27. Oktober 2008
Es klopft an der Haustür meiner Ordensgemeinschaft. Eine Frau hat eine Bitte.“Bitte spenden Sie 2 Pfund für die Pflege von streunenden Hunden und Katzen.“
Am liebsten würde ich in mein Zimmer hasten, zwei wertvolle Pfundnoten aus meiner Schultasche nehmen, ihr geben und dann dazu sagen: „Können Sie mir bitte ein Pfund schenken. Damit kann ich in Tansania, in dem Dorf Mtakuja, eine ganze Familie für einen ganzen Tag mit allem Nötigsten versorgen!“ Aber ich lasse es, es wäre zu unhöflich!
Eine Gebetszeit in meiner Ordensgemeinschaft. Das Thema.: Bewahrung der Schöpfung… oder so ähnlich! Man spielt ein stimmungsvolles Lied und begleitet es über eine Power-Point Präsentation mit Bilder von herrlich blühenden Wiesen. Vielleicht gab es auch noch ein paar Fotos, die man von der website von ‘National Geographic’ herunter geladen hatte. Danach gab es eine Schriftlesung, einen Psalm, einen Austausch…
Was ich aus allem heraushörte (vielleicht hat niemand derartiges gesagt, aber bei […]
Month: March 2011
Letter from London 5: India’s poverty and riches
India’s poverty and riches – A look from outside by an insider.
These days, one of the questions that is becoming increasingly difficult for me to answer is, “Where do you come from?” When people ask me “Where do you come from?” I keep wondering if I should be saying …
I come from London, where I am living since last September (2008)?
Or do I come from East Africa, where I have lived 16 years since 1992 – six in Kenya and 10 in Tanzania?
Or should I be saying, I come from India, where I was born, and spent the first 25 years of my life?
As a Roman Catholic missionary, having lived with Africans in Africa, and with Europeans in Europe, I know I am slowly losing my Indian-ness: I find difficult to eat spicy food; to me, Indian movies seem too long and sentimental, and watching them a waste of time; […]
Letter from London 4: Role of Memory in Spirituality
Do This in Memory of Me!
What can the young learn from the spirituality of the elderly?
At least once a month I celebrate the Sunday Eucharist in a nursing home for the aged. Except the nuns who look after them and a few visitors, who are apparently the children and grandchildren of the residents, the participants of this celebration are in the age range of 85 and 105. There are some challenges to be paid attention to: I need to speak loudly enough for the deaf to hear, at the same time I should not be jarring in the ears of those who use hearing-aid; I should not be too long for the sake of those who suffer from incontinence, at the same time be lengthy enough for the pious old Irish ladies to get a satisfaction of having been to the Sunday mass; and above all, being able to meaningfully […]
Letter from London 3: Slumdog Millionaire
Redefining India:
Watching between the frames of the Slumdog Millionaire
London, 28 January 2009. This afternoon I went to watch the Slumdog Millionaire – famous in the West, with 10 nominations for Oscar; and infamous in India, with a number of reported demonstrations. I wanted to see for myself what the point of contention was. Is it a conflict between how India defines itself and how the rest of the world does so? My decision to go to the movie was itself prompted by the comments that I heard from my English friends who had already seen it.
As I sat through the film, I could perceive a certain dynamics of the Aristotelian catharsis unravelling with me. May be a catharsis in reverse! First, a revulsion: this is not the complete picture of India! Surely, this is not what happens in my home village or in my district! Besides, how could a British […]
Letter from London 2: There’s probably no god
Believe in God and Be Happy
“There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” There are 800 buses running across the United Kingdom carrying this slogan. The campaign is part of an anti-religion movement. They managed to raise £140,000 (Rs.1 Crore) for this campaign.
The slogan is an expression of an exaggerated humanism that believes that the way, perhaps the only way, of liberating humankind is by killing God. My faith tells me that God is not an insecure Being that I must rush to protect. There are others who do believe that God needs to be protected. They may even justify killing human beings in the name of God. These abhorring attempts by fundamentalists actually backfire. They prompt the opposite pendulum effect in anti-religion movements, equally fanatic, as seen in the bus slogans. In fact, the fundraising for this campaign began as a direct reaction to Christian bus-adverts […]