Day 01 Advent Devotional Dec 01

Scripture of the Day:

St Luke 1: 13-17 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201:13-17)

Thought of the day:

Orthodox Christians observe a season of lent in preparation for the great feast of the birth of our Lord. Why do we fast during this time? What should we do in this season? To find some insights it would be helpful to turn to the Holy Scriptures. We are reminded of the arrival of the advent season on the Sunday of the Annunciation to Zachariah (Luke 1). Here we see the angel Gabriel telling Zachariah of the birth of St John the Baptist. Along with informing Zachariah that he will soon have a son, the angel also tells him the mission of his son. In Verses 13-15 we read about the identity of St John and in verses 16-17 we are told about the work that St John will do. The work of St John centers around one word – Repentance. This one simple message is the mood that we ought to have in the season of Advent.

The angel tells Zechariah that St John “will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God” (v.16). St John turns others to the Lord. In the Old Testament the word used for repentance is “turn”.  For example God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel and said: "But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die" (Ezek 18:21).

The word turn implies a change in direction from the present course. The Advent Lent is a time for us to examine our present path and to see where we need to turn. It is an opportunity for us to realign our spiritual compass. It reminds us of the “turning” that we all did at the time of our baptism. We all faced West and rejected Satan and then turned East (towards the altar) and accepted Christ. We have made a complete 180 degree change from the way of the world to the way of Christ. As we begin the Advent Lent let us resolve to follow the advice of St John and turn to our Lord.  

Song of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBYEArJkDFc

Icon of the Day:

https://iconreader.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/icons-of-john-the-baptist-john-the-forerunner/

Quote of the day:

St John Chrysostom:

6. Do you wish that I shall speak of the ways of repentance? They are many, and various, and different, and all lead to heaven. The first way of repentance is condemnation of sins. “Declare thou first thy sins that thou mayest be justified.” Wherefore also the prophet said “I said, I will speak out, my transgression to the Lord, and thou remittedst the iniquity of my heart.” Condemn thyself therefore for thy sins. This is enough for the Master by way of self-defence. For he who condemns his sins, is slower to fall into them again. Awake thy conscience, that inward accuser, in order that thou mayest have no accuser at the judgment seat of the Lord. This is one way of repentance, the best; and there is another not less than this, not to bear a grudge against thine enemies to overcome anger, to forgive the sins of our fellow-servants. For so will those which have been done against the master be forgiven us. See the second expiation of sins: “For if ye forgive” saith he, “your debtors, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Dost thou wish to learn a third way of repentance? Fervent and diligent prayer, and to do this from the bottom of the heart. Hast thou not seen that widow, how she persuaded the shameless judge? But thou hast a gentle Master, both tender, and kind. She asked, against her adversaries, but thou dost not ask against thine adversaries, but on behalf of thine own salvation. And if thou wouldest learn a fourth way, I will say almsgiving. For this has a great power and unspeakable. For Daniel saith to Nebuchadnezzar when he had come to all kinds of evil, and had entered upon all impiety, “O King let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, redeem thy sins by almsgiving and thine iniquities by compassion on the poor.” What could be compared with this lovingkindness? After countless sins, after so many transgressions, he is promised that he will be reconciled with him he has come into conflict with if he will show kindness to his own fellow-servants. And modesty, and humility, not less than all words spoken, exhaust the nature of sins. And the publican is proof, being unable to declare his good deeds, in sight of all, bringing forward his humility, and laying aside the heavy burden of his sins. See we have shewn five ways of repentance: first the condemnation of sins, next the forgiveness of our neighbours’ sins, thirdly that which comes of prayer, fourth that which comes of almsgiving, fifth that which comes of humility. Do not thou then be lazy; but walk in all these day by day.

(Three Homilies Concerning Power of Demons, Homily II: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf109.x.iv.html )

Jesus and the Census

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This is an aspect of the Christmas story that is universally known. However the gospel writers grappled with the issue of how Christ came to be born in Bethlehem. Jesus grew up in Nazareth. Hebrew scripture though had predicted that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). St. Luke in his narration of the birth of the Messiah suggests that Joseph and Mary, although native to Nazareth had been at Bethlehem at the time of birth of Jesus. They were present at Bethlehem to participate in the census.

Emperor Augustus, the Roman Emperor of the time ordered a massive census effort within the empire. This required all the people to return to their ancestral towns. “Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child (St. Luke 2: 4-5).”

St. Luke’s account of the census of Quirinius has proved problematic for Biblical scholars from the early century onwards. Without delving into the accuracy of the account I would like to connect that event with the decennial practice of taking a census in United States.

2010 is the year for the next census. It is important to get an accurate count of those living in United States of America. An accurate count is important for the allocation of federal and state resources. Historically undercounted areas face the struggle of overcrowded schools and underdeveloped infrastructure.

The churches have a responsibility to exhort their congregants to participate in this census. It is often immigrant population which is reluctant to participate. We should realize that the census effort does not seek to discover the legal status of the person being counted.

Like Joseph and Mary let us make our effort to be counted in the next census.

Elected representatives entered through the back door for legislature building in order to reach the President’s chair first. Then the rival party’s leader claimed to be the legitimate leader and convened a parallel meeting on the same floor. Elected officials switched party alliances to overthrown leaders of the older party. These sound like the events taking place in Kerala’s state legislative assembly. However these are the events from New York State Legislature.

The New York State Legislature is in the midst of a political turmoil and no one seems to have a control over the matters. The Governor claims to be in charge the judiciary wants remain distant from the bickering and the legislators are too busy with mudslinging. Although I was in India when the June 8^th attempted coup took place the fallout is still going on. All this politics in Albany makes for an interesting read.

The events in Kerala are also quite similar. The Chief Minister’s primary enemies are from his own part. The CPI is split into two camps with the CM enjoying only a minority support form the party’s cadres but wider support from the people of Kerala. Pinrayi Vijayan, party secretary is the rival to CM. Pinarayi is under investigation for corruption under the SNC Lavalin case. Pinarayi is accused of conspiring with top government officials in the late 90s when he was minister in charge of electricity department. The alleged corruption left the state at loss of several millions of dollars. SNC Lavalin, a Canadian company denies any wrong doing. Regardless of the veracity of the event this has become a polarizing point in the state.

Both states, Kerala and New York, are undergoing political turmoil. I don’t think that it will be long before the crisis in Albany is cleared up. For Kerala however this is one among many issues that Keralites have just gotten used to.

Waking up from a coma

I have been back in New York for almost a week and I am attempting to get back to normal life. Sometimes I feel as if I have just woken up from a coma. Having spent half of the last decade other side of the planet has meant that I have fallen behind certain aspects of life.

It is quite like the expression, “unless you have been underneath a rock for so long.” Although I managed to come back to USA annually for the annual vacations, I never attempted to readjust fully to American life. I was always aware that I had to return back to India and always considered India my permanent residence at that time. So during those brief trips back to NY I never made a conscious effort to get on with normal life.

This hiatus and return does offer me a unique perspective on American society. It is not only this long absence from this society, but also the mental programming of Indian society has helped to develop a frame of mind quite different from where I had left off.

The rapid rate at which technology advanced has also left me behind. At 2004 when I left for India, I was somewhat of a tech geek. Web programming, database creation, and internet were both business and pleasure. I was on top of not just the cutting edge of technology, but also the bleeding edge of it all. The low-tech life of seminary did not enable me to keep up with the advances in technology. Web creation has evolved radically from the WSIWYG tools such as Dreamweaver to web content generation tools. Blogging was just a new tool five years and today it was become a legitimate news outlet as well as communication phenomenon. I –phone, I-tunes were not even existent yet and Apple was on the verge of extinction.

It is in regards to Pop culture that this comatose experience is striking. One thing that I have noticed is the synergy that exists in media. TV shows have web surveys and the results of these surveys are displayed live on TV. Sports stars are also music celebs and music celebs are also film stars. The ubiquitous nature of internet has just about changed every aspect of life. In casual conversations I find myself the only one who does not get the jokes which are reliant on some pop cultural reference.

Changes in circle of family and friends also is affected by this change. Some have changed residence and I still assume that they are living in their old apartments. Many friends have gotten married and have children. Nieces and nephews who were infants have grown older and do not recognize their uncle.

A while ago in the witty satire paper The Onion, I read an article about a person who is only aware of Pop culture prior to 1995. He only played the original Nintendo games, only listened to older version of songs from his favorite band – U2. He only understood pop cultural references from the 80s and early 90s. I feel quite like that person. However the significant difference is that the subject of the newspaper story was insistent on not catching up while I will have caught up very soon.