Paulson Post

The Indian Christian Cemetery in Pune is "alive” these days, especially the left side of the cemetery that is Catholic. Pune has two big cemeteries on the Solapur Road. The one of the left side is the European Cemetery. That is where the European Christians who lived in Pune during the colonial times are buried. After Independence, Indians who go to some of the mainline churches of European heritage are buried there. As the number of these churches are dwindling, the cemetery is also less frequented. A visit to these churches on Sundays and may make you think that there are more members in the cemetery than in the pews now. The growing younger churches manage the cemetery on the right side of the Solapur highway. That was designated for the Indian Christian population in colonial times and thus got its name as "Indian Christian Cemetery." That is divided as the Catholic and the non-Catholic cemeteries by the unpaved pathway in the middle. If you are Catholic turn left a...

Steve Jobs, as Rick Warren rightly tweeted was " the Thomas Edison" of his generation. Steve Jobs changed the way we look at the world just as Edison. Steve Wozniak, Jobs’ friend and colleague from the very beginning of his career remarked in his "tearful” interview with Associated Press that, "We lost something that we will never get back!" Steve Jobs was so unique! Everyone shared that sense of loss but will still remember Steve Jobs for the way he changed the world. Like thousands of others, Apple computers made my life different. The first work I ever did on a computer was on an old IBM PC way back in 1986-1988 during my student days in Bangalore. It had no hard disk, it used two 5" floppy disk drives. One of the floppy disks had the OS and the word processing program. The other was for saving the documents to. The computer had no memory of any sort, we had to enter the time and date at start up. We did not know what we were going to get. I mean, th...

The Bible teaches us that love is a fruit of the Spirit and it has supremacy over the gifts of the Spirit. In fact Saint Paul argues that the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit is useless if devoid of love. Being devoid of love is a state of existence which can be very well described as "being nothing” (1 Cor 13:2) and such lives "gain nothing” (1 Cor 13:3). The love mentioned in this passage is a entirely different type of love, very different from what we usually mean by it. The Greek word AGAPE is consistently used throughout the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13, the greatest poem on love. It was a common word for love which found a new meaning in the New Testament because of the experience of love that the writers had. Their experience was different from those who lived before their era, before Christ came in to this world to put up a magnifcient show of this special love. The translators of the Old Testament into Greek who lived about 200 years before Christ had ma...

When a Galilean carpenter commands "Go" nobody moves; they may look at him curiously wondering if he is all right. When he beckons to someone to come they may, but not always! Nobody is under his command and he has no authority over anyone. However, a Roman centurion is different. He has 100 soldiers under his command. When he walks in, they all stand in attention and salute him. When he commands one of them to go and fetch something he does. When he shouts 'march' they march on in an array. All of them are under his command. His words work. They can change things; they make things move! The Roman centurion whom we find in Luke 7 was in desperate need, a need which was beyond the resources he had at hand. One of his servants was sick and no words of him will heal him. The sickness or whatever that caused that sickness was not under his authority. They won't heed his commands. He was helpless. However, he was humble. Humility is the pre-requisite for faith. He k...

We have been very unkind to Jonah. No character of the Bible has suffered so badly at the hands of Bible interpreters and preachers like this man often pictured in a long robe and a long beard. Sometimes pcitured in the belly of a huge fish! Christians and Jews of all ages are equally guilty of this. They pick up a negative image of this poor prophet from early childhood as the Sunday School teachers use their flannel graphs and tell the children not to be so disobient as this disobedient prophet! And when these children mature to adulthood they become Sunday School teachers and preachers to continue the millennial old negative propaganda against this prophet of Israel. Jonah was not that bad! He ran away from the presence of the Lord, I agree! Probably, he did not have read Psalm 139 especially verses 7 -10 of that psalm: "Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! ...

We are very conscious of our rights. Students go strike for their rights so do factory workers, government staff and even in a family individuals insist on their rights, though they may not go for a sit-in. Conflicts are bred when people insist on their rights. Two ships collided head on in the Black Sea killing hundreds of people in 1986. The reason for this tragedy was simple! Both captains insisted on their right of way and were not willing to yield! By the time they realized that they were on a collision path it was too late! Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister once reminded his people that there are no rights without duties! People who insist on their rights often ignore that they have duties to perform. Those who ignore that obligation have no claim on rights. However, the Bible extends the correlation between rights and duties further than an issue of priority; that is the question of right first or duty first. In 1 Corinthians 9 Saint Paul illustrates thro...

Osama Bin Laden was shot dead and buried in the Arabian Sea by the US Navy Seals. President Obama announcing the death of United States' most wanted enemy said that "Justice is done!". There were celebrations all over the United States celebrating the death of the most hated terrorist who allegedly is responsible for the death of many Americans. The excitement was so hight in some places that they did not care who really died. When the news was announced, some students who were celebrating in an American university shouted cheefully that "Obama is shot dead," not realizing the subtle difference in the two names! There are lot of questions to be answered. First of all, what is "justice" and how justice is done? Justice is righting wrong. Justice means that somebody has caused someone some sort of distress and that situation has to be corrected. There are many ways of righting the wrong. Restraining the person who did the wrong thing and making sure th...

Easter settled a big question. Was Jesus a failure or not? At his arrest and crucifixion his opponents and also his disciples thought that he has failed, he is another failed Messiah of Judaism who led a popular movement duly suppressed by the Roman military power. However, when they found that the tomb was empty on the third day they knew that he was not a failure but a victor. He rose from the dead. "O death where is your victory, O death where is your sting?" Death had grip on him only for a few hours and he for ever overcame death. However, it took some time for his disciples to come to terms with this reality. Mary and other women did not remember that he had claimed that he will rise again. They went on a wrong search at the wrong place. They were not supposed to search for him in the tomb he was buried. Because he was not going to be there on the third day. They longed to see his dead body again, but that is the wrong thing they were looking for. Many continue simila...

People start in style however the end may not be always as glorious as the beginning. In a sprinter event, every runner brims with confidence at the starting point and it is difficult to say which one will win. Some give up after a few feet, some trail far behind and the eyes of those in the gallery are no more upon them. Some may faint in the tracks. Some give up when they hear the crowd cheering the winner. However, there are a few whether the winner is decided, though the finishing line is still far away, still run in style and finish. They don't care if they are the last. They were committed to the race. Finishing the race and finishing it well is what is important when that race is Christian life. The Bible reminds us that Christian life is a race. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, th...

The Duckback (a trademark) raincoats were a craze in my school days. As its name makes it clear, the coats made of waterproof material rolls the water just like water doesn't make a duck's back wet. I had water proof watches, the manufacturers claimed you can wear underwater (scuba diving, snorkeling); but I did not go that deep but tried it while swimming. However, during my recent visit to Christian bookstore in the city, I came across a rare exhibit: The Waterproof Bible! What is the Waterproof Bible for? For scuba-divers, swimmers, surfers, white water-rafters? Do they have enough time to read the bible while their mind is on their activities? Are they down there to read the Bible or to watch the corals and fish? The manufacturers doesn't have any suggestions regarding its possible uses. However, they suggest a catch-all use: it is safe to take it outdoor without the fear of being spoiled by water. I understand that, on a rainy Sunday morning, when you run from the ca...

Christian spirituality has to do with a system of beliefs, so we tend to think. We often equate spirituality with beliefs and rituals. However, in the light of the Bible, spirituality is not something that you believe or do but something that you belong to. Let me put in another way, it is not belief but belonging. What did Peter had to do when he left his father, the net and the boat when Jesus called him to follow him? He did not have to sit for a membership test. If he had, I am sure he would have failed! All that he had to do was to leave what he had (what belonged to him) and follow after Jesus. He was no more a man of the lake, he belonged to Jesus. Ask James, John and even Paul who came to the scene much later. They just changed their allegiance. They had to reorder their relationships and loyalties so that they belonged to Jesus. "What shall do to be saved?" the terrified jailer of Philippi screamed at Paul and Silas? What did he mean by "being saved"? He mi...

“THERE is a small space in which a liberal vision of Pakistan hangs on. It shrank a lot further with the murder on January 4th of a notable progressive politician and critic of religious extremism, Salman Taseer”; The Economist commented on the murder of the governor of Punjab province of Punjab (The Economist Jan 6., 2011). His crime? He spoke against the blaspemy law which is used by extremists to persecute Christians and anyone they don't like. The liberal governor spoke in support of a poor Christian woman who is facing death penalty for alleged blaspemy. The killer who is the bodyguard of the governor jusifies his action saying, the governors opposition to the blasphemy law amount to blasphemy! The assassin was garlanded by some extremists when he was produced before the court and some extremist groups have warned that those who express condolences at the death of the governor will meet the same fate. Blasphemy law in Pakistan was introduced by President Zia Ul Haq ...