Paulson Post

That was the most irrational suggestion; to buy a land in a country which at war when the enemy has advanced to the citadels of its capital. But that suggestion was from God. Prophet Jeremiah had been prophesying that his beloved country, Judah, is to fall at the hands of the Babylonians. His prophecy has come true. The Babylonian army has besieged Jerusalem. It has been a year now; the Babylonians had been waiting for the surrender of the people in Jerusalem. Other prominent cities are already fallen. Judah is already under the control of the Babylon for ten years now. But God told Jeremiah to buy a land in his village of Anathoth from his relative (Jeremiah 32). The whole country, including the village of Anathoth (just 5-6 km from Jerusalem) is about to be occupied by the Babylonians in a matter of days. Though Jeremiah protested, he had to surrender to the divine command, and he bought it. That was a risky deal—buying a land in a war-torn country, which is sure to fall to the enemy...

Every day it comes, and pecks at the glass panel of the window of my study. It is a Jungle Babbler, a very common bird in the Indian subcontinent. It dances flying up and down and fluttering its wings. Sometimes, three or four times a day it repeats this ritual. I thought it is trying to get  into  my room or fly through as it can see the other side. But why does it keep coming, can't it make out after three or four attempts that it can't fly through?   I told my Neighbor, whom I consider an expert on birds, about this winged visitor. She explained that the babbler is pecking at its own reflection, thinking that it is another bird. I thought of verifying her suggestion. The following day I kept the window half open, drawing one panel fully open. The babbler came as usual. Perched on the window,  looked into  my room through the open panel but did not enter the room or peck. But it moved to the side of the window where there is glass and started pecking on the gl...

The night is hot, the mercury could touch 42 Celsius or more in the coming days. However, I normally sit on the balcony in the morning and evening for my prayer and meditation where there is a generous supply of refreshing morning breeze. But by midday, I forget the cool breeze and complain about the heat, sweat, and humidity. Often forget that the evening breeze will be cool, and then comes the morning with an even cooler breeze to make up for the heat of the noon. We complain when life gets hotter but ignore the moments of cool breezes that we had and still have.

I believe most of us are very practical in our thinking. Practical thinking is assessing if something that we plan to do is doable. For example, Bungee jumping. The observation that so many people have done it, and they are doing it makes me think that I can do it also. So, I do it. That is practical thinking. However, though we often confuse practical thinking with pragmatic thinking they are different. In simpler terms the pragmatic decision also asks another question—though it is achievable, will it lead to some useful results? Bungee jumping is again the example. I can plunge into the ravine with one end a rope tied to my ankle and the other end firmly tied to a post, with all life-saving systems on stand-by. But what am I going to get out of it? In real terms, nothing useful is going to come out of it. So, though it is practical it is not pragmatic. But if I am descending to the ravine to save a person fallen into it, that Bungee jumping is not useless; the decision ...

  Sometimes we overstate our miseries. That is what Naomi did also. It is true that he had become a widow, and she lost her sons as well. She is too to old get married again and have a husband or children. She had two words to describe her misery. She says to the townspeople who had come to welcome her back to Bethlehem: “ I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” (Ruth 1:21 ). A victim of self-pity, she calls herself empty. However, she is not empty; she had Ruth with her. In addition to her company and care Ruth later fills Naomi’s life with joy, security and happiness. Naomi failed to see that life will flourish again with that young woman who has left her kindred to follow her. In her distress she over stated her misery. Another word that she used to describe her also shows how she overstated the pain of her life. When the women of her village called h...

  Naomi was a passive victim of a wrong decision that heaped tragedies upon tragedies upon her family. They decided to migrate to Moab when famine struck their town, Bethlehem, which rather ironically means "house of bread." There in Moab they had food in plenty, I suppose, but she lost all the male members of the family. Her husband first, her sons next, in that order. All that was left was two young widows and she. It was indeed a wrong decision. They should not have left the Bethlehem. The Book of Ruth tells us that all the residents of that town did not leave their homes and fields for Moab during the famine. They stayed back and fought the famine.  However, Naomi was not probably responsible for that wrong decision. In a patriarchal society like hers, the husband and the adult male members took the decisions on behalf of the rest of the family. The women just followed since they didn't have a say in what was decided. Probably, the decision to go to Moab was her husba...

  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt 5:43—45, ESV). Sudeesh is honest and sincere with a good amount of curiosity. While passing by a church on Sunday morning he asked someone walking to the church what do they do in the church every Sunday. Tom, one of the church-goers whom he stopped, thought for a while and answered, “we pray for people like you.” Though it is the simplest answer that Tom come up with, it bewildered Sudeesh. "You pray for others?" Sudeesh was shocked. “We only pray for ourselves and for those whom we love and care for.” That is true. Most people limit their prayers to themselves and also for their dear ones, if they can find time for that. Jesus challenges us further d...