Paulson Post

To a large extent our behaviour is genetically conditioned. People who belong to certain ethnic groups have common physical and even emotional characteristics because of the genes that control biological and emotional aspects of their life. Certain groups of people are prone to certain diseases while other groups totally immune to these because of their particular genetic structure. This also means that human behaviour is predictable and to a large extent unchangeable unless there is genetic modification. Paul talks about another factor that overrides genetic conditioning that decides human behaviour. That is grace. Paul was intolerant, violent and possibly a psychopath too. He could not tolerate a group of Jews who considered themselves as followers of Jesus of Nazareth. He considered this new faith called Christianity something that should be destroyed. He resorted to violent means of arresting them and killing them. To achieve this aim of annihilating the all the Chris...

Terrorists who have some religious associations give religions a bad name. Recent events like the attack on Mumbai (26/11) make us think if religions promote violence only. However, the picture is far from truth. There are narratives of conflicts, violence and bloody battle accounts in the Bible. This makes some think that Bible promotes violence. However, they miss out the many visions of peace that the bible have. One such vision is found in the prophecy of Isaiah in the second chapter. Part of this vision is inscribed on the walls of the UN building in New York: "They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore" (Isaiah 2:4). This probably was a very popular vision about the future in those days since another prophet by the name Micah also has this in his book (Micah 4:3). Thus it should rather be called a shared vision of the prophets of the Bible in the eight...

As a little boy I have seen mother hens protecting their little chicks. The chicks are small balls of flesh and feather that so tender that looks like fur on them. They will be around the mother exploring their world and gobbling worms mother has found for them and chirping happily. It is a noisy scene. As soon as the mother hen detects the presence of a predator bird it makes a particular sound. It is a warning and the little chicks run to find shelter under the wings of their mother. The mother sits firmly on the ground protecting her little chicks who has sought shelter inside her wings. There is absolute silence; not a single chick dares to make a sound. Singing under the wings is dangerous! Moreover, it takes a lot of courage to do that when the predator bird is still hovering over. One of the powerful imageries of the Bible is that of God as the mother hen who protects his children under his wings in times of trouble. Boaz uses this imagery when he talks about Ruth joining th...

Faith loves to perch on scarecrows. Scarecrows are placed in farms to scare the birds away. Birds avoid the farms where they find a scarecrow, even though the scarecrows only have a very remote resemblance to human beings and are unable to do any harm. The wise birds are wise enough to know that they are just hay for the body, a broken pot for the head and stay where the farmer placed them. They also know that wherever there is a scarecrow there is something to be eaten; nobody places a scarecrow where nothing is grown. Instead of being scared away they love to land on the scarecrows and enjoy the feast. That's the difference between faith and fear. The psalmist declares that when she is afraid she will trust in God (Psalm 56:3-4). "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust." However, this faith makes her to challenge the frightening situations, "What can mortals do to me?" (Psalm 56:11 and also Psalm 56:...

Jesus' question in Mark 10:51 "What do you want me to do for you?" is baffling. Jesus knows everything, moreover the man who is crying to him is obviously blind and needs healing. Why then this question; Jesus cannot be that dumb! The blind beggar in Jericho (Mark 10:46-52) was engaged in something demeaning. His name is mentioned in the Bible as Bartimaeus, which means son of honor. Though "a son of honor" he was doing the most dishonorable profession of begging in the city of Jericho. When Jesus met him he was begging. His style of begging (like all beggars do) is to catch people's attention by crying loud "have mercy on me" so that they can throw a coin in to his bowl. He did the same thing when Jesus passed by in the company of a large crowd. This time he did not just cry "have mercy on me" but was more specific because his plea was aimed at Jesus and not the crowd. He cries, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" However...

Tolerance is allowing different viewpoints to exist and thrive without causing them any harm. It comes from respect and love for the different views. Tolerance is possible even if the opposite point of view may hurt our views and may threaten the existence of ours. Often times we mistake accommodation for tolerance ignoring the subtle difference between the two. Accommodating is an outcome of tolerance but need not always be. Usually we can accommodate what we can put up with but it is difficult to accommodate anything that is not congenial. The other day while watching the National Geographic channel I came across a leopard and a young gazelle. The gazelle was just born and has just been able to stand on its feet. The leopard had it between its front legs; the young gazelle looked fearless, the leopard was unconcerned and was looking elsewhere as if he was not interested in the tender prey. It presented the picture of the peace that prophet Isaiah had prophesied about whe...

She was young, beautiful, and healthy and she had a loving husband. The car accident changed all that. She was in hospital for many months fighting for her life. She survived finally but as an invalid, paralysed waste down and limited to her wheelchair. That was the end of her marriage too as her husband walked away from her life. The marriage covenant that they made to stick to each other "until death part us" was broken. It was a test of her husband's faithfulness to the marriage promise. Marriage is most evidently the area where faithfulness is tested. Relationship outside marriage where faithfulness is divided is common these days. However, faithfulness is indivisible, it is exclusive, whether it is faithfulness in marriage or in any other areas. If we search for a perfect example of faithfulness we will arrive at the biblical image of God as the faithful God. In the Bible, God is given as the model of faithfulness. God's faithfulness is what we are ...