After they had been tried, found guilty, and sentenced to die, twenty six Christians were marched to the place where crudely made crosses stood. Almost three months earlier they had been arrested in Kyoto, Japan,and charged with following Christ.One of them was Ibaragi Kun.Seeing how young Kun was, an official took him aside and urged him to recant his faith to save his life.Looking the official in the eye,Kun said confidently,"Sir,it would be far better if you yourself became a Christian.Then you could go with me to Heaven."The Officer stared,startled by the young man's faith.Finally Ibaragi asked"Sir,which cross is mine?".The bewildered officer pointed to the smallest of the twenty six crosses..Young Kun ran to it knelt before it and embraced it.When the soldiers began to nail his hands and feet to the cross he did not cry out in pain.He courageously accepted the path that was laid before him.The crucifixion of the twenty six Christians on November 23,1596 was the beginning of an intense period of persecution.In the next seventy years close to one million Japanese believers laid their lives for their faith.Many would embrace their own crosses to follow the example of young Ibaragi Kun,a very mature Twelve year old Believer.
Spiritual maturity is not measured by a birth certificate or a certificate of Ordinance.Chronological age has very little to do with conviction. Rather spiritual maturity is measured one day at a time.We measure our maturity by how well we daily apply our faith in every day situation that spells out life.Contrary to popular belief Spiritual maturity is not based on how much we know about the Bible.Many people have very great knowledge about the Bible yet remain strangers to Jesus Christ and the maturity that comes through faith in His atoning work on the cross.Obedient application of the Biblical teaching is a mark of spiritual maturity.We must daily ask ourselves"How much more do we look like Jesus today than we did yesterday?" Our answer would be a true reflection of our growth in Christ.
Source: Extreme Devotion, VOM
A bonfire of vanities
Apologies to all in Blog land this time it was just plain ol' laziness :) Consistency is hard work I must say. It's 12 28 AM ...Yes It Is!! and I am up blogging...Oh well the Randomn things people do!! Friday nights are fun nights after a days work it is fun to , hang out....do nothing .Some nights though are world event or philosophy nights some are just 'Monk' or 'Office' rerun nites.....ah the bliss of indulgence.
So the bros decided to watch a movie and so thats just what we did, we rented out Rambo XIV...seriously I don't even know how many parts are out by now. Anywho the movie started with the usual Rambo uptightedness[Hey I might have actually discovered/coined a new word here] what I mean is for some reason Stallone's character always looks like somebody just ate his last piece of fudge brownie. A good five minutes into the movie the storyline started to emerge, it was about a rebel faction in Burma sowing terror across the land as a part of some kind of insurgency. All I know is that there was an awful lot of gore. People being mercilessly gunned down, land mines blowing and limbs flying around, Human beings shot as target practice even women and children. Halfway through the movie I decided that I had seen enough bloodshed for one night and slipped out.
Well, in the movie hall the faint hearted always have the option of walking away or even looking away when it came to a violent scene. But what about when it is real life, What do you do when a Machette wielding mob rushes into your house and mercilessly slaughter your dear and near ones. What do you do when one day you find yourself helplessly watching the smoke columns arise as the flames consume the dreams and hopes that you have been building for years. There is nothing left the memories of the rooms where your little one grew. The very front door that you walked in as a shy bride...the place you called a home. Now all that is left of it is charred rubbles. Who would have ever thought that we would live to see the days where mothers are being gang raped in broad day light and young fathers being buried alive. Yes, recently the Largest secular democracy bore witness to a spate of such horrible events.
There is this scene in the popular movie 'Hotel Rwanda' where Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle) tells a cameraman to record and broadcast the violent events unfolding around them. The cameraman's response to Paul Rusesabagina was convicting as he says that a good majority of the world that has the power to act would just dismiss it as a sad event and carry on watching their favourite shows. I wonder how much of it is true about me, Somehow unpleasent events are often discounted as that which happens to nameless faceless people somewhere in some distant land. I think that the greatest weapon used to silence the collective conscience of a generation is often times a blissful ignorance. For we believe that what we don't know does not have the power to touch our hearts......and life goes on, back to the i -phones, the mortgage payments and the fall winter collection.
Tonite I hear a different call....a clarion call to break free from the complacency that ignorance brings,a call to get on our knees for the Nations of the world,a call to love like never before. A call to give and share and care like never before. I pray that a dying world would see Jesus Christ in and through us as we respond to this call.
So the bros decided to watch a movie and so thats just what we did, we rented out Rambo XIV...seriously I don't even know how many parts are out by now. Anywho the movie started with the usual Rambo uptightedness[Hey I might have actually discovered/coined a new word here] what I mean is for some reason Stallone's character always looks like somebody just ate his last piece of fudge brownie. A good five minutes into the movie the storyline started to emerge, it was about a rebel faction in Burma sowing terror across the land as a part of some kind of insurgency. All I know is that there was an awful lot of gore. People being mercilessly gunned down, land mines blowing and limbs flying around, Human beings shot as target practice even women and children. Halfway through the movie I decided that I had seen enough bloodshed for one night and slipped out.
Well, in the movie hall the faint hearted always have the option of walking away or even looking away when it came to a violent scene. But what about when it is real life, What do you do when a Machette wielding mob rushes into your house and mercilessly slaughter your dear and near ones. What do you do when one day you find yourself helplessly watching the smoke columns arise as the flames consume the dreams and hopes that you have been building for years. There is nothing left the memories of the rooms where your little one grew. The very front door that you walked in as a shy bride...the place you called a home. Now all that is left of it is charred rubbles. Who would have ever thought that we would live to see the days where mothers are being gang raped in broad day light and young fathers being buried alive. Yes, recently the Largest secular democracy bore witness to a spate of such horrible events.
There is this scene in the popular movie 'Hotel Rwanda' where Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle) tells a cameraman to record and broadcast the violent events unfolding around them. The cameraman's response to Paul Rusesabagina was convicting as he says that a good majority of the world that has the power to act would just dismiss it as a sad event and carry on watching their favourite shows. I wonder how much of it is true about me, Somehow unpleasent events are often discounted as that which happens to nameless faceless people somewhere in some distant land. I think that the greatest weapon used to silence the collective conscience of a generation is often times a blissful ignorance. For we believe that what we don't know does not have the power to touch our hearts......and life goes on, back to the i -phones, the mortgage payments and the fall winter collection.
Tonite I hear a different call....a clarion call to break free from the complacency that ignorance brings,a call to get on our knees for the Nations of the world,a call to love like never before. A call to give and share and care like never before. I pray that a dying world would see Jesus Christ in and through us as we respond to this call.
Fo Shizzle Yo....!!!!
"Maayn I had 'Baby Mamma Drama" said my co-worker "Oh really..you did?" I sheepishly blurted. I could feel the traffic racing in my head , I rushed through all the English lessons that Ms.Annama Joseph had taught me in Middle School. I broke down the words 'Baby, Mamma, Drama...Sure it rhymed but I still was lost. I tried all possible combination 'Could he be talking about Binu mamma's sister Baby mamma in Thiruvalla....Naah. It seems like a losing battle today,time to resort to plan B. I nodded my head as if I connected with my Co-worker's feeling in some deep level. One of the most valuable lessons that Cultural adaptation has taught me was that when you are completely lost nod your head in affirmation and give the speaker your undivided attention with a straight face[meaning not being too happy or sad because the statement could warrant either response]. I could always go back to Sheryl in the evening and she could go over ' Conversation 101 '. My tryst with 'Amrikkan Englis' is not limited to this one conversation.
I thought I had left India with a reasonable understanding of the Engish language and the prospects of having ample opportunities to practice conversational English brought a slight excitement, small joys of life I tell ya.Little did I know what was in store for me. Of course I had done my homework and had included words like ' Homey' 'Homeboy' and Peaceout' to my now expanding vocabulary. Honestly I never coud reconcile with many of these words as the direct translation of these words to malayalam always left my mind in a knot. The guy at the security check in O'hare Airport looked at my watch and said 'That's tyte homey".Since there was a fairly large line of impatient people behind me I never got the chance to correct him and explain to him that my watch was not tight in fact if anything I thought the strap was a little too loose.
The hardest part about my first job in the call center was to understand the meaning of many common words that the young co-workers used on a daily basis. One day my Co-Worker called out to me from the corridor 'Holla atcha boi' For a second I was so impressed for I thought that my Co-worker who was not Indian was speaking Hindi.
Things have changed since then, having completed three years of life in the U.S of A, I have learned to weave in and out of conversations sprinkled with "Hollas""Fo Shizzles" and sometimes even a "Nizzle" here and there ;) I now realize that of late the words 'wicked''sick' 'fat' and so on have lost it's conventional meaning and now simply means 'good' and is used to show appreciation. My apologies to Geoffrey Chaucer and Shakespeare,they must be turning in their graves but as for now peaceout homies....holla.
I thought I had left India with a reasonable understanding of the Engish language and the prospects of having ample opportunities to practice conversational English brought a slight excitement, small joys of life I tell ya.Little did I know what was in store for me. Of course I had done my homework and had included words like ' Homey' 'Homeboy' and Peaceout' to my now expanding vocabulary. Honestly I never coud reconcile with many of these words as the direct translation of these words to malayalam always left my mind in a knot. The guy at the security check in O'hare Airport looked at my watch and said 'That's tyte homey".Since there was a fairly large line of impatient people behind me I never got the chance to correct him and explain to him that my watch was not tight in fact if anything I thought the strap was a little too loose.
The hardest part about my first job in the call center was to understand the meaning of many common words that the young co-workers used on a daily basis. One day my Co-Worker called out to me from the corridor 'Holla atcha boi' For a second I was so impressed for I thought that my Co-worker who was not Indian was speaking Hindi.
Things have changed since then, having completed three years of life in the U.S of A, I have learned to weave in and out of conversations sprinkled with "Hollas""Fo Shizzles" and sometimes even a "Nizzle" here and there ;) I now realize that of late the words 'wicked''sick' 'fat' and so on have lost it's conventional meaning and now simply means 'good' and is used to show appreciation. My apologies to Geoffrey Chaucer and Shakespeare,they must be turning in their graves but as for now peaceout homies....holla.
It's all in the name.......
Disclaimer: The names mentioned below is fictional and any resemblance to any person or object in real life is unintended and purely coincidental.
MacArthur Mathai, Grocery Saajan ,Walmart Varghese, Soccer Saji, Burlington Babu. Some of these names have sparked an interest in me toward wondering how all these start. Either I have way too much time on hand or straying into the lighter side of life is therapeutic for me. From time to time I find my curios mind engaging in such trivial thoughts. I cannot help but think why it is that whether it’s New York or Kozhencherry some things don’t just change.
Things seem the same even when I am in Ranny- a quiet corner of the globe.Benz Shaji, Karate Biju , Rickshaw Simon and Kottayam Kurian were all familiar characters. It is even more interesting to note that this occurrence is mostly seen in the Malayali community. Most of the time these names are so familiar that it find it’s way into our daily conversations.
Maybe when people move to a particular place or choose a particular profession or hobby there is a mysterious voice that speaks over them “And from now on thou shall be called Soccer Saji…..”
Maybe the mind enjoys these occasional straying and sarcasm is just so embedded within the very grain of our being. I must confess that I have enjoyed these rhyming names that have helped me innumerable times to remember who is who and even what they do. I am pretty sure that there would be a nick name floating around for me as well ;) Anyways I’m gonna get off blog train now and head in the direction of Council Rd Kuriakose’s shop ;)
MacArthur Mathai, Grocery Saajan ,Walmart Varghese, Soccer Saji, Burlington Babu. Some of these names have sparked an interest in me toward wondering how all these start. Either I have way too much time on hand or straying into the lighter side of life is therapeutic for me. From time to time I find my curios mind engaging in such trivial thoughts. I cannot help but think why it is that whether it’s New York or Kozhencherry some things don’t just change.
Things seem the same even when I am in Ranny- a quiet corner of the globe.Benz Shaji, Karate Biju , Rickshaw Simon and Kottayam Kurian were all familiar characters. It is even more interesting to note that this occurrence is mostly seen in the Malayali community. Most of the time these names are so familiar that it find it’s way into our daily conversations.
Maybe when people move to a particular place or choose a particular profession or hobby there is a mysterious voice that speaks over them “And from now on thou shall be called Soccer Saji…..”
Maybe the mind enjoys these occasional straying and sarcasm is just so embedded within the very grain of our being. I must confess that I have enjoyed these rhyming names that have helped me innumerable times to remember who is who and even what they do. I am pretty sure that there would be a nick name floating around for me as well ;) Anyways I’m gonna get off blog train now and head in the direction of Council Rd Kuriakose’s shop ;)
A Blog is born !!!
I have stood by this busy road in blog land before. I am usually a curious bystander just soaking in all that I see around.Quite a place I must admit ! I must confess that I have toyed before with the idea of taking a step forward and becoming a part of the creative traffic I've admired here. In the end I would always convince myself that technology was never my forte and dismiss these thoughts as vanities that a strong dose of reality would wake me up from. Often that 'reality' came in the form of a phone call or even a TV show.
It all changed this weekend. The weekend started out as a harmless fun vacation weekend, little did I know that my brother was recruiting for Blog Land. Much midnight oil was burned, Miyagi Matthew, my brother from Orlando spoke such profound words of inspiration . I found myself sitting up at 3 am in the morning drawing a blank trying to name the blog. Lo and Behold sometime toward the early hours of dawn a blog was born.
As I am experiencing a full blown bloggers block I think my safest bet would be to wind up the ramblings for the day and come back inspired. Adios for now !!
It all changed this weekend. The weekend started out as a harmless fun vacation weekend, little did I know that my brother was recruiting for Blog Land. Much midnight oil was burned, Miyagi Matthew, my brother from Orlando spoke such profound words of inspiration . I found myself sitting up at 3 am in the morning drawing a blank trying to name the blog. Lo and Behold sometime toward the early hours of dawn a blog was born.
As I am experiencing a full blown bloggers block I think my safest bet would be to wind up the ramblings for the day and come back inspired. Adios for now !!
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