Another way of living in public life !

A rose bush in our front garden endured the summer heat and continued to flower uninterrupted ! Most flowers by the third day appeared burnt in the heat of the day.  The buds continued to bloom to give new flowers. 

Its character is to flower to share its fragrance, nectar and colourful presence! 

Its missional presence is what intrigued me! 

A candidate who was elected with a large majority from a constituency during the recent legislative election in the state of Kerala  was found electioneering by going from street to street with a small group of friends on a bicycle! He avoided large meetings, display boards, or publicity campaigns. He resorted to reduce expenditure and save money to contribute towards building houses for people who are homeless. I understand that his expenditure was less than the quarter of the permitted expenditure for electioneering. 

He was a lone candidate among about seven hundred who contested elections in the state with such an approach of reducing the campaign expenditure. He had the strength of his conduct and humane manners to draw people to himself! His father was a former chief minister of the state who was known to be self giving and altruistic in behaviour. 

I watched his electioneering process spread over three weeks with interest just because he was naturally different from others! His approach stood out as a noble gesture of mindfulness towards those who needed houses to live. 

The rose flowers get burnt in the heat of the day. And yet they blossom as that is its habit! 

It has a resonance within !

It is about the vocation of living! 

The contrast is obvious! The candidate who moved around in a cycle had the strength of his conduct and character to support him! He did not require publicity or persuasion! His way of living and relating was his strength! He lives mindfully and soulfully! 

That is an inspiration! 

Who we are is what matters ! When that is authentic, there is no need to create an image or project a profile! When the wellness of others guide a person's conduct, then that leads to the formation of a  collaborative community! 

This exceptional example during an election process sends a message that when others live in our orbit, people are moved and affirmed by that approach !

This candidate drew attention to the needs of others who are marginalised by voluntarily reducing expenditure on publicity to  attend to their needs!

His example was like of that a star in the dark  sky!

M.C.Mathew, (text and photo)

The Shadows on and of a cross !

I noticed the effects of light on this cross, placed on the back stage of the Scudder auditorium at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, during a recent visit to attend a meeting. 

Light casts its shadow. 

The shadow parallel to the wooden frame of the cross along with the variable light making a difference in the brightness of the cross in the upper and lower part drew my attention. 

The light is to dispel darkness. However it also casts shadow when light falls tangentially. If the light were to fall directly on the cross, the chance of shadow is minimal. 

The shadow of the cross is an image of the cross. The image is diffuse and light dependant! 

The cross is factual representing a historic truth, but its image of the shadow does not represent the truth. 

It was while dwelling on the cross and its shadow, I got inspired by a thought that has since then stayed on! 

The truth and facts about the cross remind us of the symbol of an ambulance, the emblem of the Red Cross society.... it is a symbol, of faith for the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. 

The fact and Truth about the symbol of the cross carry meaning and message. But its shadow is only a visual effect and therefore is only like viewing an art experience. 

It helped me to reflect on the question: How much am I occupied with the truth ! Or am I likely to be carried away by shadows of a truth!  

The shadows of a truth are many, variable and subjective. The truth is factual and profound when engaged !  

The movement from the shadow to the truth is an inward experience of  moving from the periphery to the centre and the cardinal! The shadows have variability, but the truth has profoundness and is transformational! The shadow of the cross represents all rituals, traditions and dogmas which divide people and make them denominational in practice. 

But the cross transcends all these and announces the truth of Love that Jesus of Nazareth expressed to the thief hanging beside Him in another cross, " You shall be with me in paradise..."! 

What is central and seminal is love that forgives and heals! The shadow of the cross which symbolises rituals, traditions, dogmas, and denominational doctrines sometimes overshadow the truth of the cross! 

Moving beyond all shadows to be absorbed in the Truth of the Cross can bring a conciliatory pilgrimage experience!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

The 'human becoming' journey!

What fascinates me is the becoming process of each plant in its journey to bear flowers! This is spread over two to three weeks from the time shoots appear above the  soil. It is an ongoing process conditioned by its own inherent rhythm! Most of this process is  conditioned by the intrinsic determinants. 

I have opportunities to listen to experiences of people from different background. The resilient way they flourish in different situations is a story of that inner orientation and determination. 

The inner orientation, when is an integrated view representing a wholistic  consideration of life experiences, people grow into the colourfulness of being generous, considerate, tolerant, open and enabling! 

Those who grow into that orientation are appreciative of diversity and become less dogmatic. 

As I listen and receive such an orientation from the formative experience of people, I get a sense that life experiences of people create a fabric of diversity to pursue! The differences do not become divisive but prepares the setting for  cohesion and harmony as it is in an orchestra! 

The more dogmatic we become, the less fraternal we tend to be! It is the loss of fraternal feeling or neighbourly attitude, which escalate into war and turns into pre-occupation like what we see in the attitude of those who rule over the political affairs of the Unites States of America, Israel or Russia. These three countries have changed the  spirit of human brotherhood that we were growing into ! 

A Lily plant gives its flower, because that is how it is intrinsically in its orientation. 

It is from the abundance of our inner orientation we bring forth our treasures to share with others! 

I sense that human becoming has this inclination to be accommodative and supportive of others! So, peace is the language of communication between people even when ideas are diverse and approaches differ in defining the way we live ! 

The clippings of the meeting of the Senate of the USA, which King Charles addressed during his recent visit, where the Republicans and the Democrats stood up to give him an ovation for many of his observations, appealing to bring a 'healing touch' to a divided polity, was a message of cohesion and harmony humans need, when war has become the current pursuit  of some nations! 

The human becoming is for 'flowering' and helping others to 'flourish'! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Being present for others!

With the last Lily of the season in our garden today, the closure of the season of Lilies which started in September last year comes to an end for now. This period of eight months was the longest season of Lily blossoms in the garden since we have had them for the last eight years. 

These flowers in five corners of our garden give a welcoming impression as they sway in the gentle breeze of the morning and evening. They receive a new hue of brightness in the morning sun and a radiance in the setting sun! The morning sun of the East on the Lily in the first photo above and the evening sun of the West on the Lily in the second photo give them a different colourfulness which offer a refreshing look different enough to appreciate! 

I returned home after having been away for four days. When I watch the just the leaves of the Lilies without the flowers of buds, I felt bereft of the rich look to the garden, which  these flowers provided for eight months. 

This opened an inner dialogue within! 

How much my presence offers a graceful ambience at my home and in different situations I get involved! 

An indication to the details of graceful presence is present in the blossoms of Lily. They are present to give colourfulness to the garden! They make a difference in a quiet unassuming way!

That thought lingered in my mind! A quiet and unassuming presence through bringing a rich look to the garden! 

In that sense, the Lilies offer the message of being there for the garden!

How much uplifting or comforting is my presence to others! 

It is what I am given is what makes life to be overflowing!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The way of living !

The rose flowers in our garden during the summer heat do not seem to be affected in their colour, fragrance or texture. They have a shortened life of three or four days unlike in the colder period of the year, when they remain for a week. 

The environmental factors have an influence on the longevity of each flower! 

The aging process is under study and observation globally as scientists have a desire to prolong human life on earth. 

As against the longevity of life, another stream of scientists are working on enhancing the quality of health-physical, emotional, social and spiritual. 

Ther are about thirty or so friends with whom Anna and I have a weekly communication. We benefit from it. Our friends too find the conversation helpful. 

 

It was a comment by one of them recently which made me pause to reflect on wellness that is the central search of all in mid-life or thereafter! 

It is through fellowship and communication most us find that wellness!

What made the above flowers endure the summer heat is the wet soil that nourishes the plant. 

Anna and I feel that our connection with some friends on a regular basis provides that social milieu of relevance and belonging to allow a measure of  abiding wellness in our lives! 

The flowers have a short life! But during that season, they communicate abundance and fullness! 

Such an abundance and fullness emerge from being centred in  relationship with God and each other! 

M.C.Mathew( text and photo)

From Family-to-family !

Anna and I had an opportunity to attend a wedding and a baptism during this month. We remember both families in our thoughts as they look forward to their future. The jasmine flower in our garden symbolised to us of the life that they are entering into! Both families are on a becoming journey! 

The journey of becoming a husband and wife and a father and mother are journey experiences which bring opportunities to feel endeared and be endearing. 

The intimacy of relationship offers the ambience for the blossoming of lives. 

Life originates in a family and is formed in families!

Every family is a sign and a symbol of hope ! 

The genealogy of life on earth begins in families. 

The nuclear family structure is replacing the extended family structure in many communities. 

That calls for attentive nurture of families by social support. One social support families would benefit from is a creche for infants and toddlers at work place! 

I wish families with older children will take an interest in families in their neighbourhood who have younger children ! That can form a new support system from Family- to- family! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

From many to some !

From hundreds of flowers in the cashew tree in our garden only some became fruits ! What a waste of flowers, was my thought as I watched this during this season! 

It was then I read about this phenomenon, I was made even more curious about the multiple biological processes that take place in plant life. 

According to the information in the internet, Cashew trees produce thousands of flowers in each season with about ten percent of them being hermaphrodite, are capable of becoming fruits. Most of the flowers can be male, which produce pollen and do not become fruits. The hermaphrodite flowers need pollination with the help of honey bees, stingless bees, wasps and ants. I remember feeling concerned about ants crawling on the flowers wondering if they were to damage the flowers. If the pollination rate drops because the pollinators are few, then the flowers do not get converted to fruits. 

It is now known that only 4 to 6 percent of fertilised flowers become fruits if atmospheric conditions are unfavourable with high humidity, rain or cloudy days .

Sometimes a tree cannot support the weight or nutritional requirements of all fruits in formation. Some freshly formed fruits would get  dropped by the biological homeostasis in the tree. 

A tree lives its life. Its fruitfulness is conditioned by environmental factors in the soil, weather, pollinators and nutrition of the tree few months before flowering! 

I remembered a parable Jesus of Nazareth spoke, recorded in the gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Bible chapter 13 verses 6 to 9: "A certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in the vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard keeper, 'Behold for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down!. Why does it even use up the ground'? And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, until I dig around it and put in fertiliser, and it bears fruit next year, fine, but if not, cut it down' " !

The parables have meaning beyond the obvious and the context! What strikes me is that a fig tree was in a vineyard. The soil and weather conditions needed for the two are different. The fig tree did not receive its fertiliser from what was spoken by the gardener when he offered to dig around it and fertilise it ! 

The Cashew tree needs the favour of the pollinators, nutrient soil and favourable weather for flowers to become fruits. 

The 'human becoming' has a similar requirement!

Anna and I while attending the service of an infant baptism, listened to the exhortation given to parents in the liturgy. It was all about the details, rituals, habitual practices in a home and parenting presence. 

During the last three years when Anna and I have been involved in parenting conversations with families, we proposed to parents to have a weekly audit of the parenting presence, through a check list to receive an insight about the promptness in about fifteen domains of engagements with their children. There are five phases in the developmental progression of children: Infancy, Toddler, Early childhood, Mid-childhood, Pre-adolescence and Adolescence. For each stage the engagement plan would have distinct domains. 

A fig tree needs the environment that promotes it to grow. Its cannot grow well in the setting of a vineyard! 

The childhood is a mystery to behold and unfold! 

The home, parenting and schooling form the trilogy of the support system children need! 

Out of the three, the parenting presence takes precedence in childhood formation! 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)