What made the difference?

I was reading Thejas' blog 'The Gaze' a few minutes back and i realized that this was one of the main things that was running through my mind in the past week but with a slight difference!

Thejas had spoken beautifully about Peter, his denial of Christ and how His gaze brought him back. I was thinking about another man that the Gospel speaks about - another man who had lived with Jesus for three years, who had seen every miracle of Jesus - the dead being raised, the blind receiving sight, the lepers being cured and so much more, he had been with Jesus and heard every preaching of Jesus - teachings that have changed the world and continue to impact the life of each and every person who comes in contact with it. He had lived with Jesus and seen his life day in and day out and atlast he betrayed Jesus and for what? Thirty silver pieces!!! Thinking of Judas Iscariot's betrayal I felt sad "how can a man who had personally known Jesus betray him?" 

Then i thought how many of us call ourselves Christians and boast about being Christians from birth or of having read the entire Bible but completely fail when we have to put to practice what we have heard and read? So many of us fail to live the Gospel and that is the reason why people are not attracted to the Christian way of life like they used to be in the early Christian era. A handful of people lived true Christian lives two thousand years ago and today Christianity is the major religion in the world. Then where did we fail? Leaving that for later lets come back to the topic - 

What did Judas miss out? Peter denied Jesus, Judas betrayed Jesus. Why was his end so horrible while Peter went on to become the first Pope? The problem was in the attitude of both the people! I would explain this with a small story which I heard a couple of years ago and was reminded about it recently by a friend.

Once in a countryside there was a Pastor who had a son. In that same area there was a girl who was notorious for her sinful life that she was leading. It so happened that the Pastor's son met this girl and both fell in love and after a period of time the girl repented of her previous life and they decided to get married. When the Pastor's son told the church one day about this, all the people in the church were shocked and said how a Pastor's son could marry such a girl and each one of them started to quote about different incidents from the girl's past. The girl felt humiliated and the boy was saddened. Then he quietly stood up and addressed the assembly of people saying "what is being put to test here is not my fiancé but the power of the Blood of Jesus to forgive sins". At this the entire congregation fell silent and the people who had accused the girl were completely embarrassed at what they had done and how they had behaved.

In the life of Judas and Peter this was the very same thing that was happening. Judas betrayed Jesus and when he had done it, he was overcome with such a terrible grief that he refused to believe that anybody could forgive such a dreadful act. Anybody could not have, but here it was Christ Jesus and that was the difference. Christ took upon himself the sins of the past, the present and the future of all mankind and gave himself up as a consummation for us to return to God. Wouldn't he have forgiven Judas? Yes he would have but Judas had to believe that Jesus could forgive him and that was what Judas could not do. He let his misery overcome him and that was why his end was so horrible while Peter trusted in the redeeming power of the blood that Christ shed on the cross and that gave him the strength to recover from his past and reach for a future that was glorified by Christ!

In life everyday we come up with the same choices. Do we believe that Jesus' sacrifice has caused the difference or are we going to doubt the power of the redeeming love and mercy of Jesus? Around us in the world everyday we can see many people choosing the way like Judas did without knowing that true forgiveness is about forgetting the past however painful it might have been and looking forward to a future where you can make a difference for the person you sinned against!

Peter repented for his sin but believed that Jesus would forgive him while Judas cursed himself and did not believe that the person who preached about the love, mercy and forgiveness of the Father was capable of forgiving him and so he ended his own life. Their attitude in relation to Jesus made the difference not only to them but to the world around them, for Peter believed in Christ's forgiveness and went on to be one of the greatest pillars of the Church, a man responsible for the faith of so many people and the first Pope while we all know what happened to Judas. So lets be like Peter!

The Gaze - http://unfailing-love-abounding-grace.blogspot.com/2010/03/gaze.html#comments

I Choose to be!

Farewell was an amazing day, a nice party hosted for us by our juniors. As always people never fail to surprise me - my juniors in particular - every time by getting some reason to put me on stage. This time it was the LIBA awards and I of all people won two awards. I was a little surprised because I had already made up my mind as to who gets what, especially I wanted some awards to go to some specific seniors and I was surprised to find myself on the list. So what do I win? Heart stealer and Lifetime achievement award. Hmm hmm. Well if any one else had won these I would have loved to take their cases apart. Anyways here I was, as some liked to club the awards together, they called it the Lifetime award in Stealing hearts :-P

Well initially I was shocked when I got these awards but as the evening faded, I remembered (was also reminded by a close friend) my previous blog and I realised that I had not stolen hearts but I had given my heart to everyone in some way or the other and it was this that had returned to me in this form.

Often I question myself trying to find a rationale behind what I do everyday - Why do I work so hard for something that does not concern me? Why do I spend so much time with people? Why do I take it upon myself to see that everybody is satisfied or happy? Why do I miss meals and spoil my health working on some unrelated thing? Why cant I be indifferent to the things around me? Why cant I be like so many others – my life, my work, my friends? Why cant I fall with the flow and not try to break it time and again? Is it for the fame? Name? Attention that people think I grab? What is my motivation? Where is the component of self interest in it? Seriously I care nothing about all of these!

Then what is my answer? My answer is very simple – it is my inability to not love. I cannot but put others before me. Maybe it was the way I was created, maybe it was the way I was brought up but maybe also because it was the way I choose to be. In my little memory I do not remember having given less than my whole heart to any job at hand or to any request of a friend. I have gone out of my way many a times to be useful to the people around me and in the place I have been destined to be. I do not see anything big in it because I consider it as the reason for my existence, the reason I have been placed where I am.

The world might laugh at me, it may call me names, it might think I am crazy, foolish or deranged. But when I chose to be me, I also chose to ignore what the world said/felt about me because the world outside and the conscious within are two perfectly parallel lines that never meet. I believe in that Inner Voice which guides me. I believe in answering to myself, in resting my head each evening with a light heart having made peace with myself and my neighbour - the voice of my conscious is louder to me than any other voice around me and that voice has always guided me truly.

If somebody asked me if I was in love, I would laugh at them because I have always been in love. I have never stopped loving and I guess I never can. It is love that gives me the strength to be what I am, to do what I do and to live as I live. If I stopped loving then that day this world can drum those nails into my tomb, because as long as I live I will keep loving and that is what makes my life worth living.

So did I really steal hearts? No and yes! I gave mine away first to every one around me and they in return gifted me (some would read it as stole) with so many hearts.

“The less we have, the more we give. Seems absurd but it’s the logic of love” – Mother Teresa

A Broken Heart!

A heard this story long ago and it left a deep impression on me, so i would like to share it with you.

Once upon a time there was a young and handsome man who boasted that he had the most beautiful heart, wholesome and wonderful. He prided about his heart and always spoke about it. Once day he met an old man who had a heart that was like a jigsaw puzzle, made of random pieces which didnt even look like they would fit each other properly. The young man saw the old man's heart and felt disgusted, but then being curious, he confronted the man and asked him why his heart was in so many pieces. The old man smiled at the young one and explained, "my heart that you see is not my heart alone, but has a piece of the heart of almost everyone I have met so far in my life. I leave a piece of my heart with everyone I meet by loving them and they inturn reciprocate by giving me a piece of their heart. Over time this is how my heart has become and I carry the ones I love in my heart always. You, young man have to learn to love without condition and loose the beauty of the heart that you boast about to actually find true joy in life. It is easier not to love and not to feel the loss but that will not make life worth living. Life is truly worth living everytime you break a piece of your heart and give it to someone you love!"

The story finished thus - but it left a deep impression on me.... i dont even remember when i heard this story but i only know it made enough sense to cause a change in me. Hope it means as much to you as it means to me, cause i was the young man once but now i am trying to give a piece of my heart to everyone i meet!

Our Family Creed

Hey everyone.....this was a speech that i made when i was in my school.....this is actually a speech made by John D. Rockefeller, Jr, i thought i could share it with all of you because i felt that it made some sense.

Our Family Creed

The Things That Make Life Most Worth Living

Here are the principles on which my wife and I have tried to bring up our family. They are the principles in which my father believed- and by which he governed his life. They are the principles, many of them, which I learned at my mother's knee.They point the way to usefulness and happiness in life, to courage and peace in death.If they mean to you what they mean to me, they may perhaps be helpful also to our sons for their guidance and inspiration.

Let me state them:

I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.

I believe that the law was made for man and not man for the law; that government is the servant of the people and not their master.

I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living. I believe that thrift is essential to well ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure, whether in government, business or personal affairs.

I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.
I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man's word should be as good as his bond, that character-not wealth or power or position -is of supreme worth.

I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free.

I believe in an all-wise and all-loving God, named by whatever name, and that the individual's highest fulfillment, greatest happiness and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with His will.

I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.

These are the principles, however formulated, for which all good men and women throughout the world, irrespective of race or creed, education, social position or occupation, are standing, and for which many of them are suffering and dying.These are the principles upon which alone a new world recognizing the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God can be established.

THE BRICK

I came upon this nice story and thought i would share it with you all in this season. Some of you might have heard it before but i guess it is worth a read again

THE BRICK 
A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, 'What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?' 

The young boy was apologetic. 'Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do,' He pleaded. 'I threw the brick because no one else would stop...' With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. 'It's my brother, 'he said 'He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up' Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, 'Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me.' Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling ump in his throat.. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay. 'Thank you and may God bless you,' the grateful child told the stranger. 

Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home..It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: 'Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!' 

God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It's our choice to listen or not.

Thought for the Day:

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. 

He sends you flowers every spring. He sends you a sunrise every morning. 

Face it, friend - He is crazy about you! 

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

GOD BLESS!!!

Thought about a 'Thought'

A spark, a flash
A speck in an ocean of jumble -
A thought born
Grows in leaps and bounds
Until it becomes a web
So complex yet so beautifully woven
That to decipher would be a Herculean task.

To think about a thought
To wonder about its depth
To deliberate about its growth
To feel your thought as a separate thought
That is a feeling; an exhilaration
That few get to know and fewer get to feel!

A Life of Purpose

So small, so strong,
So focused, so industrious,
Laboriously, patiently, silently,
Treading a path towards your goal.
Thou art so short lived
And yet thou findeth a purpose in life
To plan, to save, to work
For thy community.

Unwavered by the dangers
That threaten each day
Thou worketh,
Knowing thy reward shall lie
In doing thy best each day.
Brother Ant, so tiny among the created things,
I thank thy Creator
For the wisdom endowed upon thee!