Pentecost.....

Today being Pentecost Sunday, the passage read is texted below.....

The biblical narrative of Pentecost, where the 12 Disciples of Christ received the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room, is given in the second chapter of the [Book of Acts]. As recounted in Acts 2:1-6:

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude together, and was confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language”.

The vision of the risen lord strengthened their faith in the Master and his teachings. The descent of the Holy Spirit emboldened them further to take on the world. They stepped out into the world and began to speak as instructed by the Lord. At the end of their proselytizing they ended with the words……. “Eisa kalam” ‘Kalam’ = ‘Word’ which meant “the word of Eisa(Jesus)”. Centuries later some of them would conclude in the local language which roughly translated as “the word of Eisa(Jesus)” while in English speaking regions we hear today as “the word of the lord(Jesus)” while those in the region of Jerusalem and its beyond accepted no change and continued to say “Eisa Kalam” which meant  “the word of Eisa(Jesus)”………….. the only change was with time……….. ‘ka’ got silenced, ………………………..and they continue to say “Eisa lam”

Shades of Grey...........

We were neighbours.  He often spoke of the changing times. Seven generations earlier being orthodox, it was demeaning to be found near the shadow of another faith.
His Great grand aunt was a victim of honour as she was found to have offered a glass of water to the horseman. Such was the cause of death then.
He recalled how his grandmother would supervise the kitchen, which was an outhouse, and it was the man servants who were to serve the visiting dignitaries.
He left his village for the city a decade before independence. Marriage brought about changes. His wife - a city girl with modern upbringing was a gregarious, social aunt. In his absence guests had no hesitation to chat with her as they waited for him.
The family grew and he had seven beautiful daughters. They were all outspoken and ahead of their times. The seventh daughter,  a mother of two lovely kids dropped by to invite us for her marriage. She lived with a friend the past few years and after the arrival of her second child, thought he could be an ideal life partner. She wanted to firm this bond through the institution of marriage.

He reminisced, "How times have changed".
Was the honour killing that happened two hundred years earlier right or
the lifestyle of the present generation ?
If it was sin then,why not now ?

Why these shades of grey .........!

The Unheard Beat.........

It was the summer of 2010, when I attended the reception of a friend. The band played, and the dance began. What struck me strange was that for the same song, the steps each couple did were strikingly different. Some waltzed, a few jived or cha-cha-cha’d while the rest fox trotted.   

Viewed together in the same frame it all seemed chaotic, as I tried to understand the right dance for this tune.

Viewed individually the style, steps, and music seemed appropriate for every couple.

We all hear beats played by the eternal musician. It is for us to understand and decide the style and steps we need to perform to.

We need to listen to our inner voice when we pray, play or go about our daily chores. While it may seem incorrect and chaotic in the crowd, we need to dance to the beat played for us, the one we hear that others do not.