"I am coming, accept me and my offering"

His feet are beautiful who walks barefoot;

and not the one who walks with shoes.

His hands are beautiful who mucks in mire;

and not the one who counts the qwerty keys.

His lips are beautiful who sings the song of lament;

and not the one who sings the song of vengeance.

His eyes are beautiful who is blurred by the blurry world;

and not the one who shines with glittering eyebrows.

His back is beautiful who is bruised with marks of scourges;

and not the one who brushed in the gym.

His heart is beautiful patched by scars of thorns and marks of lance;

and not the one who wraps in the coat of gold.

It ain't a fashion parade, nor a fuller's museum.

It ain't a bundle of joys, nor a trap for prey.

It's he who tills the land, feeds the hungry.

It is he who walks miles and miles with feet uncovered. 

It is he who feeds the multitude with a grain of seed.

It is he who is bruised and broken with lashes out.

It is he who is lynched for your glory and pride;

murdered and killed for your whims and fancy.

Where's my freedom and my will?

Am I your servant to wash your dirty linen?

Am I a burden to you and all?

Have I no dignity, right, equality and sovereignty?

If not here, should I be there in the nether world?

Questions, Questions, Questions a thousands

and none to answer.

Let me be silent now, drink my tears and eat my spittle;

For I am happy in my mother's lap.

Let me look up to the sky and say, 

"I am coming, accept me and my offering."

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

The Empty Tomb: Non-existence as Existence

Do not see Me where I am Not, see me where I am. When you see me there, you will be a different person.

Easter is crossing over. It is a crossing from one state of life to another. Symbolically, it is a crossing of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds) from the land of Egypt (known to be bondage) to the land of liberty, the land flowing honey and milk, a land of prosperity, justice and peace. 

To understand this crossing over, we can consider a caterpillar eating the heavy stuff in the jungle and making its cocoon and after a period of time, comes out with a beautiful body, wings and flies around, pollinating the flowers, mesmerizing the children and assisting the plants to yield berries, drupes and fruits. The butterfly makes its presence felt. It is no more in the cocoon. The old life is a thing of the past and a new life has begun. Everyone hates the caterpillar, it is ugly, it is itchy, it is dangerous; but not the butterfly. Butterfly is a mystery revealed from the cocoon, it is a mesmerizing beauty to the poets, writers, children and the old. It is an inspiration to others to ‘become.’ 

Our past life is like a life of bondage in Egypt. It is a life of Babylonian captivity. It is a life of struggle in the desert, hungry, thirsty and tired. At times we felt, ‘God has forsaken us’ in our sojourn. We condemned our leaders who led us to the Promised Land. We doubted in our own inner beauty and strength. When we were thirsty for a drop of water, we fought wars with self and with each other. 

Then the days of life in the cocoon began. What were those forty days! The Lenten Days. Those were the days of fasting, penance, abstinence, prayer and reflection. 

One truth is learnt in these days for sure, as any motivational speakers who rightly say, “if I can today, I can tomorrow. If I can, I will. If I could in these forty days, I will in the next coming forty years.” Yes. Many of us were fasting from ill-speaking, back-biting, violence, destruction, lies, hatred, jealousy, avarice and the list goes on and on. Many were trying to overcome their addictions, addictions alcohol, drugs, sex, internet, pornography, whatsapp, facebook and what not! Many were atoning for their past sins and karmas. Many were practicing the virtues of service, benevolence, mercy and charity. For such people, Jesus has risen today. He has strengthened them for the last forty days and is continuing to strengthen now. If they have succeeded in the last forty days, they will succeed in the coming forty years as well. Change is possible. New life is possible. Resurrection is possible. Acche din possible. 

This does not mean that there will not be difficulties and problems in the future life. The fact that I have begun to live a resurrected life, is the fact that I am ready for the struggle within. But now the same struggle is with a positive approach and not with a negative, depressed and pessimism. The butterfly has to face the world. It has to face the bigger animals of which the prey it is. But now it is not afraid to face the reality. It lives till its last breath giving life to others, pollinating the flowers, cheering the children of the creation, and thus bearing a witness to the world. St. Stephan did it, St. Paul did it and many other eminent saints of the list. Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhiji, Oscar Romero, Rani Maria, A.T. Thomas, Graham Stains and their children and many more such people have done it in front of our eyes. If they have done, why can’t I?

Resurrection is Jesus becoming alive. He is truly resurrected. He will die no more. His presence cannot be reduced to the pages of the Bible or a statue in a church, or limited to the tabernacle in the church, institutions and building. He is no more confined to the limited space of our selfish desires. He is a living reality. We can encounter and discover him in the midst of our lives through the eyes of faith - in all our problems, struggles, crises, challenges, worries, dilemmas, difficulties, calamities, trials, risks, struggles, joys and sorrows, disappointments and frustrations. Because he lives, we can experience his peace in the midst of our disturbed and anxious minds, his providence in our deprivation, his support in our weakness and his outstretched arms in our faults, falls and failures.

Today the resurrected Jesus has to be seen not in the tomb where He was laid to rest. He is to be seen in the living people. He is that same Jesus in the farmer tilling the land in the remote village with the seeds of hope. He is seen amongst the slum dwellers who struggle for an inch of land and morsel of bread. He is seen in every mother struggling to feed her young one. 

He is seen in the hospitals in the nurses and doctors giving life to the patients. He is the same Jesus who is carrying the discarded foetus from our backyards and dustbins and nurture them with motherly care. He is the same resurrected Jesus in the old-age homes taking care of the chased out fathers and mothers from their homes. He is the same resurrected Jesus in the schools and colleges holding the hands of the tiny tots and teaching them the values of life. 

Jesus has Risen. I have seen him. I have witnessed his acts. I have seen his empty tomb. I also have seen his glory on the earth. Therefore, I have made a firm resolution in life that I will carry and witness this resurrected Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life to people around. 

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

Coloured Glasses

"Life, like a dome of many-colored glass, stains the white radiance of eternity"

P. B. Shelley

Decorating ancient buildings with coloured glasses is an art, and is also a delicacy to the eyes. Picturesque paintings and arrangement of glasses in the ancient Churches, Synagogues, theaters and worship places is a symbol of divine. They allow light in different colours to pass through which give a heavenly atmosphere. There is a long history for the genesis of coloured glasses and glass art which I do not want to comment on. What brings a wonder for me is the phenomenology of the coloured glass!

Glass is a surface, be it on a window panel or in any other shape, allows the ray of light to pass in and out. When the light passes through, it reflects the colour which the glass possesses. Deeper the colour of the glass, deeper is the colour of the light. If the glass surface is full of art and design, ditto will be the colour. Darker and opaque the glass, vague will be the light; thinner and transparent the glass, clearer and brighter the light.

Often in the glass cases we read the inscription, “Glass wares, handle with care!”  Glass wares are delicate and can break easily. At the same time, they are very precious. If broken, difficult to put it in order, unless, they are processed again. However, if one processes, the original attire seldom can be attained.

Every human being is like a coloured glass. They are precious, valuable and unique. The values double when they reflect the colour which they possess. More opaque, darker is the colour; transparent the glass, clearer is the vision. Deeper the colour, harder the reflection; more transparency, better transparency is in the personality.

We human beings are multi-coloured glasses. We reflect coloured shades. Rather than reflecting back, we need to allow the light to enter in. While allowing the light to enter in, we need to allow the light to fall into different hues of our glassy personality. Then, the incoming shade will be more colourful. Once we allow different colours to enter in, the reality appearing within will be far more beautiful than otherwise.

Should we allow every light to enter in? I feel, no. We need to filter the light we are receiving. There are hundreds and thousands of rays we are bombarded at every moment. It is up to us, to allow which one is better for me and others to see and experience. There are glasses which block ultra-violet rays and glasses which block infrared and radio waves. Similarly, in our bodies too, there should be areas where such glasses are to be fitted to block such carcinogenic rays. For the healthy culture to shine within the theater of our selves healthy, well decorated, artistic and colourful glasses are essential. Only then, the picture exhibited within will be glorious.

There is an English idiom which goes like this, “Rose-coloured glasses” or “Rose-coloured spectacles” which means, “if someone thinks about or looks at something with rose-coloured glasses, they think it is more pleasant than it really is.” The farther meadow is always greener. It is nothing but masked personality. The reality in fact is fresh and beautiful, but the masked person is not able to perceive in its pristine clear state. The reality is attained only when one experiences it in one’s life.  It is the case with most of the ‘white-collared people,’ who often make rules and regulations for others and they themselves do not have any realistic idea of it. The people wearing rose-coloured glasses often use flowery language, idiomatic expressions and claim to know things better than others. I call this kind of people, ‘over-enthusiasts.’

Some people artificially paint attractive colours on their self-glasses. And some people regret not being painted. What is more important to note here is, the frustration of not being the original paint.  It is by divine providence that each and every individual is given with ample colours in life (say for example, the talents).  However, they are not satisfied with these and therefore, try to paint artificial colours and end up with gloomy pictures. As the proverb goes, “face is the index of the mind,” they exhibit themselves their real inner picture.  On the other hand, there are people who act what actually they are, but remain skeptic about their own beauty. And at times they shut their theater door so as not to allow anyone to enjoy the art. Are both extremes healthy? Nay. One should note that ‘to be authentic is to be natural.’ But at times, there may be some cracking and leaking areas which need immediate attention to.

There is a tendency in some people to ‘weep over the broken glass.’ Will the broken glass recover itself? Can any glue fix it to bring its originality? Remember, we are living in the real world and neither in an imaginary world nor in the magical world.  A broken glass is a broken glass, is a broken glass and is a broken glass. It is a perfect past. Now be in the present perfect and look toward the future perfect. Ask yourself, ‘how shall I regain my lost colour and shape?’ It is perfect to have a broken glass. But the broken glass should be a lesson to build a perfect amphitheater where you entertain several broken glasses and thus lead them to their realization. It is nothing but ‘buying a new glass.’

The transparent natural glass allows the light to pass in without any difficulty. Natural glass is a “colourless” glass (Is there a glass called colourless?! Is the ‘colour’ my imagination? After all, does colour exist at all? Let me not gossip here). It allows one to see what is in and out without any trouble. In other words, transparent glass ‘reveals my nakedness.’ I am stripped off to my nakedness in front of the other. When Adam and Eve sinned they felt this ‘nakedness.’ I am revealed to the other what I am. Now the poets can see the beauty and can compose lyrics; beloved can taste and wonder; journalists can click pictures and report it in the daily mails; scientists can question and experiment; philosophers can philosophize, theologians can theologize, politicians can create polity. Amn’t I a butt of all the jokes to others?

Opaque glass is still an ‘artificial-natural’ glass. It is natural, because I am born with these colours. It is artificial because, I can paint the paint I would like to be. It is said, “humans are made and not born.”  We are made humans by our qualities and potentialities. The opaqueness does not allow or reflect the light completely. It arrests and keeps within itself the portion which should not be exposed. I am safe here for my nakedness is not exposed. No poets can compose, no sociologists, philosophers, theologians and scientists can reveal my inner self. But is this kind of life worth living?

I am in a troubled now. At one hand, coloured glass exposes my glory; on the other, colourless glass reveals my nakedness, making me feel shy. I feel I need to be transparent that I may be what I am. But, looking at the exposure of my nakedness, I feel I should be opaque and dark. Should I be, by the by have any colour at all? Colourfulness and colourlessness is my giveness. It is my actual life. Let me be that, and be fuller in life. What a chimera is this life!?

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

Image url:

http://esguk.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/coloured-glass1.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:William_Holland_stained_glass.jpg

http://www.tatra-glass.co.uk/glass_project_gallery/lakenheath/stained_glass_photos/stained_glass1.jpg

FREEDOM AT THE CROSS-ROADS

Who

says that being free we are really not free? How dare are you to say, “India is in manacles.” Have we not got more freedom here than there in Heaven? Of course, we do have. Therefore, the question, “Where is thy freedom?” is an unnecessary bullshit! Then, listen carefully, understand and reflect. Am I not right in what I say? Have I no freedom to puke what I want? I will say what I want to say. You may christen me crazy, for you’ve your freedom.

Who

said that we have no freedom to use the world as we like? Peel the plantain, eat and throw the skin on the road. Smoke bundles of bidis and cigars and throw the buts in the public places. Empty the kitchen waste in the main road. Throw your dead pets and animals in the uncovered gutters of the municipality. Let others see and enjoy. Drive your vehicle as you like, honk as you wish and dash into whomsoever you want. No problem! After all it is your vehicle. You’re free to use it. Change the party as you wish at any time. You are free. Pelt stones at public vehicles, shops and offices as you used to throw at the ripe mango when you were young. Not yet satisfied? Enflame them! They are all at your service. After all, it is a democratic country! You have won freedom just a few days ago.

Who

said that we’ve no freedom here? Who said that the freedom given for us is barricaded? To do what you want is freedom. You are given ample freedom and that too coagulated with responsibility. But you say, responsibility with freedom is a redundant absurdity. Rightly you’ve said it, ‘policing in my privacy is curtailing my freedom.’ ‘I dance and sing 24x7, because, I am responsible for my future. Who are you to dictate?’

Who

said our country is in the dark? Climb up to the terrace at night and have an aerial appraisal and see the beautiful panoramic towns twinkling like the sky and sing the rhyme, “twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are…” Who said our country is in BPL? Go for an evening walk, look at your right side, people are living in the castles. Their buildings are touching the sky like the Tower of Babel. Beware, how dare you are to glare at the left side, for there only demons live! Know this, that though our views have narrowed, yet no problem, our roads have broadened. Though we need only one child, the divorce rate has increased. Though our farmers do not get enough seed to sow, don’t worry our godowns are full. Though our children go hungry, we export enough food to alleviate hunger. Are we not good Samaritans? What else do we need?

Who

said we are intellectually abaft? Though our knowledge has weakened, our degrees and diplomas are increasing. Though we don’t get permission to open LKG and nursery schools, no permission is prerequisite for IITs, Engineering and Medical colleges, for they decide the GDP. Though our bullock-carts have not vanished, we ’re successful in organizing space-walk picnics. Though our reasoning has become weak, our aptitude for knowledge has increased. Though diseases have increased, medicines too have increased. The learned proclaim that the “decrease in adult mortality and increase in child mortality” is a sign of social awareness. What a paradox! So they don’t need LKGs.  Though we’ve stopped smiling and cheering, has not our shouting and yelling in the bars and pubs increased? And you say ‘it is modern a gurukul.’ Though we are unable to think afresh, there are enough think-tanks to think for us. So, why worry on unnecessary supranno?  After all we’ve money to pay. Though our appetite has declined, our fast-food centers are mushrooming. Though we’ve not learnt to live, we’ve learnt to live in the towns and metropolis. See how posh we are!

Who

said our spirituality has gone wrong? Though we don’t pray, our shrines on the roads are increasing. Shrines and worships are their needs and not my need! Simony is law of the land. My share is my right! Though we fail to bring people to God, we are able to empower them with our lofty ideals. Though we don’t practice what we ought to preach, the hidden mysteries of the Kingdom of God, our preaching has not gone down with our mysterious agenda. Though we are unable to bring glorious revolution, we are talented to bring gory revolution. Is not Gurudev Tagore ubiquitously wrong, “Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee! He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the pathmaker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust….” We want to demolish one mosque and build a temple over there; demolish temple and build church over there, destroy that statue there and erect this one here. Though God protects us, we think we need to protect God! People of the country are the 'uncivilized vanvasis' while the others are 'civilized citizens'! This is the religion. This is the freedom of religion which my country proclaims today! I am proud of it!

Who

said our leaders are bad? Though they are producing and blasting tons of granite, receive handsome black bags and parade in scamy adventures, their hearts are soft like sponge! Today they blast granite and tomorrow weep at the blasted granite. Today they beep up for trekking and tomorrow receive medals of bravado. Though they cannot write their names, they’ve their secretaries to write for them. See, how faithfully they work for you! Every minute and second busy in writing and signing MoUs of MNCs, and other project works. MNS and Corporates, Amabanis and Adanis are their revered guests who only can uplift the poverty in India. They are busy in developmental acts to attend your calls, so don’t disturb them. Let them have the pleasure of serving you when they get time. That is why you have chosen them. Though we’ve no sandals to wear, they are busy funding pedal-less cycles for your sisters in the villages. You are healthy to drink murky water, that’s okay; but if they drink, who will cure them whilst they fall sick? So allow them to drink ‘bisleri’ water. They have passed bills in parliaments for wells and ponds for farmers. But you see, the delay of boring is due the punctured wheels of the trucks! If the present project has not addressed the 250 million farmers; don’t worry, the next 5 year plan will address their needs.

i

I find it difficult to understand what our Father wrote, the day after Independence: “We’ve achieved political freedom, but we’ve not yet achieved economic, social and moral freedom. It is a difficult task to achieve.” Is not Gandhi wrong!? I have the freedom to do what I want. I can raise my moral, social and economic standard. Therefore, I am not enslaved. Therefore, let us rejoice, celebrate and be proud! This is my nation, my country and I am proud of its heritage!

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

Picture source:

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcStXpi2IagoXR9k-3z49lPHQrzphno9XruJVtbEHNkltCAtgoc0

THE PARADOX OF LIFE

THE PARADOX OF LIFE 

We say India is corrupt; but don’t say, ‘I am the most corrupt’

We say our politicians are bad; but don’t say, ‘it is my mistake’

We say our system is worse; but don’t say, ‘mine is still worst’

We say our PDS do not care the poor; but don’t say, ‘neither do I’

We say our worship pattern is antidoxy; but don’t say, ‘I just claim to be orthodoxy’

We follow, not being unique but the crowd;

For it has no face or we fear for our face

We live within the paradox, the dos and don’ts;

Between love and hate, manage and mismanage

Yes, life is a paradox, a Pandora box:

Moves but doesn’t; sees but doesn’t, inspires but doesn’t…

So, why not live differently as for today and just now?

For, today is the promised but not cancelled one.

Follow, not by criticizing, but being criticized;

Not by destroying, but being built,

Not by depreciating, but by appreciating.

                        So let’s be different today:

If you run, now walk; if you walk, now run

If you’re tempered, be calm; if you are calm, be tempered

If you’re big dealer, talker, taker, conqueror, be the contrary

Just for today and now

For whereof you speak, thereof you keep shut

Whereof you keep shut, thereof you at least murmur

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta