प्रिय जवान नेपाली पास्टर

परमेश्वरको सेवागर्ने जुन जोस र दर्शन तिमीमा छ, त्यसलाई देखेर मेरो मन सारै रमाउँछ।  तिमीमा भएका वरदानहरू, क्षमताहरू, योग्यताहरू र तिम्रो नामको अगाडि राखिने उपनामहरूलाई देखेर मलाई लोभ लाग्छ।  तिम्रो देश-विदेश सम्मको पहुँच; ठुला ठुला विश्वप्रख्यात र नामचलेका प्रभुकादासहरू का साथै दाताहरूको मन सजिलै जित्नसक्ने तिम्रो कला; नेता, मन्त्री र राजाहरूलाई नै प्रभावित गर्नेसक्ने तिम्रो सामाजिक शैली देख्दा मलाई त तिम्रो नजिक आउन डर लाग्छ कारण के र कसरी तिमीलाई सम्वोधन गर्ने भन्दा भन्दै मेरो त होसै हराउँछ।  तिमीले परमेश्वरको राज्यको लागि जम्मा गरेको चल र अचल सम्पत्तिको कारण मण्डली सारै आशिषित भएको देख्दा परमेश्वरको राज्य साँच्चै पृथ्वीमा आईसकेको जस्तो पनि लाग्छ।  तिम्रो वाचन वा भाषण गर्ने सैली र सफलतालाई हेर्दा र सुन्दा त मलाई अर्को हप्ता मेरो सानो झुण्डको अगाडि राखिएको पुल्पिटको पछाडि उभिन पनि कस्तो कस्तो लाग्छ।  यी एक मुठि विस्वासीहरूले केहि गरि तिम्रो कुरा मात्रै पनि सुन्नपाएमा मलाई नै छोडेर तिम्रै मण्डली, संस्था र जथ्थामा जान्छन् कि भन्ने डर पनि लाग्छ कारण तिमीले त सजिलै उनिहरूको गाँस, बास र कपासको पनि व्यवस्था मिलाईदिनसक्छौ।  तिमीले चढ्ने गाडि, मोटरसाईकल, तिमी बस्ने घर, तिमीले लगाएका लुगा, औंठि, सिक्रि, घडि, चस्मा; तिमिले चलाउने फोन र कम्पूटर कि के के हुन् देख्दा मलाई त आफुसारै पाखे जस्तो लाग्छ र मेरै विस्वासीहरूले पनि गिज्याउलान् कि भन्ने डरलाग्छ।  भन्ने नै हो भने, प्रिय पास्टर, तिमी त “सफलताको” प्रतिक हौ!  खै के भयो भयो कुन्नी, मलाई त मजस्तै पाखे र असफल पास्टरहरूसँग भेट्दा सारै आनन्द आउँछ।

तापनि, पास्टर, म एक दुई कुरा भन्छु ल?  हुनत तिमीसँग पढ्ने, सुन्ने, र सिक्ने समयत पक्कै पनि छैन होला। तरै पनि यो पाखेको मनमा लागेका कुरा...

१)      मानिसः प्रिय पास्टर, परमेस्वरको सेवामा मानसिलाई किनबेच गरिँदैन।  मानिस अमुल्य छ; उत परमेश्वरको श्वरूपमा बनेको परमेश्वरजस्तै प्राणी हो।  उसलाई आदर, ईज्जत र सम्मान गरिनुपर्छ।  उ परमेश्वरको मन्दिर हो।  आफु वेचिएको थाहापाउँदा मानिसको मन सारै दुख्छ र परमेश्वरले पनि त्यसको डरलाग्दो लेखा लिनुहुन्छ।  म पनि नयाँ विश्वासी हुँदा वेचिएको थिए; थाहा पाए पछी सारै चित्तदुख्यो।

२)      मण्डलीः प्रिय पास्टर, मण्डली तिम्रो होईन। मण्डली त येशू की दुलही हो।  हुनत तिमी सफल र शक्तिसाली मानिस भएको कारण लाग्छ होला तिमी नै मण्डलीको मालिक भनेर तर त्यसो गरेमा तिमी येशूको जार ठहरिनेछौ। जारी तिर्नुपर्ला! 

३)      महिमाः प्रिय पास्टर, तिमीलाई कसैले डाक्टर, रेभरेन्ड, विशप, आदि ईत्यादी उपनामहरूले बोलाओस भनेर मेहनत नै नगरी कालो बजारिका उपाधिहरूलाई आफ्नो कोठाको भित्ताहरूमा सजाएर राखेका छौ होला।  त्यो ठिकै पनि हो कारण तिमीलाई अध्यन गर्ने समयनै कहाँ छ र?  तर मित्र, कालोबजारिबाट मिलेको महिमा पनि त्यति सस्तो चाहिँ छैन। समय आएपछि यसले पनि आफ्नो मुल्य चुकाएरै जान्छ। जब तिमीभित्रको खोक्रो पनालाई तिम्रा मानसिले देख्‍नेछन् तब उनिहरू पनि तिमीबाट मुन्टो बटार्नेछन्, ओट लेप्य्राउनेछन् र कतिपटक त ठगि मुद्दामा जेलै जानुपर्ला।

४)      महिलाः प्रिय पास्टर, तिमी पुरूष हौ भने अवस्यपनि तिमीले महिलाहरूलाई धेरै लुटिसकेका छौ।  उनिहरूको कमोलो मन, सजिलै विस्वासगर्ने निर्दोषपना, र दयालु हृदयको सहयोगलाई तिमीले धेरै लुटेको हुनसक्छ नत्र तिमी यति सफल हुनसक्ने सम्भावना कमै छ।  यहाँ सम्म मात्रै भएत कमसेकम सहन सकिन्छ पनि।  तर जब तिमी आफुलाई सर्वशक्तिमानको रुपले हेर्छौ, तब अबला नारीको ईज्जतपनि तिमी बाँकि राख्‍ने छैनौ।  व्यविचारमा जीवन बिताउँदै सेवाको घण्टी बजाईनै रहनेछौ।

५)      मिनिस्ट्रीः यो मेरो आजको लागि अन्तिम बुँदा हो कारण मलाई थाहा छ तिम्रो कन्चट तातिसकेको छ।  मिनिस्ट्री आफ्नो लागि गरिने चिज होईन, यो त अरूको लागि गरिने चिज हो।  अनि, मिनिस्ट्री संसारीक तडकभडक पनि होईन, यो त परमेस्वरको वचनको सेवा हो।  वचनबाट पापमा दुःख पाईरहेका मानिसहरूलाई परमेश्वरको चंगाईमा ल्याउनु हो।  मृत्युको छाँयाँमा रहेकाहरूलाई जीवनको छहारीमा ल्याउनु हो।  तर यसको लागि पहिला आफै चंगाई भएर जीवनको छहारीको पुरा अनुभव गरेकै हुनुपर्छ।  मिनिस्ट्री तब हुन्छ जब तिम्रो मण्डलीका विश्वासीहरू सेवाबाट घर फर्किँदा वचन र पवित्र आत्माले भरिएका हुन्छन्।  तिमी उनिहरूको पास्टर भएकोमा उनिहरू गर्व गर्छन् र भन्छन् “हाम्रो पास्टरले आज साँच्चै नै परमेश्वरको आवाज सुनेको रहेछ”!  मिनिस्ट्री तब हुन्छ जब तिम्रो मण्डलीका विस्वासीहरूमा पवित्र आत्माको फल फल्न थाल्छ।  

आजलाई यति नै!!

Big picture of life

Secrets Kill Relationships

We may have shed a tear or two for Robinson Crusoe says F. W. Boreham in The Luggage of Life (1923) but in actuality we all are in our own isolated islands separated by the oceans of secrets; essentially, every soul lives and dies alone.  Savages, according to Boreham, lived happy and connected life as they had very little to hide, but the modern man is surrounded with secretes.  The rich want to hide their wealth, the poor their poverty. The wise want to hide their wisdom, the fool their folly.  We all have something we rather not allow others to know about.  Our fears, worries, failures and frustrations are often covered with a sense of calm and serenity on the outside but a raging sea might be getting rougher in the inside.  Some try to calm the sea with pleasures of the flesh, some with learnings of the mind and others with the sense of renunciation and asceticism. 

Boreham expressed such sentiment over a hundred years ago but the advent of social media in our time continues to speak about man’s quest for connection and a dilemma for isolation.  When I signed up for a Facebook account, I was elated to be connected with friends that had gone under the radar for over 35 years. However, the pleasantries only lasted a few seasons as the Luggage of Life had taken us into different directions; Facebook could not substitute what we could never achieve in real life.

However, there is one relationship in which this quest for connection and dilemma for secrecy can be fully satisfied; it is the union of marriage.  BBC Travel (June 27, 2016) writes about Juan Martin and Sinforosa Colomer in the title “The Mountain Hermits of Aragon”, who have been happily living all by themselves for the last 45 years in the village of La Estrella in Spain.  Starting from 1950, the villagers began to move to better places and by 1970 all but them.  Juan and Sinforosa decided to live out their lives in their childhood village.  Today, the only house standing in that whole village of about 200 people is theirs along with a church sanctuary they have faithfully taken care of and prayed in for decades.  Now in their 80s, they were confident in expressing that life couldn’t be happier.  

I had struggled with the feeling of abandonment from childhood.  Later in my youth, knowing God as my father, Christ as my friend and Holy Spirit as my counselor did bring some relief but the need for human love and companionship persisted.  It was only after I met the love of my life that all my longings for companionship found their fulfillment.  In our marriage, we found a perfect place to put to rest all our secrets; what remained was the amazing sense of belonging and companionship. 

Sadly, many marriages are killed because of the ongoing attempt to keep secrets from each other.  All other relationships and friendships can be maintained in spite of the secrets but a happy marriage can’t.  So, if you want to have a companion who would be happy to help you carry your luggage in life, then, don’t keep secrets from your wife or husband.  If you do, you will kill the only human relationship designed for that purpose.

व्यविचारको पापबाट छुटकारा

You Are A Racist!

If you are not a racist, you have either educated yourself into being a perfect human being who truly believes that all men are created equal.  Or, you are a saint or a prophet who has ascended to the heavens to experience that the creator indeed has created all men equal and imprinted in them his own image. 

But truth be told, most of us, specially in Asian cultures, will confess that we carry within some recesses of our hearts the racial tendencies of one kind or the other.  If not consciously and philosophically, these tendencies show up in some unconscious and pragmatic ways in our daily living; the language we use to describe people who are different from us, the gestures we exhibit in dealing with people who are different from us, and the sarcasm we resort to in demonstrating our superiority over others may easily be betraying our masked racism behind our futile efforts to hide it.

Thomas Jefferson coined (regardless of its origin) the term “all men are created equal” before immortalizing it by engraving in one of the finest human documents affirming human equality and freedom, the US Declaration of Independence.  The irony however is that even Jefferson could not escape the ridicule of living off of the back of his many slaves.  Here was a great mind who saw all humans equal but could not overcome the cultural shackles of slavery that treated some men as less than the others and took away their God given rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. 

Ho Chi Min, who opened the floodgates of communism into Vietnam and the surrounding nations that would later obliterate millions, when declaring his country’s independence from a century old French and five-year old Japanese occupation, quotes the US declaration of independence in stating how the French had violated the basic human principles of equality and freedom.  The French and the Japanese had exploited Vietnam but Ho holds the French more responsible because, unlike the Japanese, the French constitution affirms the equality of all human beings.

Whether it is a Jefferson, a Ho or a French constitution, before we experience the equality of all human beings in practice, it has to be conceived in the human mind.  Unless we are convinced in our minds that “all men are created equal”, we will never be able to put it into practice; the animalistic survival instincts will always deceive us in thinking that our race, our religion, our tribe, our caste, our clan is better than others. 

How could Jefferson think that “all men are created equal”?  How come the French constitution rather than a Japanese affirms the equality of all men?  How come some of the most advanced economies of Asia and Middle East are still abysmal when it comes to human rights and freedom?  Why do we always look to Geneva for peace, freedom, human rights, and so on?  Why not to Cairo? Why not to New Delhi? Why not to Beijing?

Whether it is a Jefferson, a France or a Geneva; their roots go back to the Biblical teaching that all men are created in God’s image and therefore, all are equally worthy of respect, love and service.  Jesus summarized the whole Bible in two imperatives; love God and love your neighbor.

Therefore, if you are not a racist, you have not only understood the teachings of Christ, you have actually emulated his teaching in respecting all men as equal and created in God’s image worthy of respect, love and service regardless of the differences you share.

Not the Sword or the Pen but the Heart of Man

A lesson I remember from my elementary school was about the battle between the Pen and the Sword.  Which is stronger?” asked the teacher.  “The sword” was the unison reply of my 3^rd grade classmates.  But the teacher said, “you all are wrong, the pen is mightier than the sword”.  Slow in learning, I could not make any sense of the question.  How can there even be a war between a pen and a sword?  And, even if people want to fight with such weaponry; who idiot will think of picking a pen to fight against a man wielding a sword?  Maybe this is what we call an elementary level of thinking.  But war between these two objects seems to know no bound; decades, centuries and even millennia have seen them fight tirelessly and the sword eventually surrenders to pen but only for a time to regain its valor.

People and civilizations under the the reign of pen seem to flourish in all their forms and fashions; art and literature appear to enjoy the most as they become the channels for human expressions of creativity and ingenuity inspiring the human imagination to go further into the discovery of the natural world of science and technology.  Ideas are freely expressed and disputes are settled by debating the merits and the demerits of both the sides; no wonder the people of Athens still bear the testimony for such a life. 

As good as it is to live under the reign of pen; the pen is also very naive and vulnerable that it begins to believe it can sleep at night without locking the door; in its ideal world are no thieves.  When the dogs bark in the neighborhood at night, it assumes that a cat must have been running after a rat only to realize in the morning that the whole town was robbed and ransacked by some barbarians wielding the sword from beyond the yonder.  Realizing the gravity of the situation, it rushes to the city square, calls on the scribes to come to Areopagus to discuss the tragedy.  Alas, no one comes!  There is no sign of life in any of the houses of the scribes.  Hurriedly it rushes to Areopagus, only to see the sword waiting for its arrival.  The loyal politicians of the city were now standing to testify against the pen; crowd was solemn and silent.  The pen could not believe its ears what the politicians were spewing out of their lying mouths.  The sword gave the verdict; pen must be executed.  Climbing to the gallows, pen tried to see if there were any scribes in the crowd down below; in the far corner with heads covered like women were a few of them secretly wiping their tears.  With sadness but no regret, the pen put its head across the beam with neck sitting on it and the axe fell.  As if something divine had happened, darkness covered the land for a long long time.

One of the surviving scribes by the name of Plato went to look for an Ideal Republic in which the pen and the sword would unite in peace and serve the people with the best of their ability.  The other by the name of Confucius went to look for an Ideal Prince who would listen to him in creating a perfect nation where justice and freedom would rule for the prosperity of the people.  But neither of them could achieve their dreams; they both failed miserably.  And there came another scribe by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, warning the rest of them that the problem was not with the pen or the sword, the problem was with the heart of man.  Unless a man be born again and become like a child, he will always be a victim either under the brutality of the sword who thinks that all those who disagree are guilty deserving death or the naivety of the pen who thinks that those who disagree also belong to universal brotherhood and should be allowed to express their disagreement in anyway they feel like doing it; even at the point of wielding the sword.