A blessed sunday

I had been thinking about self-denial for sometime now, thanks to Peter Kreeft's "Love is stronger than death". I went to chruch this Sunday and we were too few to have a youth meeting. Just Vasanth and I were avilable. Hence the hotel was closed, but I never allowed that to prevent me from having a good meal when I was hungry. This Sunday I was not just hungry for fellowship I was starved, famished and fainting. I did not want to die, I wanted to live so I decided to peep into NLAG, it had been two years since I had been to NLAG. I was too late for Power house.

At NLAG I found something going on under the banner of 'NLAG YOUTH', I never knew that NLAG had a youth, nevertheless I entered because that was what I was looking for. A lady was preaching again on Self denial. As I was sitting there all of the scattered thoughts I had had about self-denial began to make sense. I was sitting there in comeplete awe. After the message took the oppertunity to clarify a doubt in her message.

At our service at St.Georges I was reading the hymn book (something I always do when the anouncements begin) to search for some words of 'age old wisdom'. There I found the words "Love triumphs over loss". It is a misinterpretation to think that it is a philosophical statement. It is a 'highly' existential one. When I read it I couldn't understand how it could existentially happen, through the rest of the service I was pre-occupied with that but still was at loss about it.

When I was listening to the message at NLAG youth all of a sudden somehow, thoughts gelled together, it wasn't about what the lady was preaching. It was what Peter Kreeft said and God speaking and I understood it. I was having revelation after revelation. It was too good. At the end of the day I was glad the hotel was closed :) God is good.

I ended my week as usual at the Tiruvanmiur beach except that my usual friend was out of town so i took Peter Kreeft with me and a miniature book reading light. He was speaking and I was listening. I was still reading Peter Kreeft at Ascendas eating KFC burger and there was another revelation from Peter Kreeft that what God expects from us is our silence not our ramblings in the name of prayer. That He is the subject not the object of our prayers.

On the whole it was a blessed day. God is brilliant, if the category of brilliance can be applied to Him.

How is it possible???

Over the past weekend I had a 'bit' of free time, so I decided to indulge in the frivolous pleasure of watching all three parts of Lord of the Rings which takes about 10 hours.

There are so many things that are stricking about Lord of the Rings. Something that was profoundly striking about that movie is the valour exhibited by the race of men. The race of men is potrayed as fickle minded and is predisposed to evil but at the same time they are strong and have a sense of honour and valour.

In the movie, a relatively small number of men are arrayed againts a much larger and 'physically' stronger orch force of the dark Lord of Sauron. On the eve of the battle the men with the King of Rohnan ask them if there was any chance for them win the battle.

The king of Rohnan minces no words when he replies 'No we will not win... but we will fight nevertheless'. Contrary to what we would expect, the men around him aren't afraid, they are inspired. How? Or perhaps why?

We cannot understand it, but deep within we know that we wouldn't be doing anything different if we were there. Why is it that even if we dont understand why they do it, we strongly feel deep within that we would do the same?

How is it possible for these men to charge gallantly into a sure death? Knowing well that they will end up feeling the blood warmed cold metal of the soward piercing their breast.

Is it folly? Or is it pride? Or is it valour? Or is it honor? Or is it love? Or is it all of it?

The same triat is found in the movie 300 as well. Here too men go to war knowing well that they will not win. They fight valiantly and feel honoured and happy to be in there fighting their way to a sure death.

Why does the modern mind have difficulty understanding this?

I think it is probably because of humankind's unanimous 'post-modern' agreement that the purpose of life is the 'pursuit of happiness/pleasure'. Where as the 'pre-modern' mind thought that the pursuit of life was the quest for the Truth, Truth (hebrew Emeth) meaning that they are to be happy in what they are 'supposed' to be. Their purpose of life was in fulfilling thier purpose of life, not in perusing pleasure.

When one thinks of life as a pursuit of pleasure, such heroism is not possible, such heroism would look foolish. When on thinks of life as the fulfilling of a greater purpose, all hardships and toils will be pleasurable.

When suffering has a meaning/purpose, life is beautiful J. A life without suffering is death as in the Brave New World. Hats off to Aldous Huxley who had the guts to write the dystopian truth in the Brave New World.