Paulson Post

Hiding is the second oldest sin in the history of the world ̧a sin that is the consequence of the first one ̧disobedience. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit that they were not allowed to eat. Before eating that they were naked but were not ashamed of their nakedness (Gen 2:25). When they disobeyed God by eating the fruit that God forbade them to eat they realised their nakedness and were ashamed of it. The Bible says, Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Gen 2:7̆ ESV). Shame was a consequence of the sin of disobedience. We go into hiding as Adam and Eve did because we are ashamed of our disobedience. In this case of Adam and Eve they tried to hide their nakedness from each other. They never had to do that before they committed sin. Before sinning they were naked but were not ashamed; but after sin they did not become naked but were ashamed of their nakedness. They never ha...

Television and newspapers has been very disturbing these days. To add to our woe we have multiple choices of media that update us on the disturbing news happenign all over the world. The slaughter of Egyptian Christians by ISIS in Libya and many reenacted videos telling the real stories of individuals and communities who are masacred by the Islamic fundamentalists belong to this list. The story of a village pastor who was abducted and killed by some Hindu groups in India recently came as a shock. Violence in the name of religion is on the rise. I realized that many times I don’t pause to ask what is involved until I saw a reenacted video of what a family in Syria went through. If I didn’t have that video narrating what that family went through their story would have been merely a newspaper headline for me. The video portrayed the struggles that the family went through when they realized that the militants were approaching and they will be their targets soon! They realized th...

This is the age of Smart Phones. Smart phones can do almost everything that a personal computer can do and is increasingly replacing them. Studies show that the sale of laptops have gone down and that of smart phones have gone up considerably. Smart phones are now used for internet browsing, sending and receiving emails, banking, ticket bookings, games, social networking, and all that you can imagine are possible with your hand-held phone. It is even replacing the TV and radio sets. Apps on smart phones can help us keep our body slim and mind sharp. The smart phones are only going to get smarter as days go by. Integrating technology and spirituality is very important. This is not new. The sages who recorded the scriptures moved from clay tablets to stone tablets to leather scrolls to papyri. Then came Gutenberg with the movable types. Thus the bibles until then found only in the churches and monasteries reached every home. Then as book production became easier and cheaper most...

“Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue” (Psalm 120:2). Lying is a reality in our society. Parents lie to their children and children to their parents. The reason for denying something to their children may not always lack of money though that is what the parents try to convince them. Spouses do lie. Coming home late from office is not always some urgent work that landed on the table as ‘I was about to leave the office.’ Politicians have perfected this art so much so that the expression ‘honest politician’ is obsolete and is a contradiction of terms in most of the cases. Exaggerated resume, tall claims of achievements, grades, qualifications the list goes on. How often do people lie? A study on American students a few years ago found out that on an average, they lied almost 3 times in a 10 minute conversation with strangers. Another study in Britain found out that British men lie six times a day and women three times. Saints of the Old Testament especia...

God is the God of surprises. In our walk with God, there is some surprise waiting for us at every turn. In the narrative of John’s birth in the Gospel of Luke (1:5-25) we find many divine surprises. First of all, Zechariah the priest did not expect to find Gabriel, the angel of God as he entered the area where the altar of incense was. The old priest was startled at the sight of the heavenly being right in front of an earthling like him. Secondly, he did not expect the announcement that he is going to become a father. He was old and has accepted the fact that he and his wife will be childless for the rest of their life. The worshippers waiting outside had their surprises too. They were surprised that the priest has taken unusually long time to return. Now, finally when he emerged he was not able to talk to them. He was mute. Then they concluded that the priest might have had a encounter with an angel in the inner court of the temple. That also is a surprise—an angel in the inner ...

Paul Piff, social psychologist has studied how wealth affects attitudes and behaviour. His empirical studies has uncovered that the wealthy are more prone to corruption and very poor in giving. They tend to be more likely to be law-breakers than those who are poorer than them! However, he says that these can be improved, though he doesn’t tell us how. There are exceptions to this rule certainly. The exceptions comes to us in the form of Warren Buffet, Bill and Melinda Gates and Narayana Murthi (Infosys) and many others who though rich are engaged in commendable service to humanity and liberal in their giving. I think Paul Piff, has provided a modern scientific commentary to what Jesus said in the first century: ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God’ (Mark 10:25). He meant ‘eye of the needle’ literally. It is not a small gate in the city of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time as some interpreters think. There was no such gat...

Elihu was a patientl listener to the arguments back and forth between Job and his friends. However, it came to a point were he blew his top! ‘Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. He burned with anger also at Job's three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong’ (Job 32:2-3). It is not an acceptable behaviour in ancient societies for young people to speak in the presence of the elders, leave alone criticise them. Elihu had reserved the most disrespectful, caustic comments about the whole thing. The reason for his frustration is not that the debate between Job and his friends has been the poorest show on earth but they proved themselves to be fools, though they were widely accepted wisemen! He burst out, ‘I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you. I sa...