God's Deadly Silence!

For a believer in Christ the relationship with God is a living relationship because it is a relationship with a living God. This living relationship is possible because God and the worshipper are always in talking terms. The worshipper talks to God in worship, prayer and meditation. And God responds in various ways: sometimes by giving them great joy in his presence, sometimes by answering prayers and sometimes by endowing them with the "peace that transcends all understanding" (Phil 4:4) in order to pass through difficult patches in their life.

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God's word creates! That's what we learn from the first chapter of Genesis. Peter summarized the whole thing in just one verse: "But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water" (2 Peter 3:5).

God speaks because he is the living God. He speaks to guide his people, to tell that what is going to happen, etc. False God's cannot speak or reveal themselves to their followers because they are dead. Psalm 115 describes what is dead gods like:

"But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them" (Psalm 115:4-8).

However, there are times when this relationship turns to a monologue. At times we don't hear God speaking to us. The psalmist in Psalm 28 is going through that experience and he expresses his fear in verse 1: "If you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit (meaning: grave)." Many times we don't care when we haven't heard from God! However, a person like this psalmist cannot afford to live without hearing God's voice daily. I wish I had this longing for the voice of God and dependence on a living and speaking God.

Pandita Ramabai versus Swami Vivekananda: Two Visions of India

This is more than a story about two remarkable nineteenth-century Indians. It is a story about two competing ways of seeing India itself. Pandita Ramabai and Swami Vivekananda were contemporaries, reformers, and influential voices who introduced India to the Western world. Swami Vivekananda (b. 1863—d. 1902 and Pandita Ramabai (b. 1858—d.1922) were contemporaries for about 39 years. Pandita Ramabai was five years older than the Swami and lived 20 more years than he did. Both individuals had connections to Brahmo Samaj. Swami Vivekananda was an official member, whereas Pandita Ramabai closely aligned with its principles and members but did not formally join. When Ramabai arrived in Kolkata in 1878, she received a warm welcome from Brahmo Samaj leaders such as Keshab Chandra Sen, who was notably impressed by her Sanskrit skills and encouraged her to study the Vedas, which were traditionally restricted to men. Although she adopted many of the movement's social reform ideas—such as opp...

A Chat With God

A Chat With God : Prayer can sometimes be a tough thing for people. This video takes a look at some of the struggles and thoughts a person might have with prayer, through the lens of a 'chat' conversation with God.

The Smoking Meat-Eating Swami

Typically, we imagine a revered spiritual monk as a quiet figure subsisting on fresh vegetables, clear water, and pure air, untouched by worldly habits. However, Swami Vivekananda challenges this traditional image entirely. His life was characterised not by a strict adherence to conventions but by practical wisdom, profound humanity, and a bold rejection of superficial dogma. Throughout his life, Vivekananda regularly enjoyed cigars, pipes, and the traditional Indian hookah. It was a habit he picked up in his youth and maintained during his travels across India and abroad. Yet, for him, a simple pipe could carry profound spiritual meaning. During his wanderings across India, he once asked a man from a lower caste for a smoke from his hookah. When the man hesitated because of the era’s strict customs of untouchability, Vivekananda initially walked away—only to turn around immediately, realising that bowing to caste distinctions violated his core belief in spiritual unity. He took ...

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