This was a procession on the Sunday morning before the regular service- a practice some congregations of certain denominations have every year the sunday after Easter.
As I watched this procession encircling the the church building with orchestral singing with percussionists in traditional attire and those in procession carrying ornamental umbrellas used in festive occasions, I stopped for a while to capture the significance of this sight.
With many temples and churches in the place where Anna and I live, we have been getting used to processions, festivals and annual church gatherings. The festive occasions attract most people in the locality, with people from all faith traditions joining in for the festive occasions. So the church festivals take a cultural overtone with fairs, performances, meetings etc. This is a unifying factor in a culturally and religiously divergent milieu in many villages and and towns. There is piety, fervour and strict adherence to many rituals.
However, do these occasions add to the inner spiritual formation of a community! There are many acts of service and mercy showered upon the marginalised people on these occasions. So people exercise the second command of ‘love your neighbour..’ in an affirmative away.
How much these festive occasions contribute to draw people to the actualisation of the first commandment, ‘Love your God with all your heart, mind and spirit’!
The reality and experience of this God-human relationship is what makes us more humane, God-centirc in thought and attitudes and inwardly righteous and just ! I hear that some congregations organise organise Bible conventions before the church festivals, which is a welcome addition!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
No comments:
Post a Comment