Tragedy and how a Christian responds

I know a young Christian woman - she must be 24 years old now. She's as Christian as you can get. Why do I emphasize the Christian part?

Before I tell you that, let me tell you her story briefly. When she was 12 years old, her house went in flames. She had no option but to jump out of her window, and the act of saving her life ended up in paralyzing her waist down. 

Since then, she has moved on in life. Well, move on sounds such an easy word and it doesn't do justice to the amount of personal challenges she had to overcome. 

She has worked out a masters degree in rehabilitation science and currently works in the field. She is quite independent, yet she cannot walk. 

She's a wonderful person, a beautiful soul and more importantly, a faithful Christian. 

Recently, she shared the story of how a pastor told her that the reason she cannot walk is because of her faith, or the lack of it. How rude and unchristian like conduct.

Unfortunately this is the problem with the new age prosperity gospel church and pastors. They have poor understanding of the real gospel of Jesus. Their lack of clarity gets reflected on their followers too. 

Pastors ought to preach the wholesome gospel of Jesus. And no amount of healing and miracle preaching can replace the message of the greatest miracle - the knowledge of Jesus and the the salvation that comes from that experience. 

In that sense, this young woman has got her greatest miracle. 

Random church quotes

Some of the interesting things I heard in the last few months:

- Compassion is feeling their hurt in your heart. 

- storms in life are not caused by God, but they are filtered by Him. 

- Every humiliation and every trial is God cutting a channel into our life, so that his life can flow into us. 

- God does not change us to love us, he loves us to change us. 

- you never stop defeating yourself, until you stop deceiving yourself. 

- humility is a deep sense of one's own moral smallness. 

Philippians 4

- contentment comes out of the fruits of the spirits. If your peace is lost when circumstances changed, your contentment was based on the fruits of good circumstances. 

- contentment is based on 'needs' and not 'wants'.  

- contentment is manifested in circumstances of 'waiting'

- discontentment results in not loving others and doing things that God wants us to do. 

- discontentment clouds your decision making. 

- discontentment distorts our view of God. 

- True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. C S Lewis, Mere Christianity

- think of yourself less and you will think more of yourself and your life - in other words, you will think more of your purpose in life and serving Christ.

- Apostle Paul did not think less of himself. He thought less about himself. Philippians 2:19-30

- if anyone talks about baptism as an act of obedience, he is just talking about the legalistic aspect of it and not the act of accepting the salvation (Philippians 3: 2-3). Similarly, for circumcision - as an act of obedience, one is entrapped in the legalism of it, and therefore transforms it into the act of mutilating the flesh. 

- opinions are like elbows. Most people have two.

- church must save the lost and grow the saved. 

- safety is an illusion on this side of the eternity 

Rejections

Life is full of rejections. One way or the other, each one of us goes through rejection. These days, it's my turn to go through them. A different kind of rejection - journals rejection research contributions.

I tried in the best journal. Rejection came in a day. I then went down to the next tier journal and it took two weeks. The third tier journal took three weeks. None faulted my methodology. All suggested that their publication was unsuitable for the article, which is actually quite right. Now I will try for a more suitable journal. If they too reject, I will truly feel the rejection where it hurts - my ego.    

The average time to get a paper accepted for publication is 6-12 months. It's frustrating. But that's one way science checks it's people - ensures authenticity, credibility and impact. There are faults in the process, but still this seems to be the best possible way at peer reviewed publishing. 

MLK - Lived with an eye on heaven

The above pictures are from a book on civil rights movement in America. Obviously the name that comes to mind is MLK Jr. He was the leader, the visionary and the statesman who charted the path to several landmark civil rights laws. 

Interestingly, MLK lived his entire life with an eye on the heaven. His speeches, his words and his deeds (not the reported sexual failings) more or less reflected it. 

His final documented public speech is such a remarkable thesis of his vision. 

Let me post it here:

"Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!

And so I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!"

http://youtu.be/Oehry1JC9Rk

A dying man's words

I recently read a poignant book titled "When breath becomes air". It's written by a 35 year old neurosurgeon who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2014 and died in a year or so from diagnosis. He wrote this book after his diagnosis in an exploration to understand the meaning of life and put his dying moments in perspective. 

He is a gifted writer. He talks about his childhood, medical school days and then moves on to residency stories. But soon enough the reader is placed into the innermost thoughts of a dying man. 

He and his wife decide to have a child through IVF. Quite a brave decision to have a child in the last moments of life. He writes to his daughter that one day when she grows up and tries to find meaning with life, do not discount the fact that she brought joy into a dying man's life. 

What is the meaning of life? This is a question I always ponder in both my life as a Christ follower and as an oncologist. In fact, a few days later I heard Ravi Zacharias talk about the absolute truth of God and the meaning of life. 

On a related note, the noise of today's new age churches and theology just deviate so much from Christ's teachings and potentially brings peripheral aspects of Christian living into the center. More on that later. 

For now, I remember Paul Kalanithi and thank God for the life of that young man. His life found its meaning through the book he wrote. Not the surgeries he performed. His dying words gave meaning to his life and faith. 

People watching in the mall

Another lazy Saturday morning. This time, I have committed myself to the mall tour. The wife is away in her little shopping spree - which to my joy, is a rare event. I hear it is quite an unusual trait for a woman. And, I am thankful. 

Nevertheless, I am sitting idle in a mall couch. There are three other gentlemen of various age range sitting with me. Slowly, we start talking. And all of us have the same story - valet for the wife. 

It's quite sobering to sit in the mall or in any place and just people-watch. You have various kinds of people walking past you at varying speed, thought and attitudes. Some appear bored, some purposeful, some joyful and glee. Yet, I see an emptiness and weariness in a lot of people. I wonder if my own sense of weariness is getting reflected in those people? Or are they genuinely weary. 

When Jesus said, come to me you who are weary, did he mean these very people? If so, why I, as a man who follows (or attempts to) Jesus is weary and empty? 

One way or the other, this World is not our home. If it were so, we would not feel like this. We are most comfortable and joyful when we are home with the people we love. The nature of my own thoughts show me how far away I am from my eventual home. 

I want to go home!