हामी झुटा शिक्षक त होइनौ?

कोरिन्थीको मण्डलीलाई पत्र लेखेर आफ्नो सेवाको परिचय दिँदा पावल भन्छन्, “धेरै मानिसहरूसरह हामी परमेश्वरको वचन व्यापार गर्ने होइनौं, तर परमेश्वरले पठाउनुभएको निष्कपट मानिसको रूपमा हामी परमेश्वरको सामुन्ने ख्रीष्टमा बोल्दछौं” (२कोरिन्थी २.१७)।  त्यसै गरी सम्पत्तिको मोहमा फसेर झूटा शिक्षा सिकाउनेहरूलाई चेताउनी दिन जवान पास्टर तिमोथीलाई उनी लेख्छन्, “भक्तिचाहिँ फाइदा उठाउने उपाय हो भनी तिनीहरू ठान्दछन्…किनभने रुपियापैसाको मोह नै सबै किसिमका खराबीको जड हो।  पैसाको लोभमा परेर कोही-कोही विश्वासबाट कुमार्गतिर लागेका छन्, र धेरै पिडाले तिनीहरूका हृदय घोचेका छन्” (१तिमोथी ६.५, १०)।  पत्रुसले पनि छरपष्ट भई जीवन बिताइरहेका विश्वासीहरूलाई पैसाको लोभमा परेर सेवा गरेको टोपल्ने झूटा शिक्षकहरू आउनेछन् भनी अगमवाणी गरेका थिए।  उनी भन्छन् “लोभमा परेर तिनीहरूले झूटा कुरा बनाएर तिमीहरूबाट फाइदा उठाउनेछन्” (२पत्रुस २.३)।  यो अगमवाणी आज विश्वका धनी मुलुकमा होस् वा गरीब, भौतिक लाभको लागि सेवा गर्ने पास्टर, प्रचारक र मिसनरीहरूको जीवनबाट अक्षरशः पूरा भैरहेक छ।  त्यसैकारण असल सेवकहरूलाई चेतावनी दिँदै पत्रुस भन्छन्, “तिमीहरूको देखरेखमा राखिएको परमेश्वरको बगालको हेरचाहा गर।  करले होइन स्वेच्छाले, धनको लोभले होइन तर उत्साहासाथ” (१पत्रुस ५.२)। 

धनको लोभमा परेर परमेश्रको नाउँमा ठगी गर्ने चलन प्रेरित ५ अध्यायबाटै प्राचीन मण्डलीमा शुरू भएको हो र यो समस्या ज्यूँका त्यूँ आजसम्मै मण्डलीभित्र मौलाउँदै आएको पाइन्छ।  नयाँ काराका झूटा शिक्षकहरू त्यस्ता मानिसहरू थिए जो आर्थिक प्रलोभनका कारण आफ्नो शिक्षा र सिद्धान्तलाई पायकअनुसार जता पनि ठीक्‍क पार्न तयार हुन्थे; उनीहरूको आफ्नो कुनै अडान वा स्वाभिमान हुँदैनथ्यो र पावलले त तिनीहरूलाई सीधै ‘कुकुरहरू’ भनेका छन् (फिलिप्पी ३.२)।

नयाँ करारको समयदेखि मण्डलीलाई पिरोल्दै आएको यस समस्याले आजको नेपाली मण्डलीमा पनि जरा गाडेको छ।  पावलको समयमा जस्तै आज नेपालका मण्डलीहरूमा पनि परमेश्वरको वनचको व्यापार गर्नेहरू, भक्तिलाई फाइदा उठाउने उपाय बनाउनेहरू र धनको लोभमा परेर बगालको हेरचाहा गरेको स्वाङ पार्दै सोझा विश्वासीहरूबाट फाइदा उठाउनेहरू धेरै छन्। 

यस्ता झूटा शिक्षकहरूलाई चिनेर यिनीहरूलाई पन्छाउनको लागि नेपाली ख्रीष्टियानहरूले आफ्नो स्थानीय मण्डलीको पास्टर, प्रचारक वा अन्य सेवक र अगुवाको सेवा गर्ने मनसायको चौतर्फी मूल्याङ्कन गर्ने बेला आएको छ; विशेष गरी त्यो व्यक्ति, जसको मण्डलीमा वा मिसन संस्थामा न वैधानिक समिति छ न पारदर्शिता र उत्तरदायित्व नै।  ३५ वर्षसम्म मिसनरीको अनुभव बटुलेका विलियम कोर्नफिल्डका अनुसार गरीब मुलुकहरूमा यस्ता धेरै सेवकहरू छन् जो सेवाको लागि सहयोग जुटाउन अमेरिका र यूरोपका मण्डलीहरू र मिसनमा धाउँछन् तर प्राप्त गरेको रकमको खूला दुरूपयोग गर्दछन्।  आफ्नै व्यक्तिगत आम्दानीको रूपमा त्यसलाई चलाउँछन् र कसैप्रति उनीहरू उत्तदायी हुँदैनन्।[1]  विदेशी वक्ता झिकाएर अगुवा वा चङ्गाइ सम्मेलन आदिको नाटक रचेर ठेक्‍कापट्टा गर्नेहरू पनि यिनीहरू नै हुन्।  आफ्नो स्वाभिमान र गौरवका साथ येशूका चेला बन्न चाहने नेपाली ख्रीष्टियानले सुसमाचारको नाउँमा हुने यस्ता आर्थिक भ्रष्टचार र ठगीलाई गम्भीरताका साथ लिनुपर्ने बेला आएको छ। 

यदि तपाईंको मण्डलीले पास्टरलाई सुहाउँदो आर्थिक सहायता वा तलब दिन सक्छ तर पास्टरले मण्डलीको सहायता लिन इन्कार गर्छ वा मण्डलीको सहायता पाउँदा पाउँदै पनि विदेशी दाताको खोजीमा भौतारिन्छ भने उसको सेवा गर्ने मनसायप्रति प्रश्न गर्नु स्वाभाविक हो।  आफ्नो पास्टरलाई मण्डलीले सकेसम्म उचित वा सम्मानजनक पारिश्रमिक दिनुपर्दछ ताकि उसका आवस्यकताहरूको कारण सेवाको काममा बाधा पुग्‍ने गरी पैसाको खोजीमा ऊ भौंतारिन नपरोस्। 

मण्डली स्थापनाको लागि उक्त पास्टरलाई कुनै व्यक्ति, संस्था, सम्प्रदाय वा मण्डलीले नयाँ ठाउँमा पठाएको भए जबसम्म त्यो मण्डली स्थापित भई आत्मनिर्भर हुँदैन तबसम्म बाह्य सहायताको औचित्य रही नै रहन्छ।  तापनि, स्थापनाकादेखि नै उक्त मण्डलीले आत्मनिर्भरताको दर्शन देखेको हुनुपर्छ र आफ्नो सेवक (पास्टर) को राम्रो पालन-पोषण गर्नुपर्छ भन्ने विचारको विकास गर्नुपर्छ।  सदाकाल बाह्य सहायतामा नै निर्भर हुन खोजेमा मण्डलीले आफ्नो स्वाभिमान गुमाउनेछ र प्रभावहीन हुनेछ।  यदि कुनै मण्डलीको पास्टरको तलब सधैंभरि बाहिरबाट मात्र आउँछ भने सो पास्टर र त्यहाँका विश्वासीहरू मुक्तिको लागि नभएर पेटको लागि जम्मा भएकाहुन् भन्ने बुझिन्छ र कोर्नफिल्डको भनाइअनुसार त्यस्तो मण्डली पैसा आउन रोकिएपछि बन्द हुन्छ।[2]  त्यसकारण स्वाभिमान र शुद्ध विवेकमा सेवा गर्न मण्डलीका सदस्यहरूको अवस्थासँग सुहाउने पास्टर हुनु आवस्यक छ।  उदाहरणको लागि, किसानहरूको मण्डलीमा एउटा कृषक नै पास्टर भएमा विश्वासीहरूलाई सेवकको आर्थिक भार थाम्‍न सजिलो हुनेछ। 

एउटै व्यक्ति मण्डलीको पास्टर, अनाथालयको निर्देशक, बाइबल स्कूल वा कलेजको प्रिन्सिपल वा अध्यक्ष, र दर्जनौं समितिको सदस्य भएर नाम र दाम कमाउन चाहनेलाई पास्टर बनाउन उचित हुँदैन कारण मण्डलीलाई सेवा पुर्‍याउनुको साटो यस्तो व्यक्ति उल्टै कामचोर भएर मण्डलीलाई लुटिरहेको हुनसक्छ, स्वाभिमान र इज्जतमा आँच पुर्‍याइरहेको हुनसक्छ, मिसनको नाममा मण्डलीलाई बेचिरहेको हुनसक्छ।  यस्तो व्यक्तिले विश्वासीहरूलाई वचनबाट आत्मिक खुराँक खुवाउन सक्दैन।

अर्कोतिर ग्रामीण क्षेत्रका अधिकांश पास्टरहरू बाहिरकै सहयोग खोजिरहेका देखिन्छन्।  त्यसको लागि एउटा बाहान छ कि गाउँमा आम्दानी छैन र सदस्यहरू मण्डलीमा भेटी दिन सक्दैनन्।  त्यो सही नै हो भने सायद त्यस पास्टरको सेवाबाट विश्वासीहरूले आशिष् पाएका छैनन् वा उनी सेवामा प्रभावकारी छैनन्।  तर भीख मागेर परमेश्वरको राज्य चल्दैन भन्ने कुरालाई उसले बुझ्नैपर्छ।  अरूमाथि आश्रित भएका पास्टरहरूमा स्वाभिमानको कमी र हीनताको बोध बढी मात्रामा हुन्छ र त्यसलाई ढाकछोप गर्न उनीहरू कहिल्यै अहङ्कारको मुकुण्डो लगाउँदछन् त कहिल्यै नम्रताको।  स्वाभिमान गुमाइसकेको कारण कसैले पैसा देखाएको खण्डमा यस्ता पास्टरहरू आफ्नो शिक्षा र सिद्धान्तलाई बेच्न तयार हुन्छन्, कहिले ऐरे त कहिले गैरे मण्डली समुदायतिर सरिरहन्छन्, पैसा पाएमा क्याथोलिक बन्न पनि बेर लाउँदैनन्। 

 

स्वदेशी पास्टर प्रचारक मात्रै नभएर विदेशी मिसनरीहरूलाई पनि स्वर्गदूत हुन् भन् मिल्दैन, त्यो पनि २१औं शताब्दीमा।  वास्तवमा स्वदेशी पास्टरहरूलाई सुसमाचारको व्यापार गर्न विदेशी मिसनरीहरूले नै सिकाएका हुन्।  कसैप्रति उत्तरदायी नहुने पाठ पनि मिसनरीहरूले नै सिकाएका हुन्।  त्यसकारण यदि तपाईं वा तपाईंको मण्डली कुनै विदेशी मिसनरीसँग काम गर्दैछ भने उक्त मिसनरीको आर्थिक कारोबारसम्बन्धी पारदर्शिता र उत्तदायित्वको माग गर्ने अधिकार तपाईं वा तपाईंको मण्डलीसँग छ।  यदि ऊ साँचो सेवक हो भने उसको आर्थिक विवरण माग्दा त्यसले उसलाई विचलित पार्नेछैन तर पैसा कमाउन आएको हो भने अवस्य तपाईंसँग उसले विवाद गर्नेछ। 

गरीब मुलुकहरूमा यस्ता मण्डली र पास्टरहरू छन् जो मिसनरीलाई परमेश्वरकै स्थान दिन्छन् कारण उनीहरूको जीविकोपार्जनको स्रोत नै मिसनरी बनेको हुन्छ।  मिसनरी सब्द नै साम्राज्यवादी शक्तिहरूसँग जोडिएको हुँदा स्थानीय मानसिकतामा मिसनरीसँग दाँज्दा आफुलाई हीन भएको र मिसनरीचाहिँ महामानव भएको महसुस गरिन्छ।  त्यसकारण यस्तो महामानवसँग पारदर्शिता र उत्तरदायित्वको माग गर्न स्थानीय नेतृत्वले कल्पना नै गर्न सक्दैन; जे दियो र जसरी दियो, हात मात्र थाप्‍ने बानी बसिसकेको हुन्छ।  अर्कोतिर मिसनरीहरू कसैप्रति पनि उत्तरदायी नभएको हुँदा मिसनको नाममा आएको पैसाले आफ्नो देशमा भन्दा कैयौं गुणा बढी विलासिताको जीवन बिताइरहेका हुन्छन्।  केही वर्षअघि लगभग ३५ हजार रुपियाँ खर्च गरेर एउटा मिसनरीले राखेको सम्मेलनमा मलाई वचन बोल्न निमन्त्रणा दिएको थियो।  मैले वचनको सेवा इमान्दारसँग गरें तर उक्त मिसनरीकै कर्मचारीबाट पछि थाहा भयो कि उसको दाताकहाँ पठाउने रिपोर्टमा उसले चार लाख रुपियाँको हिसाब बुझाएको थियो।

यसरी आज नेपाली मण्डली गलत शिक्षा सिकाउनेहरूको मात्रै नभएर सेवालाई कमाउने माध्यम बनाउने झूटा शिक्षकहरूको पनि शिकार भैरहेको छ।  दुःखको कुरा, यसको विरूद्ध आवाज उठाउने र कलम चलाउने निकै कम छन् र जसले यो साहास गर्दछ उसको उठीबास गर्न पनि नेपालका यी महान प्रभुका सेवकहरू पछि पर्दैनन्।  “तैं चोर, मैं चोर; तैं चुप, मैं चुप” कै प्रणालीले आज सम्म काम गर्दै आएको छ तर आशा गरौं परमेश्वरको ठट्टा लामो समयसम्म हुनेछैन। 

परमेश्वरलाई धन्यवाद होस् कि असल सेवक र स्वाभिमानी ख्रीष्टियानहरू पनि हाम्रो देशमा छन्।  दुःख र सुखमा इमान्दार भै स्वाभिमानका साथ पारदर्शी जीवन बिताउने प्रभुका दासहरू पनि छन्।  ठगी गर्दै हिँड्नेहरूलाई उत्तरदायित्व र पारदर्शिताको धारमा ल्याउनपर्छ भन्ने आवाजहरू पनि उठिरहेकाछन्।  “म मेरो मण्डली स्थापित गर्नेछु र मृत्यु त्यसमाथि विजय हुने छैन” भन्ने प्रभुको वचन पूरा हुनेछ। 

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[1] William J. Kornfield, "What Hath Our Western Money And Our Western Gospel

Wrought?" Evangelical Missions Quarterly 27=3 [July 1991], 230-231.

[2] Ibid., 232.

Can't Pronounce Your Name

Failing to pronounce one’s name correctly is such a great loss in building meaningful relationships.  Making an innocent mistake in saying one’s name may sound forgivable but the emotional detachment it brings cannot be ignored as I speak from my own experience.  Having lived outside of my comfort zones for the last 30 years, there were many occasions when new names were suggested to me; one time felt like going with “Benjamin”.  But for some reasons, I really liked my original name (Bhojraj Bhatta), though the Hindu priest who gave me this name did cause irreparable damages in my and my father’s life.  Because of the timing of my birth and the nature of my name and things related with it, I got to see my father only after I was 11 years old.  That is a different story all together.

In a world of social networks and multicultural interactions, I have finally decided to tamper with my name and fall victim to vocalization.  Of course the guru who Romanized Nepali alphabets into English should have known better that he did not need a “bh” for “भ” as there was a “v” languishing meaninglessly.  I wonder what he was sparing the “v” for!  Thus, with great hesitation, I am turning all my “bh” in “Bhojraj Bhatta” into “v” making it easier for everyone to say “Vojraj Vatta”; unless if you don’t know how to pronounce “v” and “w” differently!

पैसा नै सबै थोक रहेछ!

गरिबीले मानिसलाई धेरै पटक धोका दिन्छ। यसको चपेटामा परेको व्यक्तिलाई लाग्न सक्छ कि आफूसँग सोचे जति सम्पत्ति भैदिएको भए जीवनका सारा समस्याहरू सजिलै समाधान हुनेथिए।  बाइबलले पनि कता कता यस्तै विचारलाई समर्थन गरेको जस्तो लाग्छ। राजा सोलोमन भन्छन्; “पैसाले नै हर कुरा सुल्झाउँछ” (उपदेशक १०.१९), अर्थात, सबै कुराको उत्तर पैसामा नै छ।  “धनले धेरै मित्र बनाउँछ, तर गरीब मानिसको मित्रले उसलाई त्याग्छ”, “गरीब मानिस आफ्ना सबै आफन्तहरूबाट त्यागिन्छ” (हितोपदेश १९.४, ७)। 

सोलोमनका यी भनाइहरू मानव अनुभवका वस्तविकतामा आधारित छन्। यी कुराहरूलाई प्रमाणित गर्न हामीले अन्त कतै हेर्नु पर्दैन; हाम्रो आफ्नै जीवनमा, हाम्रै मित्रहरू र परिवारमा दैनिक घटिरहेका घटनाहरूलाई सोलोमनले व्यक्त गरेका हुन्। उपदेशकको पुस्तकभरि नै सोलोमन भन्छन् “आकाशमुनि सबै कुरा व्यर्थै छन्” र निष्कर्षमा स्वीकार गर्छन् कि “परमेश्वरको भय र आज्ञापालन” आकाशभन्दा माथिका कुराहरू हुन्।  त्यसकारण यिनै कुराहरूमा लाग्नु मानिसको निम्ति लाभदायक हुनेछ कारण एक दिन परमेश्वरको सामु आकाशमुनि गरेका सबै कामको लेखा मानिसले दिनुपर्नेछ। मित्र कमाएका वा गुमाएका, परिवारले स्वीकारेका वा इन्कारेका, सबै थोकको उत्तर पाए पनि नपाए पनि, ती सबै कुरा क्षणिक र आकाशमुनि नै रहने कुराहरू हुन्। तर ती कुराहरूसँग संसारमा रहुन्जेलसम्म हाम्रो सम्बन्ध जस्तो थियो, त्यसको लेखा आकाशमाथि परमेश्वरको सामु हामीले एकदिन दिनै पर्नेछ। सोलोमनले उपदेशकको पुस्तकको अन्तमा दिएको निष्कर्ष गरीब र धनी दुवैका लागि महत्त्वपूर्ण छ।

Do You Have God's Presence in Your Life?

Have you ever come to a place and time in your life where you longed for God's presence but somehow his presence remains to be a mental memory instead of an experiential reality? You go to church but church becomes a burden.  You want to fast and pray but at the end of your fasting and prayer, all you get is a sense of burden and confusion.  You try to share the gospel but there is no zeal.  You preach your sermons but they are no longer touching the lives of those who come to listen.  You want to be a good person, a loving person, but time and again you end of hurting the very people who love you. Your family, friendships, and fellowship with others continue to suffer.  It has been so long that you really remember God answering your prayers.  You experience this dryness but somehow fail to put your finger on the real cause of this dryness.  Even when you do your personal devotion, there is no refreshing from the Lord.  

Check Your Alliances

Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah and son of Asa, was one of the godliest kings in the history of Israel as a nation, and is rightly considered to be a great hero of faith.  His reign of 25 years is marked with God’s blessings of peace, prosperity, protection, divine interventions and victory over enemies.  He was a tender hearted man whose spirit longed for God’s guidance in private and public life.  However, he had one weakness.  The weakness of Jehoshaphat was his tendency of forging alliances with wicked men whose hearts were against God. 

Ahab was the most wicked king of Israel and his two sons, Ahaziah and Jehoram, followed in his footsteps.  The wickedness of the house of Ahab was well known throughout Judah and Israel; two of the greatest prophets, Elijah and Elisha, confronted this evil household.  But Jehoshaphat, with full knowledge of the wickedness of the house of Ahab, forged a marriage alliance with them and later engaged in allied warfare with common enemies. 

The first time Jehoshaphat aligned with Ahab, he was nearly killed.  Later when he aligned with the sons of Ahab, nothing he planned ever succeeded; one time he returned from the battle with disgust and second time lost all the investment he made into building a maritime fleet of ships.  The entire fleet was destroyed without ever making a single sail. 

The lessons for us to learn from a godly person like Jehoshaphat is that we must not make little of the sins of our friends whose hearts are bent on manipulating God’s grace into material gains.  I am witnessing some of my godly friends standing shoulder to shoulder with pastors, missionaries, and namesake Christians who have made a name for themselves with immorality, financial corruption and outright lies and deceptions in missions.  Instead of standing on the truth and demanding holiness and integrity of character, these godly men and women are being coerced into accepting such ungodly people into their fellowship either for material gain or for the temptation of being put into the place of position in their corrupt organizations.  Not that we should not reach out to them but to do so without ever pointing out their wickedness is to do what Jehoshaphat did with Ahab and nearly paid the price.  The church of Jesus Christ is in need of a Micaiah (1K. 22:14) and an Elisha (2K. 3:14) who stood up to Ahab and Jehoram in front of Jehoshaphat and rebuked them of their wickedness, and a Jehu (2Chr. 19:2) who stood up to Jehoshaphat in declaring God’s displeasure for his alliance with Ahab and Jehoram.  Ahab and his household perished in their wickedness but the Lord was gracious to Jehoshaphat and relented his wrath because Jehoshaphat realized his mistakes and remained faithful to the Lord his God for the rest of his days. 

Be friend of all but don’t make light of the wickedness of your friends least you be an equal partner in their wickedness.  

प्रभु येशूको जन्मदिनको सम्झना!

देश विदेश मा रहनुभएका सम्पुर्ण नेपाली दाजु-भाई तथा दिदी-बहिनीहरूमा प्रभु येशूको जन्मदिनको सम्झना!

Unconsciously Fulfilling God's Will - Reflections from 1 Samuel 9-11

When our actions are directed by right attitude, common sense, humility, goodness, sacrifice and courage, we might be fulfilling the very will of God without even being aware of doing it.

1.      Saul’s father Kish lost his donkeys and asked his son to go and find them.  With one of his servants, Saul went in search of the donkeys so far as to be lost himself instead of finding them.  When Saul wanted to return home empty handed without having found the donkey, his servant suggested to visit the Seer.  How amazing it is to see the attitude of people towards the Seer (man of God) in those days.  The automatic response of Saul was that there is nothing left to give to the man of God…as if to say “how can we go empty handed to the man of God?” The master, Saul, is empty handed but the servant is carrying a silver coin.  It is true that the servants would most often carry their precious things on their bodies as there would be no privacy or a secure place in the house where the masters cannot do what they want to do with their servant’s belongings.  Whatever the case might be, here we see the servant carrying this silver coin that would open the door for Saul to meet Samuel.  In meeting Samuel and the feast with him, Saul spends the night talking to Samuel and early in the next morning, told the servant to go ahead alone; Samuel anointed Saul to be the king of Israel without anyone witnessing it.  When God is leading our steps, we don’t need any witness or human approval; he will do what he has planned.  Saul went in search of his father’s donkeys, Saul ran out of food and gifts, Saul failed to find the donkeys and was about to return home empty handed and hungry but God had his own plans.  It was God who leads these two men to the edge of the village where Samuel lived to be anointed as the king of Israel.

I want to Grow Old with You!

“No place that far” is a number one country hit single co-written and sung by Sara Evans.  She also stars in the music video for the song in which she is determined to do everything possible within her power to keep her lover (husband) close by her side till death does them apart.  Did she succeed in doing that?  The video of No Place That Far and the lyrics go like this;

I can't imagine, any greater fear

Then waking up, without you here,

And though the sun, would still shine on,

My whole world, would all be gone,

But not for long,

Asian Quest for West

I was invited to speak in a conference in Manchester, New Hampshire.  Had a wonderful time with friends there and also in Boston where I followed the freedom trail.  Then took a bus ride from Boston to New York to get the feel of the land.  

While I was there, I asked my host to take me to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the pilgrims from England landed in 1620 to seek a better and freer world where they could be what they wanted to be. Being in the actual place of which I had only read was very special and helped me to imagine the pilgrims’ quest somewhat in a personal way. 

I began to think of how, if given the chance, most of the developing world would like to immigrate to the US.  It would take a radical person on a religious level to reject an invitation to move to west from any of the Asian nations (from anywhere in the developing nations for that matter).  Coming from South Asian context, I am inclined to think that this desire to move westward is even stronger in my part of the world than anywhere else; especially after the Second World War and the independence of Indian subcontinent.  As nations overthrew the yoke of colonization, people breathed the sigh of relief and things like self-respect and freedom were at their doorsteps.  For over a thousand years, the Indian subcontinent suffered bitter subjugation at the hands of the Islamic and the European conquerors and finally in the 20^thcentury, at the heels of a major war that still defines world history; freedom and prosperity became real possibilities for the colonized nations. 

When the colonies were experiencing the taste of freedom from tyranny for the first time; the Europeans had ascended the hills of renaissance, enlightenment and were basking in the glory of modernity in the age of reason, science, and technology.  The quality of life was greatly enhanced in the lands where freedom, reason, science and technology flourished.  The colonized witnessed the glimpses of such a life when their colonizers used the natives and their natural resources in making the European life even more comfortable.  Thus, on the one hand, the colonized detested the European colonizers but on the other hand, the colonized were attracted to the kind of life the colonizers were enjoying. 

As the new nations began to take steps in actualizing freedom and prosperity, peoples’ patience was tested by political instability and rampant corruption in these new nations dashing the hopes of progress and prosperity.  Thus, and ironically, migration from east to west began even as the colonizing masters were still on their way home from the colonies. 

Interestingly, this desire to move westward to seek a better world did not begin in the east as we understand today, it began in the west. The English dissenters attempted to move eastward to Holland where they could live in freedom but they could not last there, not that Holland was a bad place.  They just did not feel at home there and finally, on board the Mayflower, sailed westward landing in Plymouth.  Seven years prior to their arrival, 104 Englishmen had landed in Jamestown, Virginia, making it the first colony in the new world under the English Crown.  The purpose of Jamestown immigrants was money and trade while the pilgrims at Plymouth were seeking a place where they could be who they wanted to be and worship God the way they felt right.  The same thing could be said of the Jews who found refuse in the West than in the East after their nation was destroyed.  Going back to Abraham, we see him also taking a westward journey. 

There is something magical that attracts people to the west.  Is it the sunset? Whatever that maybe, most people in South Asia dream of making the westward journey in their life.  There are valid reasons as why such a quest is justifiable.  In the eyes of such aspirants, the majority of those making this move experience better quality of life while the possibility of progress in their own nations increasingly becomes limited or non-existent.

But the world has changed from what it was 50 years ago and this change is only accelerating in our times.  As the Asian societies mature into established democracies and the demand for honest government grows from the public, the interconnectedness of the modern world can provide the possibilities for one to succeed without making this westward move at the expense of one’s identity.  One does not necessarily have to lose one’s heritage, nationality, language, and culture in order to gain a materially comfortable life.  There is much to life than mere material success that the west appears to provide or provides the conditions to prosper.

Unless your country is tyrannical and limits you within its confinements, bars you to exercise your freedom and deprives you of the possibility of learning and innovation, you can achieve and fulfil your dreams without the loss of your hometown, your childhood memories, and cultural connectedness; you don’t have to be a pariah in a foreign land.  No matter how much you try to assimilate in your adopted country, a modern immigrant will always live with the feeling of being an outsider in any nations.  Thus, in today’s world, the quest for west is not necessarily a good thing as it used to be in the past.  

However, it is essential for one to travel around the world to get the personal feel of the land and culture.  But even if one does not have the means and the chance to travel around the world, one can easily educate oneself through the readily available resources that are placed within our reach with a click of a mouse. One can walk in one’s city square and meet people from a number of different countries (unless you live in North Korea) and begin a conversation to get the feel of what it is to be in contact with people from different cultures.   I may not get the chance to drive along the Rhine river but look at this video (Visions of Germany Along The Rhine)that gives you such a real life experience of visiting these amazing places. Even if you were actually traveling there, you won’t get such up-close and personal experience of this beautiful land. There are amazing documentaries, films, movies, and travelogues which virtually can take us on an actual ride around any city in the world and not leave our homeland.  

The world has become a global village and we need a global mind instead of an immigrant mind and success can be at our doorsteps whether we are living in the mountains of Nepal and Bhutan or the plains of India and low lands of Bangladesh.

First sermon in Guwahati: Living in Freedom