Meditation of my heart- 11

The Guava fruits can be found attached to the branch upright, hanging and in a mixed position. 

I felt intrigued by the different ways the fruits are attached to the branches. 

It is the direction of the branch which actually determines the direction of the fruits. A hanging branch would have hanging fruits and a branch growing up will probably have fruits turned upwards. 

Most fruits by the time they are large and ready to be plucked would hang because of their weight. 

The direction of the branches decide the direction of how the fruits are attached to the branches. 

I pondered over the psychological dimension of direction in human behaviour. 

Jesus of Nazareth in the sermon on the Mount spoke about the heart  treasure. :' ..for where your treasure is, there will your heart also be' (Matthew 6 :21).

 

I am inclined to think of three different orientation that people live with in life . There are those who aspire for wealth, who create wealth and  who distribute wealth. 

The people in each of these groups behave corresponding to their inner orientation. Those who aspire for wealth  look and live for every opening to be wealthy, but the reality may evade them. There are some who are able to create wealth and live with that passion. There are those who have actually created wealth but live with a desire to distribute it to benefit others. 

Each group of people has their heart set on the direction they have chosen. 

It is the inner orientation which directs the heart. If wealth is the treasure a person is seeking after, then the way that person lives is to fulfil that dream. 

Wealth is a personal possession. He or she who owns is its keeper. That is how riches are created and regarded by most. 

There can be a material view to wealth and riches. A luxurious way of living with abundant creature comfort springs from this perspective. He who creates or owns wealth therefore is utilitarian in thinking. He or she uses others to grow to be wealthy. 

The other view of wealth is a spiritual view, where others who collaborated to create wealth also become beneficiaries of wealth.  I came across a man in mid life who took a salary from the large establishment he created on his own. As the income grew year after year, he reduced the cost of products to share the benefit with others. He shared the wealth with other initiatives which would help people in the bottom of the pyramid.  I found that he treasured people. His heart was turned towards them. 

An abundantly wealthy person told me that wealth is a trap, which entices a person to live reflecting his wealth. He told me that  he worked with a colleague who turned his wealth to indulgent living. He had another colleague who lives normally inspite of the material prosperity.

Jesus of Nazareth described this in a telling manner: 'The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light' (Matthew 6;22).

What is this light within! 

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, what moved the Samaritan to help the wounded traveller was  'compassion' (Luke 10 : 33). 

That is the lap within each of us. It can be burning, flickering or not lit  or died out. 

That is the treasure to which the heart of every human being is drawn to,  when God consciousness becomes the ambience of inner life. 

The heart, the treasure, and the lamp- three themes to ponder upon! I wonder if the heart symbolises our optic; the treasure symbolises our aspiration and the lamp symbolises God consciousness !

The giving flower ! 

A call for  living to give!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

Formed by relationships !

table while it was 

The two scenes in our garden!

The Bulbuls at the feeding table in the rain!

The rain Lilies looking battered in the rain

As I sat  down to dwell on these touching scenes, where two Bulbuls feed in the rain and the Lilies looking colourful and alive in the rain, I felt interrupted by an unusual broadcast from the The Print, of an interview with  a Member of the Parliament, Mr Derek O'Brien. 

The interview was about his experience of a flight from New Delhi to Srinagar on May 21, 2025, which was caught in a terrible turbulence with serious damage to the aircraft. The aircraft lost its height and tilted to one side. The ten minutes of that flight before it could land with a full support of emergency landing protocol, was an experience of shock and fear to all in the air craft!

While most people in the aircraft were screaming, crying, sighing and praying, Derek turned it into a time of recollection. Derek, a frequent flier thought that this flight could end in disaster. 

The thoughts that rushed to his mind were of all treasured relationships. He wondered if he would miss the wedding of his daughter! His recollection was about life from childhood. He recalled a meeting with Mother Teresa. He remembered friendships and family occasions. 

After the plane landed safely, while all rushed to alight, Derek stayed on in the plane to greet and thank the members of the crew. The conversation with the captain of the aircraft,  who had an experience  of flying for 41 years seemed to have been an intimate conversation of debriefing for both. 

The Bulbuls looked different at the feeding table. They did not chirp or stay on as usual. The rain lilies looked soaked in rain, although still colourful !

Derek, re-lived his life time of memories during the fifteen minutes when the air craft lost height and was tilting. He emerged from an intesely difficult experience in life with greater fondness for family, friends, and relationships. 

The driver while returning after dropping Anna at the air port this morning, recollected memories of his wife who moved on after five years of struggling with chronic renal disease. The last three years with  dialysis, repeated hospital admissions, coronary by-pass surgery and amputation of legs for diabetic gangrene, became a paralysing experience in life. His final remark turned this gloomy situation into something surprising and refreshing: 'I feel good that I had an opportunity to take care of my wife'!

Another reminder of the wealth and wellness in relationships !

We live amidst many adversities in life and trying times of enduring hardships. 

But what lightens the burden of all of them, is the recollection of memories of relationships and sense of belonging!

A friend living in the USA, after attending a conference in Nepal, visited a few families whom she knew earlier during her short time in Nepal, to renew relationships.

When I sent fifty two messages on a day, ten days ago to friends, it was out of an urge to recollect and appreciate of each of them! I felt revived thinking of them and the shared experiences!

Life is lived  and formed in a net work of relationships.  That is the fabric of our soul !

Recall, relive and relish relationships- this is what is on my mind now!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

The call of mindfulness !

 

The rainfall through yesterday, was a stress on the birds in our garden for their normal flight movements. 

While it was drizzling, this Bulbul arrived at the feeding table to feed on the banana. 

What surprised me was its several bird calls before it began feeding. They were loud and long  to announce to other birds about food !

I am hesitant to post a poorly focussed photo of the two Bulbuls above. But I do it to celebrate the mindfulness of a Bulbul to think of other birds even before it began to feed, which brought another hungry Bulbul to the feeding table.

To me, it is a delightful mystery and message to live with! 

When the president of the USA is usurping many benefits for the Americans in multiple ways, the latest being closing the opportunity to learn at the Harvard University for overseas students, a Bulbul is showing us how to think of others!

This bird behaviour is in contrast to what the Israeli leaders are doing to the residents in Gaza. I wonder if the leaders of Israel have become callous to feel the pain and hunger of those in Gaza waiting with vessels in their hands, to get food from the common kitchen!

It is a world where goodness and kindness get subdued by greedy and selfish pursuit!

The Bulbul was a messenger of immense encouragement to me !

Its message resonates within me!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Meditation of my heart - 10

 

All the Rambutan trees in our garden have a colourful appearance with the fruits turning yellow and red !

All the trees have a history between ten and five years. Each of them has fruits in abundance during this season. 

I remember how they were saplings of about one foot high, which are now tall and are spread out in all directions, making the ground underneath bare, without any undergrowth, as the foliage is thick to allow the sunlight to fall on the ground. 

A parable Jesus of Nazareth spoke comes to my mind. Referring to a mustard seed, 'which when sown upon the soil, though is smaller than all the seeds, yet, when it is sown, grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches, so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade' (Mark. 4: 31- 32). 

While it is true of mustard plants, it applies equally to the Rambutan trees. We prune the trees every year so that their growth would not arrest the growth of other plants. 

We notice these trees when they bear fruits.

For the rest of the year the trees remain with the thick foliage, allowing the birds to find their shelter or to nest. 

The last photo with one fruit already eaten probably by a squirrel, even before it is fully ripe, indicates how the tree sustains life. 

To be fruitful is to be available!

It was while listening to the story of a four year old child narrated by the team of professionals in a hospital, I became even more aware about the value of being available to listen and support ! This school going child, at the age of four years developed a febrile illness which led to a protracted illness with encephalopathy from which the child recovered with hearing loss and weakness of one side of the body. The parents asked me: 'Will she recover'! I was touched the way the professional team is active to do whatever is possible. The child now wearing the hearing aids is showing indications of hearing and responding! The mobility has returned. 

The listening attitude and thoughtful responses of the professionals become therapeutic for the family to experience comfort to their troubled hearts!

Being available is one way of living our lives fruitfully!

A mustard plant and a Rambutan tree give fruits good for us and birds! They also become shelter for birds of the air! 

 Being present to bear fruits for others!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Beneath the surface!

The flowers above of Rauvolfia serpentine or Indian snake root in our courtyard caught my attention as they are smallest of all flowers in the garden now. This medicinal plant is in the endangered species. 

Each flower in the bunch is in different stage of opening!

That was a good thought to begin the day with!

Each of us has multiple domains within and we are in different stages of becoming open!

Our inner world consists of thoughts of delight, peace, joy, goodwill, aspirations, fears, expectations, disappointments, anger, jealousy, grief, loss and the list can be longer. 

They live within and accompany us.!

That is the 'baggage' the depth psychologists remind us about the interior state of our lives. 

All the emotions of our interior life are in different stages of becoming present to our consciousness.  It is when we become aware of each of the emotional states, we are able to engage them to have them integrated into the ambience and substrate of our lives contributing to the peace and wellness that we long for!

A flower opens to give fragrance and nectar. 

Each event in our lives, however dark or incoherent it may look, has something concealed in it, which has the potential to make our interior life rich and confluent! 

A senior citizen who writes a fortnightly message of encouragement to some friends, is living with cancer for a while. He carries others in his mind and gathers his thoughts and experiences, to send a message of inspiration. 

 

What abides within us is light and not darkness or shadows of fear or anxiety, if we travel deeper into our soul!

It is calm water ten feet below the turbulent surface of the sea!

Metaphorically, what is growing within our deepest self is bunch of flowers at different stages of becoming open to bring fragrance and nectar within!

A journey inward is an experience of walking in the garden of life!

M.C.Mathew( text and photo)

Meditation of my heart- 9

The clouds gathered during the mid day and with a strong wind and thundering. Our garden became deserted of most, birds except this Bulbul still waiting to find its place for shelter! 

I looked around to get a glimpse of the garden when it was getting dark and 'fearful' to look at, as the branches of the rubber trees leaning on to our backyard from the adjacent property were threateningly swaying. 

What beheld me was the Ixora flowers in the garden, A Bulbul in a resting posture and a Kingfisher in the coconut palm with its wings and feathers soaked in rain water.  

My thoughts of what might happen with such a wind and imminent rain got entangled with the question of the disciples of Jesus while they were caught in a storm in the sea, when Jesus of Nazareth was sleeping on the stern, ' Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing'?(Mark 4:38).

The thought of harm dominates human subconsciousness which surfaces when there is a difficult situation!

The Bulbul in the garden and the Kingfisher in the palm and the Ixora flowers in the garden caught my attention to revise my lingering thoughts of 'fear' about what might happen. 

The cry of the newborn to breathe at birth is a universal phenomenon. Following the cry and having breathed, the baby returns to sleep till the baby is awake a hour or two later ready to feed from the mother's breast!

The baby receives its breath to live and food to flourish! 

The Psalm 131 in the Bible is a vivid representation of the state of a baby.  The Psalmist shared about himself in an imagery, ' Surely I have composed and quoted my soul; like a weaned child rests against his mother' (v2).

The storm outside and the calm within! 

That is a wake up call to aspire for!

I found a wave of comfort within, when I was reminded of the two existential questions that I meditate upon often, 'who am I' and 'whose am I' ! 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

The strands from the centre.

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The Greater coucal was perched at the bifurcation of a branch! It was engaged in the bird calls to all directions. 

A branch becomes two at its bifurcation!

Two is a continuation of the one. 

In conversations with people, the message I sometimes receive is the longing of people to have a continuation of the same. The two possibilities or options or alternatives do not impress some people. 

The two or three even four options are the symbols of diversities for which we have been prepared or formed ! We may be able to engage multiple situations in life and feel relational to all of them. 

It is not multitasking to get tired, but integrating different opportunities with a  single purpose. 

I remember hearing from Johny and Mercy Oommen how their focus was on making a difference to the Adivasi community in Bisum Cuttack. They branched out to the local Advisasi community to educate their children by starting a residential school,  training ladies in nursing and volunteers in primary health care and adults in self employment. What happened in the last 25 years is a sea of change in the community in all walks of life. 

It is good to have multiple opportunities towards realisation of a mission. 

It is a good experience to be at a time in one's life, when different opportunities have a converging purpose to bring a larger purpose into fruition!

Anna and I have a glimpse of this in our lives. When family became our concern, the needs of developmentally challenged children, upbuilding marriage, parenting presence, mid life transition planning, personal development and integrated living became the multiple strands to upbuild family life!

I feel good to have sighted a Greater coucal in our garden and the choice it made to sit at the bifurcation and call out! It was this sighting that clarified for me this aspect of living to bring coherence and convergence to a purpose!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Meditation of my heart -8 !

This plant Euphorbia Geroldii which gives flowers, known as Thornless crown of thorns, is in a pot in the corner of our garden flowering for about six months now.  

This plant is considered to represent messages of purity and vitality. Some think of this plant to be resilient to affirm the character of resilience in humans. The plant grows and flowers without much effort. 

The large red petals and the yellow tiny flowers in the centre appear distinct in appearance and its habitat. It withstands heat and can survive in desert conditions. 

It is both an indoor and outdoor plant. It has some medicinal values particularly in purifying the air. It is used as a herb with many medicinal applications

What caught my attention in the recent weeks about this plant is its resilience to the inclement weather. It is in a corner in the garden, where it is exposed to sun and rain and yet not showing any signs of change. 

It stands as a plant that is nursing the environment !

I came across an exhortation from an Old Testament prophet Isaiah, in the book of Isiah 1: 17, ' Learn to do good, Reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan and plead the cause of the widow' !

It is a statement of purpose about the way one is called to live! 

I carry this with me as I order the time before me . The call is to live with a thought towards others. 

As one gets older, the traction is towards oneself for various reasons. The excuse of the senior citizens is their weak body and reduced energy! 

To think of others and living with the call to do  good is a mission even for those who are older, retired and limited in some ways!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

The overcoming strength!

The flowers above in our garden look battered in the rain, which was heavy and almost continuous in the last 48 hours.  

The flowers below look less affected and seem to maintain some of their lustre and colour. 

The flowers respond to the rain in different ways!

The plant below with its flowers look least affected. The flowers retained most of the usual fragrance. 

All the three categories of flowers above adapt to rain fall in some way or other.  The ability to overcome is evident.

The human resilience is also pronounced when stretched or stressed. A  family who has recently faced a terrible blow to their family's wellness looked ready to move on although the heaviness and grief of the event is only slowly fading away from their awareness. Their visit refreshed us because of hope and endurance they conveyed in their conversation. 

The bird calls are subdued during this spell of rain. But they live singing!

It is their inner resolve that makes it happen!

With the power supply disrupted for 20 hours now and no electricity to pump water and to run the refrigerators, it was encouraging to watch the flowers and birds endure the weather with an overcoming spirit!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

From nesting to chicks !

The Photos of a Rufous Tree pie gathering the twigs from our garden for its nest was in early March. I remember noticing a pair of Tree pies in our garden at that time for a few days although they were seen together.  

What delighted me this morning was sighting two pairs of Tree pies, one from each of them making bird calls without full audibility. 

Both pairs were perched close to each other in the coconut tree in our garden, with the two, whose bird calls were least audible but visible with opening of beaks and chest movements kept moving places. The other of the pair moved to accompany. On one occasion all the four were on the same location calling out to each other. 

Both tree pies whose bird calls were not audible, looked smaller in size. 

 

The last one left after each of them flew away keenly observed the direction of the other three. This too left in the same direction after a short while.  

Considering that the breeding time of the Tree pies are April and May months and the eggs hatch in about two weeks, I suspect that the four tree pies are from the same family the two adult birds and the other two being younger. The two are likely to be the adults of the original family and the other two are the fledglings now growing up as two of them were only weekly audible in their bird calls. 

If that assumption is reasonable, then one aspect of 'parenting' is worth noticing. Each adult pairs with a fledgling and accompanies initially till it is ready to be independent. I noticed that the adult who had a normal bird call made a call to which the other two who had weaker bird calls responded and flew away together. The other 'older bird' stayed till the other three crossed the field and then flew in the same direction!

Now that it is raining, I wonder whether they would return to follow the flight path in our garden!

What a delight to make reasonable assumptions to understand bird behaviours during nesting and afterwards!

That is why a garden is instructional and not just ornamental alone!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The strain of living!

The Birds were hiding in the foliage of trees for shelter while it was drizzling. But the coconut climber was at his job in the drizzle. 

This is the compulsion that comes upon people to make a living!

All those who promote wealth creation as their call in life probably need to pause to consider this. While we invest for future, there are many around us who go hungry today!

There was a suspension of payment of pension for a while in the place where we live as the government was short of funds. The senior citizens were the worst affected as that alone was their source of income!

I found out that the money a local church spends on its annual festival could support about fifty pensioners for one year! A good bit of money is spent in fireworks, festive meals, decoration and procession in the town. 

The workman in the rain at his job on the top of a coconut tree is a symbol of the economic stress that pushes people to work desperately to earn a livelihood! 

I feel sad to say this. The people in the bottom of the pyramid are yet to experience better days, while those in the top of the population pyramid live luxuriously and indulgently!

The birds have a place to hide in the trees during the rain. But many of our brothers and sisters are vulnerable to travails of life every day!

I wish the Churches would become more neighbour friendly!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)