose in our life. Do you feel the need to press the “Reset” button in your life? Then do it.

The Journey 258
Saturday, September 15
Read: Luke 7: 36-50
The world’s  most beautiful people.  A news magazine recently released a list of the most beautiful people of 2012 and the people included in the list are Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Blake Shelton, Bradley Cooper…. and the list goes on. But missing in this list is the name of Lizzie Velasquez.  Her name was not included maybe because she was not beautiful “outside”, but  on the contrary if you listen to her story, you will understand that she is the most beautiful woman. When one of her videos was uploaded on You Tube, people ridiculed her as the most ugliest woman. What was wrong with Lizzie?. She was born with a medical condition so rare that only two other people in this world has. The problem with Lizzie is that she has no adipose tissue and as a result of this, the body does not have nor create any muscle, nor can store energy nor gain weight.  People who saw her ridiculed here and even sent sadistic comments to her to kill herself. But on the contrary she set four goals in her life to counteract the comments. The goals were  to become a motivational speaker, to publish a book, to graduate college and finally to build a family and have a career. She has already accomplished the first two. She has  published two books. The first one was “Lizzie Beautiful” and the second book  titled “ Be Beautiful, Be You” was published recently. She also gives motivational speeches on topics like embracing uniqueness, dealing with bullies and on successfully overcoming challenges. According to Lizzie, she says that she is glad she does not look like the celebrities who are beautiful, as there are lot of stereotypes attached to it, on the contrary she is unique in her own self. When people hurt her by their rude and sadistic comments, she says that “ They are just words, But it hurt me since I am human, but their judgment of me is not what I am and that is not what is going to define me”. Lizzie goes to a level of emotional and intellectual maturity when she says that by retaliating I don't want to sink to their level, on the contrary take revenge by contributing to the world in terms of who I am and what I can do as a unique person. This is just extraordinary. Here is a woman who is dubbed in the most inhuman way, but she is determined that it is not the world nor others who define her and her goal in life. I think if we all could live with at least half of the commitment and determination that Lizzie has , our lives and our world would have been so different. Hence let us think who defines us as to who we are and how do we define ourselves?
We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living”. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Luke 7: 36-50. Here we find a wonderful episode of Jesus teaching the Pharisee on  how to appreciate a person,  not because of what she is or what she has done in her past but to look at a person’s heart and intentions. In this passage Jesus is having fellowship in the house of a Pharisee when a woman come to the presence of Jesus and wets  his feet with tears and anoints with perfume. This action is detested by the host, who feels that this woman is not worthy neither to be in his house nor should Jesus relate to people who are “like” this. The stereotyped woman. It is the Pharisee who decides which type of people should Jesus relate with. But the woman is not stung by the criticism of the Pharisee and all that she does is to cry and anoint Jesus Christ. Tears and anointment are both precious in the sight of God but these actions are meaningless to the world and to the Pharisee, whose values are more of materialistic in nature. What Jesus teaches the woman, the Pharisee and ourselves is that let not others define who you are and your role in a  particular situation. We have been redeemed and accepted by our Lord through His grace, and this gives us the strength to live our life in a unique way that brings glory to the Lord and also most befitting to us. It is to this objective that Jesus helped the woman to rise and is calling all of us to rise too. Lizzie saw that she defines herself and not the world, but what about you?.... Who defines you?

The Journey 257
Friday, September 14
Read: Luke 19:45-48
Strikes...Strikes...This is a familiar word in India especially in the southern state of Kerala. Today the word “Strike” has been removed from public life in India and has been replaced with the word “Hartal”. As Kerala braces for a hartal on Saturday in protest against the proposed hike in the petroleum prices, the citizens in this nation is also witnessing a strike– The teachers strike in Chicago. About 29,000 public school teachers have been on strike since the new school year started thus affecting more than 350,000 kindergarten, elementary and high school students. The strike that has been going on this week, is now getting at the nerves of everyone who is directly and indirectly involved in the strike– the teachers, the parents, the educational administration and even the political leaders. This strike is considered as the biggest private or labour dispute in the US this year. Both the Chicago school district and the officials of the Chicago teachers union  are discussing so that a deal could be reached. The sudden provocation for the strike seems to be the introduction of standardized test to evaluate the quality of teaching and competency of the teacher. One of the striking aspects of the public schools in Chicago is that there are lot of issues in the public school that needs urgent attention and fixing. According the news agencies the fourth graders and eighth graders lag national averages in areas like reading ability. Then is the report that only about 60% of high school student graduate while in elementary school, it is alleged that the students receive fewer hours of instruction. To top it all, class rooms are crowded, with the minimum amount of teaching facilities and resources. With crushing financial restraints, both the sides are finding it tough to strike a deal. Teachers standing up for better working conditions in school and fair evaluation, while the district school authorities on thinking how to improve the overall education scenario in the state especially in the public schools where the majority of the students are from the low income group. Here is a typical example where both the group, the district council and teachers may be justified in the standoff, but ultimately who is the sufferers?. It is high time that there is some constructive and creative way of bringing reforms to the education system in this country, but when a section of employees want the authorities to readdress their needs and demands, it is important that he stand that they take do not bring injustice ultimately to the recipients of the education system– the children. Reforms is something that people always talk but whether it is our pubic life or the life in our church, people suddenly become rigid whenever there is a proposed change and cling on to the familiar dictum “ we do things here like this”.  As we meditate on the theme “ Transformed Living” we also need to think whether we are also open and ready for bringing about changes in the corporate area of our faith living– the church. One of the familiar passages in the new testament is the passage from Luke 19:45-48, where Jesus cleanses the temple. What made Jesus go mad with rage was that the whole concept of temple worship was perverted and converted in a place of  financial irregularity probably with the connivance of priests, and the people in power in the temple. The people who suffered as result of this brazen misuse of power and the rituals and laws that were prevalent in the name of religion were the common people. Temple that was meant to bring people closer to God actually drove them away from the so called sanctuary of worship and fellowship. This is what Jesus was opposing. Today the Church and community of believers should constitute and organize themselves as a worshipping community where the primary purpose is transformation of the believer and witness in the community through the power of God found through worship and fellowship. If this does not take place in our church, I think we also need to think of reforming in our church, just as our forefathers paved way for the reformation in our church.

The Journey 256
Thursday, September 13
Read: Mathew 26:26-29
         Keeping Memory Alive. As 11th memorial day functions of  9/11 fades into history, there are hundred of people who have still not come into terms with the disaster that not only shook the pillars of this nation but the very core of countless families. Some have accepted the tragedy and have moved on with good memories of their loved ones, while some have consciously done something that keeps the memory of the loved ones for ever. CNN news agencies brought out this week a wonderful testimony of a wonderful parents Elizabeth and Stephen Alderman who lost their 25 year old Peter, the youngest of their children on 9/11. He   was attending a conference at the Word Trade Centre when tragedy struck. The tragedy happened when both of them were on vacation in France celebrating Stephens 60th birthday. They were desperate when they learnt about the attacks and knew that their son was in the vicinity. Though they desperately tried to reach him, they could not and finally their worst fear were confirmed when the authorities called them up to tell about the worst news that they could ever hear in their life. Peter was gone and their world lay shattered. Both Elizabeth and Stephen recounts as to how Peter was full of life and laughter and their every existence and reason to live was their children.  With Peter gone, the parents felt not only a deep anguish and pain but a void that would be hard to fill. That is when the parents decided that the memory of Peter has to be kept alive. In searching of a meaningful way to honour life, they learned that more than 1 billion people experience torture, terrorism or violence in their life, thus going through emotional wounds that stays with them for the rest of their life. According to sources, incidence of traumatic depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorders exceeds that of HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB combined in the Saharan Africa. According to them billions of dollars are spent in fighting HIV/AIDS but if nobody cares about the trauma that people go through, and if no one is there to help them also to live qualitatively, all these funding does not do any  meaning. It was this concept and objective that made them to start the Peter C Alderman Foundation. Today the foundation runs about eight trauma clinic in Cambodia, Uganda, Liberia and Kenya and they conduct an annual training conference in Africa on dealing with traumatic depression. Here is a wonderful parents leaving the memory of their lovely child in the most wonderful and meaningful way. Ways by which a community, a people in an entirely different continent is blessed. Both Elizabeth and Steve belong to a class of people who keeps the memory alive through changes and transformation in the live of people while we have people who wants to keep memory alive by wanting to inscribe their name even on the cross that they want to donate to a church…..Strange. As we meditate on the theme “Transformed Living” what is important for us in our life is to see is that how do we make our life a transformatory experience to others so that they remember not us but the change that we could do in their life. In Mathew 26: 26– 29 we find our Lord celebrating the last supper and the institution of the holy communion.  What Jesus does through this last supper is keeping his ministry of service, sacrifice and redemption alive in the minds and hearts of people for time immemorial and for countless generation. We remember Jesus and his death on the cross every time we celebrate and participate in the Lord’s table. Memory that is kept alive through vicarious suffering and through the sacrificial death and life style of our Lord. This is what our Lord also demands from us. We need to keep our memory alive not through inscriptions on certain objects but through our life transformatory and sacrificial actions that brings about changes and transformation in the life of other. While Stephen and Elizabeth is doing this through their foundation, we also consciously need to do the same.
      

The Journey 255
Wednesday, September 12
Read: 2 Chronicles 32
          The Christian community in the last few months used to fervently pray about two issues. One was about the detention of an Iranian Pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani who remained in jail for almost 1,062 days  and the second one was about a thirteen year old mentally challenged girl named Rimsa Masih from Pakistan who was arrested on the charges of the desecrating a Holy Book of a different faith. This week the community of believers all over the world rejoiced at the news that finally the Iranian Pastor has been released from jail. So also the thirteen year old girl Rimsa Masih was also given bail in a case where now a Muslim cleric who is a neighbour of Rimsa has been arrested for allegedly manipulating the case and falsely accusing and fabricating evidence against the teenage girl. When we live in a country like United States and in India, we may not be able to comprehend the true situation of believers in countries where the blasphemy laws are so outdated that usually people settle personal scores with each other by alleging blasphemy in the name of religion. Neither do we comprehend the price the Christian believers pay to hold on to their faith while we are least bothered as to how valuable and important is  the “ ground and foundation of our faith”. The news  release with these two individual helps us to focus our life on the importance of the power of corporate prayer, praying more for others than for our needs and also about how God is still working in history when the forces of injustice still prevails in this world. Are we able to discern these truths in our life is what we need to think about?
The theme of our meditation is “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for  our meditation is from 2 Chronicles 32: 9-22. Here we find the account of a King of Assyria named Sennacherib, who plotted against Hezekiah the King of Judah. What separates both these kings was that Sennacherib plotted against Hezekiah because he was against the worship of false god and he brought about reforms in the religious realm. He destroyed idols and also made the temple worship more meaningful and pleasing to the Lord. Hezekiah appointed the division of priests and Levites according to their services and many other reforms due to which God’s favour was shown on Judah [ 2 Chronicles 31]. But this did not go well with Sennacherib and he wanted to see the downfall of Hezekiah.  He begins plotting against Hezekiah by trying to instigate the people against the King.  That is when Hezekiah realizes that there is a battle on hands and he cries out to the Lord in distress [ 2 Chr 32:20]. The Word of God says when Hezekiah cried to the heavens, the Lord heard his prayer. What you see here in this incident is that Hezekiah does what is just in the sight of the Lord, while Sennacherib is using subtle and crooked ways to achieve what is unjust and also what is not pleasing to the Lord. But the sad part is that when doing justice it is Hezekiah who goes through pain and crisis. I think this is something that we need to learn in life. When we do actions that are just and when we stand for justice and the rights of others, we shall be condemned and there will be others who will plot against us. But God who is in charge of history will stand with us in our fight for justice and common good and hence we need to be fervent in our faith living. The release of both the Iranian Pastor and the teenage girl in Pakistan gives us the writing on the wall that we need or order our lives in a just manner and that we need to look up to the Lord both personally and corporately and unite as a corporate body to address issues of justice and freedom.

The Journey 254
Tuesday, September 11
Read: Psalms 46
          Re-Remembering 9/11. As September 11th comes, every citizen in this country are compelled to remember that fateful day in history. A day when not only the people from this nation was shaken but people from every nation. As the Word Trade Centre crumbled, what was also crumbling was the hopes of ordinary citizens who wanted a peaceful world, where people from every nation, culture and religion could live peacefully, co-existing with each other. I still remember vividly the videos the WTC falling, anger and other emotions welled up even when sitting miles and miles away in a different continent, thinking as to how a few people, who are misguided in the name of commitment to a particular reading of the demands of a particular religion wreaked havoc on humanity. What is the sad part of the whole episode is that the perpetrators of this ghastly crime is dead but the after effects of that crime is reaped by generations of this world. One of the truths that we tend to forget is that every action of ours is connected to the life of others and to this world and hence every action that we do should be those that brings goodness and blessing in the life of others. We all think that we have a life of our own, but the truth is that we are connected in the most intricate way to each other in this world and that is how God has created this world and humanity. Secondly the whole myth that the strength of a nation is in its armory, in its financial capability and it these myths that were exposed on 9/11. As we remember 9/11, we need to examine as where our true security lies and how we need to reiterate that  in every positive and a negative action that we do, we are sowing its effect to the next generations.                     
               We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Psalms 46. The Psalmist talks about the true  security and the true foundation of human life, that one should look up to in life as we go through the most the painful and crisis filled situation.  The Psalmist says that in the most crisis filled situations, when the nations and also people wage war against each other, we need to remember that it is in God that we find our true security. It is this perspective that God is our security that will redefine the perspective of life. Many a times people feel that the true security is in the country that I live, the armory that the country boast of, the financial security that one has. But on 9/11 what God teaches us that it is not the country that you live that assures you of your security in life, it is not the job that you have that gives you the security in life neither is the insurance that you hold and the bank balance that you have which gives you the true security in life. What is important today is to understand that when I put my security and my trust in the Lord, it helps me to understand my true security in  life. It is this understanding of security that teaches us that our life  is inter connected with our fellow citizen in this world. When I do good, the influence of the goodness is spread around bringing blessing and cheer all around. But if my intentions is selfish and harmful not only do I bring harm and destruction to my life but also to my fellow citizens and to the generations of this world.  Hence our life should be lived in such way that we live responsibly, living in inter connected relationship whereby every action of mine only brings blessing and hope to others. As the WTC crashed what brought about was not only the destruction of the two towers but also the destruction of the trust and the hope that human being had for each other. Hence at this time of history, let us take refuge in God through whom we find the true security in life, and also  consciously reaffirming that our life is connected to our fellow citizens in this world and that  we should always be a channel of hope and blessing to others. It is when each individual in this earth lives life in this perspective that we can conquer the satanic and the evil forces in this world thus bringing God’s reign on this earth.

The Journey 253
Monday, September 10
Read: Hebrews 6
          E-A-G-L-E-S; Fly Eagles Fly, On the road to victory, Fight Eagles Fight, Score a touchdown , 1,2,3…...Hit'em low, Hit'em high, And watch our eagles fly, Fly Eagles Fly, On the road to victory, E-A-G-L-E-S...EAGLES.  This was the chant on every one lips  here in Philadelphia on Sunday. Yesterday was an important day in Philadelphia and for every Eagles fan as the first match of the Philadelphia Eagles in the super bowl got underway. I had just come back from Houston, Texas where I had attended a wedding of a close friend of mine from Philly who got married to a Texan. At the reception,  one of the youngster from Philadelphia stunned the Texan crowd by singing the Eagles anthem mentioned above and we all joined the chorus. It was a wonderful feeling, as the Philly crowd sang, whipping up passion and euphoria for the Philadelphia Eagles Team in front of a mix Philly and Texan crowd. But then those passion for the Eagles team bore a winning result on Sunday, as Philadelphia Eagles beat Cleveland Browns 17-16.  But this win was not something worth to celebrate, as Eagles had a poor offensive  game, resulting into a game full of frustrations and mistakes, turnovers, passes that were overthrown, the penalties and four awful interceptions thrown by Michel Vick. Thus the feeling of Philadelphia Eagles winning [ though a win is a win] did not match the euphoria that was created while we sang the Eagles anthem in front of the Texan crowd. Here is a team who has only begun their journey to the Super Bowl. The beginning is mediocre and lot is expected from the team. Looking at the way Eagles played also brings to the fact of our life: Lot of challenges, lots to be accomplished, but the way we go about in Christian life is very mediocre and it is here that just as we want our Philadelphia Eagles team to play like a champion, what our Lord expects from each one of us to be like champions, living not like mediocre Christians, but Christians with a passion for the Lord and a passion and jest for living authentic Christian life.
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from  Hebrew 6. Here the writer of Hebrews exhorts us that we need to leave the elementary teaching about Jesus Christ and move towards maturity in both knowledge Jesus Christ and also in Christian living. But then what are these elementary teaching? They are mentioned as repentance, faith, baptism, the laying on of hands, the resurrection, and eternal judgment.[Heb 6: 1,2]. In short these are basic doctrines.. Christ's teachings on the basics that needs to be there in every Christian's life. It is these basics that needs to be studied, fed upon as an infant would feed upon milk. But once you are finished with the basic, and once the foundation has been laid, the author exhorts us that we are to improve not only in our understanding about Christ but also in our  practice and attitudes concerning our Christian life. The word in Greek for maturity or perfection here is ''teleiotes.'' It comes from the Greek word ''telos'' which means to make perfect, to carry through completely, to accomplish, finish, bring to an end. One of the tragedies in many Christians is that they are in the mid years of life yet they behave and act like kids. The knowledge and understanding that they carry is still that of the Sunday School. It is in such context that we need to understand that what God expects us through our life is to grow more by dwelling richly in His Word and enriching our relationship with our Lord. It is then we will have a passion to live authentic Christian life. The future of Philadelphia Eagles is not bright if they are going to play in a very mediocre manner and in the same way if we are also going to live mediocre Christian life then life will have no meaning and purpose.

The Journey 249
Thursday, September 6
Read: 2 Kings 4: 8-17
Every child needs a home. Home represents so  many things in a person's life. It is in the context of a home, in the context of a family that we understand the true meaning of the most powerful words like, love, attachments, relationship, security and so on. But in the world of today, due to different circumstances, there are countless children who do not have anyone to care for them. I found an interesting news item written by Brittney R. Villalva, in the Christian Post. The writer talks about a unique and a  wonderful initiative done by a small church named “ Bennett Chapel Baptist” located at the Shelby County, Texas. The church is led by Pastor W.C. Martin and his wife Donna. The members of this church call themselves as “common ordinary people”.   One day one of the members of the church was grieving over her mother and that when she realized that there are so many children who are also grieving, not because they lost their mother, but because they don't have one. She felt that God was asking her to adopt a child. Though she had two children of her own, she went ahead and adopted four new foster children.  The church also decided to go ahead with this parental mission care programme. The title of the mission was “ One day at a time”. The whole purpose of this mission is that we change the world one heart at a time. The church encouraged other members to adopt foster children so that the whole mission of changing the world, one heart at a time,  becomes more fruitful. Today that little church with the common ordinary people have adopted 76 foster children  thus giving them not only homes but hope to move on in life.  I think this church of ordinary common people have showed that home does not have any boundaries. Being members of the Marthoma Church, people who pride in their aristocracy and in its historical and faith tradition, I think we need to rethink as to how we also can also try to do our mite in changing one heart at time. For this to happen we may need to redefine our concept of “My Home” and “My Family”.
                        We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living”. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is from 2 Kings 4: 8-17. This portion is all about how a shunnamite woman, even when she goes through crisis redefines our understanding of home and hospitality. She was going through crisis because she did not have any son and moreover her husband was also old. But personal crisis does not deter her from doing good and being hospitable.  She sees prophet Elisha as he passed Shunem, and she tells her husband that since she perceives that this person is holy man of God, she wants to show hospitality to Elisha by preparing little walled upper chamber, setting a bed for him, a table and a lamp stand [ 2 Kings 4: 9,10].  Here is this shunnamite woman though her home is rocked by personal tragedy is ready to open up her home so that the prophet Elisha could feel at home. Elisha accepts hospitality of the woman without knowing what she is going through, and that is when Gehazi tells Elisha about the crisis that the woman faces in life. Elisha calls the woman and promises her that next year at this time, she will bear a son. The word of God says that the word of the prophet came true as the woman conceived a son next year. Here is a woman who is ready to broaden the boundaries of her home so that even when she is  suffering from personal crisis, she is willing to give hope and hospitality to others. In a world of selfishness let us consciously broaden the boundaries of our home so that our home is not only a home for us but home for other, home where others could also feel and enjoy love, fellowship and hospitality.

The Journey 247
Tuesday, September 4
Read: 1 John 1: 1-4
Tremors!. Who does not fear tremors. But here in the United States a new book that is being released today is causing mild tremors and has caused huge frenzy among the readers.  Even though the book has not been released, the news agencies reports that the pre orders of the book has put it as No. 1 book on the Amazon bestseller list for the last two weeks. Such is the hype that the book is created. What is it in the book that has attracted such a wide audience even before it has been released?. The  book is a memoir by a navy seal who was part of the team that killed Osama Bin Laden. The book is titled “ No Easy Day:”.  Since the mission of tracking of Osama Bin Laden was a top secret and considered as one of the most dangerous and one of the most stealthily done commando operation, people would surely love to know the minute details of the whole operation. But now the sailor is involved in some legal tangles with Department of Defence, who feels that by the releasing of the book, the navy seal is infringing on the oath of secrecy that he had committed with regards to matters related to national security and also is causing a breach in the security of the team members, who were part of the mission. We do not know what the book has in store with regards to the concerns raised by the department of defense, but one thing is clear the memoirs is all about a ruthless mission done to track another ruthless militant leader, who had no qualms to kill thousands of innocent people. Memoirs is what people leave behind. Memoirs tell us who you are, and how as a person you made a difference in the world that you lived. I think the navy seal felt that his  memoirs about him is something related to the mission that he was involved in tracking the militant leader. I think we need to also think as to how if we were given an opportunity, what would be the memoirs that we would like to bring out and what would be the contents and message in it?
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from 1 John 1: 1-4. In these first four verses I believe the apostle John states his memoirs. His memoirs is about two aspects. One, what he has experienced in his life and secondly what he wants others to experience through him. I think any memoirs becomes  meaningful if we evaluate memoirs in these two aspects. In v: 1-3, John states all about his experience which is his memoirs. His experience is all about, what he has heard, what he has seen with his own eyes, what he held in his hands, all that concerns about Word and Life. Secondly through his experience of seeing, hearing and handling the Word and Life, he states his mission. The mission is that everyone one will have fellowship with Father,  and with the Son Jesus Christ and it is this wonderful message that he wants to proclaim through his memoirs which is recorded in the Word of God. The memoirs of the apostle of John is living and dynamic and it concerns with how his travel with the Lord brought about this dynamic change and the memoirs. I believe as we live in this world our life should also be a memoir, whereby we have a message that we experienced in our Christian life and we have a message of hope and fellowship to the world. It is in charting our life course in such a way that whenever we publish our memoirs or even if we don't publish our memoirs, people will remember us for our life that we lived and the message that we carried through our life and ministry and for the people

The Journey 246
Monday, September 3
Read: Luke 7:1-10
         The first week of September is a sort of celebration here in the United States. This is because it is on the first Monday of the September, that nation celebrates labour day a long week end. Most of the countries like India celebrates May 1st as the labour day, or the day that is commemorated on honoring the work force of each country.  But then the labour day week end is a sort of three day weekend, that is either spent in one of the beaches, a final barbecue, a family picnic before the school begins. Labour day pales into insignificance before these pleasure trips. What is something that we should never forget is that the luxuries and the comforts that a people of a particular generation enjoys is because of the struggle and the sacrifice by a generation that lived earlier. Today though every nation goes through employment issue, the history behind the labour day, dates back to history when people were forced to work for almost twelve hours and six days a week to feed themselves and their family. With no pensions, health insurance and along with severe and sadistic employers, job often turned to death knell for many workers. But the grit and determination of these work force was what stabilized the nation. When they called for strike, the government used brute force to suppress their rightful needs. Thus when we look back, we need to be thankful to those people who suffered so that our lives are made better in future. What is more poignant is the fact in history is the fact, someone toiled, struggled and suffered, but the fruits of that labour is enjoyed by someone else. This points to the fact that we also need to devise our work and our life in such a way that the blessing that is derived from our work, should be able to be reaped for a generation to come. But sad that this is not the philosophy neither in work force, nor in family living nor in community. When I work or when I am in charge, I should be able to enjoy the fruit of my labour, and I would deliberately not want others to enjoy the fruit of my labour. What a sad fall in terms of standards in work ethics and also in the morality of work. Let us therefore redefine our vision of work so that what we do become contributions in history and blessing in the life. We have one character in the Bible who redefines both work and life.
                 The theme that we have chosen for our meditation is “Transformed Living”. The portion where we find the account of the man who redefines both work and life is found in Luke 7: 1-10. The person who redefines both morality and ethics of work is the centurion. Roman centurions were very common in the Roman Empire. The centurions were the backbone of the Roman Army. They were  regular soldiers who had signed to serve in the army for about  20 years. They were the equivalent in rank to a modern-day Army captain. The standard unit of the Roman Army was a legion, which was a force of 6,000 men which was divided into sixty groups of 100 soldiers each and each commanded by a centurion. This shows the authority that centurion carries on his shoulder and the authority that is vested on him by the Roman empire. Here what redefines his concept of work is that he comes to Jesus Christ to seek help not for his superior but for his inferior. Anything done for the superior is normally done to enhance ones career prospect and also may be to get favors done, but here is a commander who does not something for his career, but requesting Jesus to heal his servant, someone who is inferior in terms of rank and position. It is this concept that is missing today in our concept of work. Word done only for enhancing ones own prospects in career and moving up and getting favors but nothing done so that another person is blessed nor the community or the society being benefitted by my work. It is to such a work vision that the centurion lived and it is to this work ethics that God call us all.