The Journey 333
Thursday, November 29
Read: Acts 9: 1-19
        Certain landmarks of the world are always etched in the minds of people. Landmarks like Eifel tower in Paris, The Statue of Liberty in New York, Taj  Mahal in India are  so brilliantly etched in the minds of people all over the world in such a way that moment one sees the pictures of these landmarks, one can recognize it. There is another unique landmark in the world which was celebrated in a very historic manner because of its historic relevance and its unique place in world history. One of most iconic pieces of art is the painting done by Michelangelo’s fresco on the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Yesterday the Vatican celebrated its 500th anniversary with Pope Benedict XVI, gracing the occasion with the celebration of vespers. People all over the world come to Sistine chapel to view this iconic painting and it is said that everyone who views this painting is struck not only by its beauty but also by the magnitude of the fresco. There are nine centered panels in the ceiling fresco. It shows different images like the creation of Adam and also vaulted ceiling that has images of prophets and ancestors of Jesus. It was in 1508, that Pope Julius II della Rovera commissioned Michelangelo to do the work of painting the ceiling. In the beginning Michelangelo was skeptical about the whole work since he  believed that he was a sculptor and not a painter. He also felt that his enemies were using this job of painting as a ruse to get him fall from the grand stage, since the job involves the challenge of painting at a height of 65 feet, which requires not only endurance but also ingenuity. Thus he kept turning down the commission of painting the ceiling of Sistine chapel, because he felt that he had come to Rome to sculpt the tomb of Julius II, which he thought would be his masterpiece not knowing that 500 years later it was not the sculpture of Julius II for which he is remembered but the painting on the ceiling of Sistine Chapel, that catapulted Michelangelo into a hall of fame. It took four years to complete painting and finally the painting was unveiled in 1512,  with Pope Julius dedicating the newly decorated space with the celebration of Holy Communion on November 1st, which was the All Saints Day. According to late Pope John Paul II, the painting is considered as a priceless and a universal heritage, and this is confirmed by the millions of pilgrims who come from every country of the world to Sistine Chapel to admire the work of this wonderful sculptor turned painter. The chapel is still used for worship and also as the place for the secret conclave to elect the new pope. Thus through this wonderful work of art, Michelangelo, gave to the world, a vision about his work and an influence that was so tremendous in the world of art, culture and iconography. Here is a man who felt that he was called to be sculptor, one who felt that the world need to remember his contribution in the field of sculpture but God had much more greater plans for him. Thus for me, Michelangelo represents all those people whose vision and calling are in contradiction to the calling and grand purpose of God. It is this truth that we all need to comprehend as we think of our life, our plans for our life and our future. When we look at the Word of God we also find a life journey of a man who had a particular vision but God confronted him and transformed him to an entirely new individual with new vision and calling in life.
                We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Acts 9: 1-19. This is the portion that we find three aspects of his life before he God confronted him. His vision of life was that he wanted Christian faith and religion to be destroyed and therefore made deliberate effort to travel far and wide to make it happen with the approval for killing the Christians in the most brutal way. In Acts 8:  1-3, we find the diabolic mind of Saul. He is a witness to the stoning of Stephen and even gave approval not only in the death of Stephen but also in the kind of death that Stephen had to undergo. Death through stoning which is very gory and painful. Later in v: 3, we find Saul going from house to house dragging both men and woman and putting them in jail. All these accounts seems to suggest that Saul was bent on destroying Christianity and it also seemed that he took a sort of personal vendetta and killing Christians as a means to pacify his anger and troubled soul. Here is  a man who feels and vindicated by his vision and mission to kill Christians in the most brutal way and destroy the church. But God had other plans for the violent soldier of the Law, one who staunchly upheld the tenets of Jewish faith. Saul seeks letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus where he plans to go, so that he could go there arrest the so called believers and bring them to Jerusalem. He once again begin his journey of passion and commitment to exterminate Christians, but it is this journey that brings total transformation in the life, vision and mission of Saul. God encounters him and he is transformed into a new creation. Saul becomes Paul. A man who staunchly defended the law become the bold preacher of the gospel and the power of grace. What Saul envisioned in his life and what God envisioned through Saul was contradictory, but praise God for His plan because through that plan the Christian Church got the leadership of Paul. I wonder what would be the case of the church and Christians if we did not have the epistles written by Paul. If God could bring about the change from Saul to Paul, let us also this day trust in the Lord, in his plans for our life and affirm that God has greater and a comprehensive view and perspective of our life. A plan and mission which we may not be able to comprehend today, but history tomorrow will be witness to what God could do in our life, if we submit to him and His plan for our life.

The Journey 332
Wednesday, November 28
Read: Luke 19:1-10
    The digital TV  runs on popular shows. In India it is the serials that is a popular features in Indian Television. Here in US you have number of popular shows like Big Bang Theory, Dancing with the Stars, Person of Interest and so on. But there is one show “Two and a Half Men” that has come into the news and has erupted into  a controversy yesterday. Two and Half Men is a CBS show running since 2003 and is a Sitcom, a shortened word for situation comedy where characters in the show, share a common environment. One of the lead actors in the show, Angus T John, who has been in the show for the last 10 years has decried the show and termed the show as total filth. Angus is a teenage actor who was only 9 when he was inducted into the world of showbiz through Two and Half Men, and by the time he was in high school though his earning was in millions, his life was in total mess, having dabbled with drugs. An actor who is featured in a show for the last 10 years, criticizing the same show?. I think this is rare. It is reported that Angus earn about $350,000 per episode. This is huge money, and if that is the case why is Angus T Jones critical of a show of which he is an integral part? The views of Angus about the show and about his life has been released recently through a video brought out by Forerunner Christian Church. It is in this video he bares about how a transformation has taken place in his life after he encountered Lord in his life and also being critical of the show and its content. He says that in December 2011, a particular incident changed his perspective about life and God was the reason for the change.  He says that “ People consider these shows like Two and Half Men as entertainment. But do some research on the effects of television and your brain, and I promise you, you will have a decision to make when it comes to television especially with what you watch”. Jones also feels guilty that his profession may be causing serious damage to the people who watch the show. But what is more revealing, daring and startling is the statement that Angus makes “You cannot be a true God fearing person and be on Television show like that. I know I cant. I am not ok with what I am learning, what my bible say and also being an actor in that show”.  While decrying the show, Angus is in a very precarious position. He is under contract for another year, which means he has to be part of the show that he considers filth. But Angus say that God knows the reason as to why he is there.  Many people have reacted to the remarks of Angus T Jones as publicity stunt,  but organization like Parents Television Council has welcome the star criticism of the show, a show that many others have also been very vociferously critical because of its language and content. Here is an actor who does not want to compromise his faith even for the sake of money, popularity or fame. We don't know what is in store for Angus for his public outrage of the show. But the world has seen that there are still stars like Angus who wants to take their faith and values seriously and that they would want their professional life also an extension of their spiritual life. I think the remarks and stand of Angus teaches lot of spiritual truth and values about life and Christian living. One of the truths that we learn from this episode is whether we consciously demarcate our professional life from our spiritual life or does our faith and value influence the profession that we are in?. When we look into the Word of God we find a man who was also in a particular profession but felt guilty that he was misusing the profession for his own selfish gains.
                 We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall meditate is from Luke 19: 1-10. The portion talks about Zacheus a tax collector. Here is a man who is detested by people not only because he was a tax collector but because he used his position as tax collector to exploit people and fill his coffers. Here is a man who uses his position and profession purely for financial gains. His exploits goes unchecked and he has the best of life and that is when his encounter with Jesus Christ changes his whole outlook about his life and also about his profession. Zacheus could also be termed as someone who may have deliberately kept his professional life separate an from his spiritual beliefs and values, if he had one. Broadly speaking Zacheus represents all those people who uses their profession more as calling to cheat the system, exploit people and turn ones profession into an avenue to further ones selfish interest like financial gains rather than the cause and ministry that they were called. I think we may find Zacheus in Christian ministry too, whose focus is only to make a fast buck, or make hay while the sun shines, totally forgetting the calling and the vocation that one has been called to. We live in a world where we find constantly bombarded by the latest gadgets and influenced by the high  and luxurious living that others live and this becomes a temptation also to think that life without these luxuries and fat bank balance is useless. Thus we find ourselves being sucked into a system to make fast buck and then in a deceptive and sly way, proclaim that all our material blessing are a blessing from God, and conveniently delink our faith and our calling from our professional life. People lie Angus T Jones and Zacheus teaches us that if we need to be faithful in our calling and our witness, we may have to sacrifice some of the privileges and luxuries that the world offers and through that make a deliberate effort to show to the world that both professional and spiritual life are not separate but an extension of each other.

The Journey 331
Tuesday, November 27
Read: Daniel 9: 1-19
       People always expect their leaders to be models, models of exemplary behavior, leading a lifestyle that is cognizant to the position that one holds. A few weeks back the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni showed a rare and exemplary courage and did something that is very rare in this world today. Uganda celebrated its 50th anniversary of Independence in October. At the celebration of its golden jubilee of independence a national jubilee prayers event was held and it is in this event that the President made a mark for himself and a model for others. What he did that was exemplary was that, he publicly acknowledged his sins and the sins committed by the nation and sought forgiveness from God. This is what he said “I stand here today to close the evil past, and especially in the last 50 years of our national leadership history and at the threshold of a new dispensation in the life of this nation. I stand here on my own behalf and on behalf of my predecessors to repent. We ask for forgiveness. We confess these sins, which have greatly hampered our national cohesion and delayed our political, social and economic transformation. We confess sins of idolatry and witchcraft which are rampant in our land. We confess sins of shedding innocent blood, sins of political hypocrisy, dishonesty, intrigue and betrayal,” The President prayed “Forgive us of sins of pride, tribalism and sectarianism; sins of laziness, indifference and irresponsibility; sins of corruption and bribery that have eroded our national resources; sins of sexual immorality, drunkenness and debauchery; sins of un-forgiveness, bitterness, hatred and revenge; sins of injustice, oppression and exploitation; sins of rebellion, in-subordination, strife and conflict,” After his prayer of repentance, the President dedicated the country to the power of the Triune God.  He said “We want to dedicate this nation to you, so that you will be our God and guide. We want Uganda to be known as a nation that fears God and as a nation whose foundations are firmly rooted in righteousness and justice to fulfill what the Bible says in Psalm 33:12: Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. A people you have chosen as your own,”. Blessedness in a nation when God is acknowledged in every area of ones life, in a nation where a leader submits himself to the power of God and humbly confesses ones sins and shortcomings. Here is a leader who is humbling himself, one who acknowledges that he is fallible, and also acknowledging that a nation needs to be governed in Godly values and principles. We live in a time when everyone is hungry for power and authority and the moment some position of authority is entrusted to someone, it is often seen as a plank to rule and be autocratic rather than serve. Hence I think leaders who rule different countries and clergy like us who who are given position of authority, could take a leaf out of President Museveni’s book. To humble oneself in the sight of God, acknowledging ones sins and the sins of the nation and people, so as to be a corrective force in the life of the nation and the church. We have a leader in the Bible who also publicly acknowledged the sins of a nation so that God would be merciful to them. The leader in the Bible that we are going to meditate is on Daniel.        
         We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Daniel 9: 1-19.  This portion depicts the prayer of Daniel in the light of the sins committed by the people of Israel, the chosen one.  Jerusalem is in a desolate state, the people were captive and Daniel wanted Lord to restore the city that was so desolate. A desolate state because of the unfaithfulness of the chosen people. It is this sin that Daniel acknowledges.  Daniel refers to the covenant relationship that God instituted with his people in Sinai and how he had sent prophets to warn people of their sins and also as to how God would punish the people severely if they did not obey him. He confesses that they all have collectively disobeyed God and brought about death and destruction on themselves. In v: 9-12, Daniel prayed “ We have rebelled against you,  we have not obeyed the voice of God, nor walked in his teaching, we have transgressed the law of ….” Here is Daniel using events from history to proclaim the backsliding and unfaithfulness of the people. Moreover when Daniel prays he does not stand in the judgment seat and proclaim himself righteous while others are sinners, on the contrary he identified himself with the people. Though he was not guilty of being unfaithful to God, nevertheless he associated himself as corporate sinner, acknowledging that as a member of God’s chosen nation, he has also sinned. Finally he beseeches God to be listen to his prayer and his supplication [ Daniel 9: 17-19] and forgive his people and help Jerusalem   to regain its glory. Here is Daniel whose power as a leader is seen through the prayer that he does for his people. Power that is exhibited by a leader through a deliberate humbling of oneself. In a world where leaders tend to behave in the most autocratic manner and flout all rules and ethics to remain in power, it is people like President Museveni and prophet Daniel who teaches us that true power and authority comes when we are ready to humble ourselves, acknowledge our sins and is willing to identify with our community in their fallenness and help them to move forward with repentance and renewed commitment to the Lord.

The Journey 330
Monday, November 26
Read: Mathew 3: 1-12
The last three days witnessed crazy scenes where people were in a shopping spree. A shopping spree that almost went to mad frenzy, the madness even to buy cheap cell phones worth

45$ which otherwise is also available in other stores as on any other day too. Stores like Walmart, Best Buy, Target and so on saw mad rush of shoppers who had no issues in trampling others and rushing in to the stores for the items that they wanted to pick up. Today the rush is on online shopping, as retailers celebrate cyber monday. As people vie to beat each other in this crazy and neurotic shopping spree, with people shouting at the top of the voice with regards to the deal that they had, there is a feeble but strong voice going out to people, who are ready to listen about the ill effects of this shopping spree and how this consumerism is going to kill the nation. The prophetic voice is that of Rev. Billy Talen. Billy Talen is the clergy of “Church of Stop Shopping”. The CNN news agency carried an interview with Rev. Bill on its channel yesterday. Bill has been a vociferous opponent of the shopping madness that is taking place in this country. According to him he has linked shopping spree of millions of people to factors that will cause disastrous effect like global warming and another hurricane like Sandy. Shopping spree is related to global warming and hurricanes?. Yes and that is what Bill is trying to prove to the people that more and more people are going to be consumers, the effect of these mad frenzied consumerism will be borne by generation in terms of global warming and new forms of hurricanes like Sandy. What Bill does is that he goes round the country and preaches gospel messages that empowers people to get them to stop being a voracious consumers. Billy pointed out a study done in 2009 by Mindclick SGM, which stated that carbon emission due to people driving and shopping on Black Friday was 50 times higher than the normal day. He says as people tend to go on a shopping spree, one cannot forget the millions of people who are without jobs and are looking at all possible means to support their family. People who are desperately to get at least a part time job so that they could at least pull on. For this rather than creating a system and economy based on buy today and throw tomorrow, Bill says that we need to take measures to sustain local economies like the small stores in neighborhood, the farmers market, the thrift shop, the repair shop and so on. What is more remarkable about Bill is his support and concern that we need to bring in a culture and generation that believes that we need to buy things that can be repaired and not just thrown away. It is people like Rev. Billy who are speaking in tones and voices that are different from the rest of us, trying to warn and empower people to create a life style that is sustainable for the future of not only about the next generation but also for us and for the earth. In a world of today it is very hard to find people like Rev. Billy Talen and church whose name is “Church of Stop Shopping”. But it is people like Billy who are ultimately ones who are standing against the powerful patterns of the world, which Paul in Romans says that we should not be confirmed to. In the Bible also we find one person who stood against the pattern of the world, encouraging and convicting people to live a different life, both qualitative and meaningful. The person is John the Baptist. Let us meditate on how John the Baptist becomes a lone voice of resistance and living differently for the Lord.
We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Mathew 3: 1-12. In this portion we find two distinguishing things about John. The first distinguishing factor is his life style that he followed and secondly is the message that he preached. With regards to his life style we find that he had a strange dress sense and food sense. It is written that he wore a garment made of camel hair, with a leather belt around his waist and all that he ate was locusts and wild honey[ Mathew 3: 4]. Here is a prophet who consciously adopts a life style that is so different from the people who lived at that time. I believe this is an effort of a person to show to others what it means to live qualitatively for the Lord and also how the certain privileges and pleasures in life can be considered as non essential things. John the Baptist had the moral courage to say no to all the worldly things and thus create a new set of values and also life style that is conducive to the message that he preached. It is with this unique life style that he preaches about message of repentance and preparing the way for the Lord. As far as John the Baptist was concerned, there was no dichotomy between his preaching and his life style. So different today in our Christian circles, where you find people preaching about Christian lifestyle but engaging in a lifestyle contrary to the message and the values that is preached. People like Rev. Billy Talen and John the Baptist teaches us that we need to have the ability to say no to certain material thing in life, and to value our relationship, our life on the earth, our relationship with the Lord, more than running around for buying more and more material things, which may become useless and outdated very soon, forcing us to go again on a vicious circle of shopping spree. Do we have the courage and tenacity to resist the temptation of jumping into shopping spree bandwagon and consciously build a life style of being a good steward of whatever the Lord has given to us.

The Journey 328
Saturday, November 24
Read: Mark 6: 14-29
     Dead or Alive? What constitutes whether a human being is dead or alive. You might wonder why such a simple question is being posed. For countless number of people, they would say that they are alive while another person is dead purely on the fact that the main difference between being dead and being alive is a matter of ones breath. But for sometimes some individuals, are thrown into certain crisis situations in life where one does not know or define whether that person is alive or dead, and the choice of that person’s life is dependent on the choice that the significant others in his/her family takes. Such is the predicament of former boxing champion Hector Macho Camacho. Camacho is from Puerto Rico and he  won the super lightweight, lightweight, and junior welterweight world titles in 1980. Camacho is also famous for his high profile bouts that he fought against Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard. For one who has basked in glory, last Tuesday was a tragic day for him. On Tuesday, both he and his friend were shot, killing his friend on the spot, while he lay critically injured. But his injury went worse and doctors in San Juan, Puerto Rico said yesterday that Camacho is clinically dead. This has evoked huge emotion from his family and friends and they all are in a predicament as to when to remove the life support system. It is this predicament that has now turned into a small controversy. According to CNN news agencies, mother of Camacho told the reporters that for her, her son is not alive, but one of the boxers son, refuted the mother’s statement that his father is alive and that he is going to fight till the end. Today in the morning the family members are going to assemble together and take a collective decision as to when to remove Camacho from the life support system. I think this is one of the most painful predicaments that a family has to undergo. As their  loved one hand between death and life, life that is supported in an artificial way, many people find it so hard, and it is indeed hard and painful to decide when the breath of life needs to be stopped. We don't know what the Camacho family will decide today, but that raises the question when is an individual “truly dead or truly alive”. The question that needs to be seen not as an ethical and moral issue with respect to a life supported through a life support system, on the contrary a question that all the so called living people needs to answer, to make a honest assessment as to whether we are truly alive or dead or whether our life is simply prolonged, without any meaning or objective. Hence the question whether “are you dead or alive”
              We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Mark 6: 14-29. This portion is all about the tragic death of John the Baptist, who is beheaded by King Herod. John the Baptist died probably at the age of 40. When you are at the age of 40, that is when you are rearing to go, to contribute to family, society and church, with the energy that one gained from the youth stage, the maturity as one engages in family life and after going through different life experiences. But here in the context of John the Baptist, his life is cut short. Could John the Baptist have a longer duration of life if he had not preached boldly the message of the Lord? To live longer was not the criteria nor the deciding factor for John the Baptist. For him as long as he lives, he wanted to be faithful to the message of the Lord and to the calling that God gave to him. Faithfulness to the message and calling meant that he had to cross ways with rulers in authority and this was something not easy but also very dangerous. John boldly spoke against Herod because he had married his brothers wife.  This made Herod angry and he had John the Baptist condemned to prison. Later you find that Herod beheads John the Baptist on the request of his daughter Herodias, who pleased him with her dance performance and the king granted her a wish that he would whatever she asked from him. When Herodias confided this with her mother, it was her mother who prompted her to tell King Herod to have the John the Baptist head on the platter. Thus the life of the messenger of the gospel is cut short tragically. But then John the Baptist was never concerned about how long or how short his life would be. John’s life could have been spared had he not been vociferously speaking against Herod, or he could have been mild or he could have feigned ignorance or turn a blind eye to all that Herod did. Some might even think “what concerns John the Baptist, if King Herod married his brothers wife?”. But for John the Baptist the perspective about life was not a life that is lived for some selfish gains, and that too through doing Christian ministry. For him living was all about preparing the way for the Lord. For him living was all about honesty and integrity to the calling and the message that God gave to him. At a time when messengers of the gospel, dilutes the message of the gospel to subtly gain privileges, John the Baptist teaches us what it means to be fully alive or fully dead. Fully alive is being committed to the calling that God has given to us, boldly taking up the challenge of ministry and gospel even when others are critical of us and are making all efforts to make our life miserable, even to the point of “dead living”; forced to live without any cause or passion. Let us therefore ask ourselves whether we are truly alive, living with integrity, passion and commitment to the Lord or do we belong to the group of living dead, dead in all sense but living only to satisfy certain temporal needs and desires.

The Journey 327
Friday, November 23
Read: Mathew 21: 12-17
       Black Friday: Today is termed as Black Friday. A day that started not today but late night of Thursday. A day that people in this country look forward to. A day when sales in each retail shop roar and zoom high as people think that they are going to get electronic items like laptop, HD TV and other household items cheap and hence goes in for a shopping spree. But this year Black Friday is indeed Black for some workers who are struggling to  make ends meet. As each retail shop is going to compete with each other this morning to woo its customers, one of the well known retail shop The Walmart is bracing for a workers strike. Strike!......In United States?.....Are you joking? Yes this is real strike…..not in Kerala….This strike today is considered to be a historic strike. The Walmart employees in Dallas, Miami, San Francisco have already started to strike late night on Thursday, while the rest of workers in other parts of the country are going to strike today in the morning. The workers are striking on Black Friday so that people in this country would hear about their woes and lend a sympathetic hand to their fight for a better living. It was about one year back it seems that the OURWalmart union was formed as a subsidiary of United Food and Commercial Workers Union. They are taking up the cause of ordinary workers because of injustice that is being meted out. According to the news agencies what the workers need is better pay, more full time jobs, an affordable health care. In 2011 the retailers were asked to pay its workers  $13 per hour, but the employees complain that they sometime receive less than what has been promised, plus the agony of forced to do part time jobs. Thus when the workers have started protesting and started demanding fair wages and work conditions, the retail giants started retaliating against workers and many were asked to leave or the cops called in and many were rounded up.  What touched me about the strike was the stand taken by one Walmart worker in Florida, which was reported by Dave Jamieson in Huffington Post. The worker named Vanessa Ferreira aged 59 told her manager publically on Wednesday that she was going to strike. As the other employees looked on, Ferreira walked out of store as a protest for the sake of her colleagues who worked in Walmart. She says that she enjoyed her job, but then she feels somebody has to stand up and take a risk. She tells that others are scared to join the strike as they feel they cant fight Walmart. But someone has to pay a price and Ferreira says she is ready to stand up for them even if it means that she will loose her job. As soon as she walked out, the cops came told her that she was trespassing and ordered her to leave. She has been working for Walmart for the last eight years and why she is striking is so that things could be made better.  Here is a case where people are fighting retailers whose only goal is profit and make more and more profit even if it tramples the basic rights of its workers. Thus as people all over this nation indulges in a shopping spree let us spare a few moments for people like Ferreira and host of walmart workers and workers also working in many other giant retail stores especially in the pharmacy and nursing field, who are often condemned and are forced to work in the most inhuman conditions. People in other parts of the world often see only the glitter in this country, but behind this glitter also lies tears and pain of ordinary people who are keeping quiet because they have no other option other than that so as to keep their family going. Vehemently opposing injustice and unjust structures, patterns and systems and bringing peace and justice to the common man was one of the main focus of the ministry of Jesus Christ  and hence as Christians it is imperative that we also be spokesperson, to stand up for the cause of the oppressed people and raise a our voice for justice and human rights and dignity.
           We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Mathew 21: 12–17. This is one portion in the Bible where you find Jesus Christ expressing one of the fiercest emotion– the emotion of anger. Many people have termed this anger outburst of Jesus as righteous anger or righteous indignation. Why Jesus is angry is that temple which is supposed to a place of justice, worship, peace and harmony has been turned into a place of bargaining, haggling for better deals and thus destroying the sanctity and the very purpose for which a temple has been established. As people came to temple to pay temple tax you find the money changers taking advantage of the system, exploiting the common people by charging an additional fees from all those people who could not pay tax in the local currency. Then you have the retailers who sold animal like dove for sacrifice. People could not carry these animals and hence they were forced to buy from these retailers who charged exorbitantly fully knowing that the religious laws demanded the sacrifice. Here is the case where innocent people whose only objective is spiritual in nature, who wants to worship in the temple are subjected to exploitation in the name of religion and religious laws. They could not complain to anyone and they could not imagine going back home without doing these religious duties in the temple at Jerusalem. It is in such a context that Jesus explodes at the unjust treatment being meted out to common people with the refrain that the temple is not meant for prayer, a place for fellowship and harmony and not a place where financial gains is the priority. Let us therefore on this day Black Friday, as nation indulges in a mad shopping spree, affirm that more than financial gains while buying and while hoarding material things, human life and rights have a greater value. This is because if we dont value that now, tomorrow there may come a time when we want others to value our rights no one would be there to stand for us.

The Journey 326
Thursday,November 22
Read: 1 Kings 17: 8-16
    The nation celebrates thanksgiving day. A day that is memorable because this is one of those days in the year when the concept of family becomes much more wider and everyone gathers round the table to have fellowship along with turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, apple pie and so on. Joy and happiness that is spread round the family. But have a look at the life of Scott Wells, the center of St. Louis Rams and his wife Julie, on the way they changed the concept of the celebration of thanksgiving. CNN has published a wonderful news today about this couple written by Jon Wertheim in SI.com. Way back in 2005, life for Scott was happy and contented because he was playing as center for Green Bay Packers, which gave him a steady work and that was the time when his wife Julie was pregnant with their twin boys Deacon and Maddox. But their happiness was short-lived because both the twin died at birth itself on thanksgiving day. It was day after thanksgiving that Julie was discharged from the hospital and both them grieved over the death of their twins. They also had lot of explaining to do to their young son Jackson who was 2 years old then, as to how his baby brothers were no longer alive. The family went into mourning and had a memorial service for the dead children. But soon they had a daughter Lol and after a year followed by a son Kingston. One day during an off season game time, Scott and Julie noticed that a number of families in Nashville had adopted children. Suddenly he felt God speaking to him and both he and his wife decided to go make their family large and thus go in for adoption. After having looked at a number of option they finally settled to find two children under the age of three from Uganda, because Uganda was a country that had a high rate of HIV, and other disease neither did the country follow the Hague convention on protection of children and cooperation in respect of inter county adoption. This meant that they could expect lot of resistance and bureaucratic and red tapism to get children adopted from this country. Finally after a  long search the adoption agency pinpointed two kids aged two for adoption. They were overjoyed and they decided to fly to Uganda to start the legal procedure. That is when the adoption agency called Scott and told him that one of the boys had a younger sister and it would be tragic if the boy was separated from the sister. Would they mind adopting the girl child too?. Scott and Julie were confused. Then they realized if that is how God is leading them they will adopt all the three thus their daughter would get a sister too. Finally they landed in Uganda and the real trouble and ordeal began. The court were very insensitive to the needs of the couple and because of legal procedures that follows an adoption the wait prolonged. Scott was also on medication for his injured knees and this meant that he could not prolong his stay in Uganda, nor could he aggravate his injury. Finally after a long drawn battle and legal procedure they got the custody of the three children, but now came the fresh issue. They had no visas. Scott had to return back home, but Julie decided to stay in the strange African country to get the required visa for the kids to travel. After a grueling 10 weeks stay in Uganda, where she had to run between courthouse and orphanage she finally managed to get the all the legal paper work done and finally she returned home with the adopted kids. Today their family is huge and Julie describes her home as an “organized chaos”. But then it is on thanksgiving that both Scott and Julie becomes very emotional. They reminiscence the grief and sorrow that they went through at the loss of their twins on thanksgiving but at the same time rejoice at the later addition in the family especially the additions from the Uganda. Having six kids at home can sometime drive you crazy but then they find joy in organized chaos at home. For Scott and Julie thanksgiving meant that the boundaries and walls of the family had to be broken down so that the emotional and well being of family could be offered to someone who are denied these privileges. I think as we all celebrate thanksgiving let us think whether we also could broaden the wall and boundaries of our family to make thanksgiving truly memorable.
               We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from 1 Kings 17: 7-16. This is an incident that every one is so familiar but a story that is so amazing in the way God leads a prophet and also the way God blessed a widow who is going through severe crisis. What is amazing about this story is that you have a prophet who is also going through crisis. There is drought in the land and now Elijah almost live like a fugitive. It is here that he is helped by a widow who has  also lost everything and is preparing to end her life along with her son. She has only a little flour and oil in the jug and she decides to make something to eat and then die. It is then that she encounters Elijah who request her for food. The widow describes her plight to Elijah who reassures her that Lord God knows her need and understands what she goes through. The widow does not focus now on her crisis or her tragedy but makes effort to share the little that she had. She consciously enlarges her life and her home to accommodate Elijah and shares the little that she had with Elijah. That is when the miracle happens. The Word of God says that from then on flour nor the oil was never dried up. Miracle that happens when the widow took upon herself the need of the prophet, took up the challenge to share whatever little she had, consciously enlarging her boundaries of her home and breaking the walls that isolated her from others. When she did, God’s blessing poured out in abundance. This thanksgiving can we also like the widow, like Scott Wells enlarging the concept of family to make our thanksgiving truly memorable.

The Journey 325
Wednesday, November 21
Read: John 8: 1-11
      When someone is found guilty in the eyes of law, normally the punishment is a specific period of time behind bars, but a judge in Oklahoma laid down a punishment a few days back that was very unique. The case involved a 17 year old teen Tyler Alred, who crashed his car on to a pick up truck in December 2011. This crash led to the death of Alred’s friend, 16 year old John Luke Dum who incidentally was travelling along with Tyler in the car.  Tyler was driving under the influence of alcohol, and there was more problems for him as he was under age to consume alcohol.  He was arrested and his case came to the judge for hearing and sentence where Alred pleaded guilty to the charge of manslaughter. But he told that he wants to change his life and does not want to repeat mistakes in life. The members of the Dum family were also sympathetic to the need of Tyler and they felt that they did not want to see Tyler being put behind bars and thus having two lives being ruined for a mistake. It is in such a context that Judge Mike Norman gave Tyler Alred a unique punishment.  The punishment consisted of the following. 1. He should graduate from high school, 2. Graduate from a welding school, 3. Regularly and routinely take drug, alcohol and nicotine test for a year, 4. Wear a drug and alcohol bracelet, 5. Become a motivational speaker in victims impact panel so that he can speak about ill effects and disasters of alcohol and driving under the influence of alcohol. All these sentences were unique. But it was the last condition in the sentence that was very unique. The Judge ordered that Tyler Alred should attend church regularly for the next 10 years. This last condition has brought in a lot of criticism from all quarters since there is a separation between the matters concerning church and state. Lots of people have vociferously condemned this ruling stating that since there is separation between state and religion, the judge has no right to force any religious belief on any individual.  But then Tyler’s lawyer is not opposing the sentence because the lawyer also feels that what Tyler did was a mistake and hence he needs to be given a chance to change his life rather than living for ever with a condemnation. Even the judge who felt that if something could be done to Dum’s family in this hour at the loss of their son, this sort of punishment was the only way out. As soon as the sentence was read in the courtroom, there was emotional scenes in the courtroom with the members of both the family embracing each other and offering words of support. It was  then even Judge Norman realized that more than sentencing a kid behind bars, his life needs to saved by offering him a chance to repent and to reorder life in specific ways so as to positively bring a well being to the society. I think what Judge Norman did was a kind of support to a victim who has fallen and who needs not condemnation and judgment  but genuine support, help and resources to rise from the dark pit of his way ward behavior to a transformed life. This is what the community of believers are also expected to do when fellow members in the society or in the community fall in their track of life. But somehow today we thrive on gossiping the stories of the condemned rather than offering genuine support and resources to rise up and build broken lives again.
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and portion that we shall use for our meditation is from John 8: 1-11. This is a portion in the Bible where we find different reaction to a woman who has sinned. Reaction of condemnation, reaction of punishment, reactions of silence and reaction of support and encouragement. A woman has been caught in an act that was sinful. But more than her sin, her life is made more disastrous by teachers of law who drags her in public and brings her to the presence of Jesus. The moment Pharisees and scribes exposed the woman in public, her life was made more awful and scornful as even those who did not know about her has come to know her and her life history. There are times in life when certain aspects in a person’s life need to be kept in secret so that we help the person to rebuild their life, help them to feel that we are not condemning them or judging them but offering genuine support at a time when they have fallen. This attitude has to be shown, because we also have fallen, and none of us are perfect. Thus we all need support and encouragement especially in times when we have fallen from grace. As somebody remarked the only difference between the woman caught in adultery and the people who are condemning her is that, while she has been caught red handed the oppressors are very clever to hide the sins that they do and nobody has caught them red handed. It is in such a context that Jesus offers her unconditional support. What is poignant in this incident is Jesus bending down and writing something on the ground. I don't know what Jesus wrote, but what has touched me more than what Jesus wrote, was his gesture of coming down to the ground where the woman lay and then telling her “neither do I condemn you”. Jesus was not standing while the woman was cringing at his feet on the contrary Jesus was in her position of distress and then offering the words of support and restitution. What the community of believers, the church needs to do is to be a pillar of support to people whose lives are in tatters because of some unwise choices and actions that they have done. It is not condemnation, judgment and gossip that is the need of the hour, but a genuine reassurance that we all are there with the victim in their new journey to change and transformation. It is only then can we also get support and help when we also fall. Can we be resources of support?

The Journey 324
Tuesday, November 20
Read: Mathew 2: 16-18
      The world is watching in horror the ongoing war between Israelis and Hamas. It is seven days now since both Israelite's forces and Palestinians have been bombarding each other with explosives leaving more than 1300 dead. Israel had launched air strikes in response to successive days of rocket fire coming out Gaza and in one of the air strikes they have killed the military chief of Hamas Ahmad Al Jabari and this has incensed the Hamas that they have declared that with the assassination of Jabari, gates of hell has been opened. Thus with the war getting intense each day and casualties on the rise, the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is heading towards Israel and Egypt to find some sort of solution to this brutal war where common people from both sides are the casualties. What the world could not forget these days was the moving image of man holding dead body of his child. This image was first  published by Associated Press and later in Washington Post. The story behind this chilling image revolves around a family who is facing their biggest tragedy of their life.  The man in the picture is Jihad Misharawi who is carrying the dead body of his 11 month old son, who was killed in the Israeli air strike. What is painful of this tragedy is that Jihad Misharawi is the BBC Arabic correspondent who lives in Gaza and he was the correspondent covering the news item on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas forces. According to BBC news agencies, even Misharawi’s sister in law has been killed while his brother is also seriously wounded and thus the whole fraternity of news reporters in Middle east are experiencing deep throes of pain and agony at what their colleague is going through. BBC has acknowledged that they are fortunate to have such committed and courageous team of correspondents like Jihad Misharawi, who face unforeseen challenges like these. The tragedy that has befallen on Misharawi is most painful and unfortunate, but more unfortunate are countless people, the old, infirm and young children who are the major casualties of war or any other form of violence. One of the painful fact that we all forget is that whenever there is any form of strife, war or other violent activities, it is the innocents who suffer. Even when there is a strife at home or the church or anywhere, the casualties are seen more on the children. War and other violent activities happen when each side feels that they need to settle scores on the other, but often forgetting the fact ultimately when one tends to feel victorious,  joy that you get in victory is nothing compared to the huge colossal loss and pain that each side goes through and suffers at the loss of human life. Hence a decision that we shall do anything in our life, both personal, family or in society, that will cause innocents to suffer. In the Bible we see of a King who was blinded by power that he declared a sadistic war which killed not the young and healthy people but new born kids, all because he was driven by a extreme lust for power and authority.
                We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Mathew 2: 16-18. This is the horrendous incident of King Herod killing the innocents. The background of this sadistic act is that Herod is conveyed a news by wise men that king of the Jews has been born in Bethlehem and they are seeking and searching him. The news of the birth of this particular infant who will be the king of the Jews evokes strong reaction in Herod.  He is greatly troubled and the birth of a child has brought in him extreme mental anguish. He calls his counsel and enquires about the birth of the king  and cunningly sends wise men on their way with a request that if they find they baby who is supposed to be the king,  he needs to be informed so that he could also come and worship the king.  The wise men continue their journey and they are directed to the place where Jesus was born and they worship baby Jesus.  But then they are warned in a dream that they should not return in the same route that they came, not to go to Herod and hence they take another way on their return journey. Herod understands later that he has been deceived by the wise men and he lets all his anger and frustration loose, just as the Hamas spokesperson said “ all the hell was let loose”. But who were casualties in the sadistic act of Herod. All the new born children who were born in an around Bethlehem. The act of soldiers going and searching through each houses and then snatching the child from the arms of the mother and brutally murdering those innocents children cannot even be fathomed. Many historians like Josephus and others have written graphic description of how these murders took place and pain that the mothers have gone through seeing their new born child getting killed in front of their own eyes. What is happening here is that a king blinded by power, wants to cling on to power, thinks more about his personal interest and position. He has no qualms to kill even innocent children if it paves way for him to rule for ever. In today’s world we may feign innocence and ignorance that we dont involve in war or participate in violent activities. But let examine the situation that sometimes happen in our home in our church, where there can be war of words and abuse, which often leads to physical abuse. In all such situation too, it is the children in the family and in the church who are the casualties. The day we realize that we will not do anything that will harm the interest of the next generation or take a deliberate effort, that whatever be the case of injustice to us, we will never act or retaliate which makes the innocents suffer and thus making our future world free from bitterness and anguish.

The Journey 323
Monday, November 19
Read: Exodus 2,3
        Last week a host news agencies like UK Daily Mail , The Huffington Post, BBC to name a few, published a news item which has evoked a sense of wonder and awe in all its readers. It was about an individual name Jose Mujica. Who is Jose Mujica?. A famous athlete, a formula one driver, a Hollywood star, or a person belonging to the infamous group or gang?. People all over the world may not even recognize him, forget about knowing him. Jose Mujica is the president of Uruguay. The news items that these news agency published about Jose Mujica which is creating ripples in the social and political field is that Jose Mujica is considered as the poorest president in the world.  Why has been Jose Mujica considered as the poorest president? Jose Mujica was elected as president of Uruguay in 2009, but the moment he became president and assumed power, he changed the way President used to live and the life style that all his predecessors used to maintain, thus showing to the world what it truly means to serve while assuming a position of authority. The first thing that he did was, he did not move to the presidential palace that state provides for the president and opted to live in his wife’s farmhouse, which is situated on a dirt road. His main occupation when not discharging his presidential duties is working in his land and growing flowers. What is more interesting about Jose Mujica is that he leads a very austere life style. The car that he drives is an 1987 Volkswagen Beetle and his annual personal wealth declaration in 2010 was about $1,800, which means that the average salary that he collects is about $775 a month, which is the is roughly same as the average income of the common man in Uruguay. It is not that the president does not receive his presidential salary. What Jose Mujica does is that he donates almost 90% of his salary, which is roughly about $12, 000 to charity and thus earning the nickname the “The Poorest President”. Though this year he has added his wife’s assets also in his financial accounting,  thus reaching to about $215,000, this is only two third of the declared wealth of the vice president of Uruguay and a third of the wealth declared by his predecessor. Because of the way he lives, some consider him as an eccentric old man. But Jose Mujica says “ I don't feel poor; poor people are those who work to keep an expensive life style and always want more and more. It is my free choice on how to live. If you don't have many possessions then you don't need to work all your life like a slave to sustain them and therefore you have more time for yourself”. Incredible!.... In a world where people irrespective who they are, politicians, religious figures, government officials all trying to make a fast buck while in power and authority, people like Jose Mujica can be called “eccentric”. But it is these types of eccentric people that we need today to help all of us to have a fresh perspective about life and living. What is it that has shaped Jose Mujica’s outlook about life?. What shaped his outlook was that he was a political prisoner for almost 14 years languishing in jail, because of his political outlook and for fighting for the cause of the common man. His time in the jail were spent in harsh conditions especially condemned to live in isolation and it these years in jail that has totally moulded him into a new person.  I think our outlook in life is also moulded by the experience that we have gone through and how these experiences has created a positive impact on us. It is this that helps us to create a new awareness on what our priorities in life is. Bible also mentions about one leader whose life and outlook gets a drastic change through some of the hard and painful experiences  of life.
                   We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Exodus 2,3. When we examine the life of Moses we find that he goes through the most painful and the most varied experiences in his life. As a child he is separated from his mother and he grows up in the palace of the king. Though he gets the best of the world as he grows up in the king’s palace, unknowingly his heart is still a Hebrew, growing up in an Egyptian palace. This could be seen when he interferes in a fight for justice. When he sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian in a sly manner. But then he has to flee the King’s palace when he is threatened by his fellow Hebrew who tells him that they know the he killed an Egyptian and also questions whether he would do the same to Hebrews. It is here that he begins a new journey in life. He flees to the land of Midian and soon becomes a wandering shepherd, taking care of the flock of his father  in law, Jethro. What a transformation. Being born in one house, raised up in a palace and then live in the desert for the another 40 years. It is only after Moses goes through all these experience that you find God calling him to lead the people out of bondage. Thus Moses becomes one of the strongest leaders in the history of Israel, all because of the way God moulded him through the different life experiences that he went through. What matters today in life especially as we try to live transformed living through Christ, is to make a honest evaluation of what are things that are important in our life. For many of us we are in a mad rush to buy the latest gadgets, to have the best of the world, forgetting the fact that through this, we are getting into a vicious circle of trying to maintain a life style that is not only expensive but a life style that only brings temporary happiness. Let us therefore like Jose Mujica and also Moses make a conscious effort, to reorganize our priorities in life and have fresh outlook about life, so that our life creates fresh whiff of air,  on all who comes in contact with us.

The Journey 321
Saturday, November 17
Read: 2Timothy 2: 1-7
       In a society where fitness is desired for everything, from playing sports to doing strenuous job at work, or having long drives, it has become normal in United States for people to depend on drinking coffee or having a sip of energy drinks. Hence you have people lining up to drink coffee at Starbucks, or Wawa or line up at the Dunkin Donuts outlet. When some tries to get the much needed energy or relaxation through these caffeine products, there are others especially youngsters who depend on so called energy drinks like 5-Hour Energy, Red Bull, Monster and so on. Of late these energy drinks are in the news but for the wrong reasons. It has been reported a few day back by major news agencies that the federal government and the attorney general’s office in New York is investigating a claim received by the Food and Drug Administration supposedly with respect to 13  deaths and 33 hospitalizations of people who have consumed the 5-Hour Energy drink. These 13 deaths and 33 hospitalizations is supposed to be during the span of last four years. Earlier in October this year, even the energy drink Monster was in the news because of its alleged link to about five deaths that occurred recently. 5 hour energy drink is a popular energy shot that come in two oz package and has a powerful caffeine punch that is equal to two cups of coffee. According to Manoj Bhargava the CEO of 5 Hour energy drink, he states that when people use these drinks as directed, then the amount of caffeine in the drink does not cause harm. But the problem happens when rules are flouted and people take too much of the drink which is not good. As these drinks are normally taken by teens and youths who want an extra shot of energy as they play the final minute in a basketball match, or want to have winning run in a baseball game, sometimes these addictions and overdose of these drinks could be fatal.  According to critics of these energy drinks what is more worrying is the cases of children who may have certain underlying heart problems,  and if they consume these energy drinks then the effect could be disastrous. But whatever be the outcome of the case no one can deny the fact that people today seek fast and quick measure for their problems without taking into consideration as to how these quick fix or remedies would affect their health. At a time when we people imitate others  and products that seems to be fascinating, we are on the brink of an impending health disaster, in the same way as hurricane sandy became a natural disaster. This calls for a reorientation of our lifestyle and also the way we perceive health, fitness and our understanding of a healthy body. The word of God is very vocal in this aspect with regards to health and also how to live holistically for the Lord.
                   We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion for our meditation is from 2 Timothy 2:1-7. This is the portion where Apostle Paul is encouraging Timothy. For Timothy who was a young believe, working in the leadership of the church, Paul was mentor figure for him. It seems Timothy lacked self confidence and because of his young age it seems that he needed some boost in his enthusiasm and energy to work for the Lord, similar as to how youngsters need a boost of energy before they play a basketball match. Paul is now in the prime of his age while Timothy was young.  It is time for Paul to pass the baton of leadership of the church to young leaders like Timothy. But as young leaders like Timothy takes charge, Paul advise him that he has to show the qualities of a soldier, an athlete and as a farmer. It is only when Timothy is able to show the qualities of these three individuals will the he be strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [ 2 Tim 1: 1]. What Paul is expecting from Timothy is that he should live and lead a life that is pleasing to the Lord, sharing in the suffering and taking a conscious decision that he will not entangle in the affairs of the world. Here is Paul advising Timothy, that as a soldier he has to be above the patterns of the world and lead a life that is not tainted by standards and passion of the world. [ Romans 12:1,2]. Paul also bring to the attention of Timothy, the example of both athlete and farmer. What is endearing in the life of both athletes and farmer is the discipline and the training that they show in their respective field. If one has to win, the athlete has to go through rigorous training while if a farmer has to get the share of his crops he also need to go through the process of harvest and cultivation which is not quick work process but something that involves patience, labour and endurance. Thus to be a Christian leader and to live faithfully and holistically, Paul exhorts Timothy to live a life of discipline, hard work and going through rigorous training so as to live a live pleasing to the Lord. I think the words of Paul to Timothy should also ring in the ears of each and every individual both young and old who seems to have a quick fix for all challenges of life. People who want to get the gold in a competition or win the first prize in an event or a game without the will to sacrifice and put serious training or effort both in oneself or in the game. It is when we compromise on our disciplines in life and want to win and lead life the easy way, it is then that we tend to depend on items like the energy drinks and many other things that only ruin our health and our life.  Research has showed that these quick fix ultimately are dangerous. Let us therefore consciously take a decision to live our Christian life with discipline, endurance, perseverance and training so that our lives are lived holistically and we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.

The Journey 320
Friday, November 16
Read: Esther 7, 8
        Youcef Nadarkhani– This name may be very familiar in Christian circles, since a large number of people  prayed for this pastor, who was in jail in Iran for more than three years. His fight was not only a fight to stand for ones faith but it was also an issue of justice and religious freedom. His fight for freedom gained international attention and after a long battle he was freed this year. The world rejoiced at this news. But the world seems to forget the man who fought to get freedom to Nadarkhani. In a country like Iran, where the majority of citizens belong to Muslim faith, the legal system has to toe a middle line between the laws of the land and also Muslim shariat law. Because religion was often mixed in court cases, lawyers would be scared or would not dare to fight cases related to religious freedom. But it was a human right lawyer named Mohammed Ali Dadkhah who defended Nadarkhani and stood by him through thick and thin.  He is one of the few daring attorney who have defended not only persecuted Christians like Nadarkhani, but also a number of political prisoners.  Dadkhah is human rights lawyer who believes in basic human rights, religious freedom and for the right of people to dissent and right to raise their voice. He has also sought to defend the right of the press too. Thus as Dadkhah fought for Nadarkhani, and as the world leaders also put pressure, his efforts bore fruits. Nadarkhani was released and he walked free. As Nadarkhani was released, it was Dadkhah who seemed to be the most happiest person and he proudly exclaimed that it is a joy to see Nadarkhani walking away to freedom. But as Nadarkhani walked to freedom, trouble arose for Dadkhah. In the past what Iran would do was that it threatened lawyers who  defended and fought for rights of people of other religious faith with jail imprisonment. Dadkhah knew that if he defended Nadarkhani, one day he would also have to face the same punishment that Nadarkhani faced. But he was not afraid to risk his freedom and his life for the sake of another person. According to the latest news reports, Dadkhah has been taken into custody and has been sentenced to nine years imprisonment. As Nadarkhani roams free, Dadkhah is behind bars for the last forty seven days.  It is ironic that a man who stood for the freedom of others is now behind bars. Society is indebted to a number of people like Dadkhah who never thought of their comfort but was always ready to sacrifice for the freedom and welfare of others. In a world full selfish people and religious bigots, attorneys like Dadkhah stand out in the crowd as a model for everyone; to stand up in life not only for ones own personal interest, but also for the interest and welfare of others and suffer in the process. When we look in the Word of God we also a find a few individuals who stood above their personal interest and risked their life so that other could be free.
         The person that we shall use for our study is Esther. When we study about Esther, we find that she was the one who dared to risk her life for the sake of her people. As we meditate on the theme “ Transformed Living” the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Esther 8. The background of this portion is the evil plot of  Haman who was a powerful person in the kingdom of Ahasuerus.  All the people bowed down before him, but it was only Mordecai who refused to do this sort of obeisance. This made Haman angry and he developed a hatred towards Jews, not only because of Mordecai but also by the fact that he was an Amalekite. Thus Haman devises a  plan that would not only exterminate Mordecai but also all other Jews as well. When Mordecai understand about the evil plot of Haman, he seeks the help of Esther. The problem with Esther was that she now lived in the palace and this had made her slightly detached from the problem of common people. When Esther heard about the mourning of Mordecai she sends him new clothes  and later asks him about the reason for his mourning and that is when Mordecai tell Esther about the evil plot of Haman.  Mordecai tells Esther to go to the presence of the King and beseech him to spare the lives of Jews. It is here that the trouble lies for Esther. She knows that if she goes before the king without being called, she had every chance to loose her life [ Esther 4:16]. But then she decides that it is time for her to think beyond her life and her own security. She decides to submit to God and she observes a fast and tells others also to observe fast because of the impending doom that may occur. But along with this, she began planning as to how to save the Jews from the evil plot of Haman. She organizes a feast and invites both the King and Haman. It is during the feast [Esther 7] that we find Esther boldly conveying to the King about the evil plot of Haman to exterminate the Jews and request him to spare their life. The King understands the heinous plot of Haman  and the most unique part in this whole incident is that finally it is Haman who is hanged to death, in the same gallows the he had prepared to kill Mordecai.  Mordecai is exalted to a position of responsibility [ Esther 8:2, 10:2,3] while Esther remains the favorite of the king and remain loyal to him. This happened because Esther was ready to look at the welfare of her people than her own life and interest and it is this attitude that not only saved the lives of countless Jews, but it also promoted Esther to greater power and responsibility. It is this truth that we need to carry along in our life. If we are selfish and are concerned for our own interest, we may win but our win will be short lived, but if we are ready to sacrifice and bear for others, we may loose certain privileges in our life, but ultimately we gain the best more than what we lost. People like Dadkhah live, so that they can sacrifice for others freedom. Can we also be like Esther to put other and their interest first than being only concerned as to what we get in life?

The Journey 319
Thursday, November 15
Read: Job 1, 2
     There was a time when one heard that such and such person has contracted “Cancer” it would  bring about shock and utter disbelief. But these days one finds that every now and then you hear someone or the other contracting this deadly illness. The shock and the disbelief though present has scaled down in its intensity. Yet when a person hears that he has cancer, he is still in shock. This is also my personal experience as  I recount the days when I was diagnosed as having cancer and the doctors telling me that I need to go for surgery and treatment. Looking back, I feel that this particular experience changed many of my perspectives of life and faith living. I believe experiences that are shocking, experiences that makes you go through trauma are the ones that shake not only ones foundation of life but also the way we perceive our faith. The Southern Baptist Church in the United States has a gospel convention in December, in which they have a programme to support their missionaries working in foreign countries. This year as they plan to raise fund for their missionaries, the Baptist church has highlighted the role of one missionary couple named Roger Hesch and Meg. It is Laura Fielding who reports about the story of this couple, and their experience is indeed remarkable. Both Roger and Meg responded to the call of God and decide to work in sub– Saharan Africa. They faithfully worked in the most inhuman climate and once they were even wrongfully imprisoned for almost a week. But this missionary couple remained committed to the Lord and in the process established more than 70 church’s. But the challenges of their life had only begun. One day, as Roger was basketball coaching his daughter, he suddenly realized that he was loosing his movement of his both arms, and when he went in to diagnose his problems the doctors could not detect it and so he was sent to London. It was in  London that he realized that he had stage 4 cancer, which meant that the cancer had already spread to his vital organs and he was in  a stage where he cannot be cured. He came back to US to begin his chemotherapy. Roger had to go through severe pain as he underwent chemotherapy. Soon it took toll on his body and the only option was to have bone marrow transplant. Roger says that as he lay in the hospital bed, going through this intense pain, he understood what God had suffered for him. It is in this context that Roger truly understood God’s grace and that is when he learned the most valuable truth and experience in life. He decided to work for the Lord with more passion even if it meant death for him. Thus with more and more treatments, Roger slowly began to recover partially. The moment he realized that he could work, he headed again to South Africa with his family to do ministry. This year in the summer as Roger decided to move to California to serve as a trainer in international missions, he had another upsetting news. Now it was his wife who had contracted cancer. Roger and his kids had to now see Meg go through chemotherapy and the pain and trauma associated with it. It was very painful, but the Rogers family is enduring it collectively with total trust in the Lord. As Roger family is going through this crisis it is one the statements  of Rogers that is remarkable. He says “ Cancer is one of God’s greatest gift”. I think what marks our Christian life is when we decipher what is the greatest gift that God has given to us that has changed our life and its perspective for ever. Is it the materialistic things that lay in your house, or is it those traumatic experiences,  of suffering, pain and illness?. When each individual is able to respond to this question, life could be lived differently.
                  Just as the way Roger responded, I believe we have parallels in the Bible when we study the character of Job. As we  meditate on the theme “ Transformed Living” it is from the book of Job that we shall base our meditations for today. The portion chosen for our meditation is from Job 1 and 2. These chapters describe the character of Job and also the traumatic experiences that he goes through his life. The beginning verses in chapter 1 describes the character of Job as one who is blameless, upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil [ Job 1: 1]. Later in the following verses we find the kind of “ blessings” that he had. Family, livestock and all other material prosperity. But soon tragedy strikes and he looses all his livestock. More is in store for him. Later he looses his wealth and also his children. It is in such traumatic and most painful situation, what Job did was remarkable. He bows down and worships God and becomes a witness of his grace by saying the most powerful faith statements in the Bible “ Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked shall I return; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord”. If we silently repeat this verse and meditate, we could be astonished at the resilience and the perseverance that Job showed in the midst of the most painful experiences. The strange aspect of Job’s life was that more painful experiences were to follow. But never do we see Job loosing his sight on faith living. What Job teaches us is that every experience that God gives to us is an experience to know more about God’s grace. And as Paul said that grace truly abounds only when we are weak and that is the time when we are truly strong. In sickness and in weakness a Christian is made strong by His grace. It is this thought that helped missionary Roger and his wife Meg to proclaim that cancer is one of God’s greatest gift. What is God’s greatest gift to you that has helped you not only to experience God’s grace but also to live our life with a new perspective?

The Journey 318
Wednesday, November 14
Read: Acts 18: 1-4
    Normally ladies would have a number of bracelets and bangles that adorn their wardrobe. These bracelets and bangles come in different shape and colour and make and is worn on different occasion. It is normally adorned to enhance ones beauty or may be worn just casually. But a woman named Jessica Hendricks has used the business of making bracelets and bangles into a social entrepreneurship for fighting the cause of human sex trafficking and for creating awareness to others about this inhuman act and injustice in society. Jessica was a student of New York University who ventured to go to Thailand to teach English in the summer. When she reached Cambodia she was fascinated the Cambodian temples and the beauty associated with its culture and heritage. But soon she realized that  along with these beautiful images of temples, she also witnessed huge volume of sex trafficking in the country. The images of young girls being lined up on streets for sex trafficking was horrifying for her. She decided to do something so as to create an awareness not only in the United States but also in Cambodia.  In order to be creative and relevant, she embarked on the idea of creating bracelets that could be crafted in Cambodia with the local materials so as to raise awareness about the issue. Thus Jessica launched a collection of bracelets titled “The Brave Collection”. All the bracelets had the inscription “Klahan” which means brave in Khmer, the native language of Cambodia. The word describes the people who fight against human trafficking and people who are victims of it and are now fighting to live a life free of being a sex worker. This paved way for Jessica to make “The Brave Collection” not just as  non profit organization but convert into a social entrepreneurship company, so that earning through the business of bracelets and bangles creates not only financial gains but also in the process creates awareness and empowers people affected through human trafficking. With Jessica venturing into social entrepreneurship, there are many others also who are slowly venturing into such business field where a person uses his business skills or his acumen and talents not only in terms of marketing but also in contribution to creating of a new social consciousness in people. I think Jessica stands as a good model to all of us who can use our professional talents and other career resources to fund and also sustain the cause for the extension of God’s kingdom on the earth. The bible also carries models where there were people who were social entrepreneurs with a consciousness for gospel. Let us look at a couple who was a entrepreneur but also had a passion for the Lord and for spreading the gospel.
                     The portion that we shall use for our mediation as we mediate on our theme “Transformed Living” is from Acts 18: 1-4, 18,19. This portion describes a couple named Aquila and Priscilla whom Paul describes and commends as his fellow workers who risked their life for gospel and also for him. Who is Aquila and Priscilla and why are they commended by Paul?. How does this couple become a model of a Christian  social entrepreneurship?. Both Aquila and Priscilla had to leave Rome because in 52 AD, the emperor Claudius had issued an edict expelling all Jews from Rome. That is how they come to Corinth and it is here that we find Paul meeting this couple and partnering with them for the sake of gospel. I think the point of contact for all three of them could be that since Paul was also a tent maker, who wanted to be independent in his ministry, he sought to contact fellow tent makers so that the church’s that he founded could be independent rather than forcing them to support him and his ministry.  Here we find that both Priscilla and Aquila were very hospitable and they often invited Paul to stay with them and this was the beginning of a long lasting friendship and also the venture of Aquila and Priscilla into ministry through their business. Later in 1 Corinthians 16: 19, we find Paul conveying not  only the greeting from the church of Asia to the church in Corinth but also from Aquila and Priscilla. Here we find the couple moving along with Paul in the journey for the spreading of the gospel.  The couple also supported Paul and his ministry and this could be through their trade of tent making. Moreover we also find Paul commending them because they risked their lives for him and also for the fact that the church of gentiles are grateful to them.[ Romans 16: 3-5]. Here is a wonderful example of a couple who uses their business for the furtherance of the gospel, to support the leaders of the church and are ready to sacrifice their interest for the spread of the gospel. It is sad today that we live in a time when the church and its leaders often convert ministry into a multi million dollar industry and business, relegating into oblivion the sacrifices and model of the early church leaders like Aquila and Priscilla. There are also people like Jessica of Brave Collection who uses business to create social awareness, ready to risk and forego certain privileges for the empowerment of others. As we try to live a transformed lives through Christ, our Lord calls us to a life where we need to convert every aspect of our life, career and our profession into a means of ministry rather than making God’s ministry into a means of business and profession.

The Journey 317
Tuesday, November 13
Read: Isiah 45
     The people in India celebrates today the festival of lights–Deepavali. Growing in a multicultural, linguistic and religious background I found it always an enriching experience to have friends from all faith background. On this day one of the landmarks of this years representation to the US Congress is the presence of the first Hindu representative– Tulsi Gabbard. Tulsi becomes the first Hindu American to be elected to the Congress. She won from Hawaii on Democrat ticket. There are also lot of other interesting aspects in constitution of members in Congress. There are about 20 woman who will serve the senate, while another  76 woman will be there in the House. There is also the presence of a gay senator Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin who was elected on democrat ticket. Moreover the congress also boast the presence of another woman and that too a Buddhist– Mazie K Hirono. Thus the victory of both Tulsi and Hirono reflect on the broad changes that are happening not only in the social and cultural life in United States but also in its political realm where the contribution of the Asian American and especially from the members of Hindu community is being noticed on a wider scale. Tulsi is happy at her victory and she remarked that though there were not many people from her faith in Hawaii, she felt that she was  never discriminated because of her faith and she felt comfortable practicing her religion in United States.  Though Tulsi is not an Indian,  she was raise by her mother who was a Hindu while her father was a catholic. She embraced Hinduism when she was a teen and she is well versed in her faith and proclaims that her faith will be an asset to the congress and she hopes to make contribution in the area of environmental issues, veterans issue and also in helping develop much closer ties between United States and India. Let us pray for these leaders who are elected to the congress so that even in the midst of diverse faith background, everyone could work together for the welfare of the country, community and people and be an instrument of God in the extension of His Kingdom on the earth. One of the truths that we find in the Word of God is the way God used the most unexpected people to carry out his mission, his purpose and ministry in this world and it is only when we recognize that mystery, can we understand the unique role that each human being play in God’s scheme of things, irrespective of their faith background. Let us explore this thought further.
                    We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Isaiah 45. Here in this portion we find God anointing King Cyrus and making him an instrument to achieve his purpose. To proclaim Cyrus as anointed was a deviation from the traditional understanding of those times with respects to who an anointed person was.  For Hebrews, the term anointed is a very powerful word in their religious terminology and understanding. It is in such a context that God says “Cyrus the anointed”. Who is Cyrus?. Cyrus is Persian king who defeated Babylon when the nation of Judah was in captive. Cyrus does not belong to “chosen race or the chosen nation” . He was a total alien, an outsider who did not worship Yahweh. He belonged to another land, another alien culture and religion and yet we find that God working through him and in him.  In the Old Testament we can find a number of people who are anointed by God for fulfilling certain purposes. God had anointed prophets and kings. Both king David and king Saul are examples to this. But when God says that Cyrus is his anointed we find  God using non believer in the Jewish religious terminology for furthering His purpose with regards to the nation of Judah, and also communicating to the world that ultimately it is God who is in control. In this context God is not concerned about faith of King Cyrus and I presume that Cyrus may also not know that he was being used by God. But God give power to Cyrus and proclaims that ‘for the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honour”[ Isaiah 45:4]. What is unique here is that God empowers Cyrus to save his people, and thus in the end the nation of Judah is saved through the mighty acts of God done through the empowering of Cyrus.  Thus the anointing of King Cyrus by God teaches us that God has His own ways and means and people to achieve his purpose and goals.  What is important today is to see how we all could be an instrument in God’s hand. As the American congress welcome its leaders from diverse cultural and religious background let us also affirm in the biblical truth and wisdom that ultimately it is God who is in control of history, in the affairs of the world, in the affairs of human life. He chooses one over the other, irrespective of what their culture,  language and religion is. As a Christian let us affirm these mighty acts of God and submit ourselves to the Lord so that we all can affirm the sovereignty of God not only in our life but in the life of every individual that He has created. It is only when we affirm this biblical truth, can we work harmoniously with God and with our fellow human being, in the ministry of establishing God’s reign on this wonderful earth. Let us therefore pray for Tulsi and all other leaders so that God can use them for the furtherance of His plan and purpose.