The Holy Bible is also called good news or Injil, indeed it was meant as such. Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, asked his first disciples to spread the good tidings of love. His teachings were Catholic in its truest sense and meaning. Alas, today how many of us even know that Catholic means universal.
Yes, love is Catholic, it is universal. It is not the monopoly of any particular church. And, Jesus, the very personification of such universal, infinite and unconditional love cannot be monopolized by a single institution or group of individuals.
Yet, love is also responsibility. Love means being responsible. Therefore, do not expect Jesus to stay calm and keep quite at the sight of money changers ripping ignorant and blind devotees. Such sight can turn him into live dynamite. He has the guts to kick them out of the temple in Jerusalem. Love is not being goody-goody; it is being good. For, goodness is godliness.
Unfortunately, nowadays even our religious ministers and so called spiritualists are — at best — being goody-goody. Most of them are far from being good and godly. It was therefore good news indeed, when a friend of mine sent me the following:
“Thought you might enjoy this interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people. When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:
“Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance.
“We know Your word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good’, but that is exactly what we have done.
“We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
“We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
“We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
“We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
“We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
“We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
“We have abused power and called it politics.
“We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
“We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
“We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
“Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!”
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. Within weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and Korea.
Hmmm, Minister Joe Wright has taken the first step toward being good, toward godliness. We cannot become good and godly until and unless we are aware of our shortcomings and weaknesses. “Confession of Sin” is not a church-booth affair. It is being conscious of our faults and having the necessary guts to correct them. It is the willingness and readiness to face ourselves in our naked reality!
Fault number one: We have lost the sense of discrimination. We can no longer differentiate between what is appropriate and what is not appropriate to human dignity.
Influenced by the entire genre of modern motivators, a friend of mine reminds me to be non-judgmental, “Not only the modern motivators, even Prophet Isa tells us not to judge.”
Being non-judgmental does not mean that you indulge in activities which are not appropriate to human dignity. Yes, do not resist evil. Do not hate, be compassionate… but, you do not have to stoop down to the level of creatures with under-developed minds.
Be mindful of what you do, be mindful of what you think and speak. Be mindful of your association and life style. Be mindful of your environment. It is the art of being mindful that we have lost due to the loss of sense of discrimination. We must relearn this art and reshape our lives accordingly.
Fault number two: The loss of spirituality. We have forgotten that living is essentially a spiritual affair. Of what use is the body without spirit? It is because of the spirit that matter gains some value. In fact matter cannot exist without spirit. Matter, as is our body and all other things are but manifestations of spirit. Okay, Einstein called it energy. Fine, call it that if you like.
Spirit, or energy, or whatever you call it — manifests itself in human being as the drive to act, to think, to feel, and to speak. It is the spirit to live humanly and to aspire for divine heights!
Fault number three: Reversal of values, as stipulated by the minister. We have become slaves to our senses. Over-indulgence is justified as part of modern living. This is proven by the Installment Culture. From a television set to a vacation — all are available on deferred payment. We are in debt right from the day we start to work, even before that in some of the so-called modern and developed countries.
Ever since the dawn of the colonial area, we have allowed the traders to rule over us. This is as true today as it was three centuries ago. We have mortgaged our country, our nation and our people to large corporations. From local conflicts to battles and wars between nations — everything is initiated by those corporations. It is only the ignorant who cannot see this fact.
Alas, if only we had listened to the warnings against neo-colonialism and neo-imperialism given by our founding fathers. But, it is never too late. Wake up, for today is another day. And, we have all the time in the world to turn the tables.