Secret of Abundant Life is Generosity (Hospitality)

Taste buds tell us the taste of food; sight reveals us the beauty of scenery, and hearing the sweetness of music.  Someone’s explanation about these things may give us some ideas about them but not the actual experience.  It is in eating, seeing and hearing we acquire the real experience of them.

 

Christian faith is such a thing that loses its flavor, its beauty, and its sweetness when we limit it only to talks.  It is in practicing the faith that makes it a living relationship with God and with one another.  To emphasize this point, Jesus said “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35, NLT).  We don’t have to shout out loud to the world about who we are; our lives can become the Bible for the world to read and for the church to be nourished with if we put our faith into action.

Last week I travelled to Aizawl (Mizoram) for one week’s Bible Seminar and stayed the whole week with brother Vanlalchhunga’s family.  He and his wife make a wonderful Christian home with their four amazing children and a kind hearted mother who is about 75 and still very strong.  Every time I happen to meet people like this, I am reminded of the promise the Lord Jesus made when he said “No one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life” (Luke 18:29-30).  Their hospitality and sincere desire to make my life comfortable while I was there reminded me of what John must have experienced in the house of Gaius in Ephesus.

Gaius was one of the leaders in the church at Ephesus who opened his house not only for John but also for many others who passed through the town.  Travelling ministers of the gospel would come to Ephesus and Gaius would welcome them into the church and also to his home.  He would do everything possible to send them off with some material help for their onward journey as well.  John commends him for such love and hospitality and offers a blessed prayer in his behalf saying, “Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health (physically), just as (I know) your soul prospers (spiritually)” (3John 2, AMP).

So many Christians live barren lives because they fail to practice hospitality and generosity.  Much of their faith is limited to talks only and because of that, they neither exhibit the light of the gospel to the world nor enjoy the blessedness John prays for Gaius.  True taste of Christian faith comes to life when we put our words into action.  John says, “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.  This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence…if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask” (1John 3:18-22, NIV).

The best way to have a joyful Christian life is to put our faith into practice.  Otherwise it is a dead faith because faith without action is dead (James 2:17).  But if we put our faith into action, it becomes a living faith and produces the kind of life Jesus came to give us; “an abundant life” (John 10:10).    

Bible Seminar in Mizoram

Please pray for the flowing Bible Training Seminar in Aizawl, Mizoram.  Pastor Puia has gone ahead to prepare for it and Pastor Bhatta will follow him later.

Thoughts from Hospital

I have been visiting the doctor for sometimes now.  This particular group of hospitals is well known in India.  Comparatively an expensive place, but has somehow earned the reputation of being reliable.  In some notorious places of medical malpractices, patients go for one kind of surgery and come home with some other missing parts in their bodies. 

Visiting a doctor is simply a risk one has to take as a last resort in a culture where there is no moral ground for honesty, trust and service.  Though there is a strong belief in reaping the consequences of a bad Karma in the next life but who cares about the next life.  In fact, the person whose organs are being stolen by the doctor may be reaping the consequences of his or her own Karma in previous life.  Therefore, when you cheat, steal, and kill, you are simply playing the part in this never ending cycle of Karma; you are doing nothing wrong.  In fact, I learned from a taxi driver, alleviating someone’s suffering can be dangerous for those who believe in the law of Karma.  While waiting at a red light, an old beggar approached our taxi.  But the driver chased her away.  When we asked as why he was rude to her, he said; “she is reaping the consequences of her bad karma in her previous life and no one should prevent her from doing so.  If I reduce her suffering, then whatever is reduced from her lot will come to me.”  Didn’t argue with him much but only imagined what he would think if she was his mother or wife.    

Now, about the hospital; every time I visit the doctor, I sit in a crowded lobby, waiting for my turn.  Several doctors’ offices are situated around the lobby.  The waiting time to see the doctor, even after making the appointment, can go up to three hours and gives you the ample opportunity to watch the crowd of hundreds if not thousands of people who come and go.     

Sitting there for hours, you get to see and study all types of people.  Some well-built and good looking while others not so blessed by the nature.  Some overweight and hardly able to walk; even the sitting chairs in the lobby are not wide enough to contain them.  Others so skinny you could feel as if their bones were crackling with every move they make.  Young and old, boys and girls, and all ages rushing through the unknown on their way to see their doctors with the hope of securing better health, a better future by leaving behind whatever the maladies they were struggling with.  With the exception of few smiling faces, almost everyone carried a gloomy and anxious look.   Some were in serious pains; some were carried into the doctor’s office on stretchers and wheelchairs. 

Having sat there for a number of times now, it is not difficult for me to conclude that people will pay whatever the cost within their power if they can get their health back.  We all want to live long; none of us want to die soon.  In fact, we all long for immortality.  Yet, one day everyone will embrace death.  The good looking bodies, the well-built frames and even the healthy genes will come to an end.  Some will be cremated; some buried and so on and so forth.  No amount of treatment will secure an immortal life in this body. 

Sadly, so long as our bodies are healthy, we never think about life.  We make ourselves busy in the rat race of existence for acquiring a few perishable things.  A grocery store keeper gets up early in the morning and begins to think about the day’s business; he won’t mind to cheat, defraud and even mix some harmful and poisonous chemicals in the edibles so that he can get more profit out of his goods.  A milkman adds as much water to his milk as possible.  A butcher selling chicken pumps his meat with water so that it weighs him more in the scale.  A fisherman applies harmful chemicals to his fish so that they can remain fresh for weeks.  Same thing goes for the vegetable and fruit sellers.  The basic necessities of life are poisoned by people who are supposed to be keepers of their brothers.  The people who run government agencies to monitor the quality of food and drugs can be easily bought with the profit people make by destroying the health of general public.  Life is so cheap; everyone wants to make a few more bucks by destroying it. 

Money has become our master, and we have become its obedient slaves.  We will serve this master even at the expense of our own wellbeing.  We will keep earning this money so long as our health is okay or our age allows.  But then, should a terrible sickness visit us or an old age welcomes us, all our money is useless.  It cannot save; neither can we enjoy life because by then life would be gone. 

I have always lived as though I was on a borrowed time.  I was supposed to be killed at birth, but was spared.  I should have been dead before I turned one because of a terrible tumor, but I survived.  Constant suicidal thoughts until the age of 18 could have been actualized, but I failed to act on them and kept living for another day.  But it is only after I met Jesus of Nazareth that life took on a different rhythm.  Everyday became an exciting adventure.  Every opportunity to do good to others became a fulfilling pleasure.  Tomorrow no longer bothered me and yesterday did not matter.  Today became the center of my life and have since lived it to the fullest of God-given ability.

Even then, when this present sickness weakened my body, I began to feel as if I could have done more when my health was robust.  I could have written more, spoken more, helped more, done this and done that kind of feelings surround me when I lie on bed.  I thank God for the medical miracles which give me hope but much more than that, I thank God for the divine healing and health that has carried me thus far.  And God willing, I shall do more before my time is up.

How about you?  Do you take good health for granted and waste your time?  Have you prepared to meet your God?  Have you put your house in order?  Or will you start thinking about such things only when your health begins to give up?

So, my dear reader, believe in a God who loves you instead of the money that enslaves you.  Love your neighbor as yourself and life will simply become a wonderful adventure and a beautiful journey!          

Twain's Hope for Heaven

After nearly 39 years, Mark Twain returns to Hannibal. Meets an old man and introduces himself as "Smith". Out of curiosity, he asks about his childhood friends. The old man goes on describing how so and so fool failed, died, and lost. Only one seemed to had seen some success. Finally he asked about himself with his real name. The old man goes "Oh, he succeeded well enough - another case of a damned fool. If they'd sent him to St. Louis, he'd have succeeded sooner". Twain learned the lesson of humility; he is still considered "a damned fool" by his village folks.

After this, the name Mark Twain became a very heavy burden for Sam Clemens to match up to. Failures after failures came upon him. Sorrow upon sorrow became his lot. Even his faith in God was shaken. Though he could not deny God's existence, he blamed God for all the misery in the world; all imperfections were God's mistakes. A jolly happy man began to resent the very idea of him being called a "humorist".

Success did come back to him even before he died but the kind of man he would go on becoming was beyond his imagination. As he lay on his sick bed, waiting for the departure, he began to reflect about the afterlife.

In his last work "Etiquette for the Afterlife: Advice to Paine (1995), there is one advice he gave to Albert Paine that sums up his hope for the afterlife. When time will come for Paine to go to heaven, he says "Leave your dog outside. Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and the dog would go in.”

Call him a deist, an agnostic or whatever; he banked his soul in God's favor. Only heaven will tell if he was allowed in or not. But Jesus Christ gives us the assurance that should we not be so worried about our entrance in heaven; we must accept him as our Lord and Savior because he is "The way and the truth and the life".

दुःखमा पनि परमेश्वरको भलाइमा विश्वास गर्नु भन्दा अर्को असल विकल्प छैन।

आजको यो रङ्गीचङ्गी सामाजिक सन्जालमा आफ्ना दुःख र विरहका तस्बिर र चित्कारहरू हामी थोरै भन्दा थोरैले मात्रै प्रसारण गर्न सक्छौं।  “मुटु माथि ढुङ्गा राखी” भनेझैं, दुःखलाई लुकाएर चिल्ला तस्बिर र रमाइला क्षणहरूलाई नै मित्रहरूका सामु पस्किन्छौं।  हो पनि।  बिगतमा हामीसँग क्यामरा थिएन।  वर्षमा संयोग मिलाएर परिवारिक वा सुभअवसरका तस्बिरहरूलाई फोटोएल्बममा सजाएर राख्थ्यौं र साथी-भाइ, इष्टमित्र र पाहुना घरमा आउँदा ती फोटोमा कैद गरिएर राखिएका रमाइला क्षणहरूका एल्बम निकालेर हेर्न दिन्थ्यौं।

तर आज आधुनिक विकासले हाम्रो जीवनका सबै क्षणहरूलाई विश्वसामु छर्लङ्ग पारिदिएको छ।  खुसीका क्षणहरू देखाउनुको सट्टा दुःखका क्षणलाई लुकाउन गार्‍ह भएको छ।  शुभचिन्तकहरूले त हाम्रा दुःखमा सहानुभूति देखाउनु हुनेनै छ तर कतिपय यस्ता मित्रहरूपनि छन् जो हाम्रा दुःखमा खुसीयाली मनाउन पछि पर्दैनन्।  ख्रीष्टीयान भनेर के गर्ने, यस्ता पास्टर प्रचारक पनि देखिए जसले चर्चका सदस्यहरूलाई आफ्ना सत्रुलाई प्रेमको साटो सराप्‍न पनि सिकाइरहेका छन्। 

त्यसकारण मित्र, येशूमा विश्वास गर्दा पनि जीवनमा दुःख आउने छ।  परिस्थितिहरू हाम्रो वश भन्दा बाहिर जानेछन्।  हामी एकलो, असहाय र निरास पनि हुनेछौं।  तर यस्तो परिस्थितिमा पनि परमेश्वरको भलाइमा विश्वास गर्नु भन्दा अर्को असल विकल्प छैन।  शरीरमा रोग लाग्दा निरास भएर मृत्यु पर्खिनु भन्दा येशूको रगतको शक्तिमा भएको चङ्गाइमा विश्वास गर्दै निको हुने आशा गर्नु असल हुनेछ।  गरिबीले पेलेको बेलामा पनि हिनतावोधले भरिनुभन्दा येशूले दिने प्रशस्तताको जीवनलाई विश्वासका साथ स्वीकार गर्नु असल हुनेछ।  सत्रुले घेरेको बेला पनि ती सबैलाई क्षमा दिँदै परमेश्वरले गर्नसक्‍ने महान उद्धारमा भरोसा राख्‍नु असल हुनेछ।  परिक्षामा परेर शैतानको दोष र आत्मग्लानिले गाँजिनुभन्दा येशूको क्रूसको छहारीमा गएर उहाँको क्षमादानलाई स्वीकार गर्दै उहाँकै हात समात्नु असल हुनेछ।

येशू प्रभु यति प्रेमिलो हुनुहुन्छ कि उहाँले हाम्रालागि आफ्नो प्राण दिनुभयो र आज उहाँ मुर्दाबाट बौरीउठेको जीवित परमेश्वर हुनुहुन्छ र अँझ बढी हामीलाई सम्हाल्न चाहनुहुन्छ।  उहाँको भलाइमा विश्वास गरेर हामी विजयी जीवनका भागीदार बनेको उहाँ चहानुहुन्छ।

त्यसकारण दुःखसँग डराएर त्यसैका दास बनेर नबसौं तर त्यो दुःखमा पनि हामीलाई विजय दिने प्रभुको शक्तिमा विश्वास गरेर विजयको प्रतिक्षामा बसौं।  यर्मियालाई परमेश्वरले दिएको प्रतिज्ञालाई स्वीकार गर्दै परमेश्वरमा पुकारौं र उहाँले हामीलाई जवाफ दिनुहुनेछ।  “मलाई पुकार्, र म तँलाई जवाफ दिनेछु र तैंले नजानेका गहिरा र गुप्‍त कुराहरू म तँलाई बताउनेछु” (यर्मिया ३३.३)। 

Trump, Atheism, and Emotional Breakdown of America

First published over a year ago at:

https://hcmasia.wordpress.com/2017/04/12/trump-atheism-and-emotional-meltdown/

The emotional breakdown of America after the Trump victory baffled me thousands of miles away in India.  I live in a small hamlet in the outskirt of Guwahati in the state of Assam.  Half of the time, we have no power to watch TV.  Yet, CNN didn’t disappoint us by ceaselessly broadcasting the emotional debacle of America in the aftermath of the tragedy known as Trump victory.

Until I met Mark Twain, I wasn’t interested in America.  But once he fooled me to join him in the world of Huckleberry Finn and the mighty Mississippi; no sooner, I was hooked in watching those western classics that transported me into the world of the Prairie and the Oregon Trail.  Indeed, it was a brave new world back then.  Teaching a course on Puritan settlement of America at a university in Korea had heightened my desire to actually visit the US.  But thanks to a Nepali pastor friend, I was denied a visa few months before 911 in 2001 and had not applied since then. 

So, my knowledge of America is purely academic and literary; only supplemented with a median visit to New England a couple of years ago.  It so happened, and to my delight, I was surprisingly granted a visa to visit the US in 2014.  During my two weeks of travel through New England, my interest was in the historical narratives of the brave new world and my hosts didn’t disappoint me.  Like Chesterton in “What I Saw in America”, I wanted to feel the spirit of this great nation by visiting important places in the first colonies.  Standing upon those shores, banks, gorges, plains and the mountain tops, it wasn’t difficult to enter into the world of the Puritan pilgrims, frontier settlers and the American independence.  Unlike in the pages of the books and the screens of the movies, I could actually feel the formidable spirit of America all around me.

Coming to New York, however, was different.  With its colossal concrete jungle touching the sky, the human spirit seemed to be unable to break free from its weight pressing it to the ground.  Walking downtown Manhattan, there was this sense of fragility as if everyone was living on the emotional edges.  Slightest miscalculation could send everyone crashing down.

Now, here I was in Assam, India, watching the emotional breakdown of so many Americans, including Hillary Clinton, who just could not accept the resounding defeat as if something unimaginable had happened.  In a sensible world, it is natural for one to win and the other to lose; especially if you have a two party system, both can’t win.  But this time, there was some strange sense of hopelessness in losing.  People appeared to be disoriented which the critics call the “Trump Derangement”.  I think it was more than Trump.

During Obama’s presidency, the spirit of Atheism reigned supreme.  Young people grew into adulthood by mocking at truth, at morality and God.  They felt in total control of the American spirit; they proudly declared themselves as Social Justice Warriors!  Anyone who disagreed with them would have to be vanquished once and for all.  Obama’s cult surely appeared undefeatable; one could feel the air of arrogance from Obama’s own mouth when he mocked Trump from the corridors of power in the White House.

Sadly, this Obama cult was made of air.  Since Atheism believes in nothing, when power is taken away from its grip, there remains nothing for it to stand upon.  When Trump victory punctured it, the bubble simply caved in.  How much they mocked everything Trump voters represented, they could not be comforted.

A people who managed to forge the greatest nation on earth suddenly appeared so vulnerable; critics had to invent the phrase “snowflakes” to describe these SJWs.  Without the moral fiber and the confidence in divine providence to care for us, defeat is painful.  Even more painful when it happens against a person like Trump who holds no bars; makes morality a thing to be used and abused depending on its profitability.  During the days of slavery, the blacks could grind through their unimaginable suffering with their undying hope in God by humming “Someday, we shall be free”.  But the people going through the emotional breakdown after the last American election seem to have no such place to put their hopes in.

Never Lose Hope

“Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies” says Andy Dufresne in the movie Shawshank Redemption. 

I am a late comer to modern world, let alone the postmodern.  Until I was sixteen, I had never set my foot in any types of automobile, never seen a telephone or a television.  I had seen the radio in the village but could never figure it out how people could get inside that little box and sing and talk. 

I tell you, the Bible is a wonderful book.  It will not only open the door to eternal life; it will open every available door to life one can imagine.  An illiterate, abandoned, and mentally ill village boy found this book and in no time began to soar on wings like eagles. 

I was told that much of the world read this book in English.  I didn’t want to be left behind.  So, at the age of 20, I began to learn this beautiful language so that I could get all the knowledge I could lay my hands on about this amazing book called The Bible.  I bought a small pocket radio and was hooked in listening to BBC.  The news, the documentaries, the stories began to fascinate me, and in no time I could understand what the people were talking about in the radio.

 

It was in 1998 that I got to watch Shawshank Redemption.  Prior to that, I was told in Nepal that a Christian should not watch any movies; it was an unpardonable sin.  But after Shawshank Redemption; just like I had devoured all the biographies of great men and women of God that I could find in a Bible College library in Bangalore, my appetite for western movies was greatly heightened by this masterpiece.  Books and movies pulled me from the dark ages to the modern age and now I wonder what age we are living in.

“Hope is a good thing” says Dufresne to Red who had grown weary of deferred hope. Red had no idea that that would be the last time he would be talking to his friend inside that prison.  Eventually, after spending 40 years in prison, Red was released and makes to the Atlantic to meet his already escaped friend.  There in the Mexican beach, Red acknowledges that Hope is indeed a good thing to have in life.

Long before I knew about Hollywood movies, I had witnessed the power of hope in my life.  Hope had kept me alive throughout my troubled childhood and teenage years.  When my wife and I began our first church, we called it Hope Church. 

Movies and human stories may inspire us to hope in life.  But without experiencing the divine grace of God, we can lose that hope at any time.  People like Anthony Bourdain, Robin Williams, Marilyn Monroe, and the likes could not hang on to that hope.  Every year, hundreds of thousands of people in the developed world are taking their own lives.  Material possessions and spreading fame do not appear to be sufficient for us to hang on in life.  We need a God who can fill our emptiness the way he knows how. And the Bible is the book that leads us to this God.

Isaiah says, “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (40:31).

  

Therefore, my friends, if you feel tired and weary, listen to Jesus who says “come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest”.  Ask God to give you the hope and the ability to hang on to that hope.  If a boy like me could find hope and enjoy life; you can do much more!

Nepal is afraid of the Bible; but need not.

The Bible has become very dear to so many Nepalese in so short a period of time.  Even until the latter part of the 20^th century, Bible was a forbidden book in Nepal and Christians were persecuted, tortured and imprisoned for reading their Bibles.  For centuries, ruthless dictators were fearful of this book.  They used Hindu religion as a weapon to subjugate not only the Christians but also the Buddhist and other native religious groups who were living in Nepal long before the arrival of Hindus.

The advent of democracy in the 1990s and subsequent Maoist revolution brought about some relief to Christian minority.  But all other religious groups for centuries had been forced to accept Hinduism as their main religion.  Even Islam in Nepal had become very syncretic with Hindu rituals and practices in order to avoid persecution in the hands of the rulers and religious zealots. 

Christianity however remained a unique faith in spite of severe persecution from the state.  During those days of government persecution, the Hindu neighbors were very hospitable.  Except in some isolated cases, the Nepalese Hindu society at large was very tolerant and kind to differing faiths and religions. 

When the state sanctioned persecution ended in the 1990s, Christians were able to breathe a sigh of relief.  They were able to worship freely and even practice their beliefs and religious rights in public.  For the first time, Hindu neighbors came in proper touch with the Christian community and were able to read the Bible for themselves.      

As many as Nepalese began to read the Bible, they found it to be an amazing book that talked about life, liberty, peace, prosperity and human dignity.  They even found the wonderful solution to the age old problem of human sinfulness; “Jesus Christ became the Lamb of God to take away the sinfulness of man!”  They heard the Bible declare that all human beings are made in the image of God and are worthy of respect and service; so much so that God became man to die for them to save them from their sins.  For centuries, Nepalese rulers had used Hindu religion to suppress human freedom.  But reading the Bible opened the eyes of the Nepalese as it did to the Europeans in the 15^th century after the protestant reformation.  Age of enlightenment swept across Europe and the western civilization reached its zenith.  Quality of life, learning, science and human advancement found their roots in the fertile ground of Biblical knowledge.  But the rest of the world remained in bondage to power hunger rulers who used religions to keep people in the dark. 

Nepal is now at a cross road again.  The democratic government needs the help of the majority in order to remain in power.  Nearly 80% of Nepalese consider themselves to be Hindus.  In order to gain their support, politicians in Nepal are now sowing the seeds of hate among the Hindu majority against the religious minorities.  They are pitching the peaceful Nepalese one against the other in the name of religion; particularly against the Bible.  In addition to the power hungry politicians, the naive Nepalese media is trying to explain the rise of Christianity in Nepal as if this was some kind of western conspiracy to colonize Nepal.

In fact, the rise of Christianity in Nepal has become a mystery to politicians, journalists and academicians.  The only explanation they can come up with is “money”.  Even some of the respected journalists and thinkers are not afraid to demonstrate their ignorance by declaring that all these Nepalese are turning to the Bible because money is coming from some mysterious nations trying to colonize Nepal.  If only they could visit a local church on any given Saturday would be sufficient for them to see their blatant folly they consider wisdom.  Any person with some common sense can see that the only nation in the 21^st century with some interest in colonizing Nepal is none other than India or possibly China.  Is Prime Minister Modi or President Xi giving money to these Nepalese to read their Bible?

The Bible is a wonderful book not only for an individual, but for any society, nation, and civilization.  Wherever the Bible is read, the quality of life is remarkable!  Though late, Nepalese have begun to read their Bibles and no one can stop them now.  The sooner these politicians, journalists, and academicians read the Bible the better our beautiful nation of Nepal will be.  

I am glad I was born into this world!

If someone asked you, “Do you like your Birthday?”  You might say, “Of course, everybody likes their birthdays”.  Well, if you had asked me that question before 1985, I would have utterly denounced and cursed the day I was born.  I hated the day I was born.  “What happened in 1985?” could be your next possible question.  The thing that happened was; I met Jesus Christ.  He completely changed my life thereafter.  Yet, the idea of celebrating my birthday really didn’t make sense to me until 1993.  Again you might ask, “What happened in 1993?”  My son was born!  The birth of my son totally changed my perspective about God the father.  I began to appreciate the fact that I was born into this world so that I could become a father of such a beautiful son.  Indeed, God has given me an amazing, funny and brilliant son.  Up until that time, the concept of a father’s love had never entered into my brain.  I had read about it, heard about it, witnessed it; but neither felt it nor understood it completely.  Having a son opened up a new dimension into my cognitive as well as affective world. 

What happened at my birth is still a mystery to me in many levels.  I was the first male child to be born to my parents.  Obviously they were so happy to have a son after three daughters.  In my culture, a father would not see his son until a Hindu astrologer draws the horoscope and determines everything about that child.  The astrologer discovered a terrible planetary anomaly about my birth.  I was born in such an inauspicious moment of time that my birth meant sure death for my father.  There was one possible escape for him if he wanted to live long; he must never see his son.  The day his sight falls on his son, he will die.

Naturally my father wanted to live long and so decided never to see me.  Generally such an infant is ether starved to death or given to anyone from a distant place wanting a child for whatever reasons.  It seemed my mother could not let me die nor did they find anyone to take me away.  But it was impossible for them to keep at home.  Finally my mother decided to ask her mother to take care of me and left me there.  Her village was one full day’s walk from the place I was born.  I grew up with my grandparents until I was ten without knowing who my parents were.  But the questions about life, meaning and purpose had found their footings into my tender mind long before a child should be dealing with them. 

To make matter worse, after ten years of my birth a different astrologer, out of curiosity, examined my horoscope and found out that the first one had made a grave mistake in calculating the positions of the stars and the planets in their stupid mathematical equation in determining my fate.  Reluctantly, at the age of eleven, I was brought back to my so called home and for the first time saw my father.  It turned out that my mother used to come once a year to the place where I was and she would hold me, cry over me and so on and so forth.  But no one told me she was my mother.  To make long story short; for one whole year after I was brought home, my father never looked at me nor spoke to me.  He was very kind to his other children.  Just as my childhood was robbed, so went my teenage years until Christ found me.

I was 18 when I finally surrendered my life to Christ.  I was truly born again in every sense of the word.  Prior to that, my world had come to an end and was simply waiting for the day to end my life.  Christ gave me a new life, a new future, a new purpose.  I got married to an amazing woman who gave me a wonderful son; and who in turn changed my world for the best.

A blind religious belief nearly stole my life from me.  But today, Christ has restored all those years the locusts had eaten.  So, I say to myself a big Happy Birthday!

By the way, my wife is going to buy something very special for me and I miss my son who lives in a distant land.

पर्खिन सके समय सबैको लागि आउँदो रहेछ!

‘गुलाग आर्कीपेलागो’ विश्वप्रख्यात रूसी लेखक अलेक्ज्यान्डर सोल्जनिट्सिन्का  कीर्तिहरूमध्य सबैभन्दा बढी लोकप्रिय कीर्ति हो।  कम्युनिस्ट शासनले रूसमा गरेको अत्याचारलाई उनले मार्मिकरूपमा वयान गरेको छन् जस्लाई पढ्दा एउटा विवेकशील व्यक्तिको शरीरनै दुखेर आउन सक्छ।  नास्तिकवाद एउटा यस्तो प्रणाली हो जसले राजनीतिमा जरा गाडेको खण्डमा आफू शक्तिमा रहिरहन जतिसुकै ठूलो नरसंहार गर्न पछि हट्दैन।  विद्वान र विवेकशील व्यक्ति नास्तिकवादका सबैभन्दा ठूला दुष्मन ठहरिने रहेछन्।  मानिसको सोच्ने स्वतन्त्रतालाई नै नास्तिकवादले कैदी बनाउँदो रहेछ।

विद्वानहरूलाई सखाप पार्ने सिल्सिलामा नै सोल्जनिट्सिन्लाई पनि पक्राउ गरिन्छ।  कीर्तीको पहिलो अध्यायमा उनले आफू पक्रिएको अनुभवका साथै  नास्तिकवादले देशभरी क्रूर तरिकाले निर्दोष मानिसहरूलाई पक्राउ गर्ने नीतिको वयान गरेको छ।   त्यसै वयानमा उनी आफैलाई प्रश्न गर्छन् र भन्छन् कि यदि सुरूकै दिनमा आफ्नो छिमेकी पक्रिदा सबैले त्यसको विरोध गरेको भए परिस्थिति कस्तो हुन्थ्यो होला?  छिमेकीले सोचे, “पक्राउपर्ने दोषी नै होला”।  फेरी अर्को प्रश्न गर्छन् र भन्छन् कि यदि पक्राउ पर्नेले पनि कराएर, हल्ला गरेर छिमिकीहरूबाट गुहार मागेको भए के हुन्थ्यो होला?  तर पक्राउ पर्नेले पनि सोच्यो “म निर्दोष छुँ, चौकिमा गएपछि सबै थाहा भैहाल्छ, किन हो हल्ला गर्ने”।  दुखको कुरा, एक चोटि पक्रिएपछि फर्केर कोही आएनन्।

एक दिन चार जना नयाँ सिपाहीहरूले सोल्जनिट्सिन्लाई एउटा ठाउँबाट अर्को जेलमा लाँदै थिए।  मस्को सहरको जमिनमुनि चल्ने रेलबाट उनीहरूले यात्रा गर्नुपर्ने रहेछ तर ती सिपाहीहरूलाई मस्को सहरको नक्सा थाहा रहेनछ।  सोल्जनिट्सिन् आफै एक अनुभवी सिपाही र मस्को सहरसँग परिचित भएको कारण उनीहरूलाई बाटो देखाउने जिम्मा आफैले लिए।  ती चार जना सिपाहीलाई अगुवाई गर्दै जमिन मुनिको केन्द्रिय रेल स्टेसन तर्फ लागे।  स्टेसन पुगे पछि तल जाने सिँढी चढ्नुपर्ने रहेछ।  तलबाट यात्रुहरू रेलबाट झरेर माथि आइरहेका थिए भने कति रेल चढ्न तल गैरहेका थिए।

मसीनबाट चल्ने सिँढीमा तल जाँदै गर्दा सोल्जनिट्सिन्को मनमा कराएर “मलाई बचाउ” भनेर त्यहाँ तलमाथि गरिरहेका यात्रुहरूसँग गुहार मागौं मागौं लागेछ। त्यहाँ भएको भिडमाथि एक नजर लगाए; त्यो स्टेसनमा लगभग दुई सय जति मानिसहरू भएको अनुमान गरे उनले।  यदि कराएर गुहार मागेको भए अवस्य पनि केही मानिसले मदत गर्ने थिए होला र ती गाउँले सिपाहीहरू बिरानो ठाउँको डरले नै भए पनि भागेर जाने सम्भावना थियो।  तर सोल्जनिट्सिन् एउटा विद्वान नै परे; एक दूरदर्शी चिन्तक नै परे।

त्यो सललल पानी झै बगिरहने सिँढीबाट उनले सोचे कि यदि म यहाँ कराएँ भने केबल दुई सय मानिसले सुन्नेछन् र केही समयको लागि म भागेर बाँच्न पनि सक्छु होला।  तर यो संघर्षको सामना गर्दै एक दिन मैले कलमको साहाराबाट २० करोड मानिसले सुन्ने गरी कराएको खण्डमा म मात्रै होइन सारा संसार यो दुष्टताबाट बाँच्न सक्नेछ।  नभन्दै जेलको लामो जीवनबाट उनले कैयौं यस्ता कीर्तिहरूलाई जन्म दिए जसको कारण विश्वले कम्युनिस्टको दुष्टतालाई छर्लङ्गै देख्न पायो र रूसबाट सदाको लागि कम्युनिस्ट निरङ्कुशता हटेर गयो।

सोल्जनिट्सिन्को यो अनुवबाट हामी के सिक्न सक्छौं त?

1. सोकलाई शक्तिमा परिणत गर्न सही सोचको आवस्यकता पर्दछ।  दूरदर्शी मानिसले क्षणिक फाइदा भन्दा दिर्घकालिन उपलब्धीलाई ध्यान दिन्छ।

2.      आज आफू बलियो छु भन्दैमा कम्जोरलाई हेप्नु हुँदैन कारण सबैको समय आउँछ।  मेरो ख्रीष्टीयान जीवनको सुरूवातमा कतिपय यस्ता ख्रीष्टीयान पास्टर, मिसनरी, र अगुवाहरूसँग मेरो संगत हुन गयो जस्ले ममाथि धेरै अन्याय र अत्याचार गरेको छ।  त्यतिबेला मैले सबै सहेरै बसें। तर आज मेरा लेखहरूमा र प्रकाशोन्मुख मेरो जीवनीमा जब ति कुराहरू उल्लेख हुन जान्छन् त्यसले अवस्य पनि ती मित्रहरूलाई अप्ठ्यारो लाग्छ होला।  मैले उनीहरूको वदनाम गर्न खोजेको होइन तर आफ्नो जीवनमा घटेका घटनाहरूमा परमेश्वरले कसरी मलाई विजय दिनुभयो भनेर आउनेवाला पिडिलाई उत्साहाको लागि लेखिरहेको छुँ।  यदि कुनै मित्रबाट सहयो मिलेको थियो भने उनको प्रशंसा गर्न पनि म विर्सेको छैन।  त्यो समयमा मेरो खेदो गर्ने मित्रहरूले कहल्यै सोचेनन् कि यो गाउँले केटो पनि एक दिन बोल्न सक्ने हुनेछ भनेर।

3.  जीवन केवल आफ्नो लागि मात्र होइन; सके जति धेरै मानिसमा सकरात्मक प्रभाव छोडेर यो संसारबाट जाने सोच हुनुपर्छ।  गुजाराको लागि मात्रै त चराचुरुङ्गी पनि जिउँछन्।  सोल्जनिट्सिन् आफ्नो प्राण बचाउनको लागि भाग्न सक्थे तर भागेनन्।  आज संसारमा उनलाई एउटा अनुकरणीय व्यक्तिको रूपमा हेरिन्छ भने जोसेफ स्टालिनलाई एउटा क्रूर हत्याराको रुपमा।