Paulson Post

  Buddha discovered the mysteries of human suffering while meditating under a banyan tree. The falling apple triggered thoughts of gravity in Isaac Newton’s head. I got some trace of wisdom when I bought a packet of rajgira (seeds of Amaranth). Rajgira is the seed of the Amaranth plants. These tiny seeds are used for food as raw seeds or flour. It is also called the Indian Quinoa. The leaves and stem are also used as vegetables. They could be pink or green. My experience of the rajgira seeds in my porridge was horrible. It seems that the packet of seeds that I bought from Amazon had fine grains of sand. At every spoon, I bit something hard making me throw the whole bowl of porridge away. I was angry that I was duped. I had no idea about what I can do with two large packets of it that I was left with. Like Buddha, and Newton I started thinking deep. I took the packet of seeds and threw it on the wet ground. It rained the following two days as well. Then lo and behold on the ...

 Last week I spoke at the 100 th death anniversary of Volbrecht Nagel, a German missionary to the South Indian state of Kerala. Though he was in Kerala only for two decades, the songs he composed are still sung in the churches. They also have made into cinematic music. Some are translated into 21 plus Indian languages. He is still remembered, and his contributions are extolled by Muslim, Hindu, and Christian Orthodox academics though he was a Christian Brethren missionary. Also last week was the first anniversary of the death of a famous apologist of our time. During his lifetime, he faced many allegations against his character. A few months after his death, an investigation by his own organization revealed serious character flaws and sex scandals in his life. The organization that he founded published apologies to the victims of his un-Christian behavior on their website. Now, the organization that he founded has removed all references about him from their website, his books a...

The developments of this week in the centuries-old Israel-Palestine conflict have created a lot of clashes of opinions. Christians have taken sides, mostly on the Israeli side. The media is divided but mostly on the side of Israel. The reasons for the support for Israel are many. First sympathies. Historically, they had been a persecuted minority except in India and probably in the United States. Who can ignore the six million Jews who died in Hitler’s gas chambers? The sorrowful part of their history, along with the propaganda in favour of them, has created a lot of sympathy for them. In addition to the popular sympathy for Israel, some Christians also find that what happens in Israel is the fulfilment of Biblical prophecies. These Christians think that all Palestinians are Muslims, though a significant number of them are Christians. Many Christian Holy places are in Palestinian territory (including Bethlehem, Jericho, Hebron, etc.). Many Christians think that the Jewish nation ...

 Aside from claiming many lives, the Covid-19 pandemic also affects the mind. People panic and dive deep into boredom. Cambridge dictionary defines panic as "a sudden, strong feeling of anxiety or fear that prevents reasonable thought and action and may spread to influence many people." Anxiety can be caused by real or imaginary perceptions of threat and harm. Panic is also a type of fear triggered by our perceptions. Perceptions that trigger panic may be present or absent. In addition, panic is especially undesirable because it prevents people from thinking or acting rationally. Panic impairs their ability to rationally think and act. Panic drives many people to explore tips about healthy living, avoiding, or managing Covid that are available all over the internet out of panic. There are many factors that cause panic during the pandemic. First, we are isolated by lockdowns, social distancing, fear of death, the loss of friends, etc. Suddenly, our support systems ha...