The sight and song of the morning!

The news about the consequences of war inflicted on Iran is most disturbing. The flood in the streets of UAE created panic in its residents. The shortage of cooking gas is forcing restaurants to close down in some towns in India. The days are hot unusual for March in some cities in India. These are disturbing news threatening human wellness. 

When I walked around the garden around our cottage, I received another message. The plants thrive with blossoms and buds. The Bulbul as usual was calling out its gentle bird calls at day break ! 

Some threatening changes all around us. But there is also reassuring continuity of hope and wellness. 

When I took some banana bunches to the market yesterday, the merchant remarked; ' Your garden gives you good yield'! 

That was a message that awakened me to the reality of 'abundance' of life all around us!  

It is the time of state assembly election in the state of Kerala. The political parties are engaged in highlighting the acts of commission and omission to accuse and demoralise the prospects in winning the election! It is evident how each party is craving to 'capture power to rule'!

One candidate, Mr Chandy Oommen in Puthupally is canvassing by moving around in his bicycle avoiding public display with posters or banners. His approach is: 'let me know about the needs of people'! His father who represented the assembly and later he were responsible to build fifty houses for those who had no means to own their own houses. His intent is to build another 25 houses in the next five years. He by avoiding posters and banners is saving money to build houses according to the reports in the newspaper.  

That is 'abundance ' of human kindness and benevolence! 

I like walking in our garden because, the plants, flowers and birds speak in ways that bring resonance of hope and peace of wellness!  

The stress of war, violence and human suffering on one side! On the other side, there is a message hope that sustains us because there is song of wellness from nature and human goodness!  

One stanza in the hymn by Henry Van Dyke, Joyful, Joyful, we adore thee, comes to my mind:

'Mortals, join the happy chorus

Which the morning stars began;

Love Divine is reigning o'er us,

Binding all within its span.

Ever singing, march we onward,

Victors in the midst of strife,

Joyful music leads us sunward,

In the triumph song of life' .

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

From Fomation to becoming Fruitful !

The cashew tree in our garden is a story teller! With fruits at different stages, from an early stage to fully ripened state, it offers a delightful sight to watch!

Is not life such a panorama of beginning, formation and fruitful years?

I watched how the tree provides sustenance to its flowers and fruits in all stages of formation! 

Our life on earth is such an opportunity to allow beginning, formation and fruitful years! It is the family where we were born which gave the support for these three stages in our lives. 

I have had occasions to have conversations with families during the parenting seminars in the last two years. I took time to turn to my years in my family till marriage and since marriage in the family that Anna and I have been blessed with!

We encounter many life events during our life in the family. 

Returning to the cashew tree which is now ten years old, suffered pruning almost every year. Its vigorous growth in all directions seemed to affect the trees around obstructing their growth. Now in its present state it has space for itself and receives good sunshine to bring forth  fruits in plenty. 

The formative process of the tree needed attention. Its wellness and the wellness of trees around are important in a well tended garden.  

When I retired from full time professional work from a Medical College three years ago on turning 75 years, few friends strongly suggested that Anna and I turn to writing to summarise the forty years in child development and rehabilitation. Those friends were thoughtful and persuasive, helping us to be absorbed in the writing projects which remained unattended earlier. They had a priming and pruning effect on us. Now with the fifth book ready to go to the press during the three years, I realise how significant the role of this formation group was upon us to support us! I wish every person during mid life and beyond will have such a formation group to lead him or her into fruitful living!

Each life event needs an interpretation beyond a subjective perception. It needs an enlargement which friends can offer through their objectivity and enlarged perception. 

I wonder if each family can have a friend circle which becomes its confidant and formative in their role! 

The journey from formation to fruitful years is our calling!

A cashew tree having experienced formative pruning is now fruitful !

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The 106th Archbishop Canterbury !

The Rt. Rev. Sarah Mullally, 63 years, a mother of two grown up children, takes over as the Archbishop of Canterbury. She moved from being the Chief Nursing Advisor to the British government to Presbytery and was ordained as the first woman Bishop of London in 2018. She now becomes  the first woman archbishop in the history 1400 years of the Church of England. 

Mr Eamon Mullally, her husband an IT professional and the archbishop designate walked the distance of 140 kilometres from St Paul's cathedral in London to Canterbury Cathedral as part of the spiritual preparation for her installation. That symbolised her intent to be a pilgrim as she receives the mantle of responsibility and the call to be the archbishop of Church of England. The church currently in stressful situation on account of divided opinions, would need a healing touch and spiritual awakening to be a 'leaven' in a burdened world of multiple needs! 

It is during the season of Lent this installation takes place, which is yet another symbol of the church turning this season of penitence to dependence on God for moving on! 

The archbishop having been trained in cancer care during her nursing career, brings a mindful attitude and approach to those who are wounded and grieving! 

It is a historical occasion when a woman Bishop becomes the Archbishop. Let it be also a historical occasion when the Church of England would choose the role of being n the role of 'Good Samaritan' in its vocation and mission !

Anna and I want to greet the Archbishop of Canterbury with Lilies from our garden!

 M.C.Mathew ( text and photo of flowers)

A symbol of heritage

The Bologatty palace at Kochi, built in 1744 by a Dutch merchant is the oldest palace outside Holland. It was the residence of the Dutch governor. It was leased to the British in 1909 and became the residence of the British governors till 1947. The Pierce Leslie Bungalow, the fourth photo above, was the office of PL Company which was founded in 1862.

Currently it is a tourist spot with a Golf course, hotel, dining and swimming pool, located at the edge of an island in the backwater at Kochi.  

It was while visiting the palace recently with friends, it occurred to Anna and me of the memories of our association with the palace for the last 14 years since we relocated to live in our cottage. About thirty kilometres away from our cottage, it was a regular place we visited on Sunday mornings for breakfast after the church service at the C.S.I cathedral in the Broadway. 

Although our visits are infrequent now, it brings into memory occasions of happy family times spent with children and grand children. We experienced how the restaurant evolved into a place of attraction on Sundays for visitors because of the pleasant ambience it offered for a leisurely meal time with a wide view of the backwater with movements of boats on it! 

It gave us another opportunity last week to be there one more time with our friends to recall its history and walk around appreciating the aesthetic way the walkways and garden are taken care of! 

Being a heritage centre, it receives all the attention that it rightly deserves to retain its historic features! 

India has evolved to be what it is through invasions and expeditions of different nations and rulers ! The 'nationality' spirit which has been infused into main stream thinking by a political ideology in the recent years belittles what we inherited from all the seasons of occupations of different rulers and dynasties. The first sixty years since independence the national governments attempted to integrate to create a convergence of cultures and traditions of the three centuries. But in the recent years, the ideology of marginalising that approach is dominant. We have been reduced to be people of different religions where the traditions of the majority religion receive attention and recognition! The fragile thread of integration is currently weaker than before! 

Visiting the Dutch palace restored hope and aspiration! We are Indians and live among other nations and peoples.  

I wish the president of the United States of America who announced

 five days of cease fire in its war with Iran, will abstain from war and see the nations of the world as fraternal countries called to live inter- connectedly, cohesively and harmoniously! 

M.C.Mathew ( text and photos except the first one)

The mystery of a drop !

One drop, hanging on the nut of a ripe  cashew! As I watched in the twilight, I wondered if it was the dew of the night. But the leaves and other fruits felt dry, when I felt them! Was the the fruit dripping its juice? 

As soon as the earlier stop fell off another drop was being formed. I waited for a while to see if it became bigger and fell off the like the earlier one! That did not happen ! 

As the drop looked brilliant evidence of rain drop  in the morning sun, it became even more mysterious. There was no evidence of rain drops on the grass or leaves to thin of an earlier drizzle! 

It was then it occurred to me that I was carried away by reason and logic instead of being surprised by a mystery! My mind took over my thoughts ! What I needed was to behold it and receive a soulful view of a surprising sight from within! 

I did not need to know the source or  content of a drop! 

But behold the sense of surprise a hanging drop brings till it fell off! 

It brought a contrast between the way my mind works and soul waiting for its message to be received! 

That way of soulful living is an inward experience which brings larger meaning in small happenings. 

Anna and I along with our friends were at the end of our birding walk on one morning last week. The guide noticed a fluttering movement in the foliage a little distance away. He slowly walked towards it and spotted a kingfisher with a feed in its beaks!

In a conversation he talked about an urge within to go to inspect the site of the moving leaves! He had an intuitive sense! He did not allow the tiredness to subdue his inner prompting! That is one fruit of soulful living! 

The soulful living is an experience of feeling within to sense the depth of a reality beneath reason and logic! 

A childhood habit is a sense of wonder and surprise! 

As adults it involves a journey to restore this childhood sense of wonder and surprise! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

The enabling vocation!

I noticed how some Lilies thrive even when their stems are leaning and  looking precarious! The buds bloom and live the normal season. The Lilies appears to be wounded, but shows no sign of it in the way it is flowering! 

Flowers are fragile, but the photo above gives the message of strength!

To have a developmentally challenged child at home is a hurting experience for parents and for the child. I have several recollections of families and their children who did not stay wounded or reduced the prospects of exploring to live well and fulfilled. 

I remember a young man walking towards me in the air port whom I did not recognise. He introduced himself as one who was a visitor to the child development centre at Chennai in the nineteen eighties for getting help for his hemiparesis. His last visit was when he was eight years before his parents relocated at New Delhi. Since then he went on to complete his schooling and computer engineering course. He was well employed in a multinational company heading the software team. He recollected the conversations during his regular visits with his parents during consultation about improving mobility and learning skills. He recalled how regular swimming as suggested then and using a computer to write made him functional over period of time. He still had minimal asymmetry while walking but showed no other indications of limitations. I enquired of him as to what enabled him to overcome his earlier limitations! He said, that his parents gave him all the opportunities and encouraged him to do what all other children would do at school. He was a member of the adventure group at school, who learned skating, trekking, and boating! He was enabled to look beyond his limitations! 

This conversation brought into focus as to how we can look at our opportunities in different seasons in our life. Every time I feel the pain caused by arthritis, I remember stories of children like that of the boy above, who saw the future and its possibilities! 

Fallen but not frail- that is the message I picked up from these Lilies that thrived against the odds! 

This brought into focus something I read recently- visionary living! We become what we choose to become! 

I met a family recently who had difficulties with their son due to dyslexia and attention deficit. They were regular visitors to the child Development Unit where I worked. He had musical abilities and interest in creative art. Using those interests they developed his skills. Currently he is a vocational counsellor having completed his post graduation! Listening to the way they looked at the possibilities and used the opportunities to upbuild him amazed me! 

This family demonstrated the fruits of visionary living! 

I find that mid life is a time of challenges and opportunities! That is the time to engage with life even more earnestly! The generative outcome of mid life is dependent on how one attends to the process of formation and transition in life! 

It is a way of living when we do not yield to the weight of circumstances, but rely on the inner resilience we are endowed with! We are to be an overcomer because that is our calling! 

For that to happen, we need enablers to support those who become weary while on their journey ! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

 

A hungry Sunbird !

The last photo of the sunbird after feeding on the nectar from underneath the calyx, searching for more elsewhere in the flower caught my attention. It is unlikely that the bird will find nectar there. 

This happened after I read the editorial today in the Times of India newspaper in its Kochi edition, something that was disturbing! Under the title, 'Just Collateral Damage' the editorial pointed out some alarming and painful statistics. Let me quote: "In Ukraine, residential blocks are attacked with drones and missiles regularly. Russia allegedly took away 20,000 Ukrainian children. It has knocked out Ukrainian power infra every winter, to make non-combatants suffer. In Gaza, 2 million people-90% of population-are displaced or homeless. Did they have a hand in the Oct 2023 Hamas attack in Israel ? No, but they are "collateral damage". So are a million Lebanese....Trump and Bibi's excursion in Iran started with a 'mistaken' missile strike on a girl's school. Since then Iran has picked soft targets across West Asia, in Dubai, Quatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia. In our immediate neighbourhood, the open war between Pakistan and Afghanistan has killed hundreds of civilians, including patients at a Kabul hospital". 

Following the World War 2,  the awakened collective conscience of the nations established a Geneva Convention in 1949, specifying the do's and don'ts during war. Not to harm civilians was part of that provision in the convention. But it is breached habitually by several nations with no sense of caution, inhibition or regret! 

The Sunbird searching for nectar reminded me of thousands in the war zones, living hungry and homeless! They live searching for safety and  food! 

I wonder if the leaders who advocate and pursue war have had their conscience frozen by selfish pursuit to get what they want and take away from others their freedom, resources and rights! 

The editorial concluded with a caution and an appeal: "On current evidence, international humanitarian laws exist only on paper and countries that pushed them once-US and Russia as part of USSR - show cynical disregard for them now. But this absence of restraint in war should bother countries that are watching from sidelines. India, China, Japan, all of Europe, S.Africa, Canada, Brazil, should speak up. All is not fair in war. Not anymore".

Yes, I sense a call for response in that editorial!

A hymn by Fred Kaan came to my mind:

" For the healing of the nations, 

Lord we pray with one accord,

For a just and equal sharing,

Of the things that earth affords;

To a life of love in action 

Help us to rise and pledge our word.

Lead us forward into freedom

From despair Your world release,

That, redeemed from war and hatred,

All may come and go in peace. 

Show us how through care and goodness

Fear will die and hope increase.

All that kills abundant living,

Let it from earth be banned,

Pride of state, race or schooling,

Dogmas that obscure Your plan. 

In our common quest for justice 

May we hallow life's brief span..."

It was sighting the hungry Sunbird searching for nectar and not finding it as seen in the last photo, which awakened me to sense the thoughts within that were waiting to be born! 

Remembering the hungry and homeless in the war zone is not enough...more is needed! 

I wish that the cicil society awakens to protest against the dehumanisation caused by war! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)