Love Lessons from Corinthians

A man who is eating or lying with his wife or preparing to go to sleep in humility, thankfulness and temperance, is, by Christian standards, in an infinitely higher state than one who is listening to Bach or reading Plato in a state of pride -- C.S. Lewis.

1 Corinthians 13:4 – 7

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

Preceding these verses, there is a mention about ability to speak languages, gift of prophecy, gift of faith and giving to poor. All these and host of others can be done without having love.

Several incidents made me reflect the love passages again:

• I met very brilliant people who are very proud. They don’t want to hear anything beyond their position. They are harsh.
• I also met a Bible college principal who is more difficult to talk than any normal Christian. The moment you ring door bell he starts scolding as if it is not there for that purpose. 
• Here is Bangalore, I met several Bible college principals and teachers. Instead of creating the Bible college a center of grace and love, they are authoritarian and dictator. This happens even in children home. I wonder why that happens.

The Corinthian passage once again reminds me to do everything in love. Its no fun when dealing with difficult people – people who talk harshly, without respect – but as Christians I am called to live a life of love. 

To boast when Jesus Comes

2 Corinthians 1:13 – 14 (NLT)

“… I hope some day you will fully understand us, even if you don’t fully understand us now. Then on the day when our Lord Jesus comes back again, you will be proud of us in the same way we are proud of you”.

Beginning this month I heard a message by Bangalore-based Bible teacher, Zac Poonen, on the books of Corinthians. He said the first letter deals with church problems and the other on the person of the minister of God. So for the first time in my life I am reading the book of second Corinthians with that perspective.

What Paul the author of this letter said - Corinthians will be proud of Paul and Paul will be proud of the Corinthians. He did not say he will be proud he taught them over a year, nor he had planted the church among them. None of those, but on the persons who will appear before Christ.

This helped think the few areas I am involved:

• I work with my colleagues in various projects, but I cannot be proud that we did so many things together. Rather how I have build my friends for becoming a better person in Christ. The encouragement I gave, the support, the opportunity, the love I could share that made him/her a person that God wants him/her.
• Simasa and I have an eight month girl and expecting another in August/September. We will be completely miss the whole point of parenting if we failed to show them the life beyond this world. We should not be stuck with the early blessings we’ll leave behind for them.

A beautiful farm in Udupi District

Taken in March 7, 2013

Ill Treatment to Parents

Last month I watched Aamir Khan's TV show Satyamev Jayate on old age. I felt very sad for people who abandoned or even chased their old parents outside. They mistreated their own parents. One particular mother said "I raised 10 sons, but those 10 sons could not take care of one mother". What a shame!

Then I reflected there are a few parents who are mistreated by their children. I pray for them. I keep wondering what I can do for this.

Again this afternoon I read about a 95 year old women who was abandoned by her son in Nellore.

Evil in this life is really evil. What can I say more.
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Date: 6 June 2013, a 90 year old man was chained in the roof.

Trimmed trees - a lesson

Unkempt silver trees

Trimmed trees.

Our office campus is filled with beautiful trees and plants. Occasionally, the gardener cleans them. Here in the pictures some of those trees were trimmed off the unnecessary offshoots. Some have not completed cleaning. 

This reminds me a few thoughts:

• I could feel a sense of refreshment with those trees. I "planned" almost daily to cut my hair and it went on for about two weeks. Only about two weeks ago, I could visit saloon. 
• Once in every month, it is necessary for all our office staff to clean our table. Sometimes 15 minutes, other times few hours depending on the need to clean. The rationale: "A cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind". 
• In April my colleague went for a 10 day vacation to refresh up. Also I met a scientist who takes a month every year to visit new places, out of her usual work. 

If I learned a lesson from these trees is this: Refreshment time for our body, heart and soul should be planned.

Bent to Lifted

Date: 22 May 2013

Last week three brothers – rain, wind and hailstone - broke many trees in Bangalore. They even pushed down a bamboo plant at our office campus and nearly broke it (but God had mercy on itJ). The plant had lots of leaves, so it could not return to its original position after the impact.

The Fallen Bamboo.

But when I went out again today, I saw someone had trimmed its leaves and its standing, almost to its original standing. Glad to see it. I thought we lost it.

The Lifted Bamboo (22 May 2013).

Few thoughts came after seeing this, I go when we face major blows in life:

• Sometimes we may not be able to get up. Our hearts may be broken, body become weak, brain cannot think, spiritually dry. Life could become meaningless. Everything we hold dearly may not make sense.
• Friends might say, what happened to that “giant”?
• When such things happen good to get help. God will send people who will trim us. We must be willing. Once again we’ll be up from the ground. Once again we’ll see life from different perspectives, not from ground.

I pray that every one of us will rise again and again in the midst of big difficulties in life. May we rise like eagles. May we develop the attitude of Paul, “afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed”.

Tips from "The Heart of Change"

I glanced the book “The Heart of Change” by John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen. Though, I don't understand it well as I read, I got the key concepts. One main thing I learned is - to introduce a change, present real life situations first. Do not do with factual statements first. It is important to appeal to emotions first than intellect. Sounds very true.

I like to remember the 8 steps they promote as change steps.

The Eight Steps for  Successful Large-Scale Change.

Experimenting with panoramic pictures

The camera came with a panoramic photo-taking facility. So I am just learning to use that feature.

On the terrace of our office, Bangalore.

Outside view from office terrace.

View of first floor of office building.

Taxi travels from Igatpuri to Nasik

August 2009: It was rainy days. The whole area was just green and beautiful to see the landscape. Every time I see these photos, they bring good memories and smiles once again.

Kaizen

A Christian came to share a devotion with us about 3 months ago. He challenged us to be focused in what we do. There were some more that he shared, but I don't remember most of what he said. What I remember most is an introductory thought he mentioned: KAIZEN.

I learned that it is a business word that originates from Japan -- used for continuous improvement in anything we do. This has challenged me in many ways. So I am trying and reflecting different areas.

• I edit prayer points for our organization corporate prayer. Since I heard that I make sure that we implement at least 5 to 6 improvements each month. This has picked up well.
• I try my best to write each email better than the last one I wrote. 
• I encourage my colleague to come up with 5 improvements in a report we share every quarter.

I am grateful to that Christian leader who share this concept. And this has left me with deep impression and this is going to be a useful mindset in my life.

I browsed internet and I found this link has a good description in brief.

Favourite film of Anna

When our daughter was just two months old we showed several movies. Among them she liked Happy Feet 2. She prefers no other movies. I showed her Happy Feet 1 and many others, but she won't like them.

As early as when she was two months, she could watch it for about 20 minutes. Now, she is 7.5 months, she watches about one hour. 

Useful time:

• When she cries, I played the movies, even at night when wakes up crying. Just the sound of this movie is sufficient to soothe her.
• When we have other work. She'll be busy watching and we could do some other jobs.

Hindi vocabulary

I learned these Hindi words when I traveled to Gujarat last year, August 2012.

Difficulty to great abundance

Last week we had this passage shared in our church. Notice all the red verbs so that God can bring us to blue highlight.

Psalms 66:10-12

You have tested us, O God;
you have purified us like silver.
You captured us in your net
and laid the burden of slavery on our backs.
Then you put a leader over us.
We went through fire and flood, but you brought us to a place of great abundance.

Thinking after reading Rick Warren's interview

Very provocative thought and I am still thinking after this reading this section from an interview with Rick Warren. Title of the whole interview: Rick Warren's Final Frontier. I may not agree 100% because there are great pastors and smarter than mission leaders. At the same time, there is great truth that much of the work of the church is done by parachurch organizations.

Excerpt from interview:

QUESTION: Pastors across the board seem much less influential in the larger culture than they were a generation ago. What happened? 

RESPONSE BY RICK WARREN: My generation fell in love with the parachurch. My generation and the generation before me built all the great parachurch organizations: Focus on the Family, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Wycliffe, Campus Crusade, InterVarsity, Young Life, Youth for Christ, and so on.
The reason why the church doesn't have greater impact is because the smartest brains and the most money have gone outside the church. If you go to a missions conference at any Christian college, go out and look. There won't be a single local church organization. It will all be parachurch—100 percent.

Eagles and Birds

On 27 December 2009, at 1 pm, I saw this sight. Some people burnt grass next to our house. Then huge number of eagles, and several other kinds of birds came circle over the smoke. After that they rest on the black patches the burnt left. I was seeing so many eagles together for the first time.