Reflections on Death: Where do the Dead Ones Go? Part 2

2 Peter 2:9 says, " ... then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to hold the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment". This passage can be understood to mean that the unrighteous goes through punishment even while they are on earth, and continues till the day of judgment in future. But it can also be understood to mean that the unrighteous ones go through punishment in Hades, while they continue to wait for the final judgement. The second interpretation goes well with the story of Lazurus and the rich man. In this story, the rich man continues to go through suffering while Lazarus was not. But this is not the final state. Along with the righteous, the unrighteous too will be raised on the last day. But the unrighteous will be raised to shame; to face punishment. 

Jesus told one of the thieves on the cross, "today you will be with me in Paradise". In Philipians 1.23-24 Pauls writes, "... I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body." These passages tell us that the righteous dead go to be with Jesus. Paradise is more like a garden, and not a permanent resting place. Jesus used to refer to death as 'sleep'. So in one sense being in Paradise is not really a vibrant and full of life kind of a place. But definitely they are resting in the Lord. This is not the final state; it is rather like an intermediate state. At some point in the future, they will be raised with the unrighteous ones as well to face the Lord. And the righteous ones will be in the new heaven and new earth with the Lord forever. This is the final state. This is the state of being resurrected. They will be embodied in this state; yet space and time that constraint us now will no longer apply here. It's a body that will never see decay and death again.

Reflections of Death: Must Christians Always Bury the Dead? Part 1

On first of March, a close relative of mine passed away after battling coma for ten and half months. It was on 15th September, 2012 that a speeding car hit him, resulting in head injury and limb fractures. Since then family members took turn to care for him hoping that he would eventually get out of coma and live though he may not really be able to walk and function as before. But God has a different plan! This event made me reflect on few things about death; and I thought of putting them in words. And the following few posts will be about my reflections on death and related matters. 

Traditionally Christians bury the dead. From the dust we came, and upon burial we eventually become dust. So it's in a way natural that the dead ones are buried. But it's not just those who are buried that become dust eventually; even animals and plants that die and decay eventually become dust. A frog that gets preyed upon a snake who is in turn eaten by an eagle that finally ends up in the frying pan of a farmer too becomes dust. Everything that decays finally becomes part of the earth! So to say that only that which is buried becomes dust, and therefore Christians should always be buried will not be right. 

There have been Christians in the past who had been thrown into lions den. And they got eaten by the lions. There were also Christians who had been burnt to ashes or who got drowned in the sea who did get buried. Whatever form of dead a person would have faced, eventually the body decays and merges with the dust. Being buried is just one way of becoming dust. There is no theological ground, therefore, to insist that Christians should necessarily bury the dead ones. If there is cultural tradition to bury the dead, fine. But if due to space constraint, people choose to cremate or be placed on electric chair, I think it's okay. God can surely raise the dead, whichever way one decays and merges with the dust, to face him on the Last Day. The one eaten by the lions or burnt as torch by king Nero or burnt in electric chair will get no more or no less special treatment than those who got buried. The bottom line is, in my view, follow the cultural norm of the day!

Amartya Sen Defends his Comments Against Narendra Modi

                                    Narendra Modi is BJP's potential prime ministerial candidate.

Some Wise Sayings

1. Give a man a fish and you have fed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you will have fed him for a lifetime.

-- Chinese Proverb

2. Earn as much as you can; give as much as you can.

3. With great riches come great responsibility.

4. You do not stumble over a mountain, but over a stone.
 -- Indian Proverb

5. Great minds think alike
 -- Greek Proverb

6.  Advice him and counsel him. If he refuses to listen, let adversity teach him.
 -- African Proverb

Once Upon a Time

Making Best Use of a Jubilee

According to the latest figure given on July 11, 2013 there are 622 villages in Senapati district, which is less than that of the 2001 report which recorded 621 villages. There are some villages that have two churches; a church each for different denominations. There may also be some villages where there is no church. Taking this factor into account, it is fair to surmise that there would be some 622 churches in the same district. It is also fair to surmise that each village would have its Union or Association for the youth group; and therefore there would be approximately 622 Unions in the district. There would possibly be a Union for each block or tribe. If one may include the Women Society and the Village Council/GB, the number of institutions might possibly cross two thousand altogether. If we take into account all the institutions in the five hill districts of Manipur and also the entire state of Mizoram and Nagaland, the monetary figure would be mind boggling!

It has become a culture to organize the 50^th Anniversary of a church or an association with a not so insignificant display of glory and achievement. For many institutions the Golden Jubilee, as it is commonly known, is over; but the Diamond Jubilee and the Centenary celebration are being awaited and prepared for. Depending on the size of the institution, the budget is made, which possibly would range from a lakh to a crore rupees. If one takes an average of Rs. 10 lakh for a Union/Church and multiplies it by two thousand, the amount is huge! But at the end of the entire spending, what has been achieved? Is there any significant change that has come about as a result of so many Golden Jubilees? Or is Jubilee just another traditional Christmas, much larger in size though, where people get together to make merry and greet one another and go back home with their heart, mind, pocket and stomach emptied?

The original idea of Jubilee is to set people free. To be set free from the bondage of slavery and debt; to be released from sin and shame; to be forgiven and to express one's trust in God. How much of that original vision do we, as a church or as a social organization, incorporate in the Jubilee year that we commemorate? If there has been a flaw in our understanding of Jubilee which has resulted in so much of resources being wasted, it is time we gather our thoughts and actions and chart a new direction. And I would like to suggest how to go about this in the following paragraphs.

Broadly speaking, the key mission of a church is to help people develop a deeper understanding of God and holy living. If growth in terms of understanding and holiness is absent, then such a church requires deep introspection. Growth in terms of understanding must necessarily lead to holier living. Unholy living with a deeper understanding of God is a contradiction! So if one questions whether a person's understanding of God is deep or not, one must look at the moral conduct of the person; or whether the fruit of the Spirit is present or not. The moral conduct of a person is double-edged. It consists in avoiding evil actions and performing good actions. To avoid murder, theft, adultery, swindling of money etc is just one side of being a morally good person. A morally good person must also actively pursue doing good actions. So when a church commemorates a Jubilee and spends ten or fifty lakhs, it needs to set an objective which will result in the members growing in terms of understanding that will lead them to avoid doing evil acts and pursue good and upright actions. For example, a Jubilee pledge of a church can take the form of government employees making a promise that they will never take a bribe; and that they will come for duty on time. This is an example of church members becoming holier; being morally more pure. Setting an objective for a Jubilee may not necessarily result in a drastically noticeable change. However, it is a significant step towards ensuring a meaningful commemoration of a Jubilee.

A social union or an organization can set an objective different from that of a church when it observes a Jubilee. A social institution can set an objective that will enhance the substantive freedom of at least the members of that union, if not that of the larger society. Thus a social institution can primarily aim to improve the literacy rate or the health or the economic condition or all the above points of the members of that union. These parameters are very similar to the Human Development Index set by the United Nations. If observing a Jubilee cannot explicitly engender positive change in the parameters mentioned above, it can still aim to bring about an implicit change in the above parameters. By this I mean to say that the Jubilee year/week can be used to change our perspective on the importance of forest conservation or adult learning or something similar. For example, highlighting the importance of forest conservation during a Jubilee can implicitly effect the economic condition of the people. Since it is known that the indiscriminate felling of trees can cause soil erosion and less precipitation which in turn adversely affects the farming community, highlighting the significance of this can be a key message of a Jubilee.

(For the Hornbill Express to be published on 16th July, 2013)