Dr John Oommen and Mercy Oommen work at the Christian Hospital at Bissamcuttack. Johny is the Vice-Chairman of CMC Vellore council and Mercy is the editor of the Christian Medical Journal, published by CMAI.
late Rev. A.C.Oommen was the head of Chaplaincy at CMC Vellore. After his retirement he spent time with the CMAI, developing the Chaplaincy department of CMAI.
Anna and I have had close association with these friends for several years.
Dear Johny and Mercy,
I have felt an urge to write to all friends who have touched my life in some tangible way since my post graduate training days. I want to use the lenten season to do so to grow in the experience of gratitude. I look forward to this exercise of recollecting joyfully the experiences with friends, who have ministered to me! Incidentally this year is a landmark year for me when I turn to be seventy!
I want to write in part one, how both of you have touched my life. In part two of THIS letter, I like to share how achen Oommen touched our lives!
PART 1
I think I met Johny for the first time when you were a student. On a few occasions, I met you during those days, I was encouraged by your enthusiasm, value based approach to life and living and interest in reaching out to others. I remember hearing from you about going to ulcer ward in a group on Sunday afternoons and the benefits it brought to you. You were preparing yourselves for your vocation by continuing the practice to visit Rehabilitation institute regularly. You kept close contact with Dr. Mary Varghese and inspired us with your stories of meetings with her.
Anna and I along with Arpit came for your class retreats and the final year retreat. That is when I felt even more encouraged by your vision of life, by preparing yourself a new ground of understanding of being a disciple of Jesus in health care. In fact you entertained Arpit by playing with him and singing to him, which still remains as a pleasant memory of your skills in relating to adults and children alike. You spent a year at Bissamcuttack during your sponsorship obligation, which you referred to as a defining experience in understanding your call. In one conversation, I vividly remember you mention about life in the tribal areas inviting you to live among them and experience the joy of ministering to them and feel ministered by them. When you were involved at the Rehabilitation Institute videoing and making storyline about the different aspects of experiences of those affected by physical limitations, I met you once and asked you a question about, what is the gain from this experience, to which you responded by saying, that you are discovering more of yourselves, while you listening to them’. I knew since them that you were on a unchartered course to define a new understanding of health care, where the service we render to others would touch us and give a new understanding of our life, calling and living.
During your training in community health, I remember listening to you in meetings and felt persuaded in my heart about the value we need to offer for the opinions and aspirations of people who are disadvantaged, while reaching out to them. It is not what we feel about their need which is is decisive, but knowing them by being with them. You often quoted the example of Mother Brand to illustrate this. As I was not well versed with the history of CMC and how thought lines emerged over the years, the snippets I picked up by listening to you and some others helped me to get familiar with the history of mission of CMC. It is a history of different strands making a mosaic of significance and a unique way of integrating life and work.
I had occasions to meet with you during the CMAI meetings. During the few visits Anna and I made when Anandit and Aswathy were working at Bissamcuttack, I received considerable insights the way you and Mercy were making earnest efforts to make a difference in the lives of others. Listening to the story of the school, the nursing education, and the development of services at the base hospital gave me a feeling that ‘others determined your agenda of action'. When I heard that the Tatas gave you a free hand in using their resources to design and develop programme with no strings attached, I felt the genuine trust you earned beyond your own family and circle of friends. You did make a significant contribution in developing the state sponsored public health initiatives whether it be TB or Malaria.
Every time, I heard you speak at the CMC council or other meetings at Vellore, you brought a new understanding about the way we ought to look at our role and relevance. I remember hearing you at the international consultations. of CMC. I felt that you were challenging the institution to move on into an enabling role rather than only consolidating at Vellore. Your analysis of the alumni of CMC and where they work or what they do was a revealing message to me about the need to make the educational process at CMC more relevant to the challenges we face in India in health care.
The number of things you are connected with has been a story by itself. Your decision to travel with your father and spend several months listening to him and make notes of his conversations and talks to create a biography of his mission was an outstanding contribution that a son could do for his father. I met with you while you were on that travel mission. I had an opportunity to meet Achen also at the same time. Achen did tell me that , ‘ Johny is giving me energy to travel and meet people’. I felt terrible that I was not able to be present to say farewell to Achen when his home call took him away from us.
It is true that I did not stay in touch with you although I wanted to. The letter you wrote to the mission of Anil Henry which you copied to me was one of the recent instances of being in touch with you. That letter would move anyone because it was a message from your heart about the way you looked at the opportunity at Mungeli.
Thank you Johny and Mercy for what you are. It is such an encouragement to know that Mercy is the editor of CMJI. I do not know of any instance when a husband and wife occupied that role anytime in the past.
You bring a new meaning to life and living in the way you followed Jesus of Nazareth. I have been blessed by what you are and what you do. You both had a formative contribution to my life and the way it has evolved! You speak from your heart and show some of us truths that we otherwise would have missed.
I write this because I wanted to tell you that You have been a blessing to Anna and myself.
M.C.Mathew
PART 2.
I want to share some insights about Achen Oommen which brought a transforming experience in my life.
When Anna and I joined CMC Vellore in 1980, Achen Oommen called us for a conversation in his office and told us that we need to associate with EU and help students in their spiritual journey. He said that the SCM had the support of some faculty who were already helping, but the EU needed a few more faculty. That was most unusual for a chaplain to have mentioned it when he himself was more associated with the SCM. That first meeting with him made me realise that his spirituality transcended any personal interests. He had the interests of others in his heart.
It was during the home call of our daughter, Anita, in 1982, Anna and I got to know Achen in a personal way. He conducted the funeral service during which he mentioned, that ‘Anita is not with us anymore. But she came and went away leaving a message with us. Anna and MC would be guided to discover that in due course. Let us be in prayer for them' . It was a prophetic word to our hearts lifting our spirit from the valley of sorrow we had slipped into! Her home call came following a traumatic experience at her birth when the treating doctors hesitated to do exchange transfusions for her hyperbilirubinemia because she had a developmental disorder. Th same attitude was evident when she was subsequently admitted with chest infection. In fact Achen and the Dr and Mrs Dr Pulimood were most helpful to convey our longing for her to be treated even if the outcome was not promising. Achen kept in touch with us during this period to comfort, guide and encourage. Just before we decided to leave CMC in 1982 to take a year to consider the ‘message of Anita’s presence and absence', he came home to meet with us and suggested that we keep in touch. He was warm and affectionate which is still fresh in our minds.
Another aspect that touched me about Achen was about his generosity towards others and their spiritual leaning. Having been closely associated with CMAI, Achen was open to discuss matters of EMFI in a generous and hospital way, when he discovered that I was the founding general secretary of the EMFI. I remember some of the conversations just before we left CMC. He had sensed that I had a leaning to become full time with the EMFI at that time. He did say that there might be a more appropriate way than that for me to respond to the arrival and departure of Anita. I am grateful for that caution, which is what made us to take a year off and discern the way forward. So Anna and I are grateful that this discerning process that Achen challenged us to go through, helped us to find the expression of our vocation in and through ASHIRVAD.
I kept in touch with Achen through letters and when we informed him that we were getting ready to start a trust, ASHIRVAD to foster some initiatives for children with developmental needs, he replied with warm enthusiasm. He visited us at Chennai and kept enquiring about the progress we were making. He was by then with CMAI. In fact he along with Daleep, Dr. Tharien and Dr. Zac visited us once to hear our story when they were looking at the opportunity for christian presence in health care in India.
During one of my visits to CMC, when Achen was staying with Suranjan and Sarah, I interviewed him on faith and healing. I used to come for some meetings which he and Dr. Zac organised to explore this theme. It was during that interview I discovered how deeply Achen had explored the theme from various perspectives. His outlook was fresh. One aspect which inspired me was his reference to, health with ‘ wholistic’ and ‘ holistic’ dimensions. In fact his one page article which appeared on this subsequently was an article which I used every year for the final year Bible study at CMC for ten years, when I was asked to lead it from 1998 till I retired. During my involvement with developmentally challenged children, I was explored to exercise this understanding of the dual dimensions in a practical way.
I had other opportunities to meet Achen at ODC, Vellore and also in meetings. Every time I met with him it was like a continuation of conversation since we met last time. He was articulate and precise. Referring to my background of having been involved in different organisations, he suggested to me that, I ought to take forward what Dr. Tharien left behind in his mission for ‘Peace and Reconciliation’. Although Dr.Tharien had told me this a few times before his home call, I was slow in considering that. When Achen told me, I got further encouraged to equip myself. In fact I pursued a training programme in Alternate Dispute Resolution in order to be available if I am called upon to be in such a situation. I am grateful to Achen for giving me an indication of what is a missing component in christian service- fellowship and reconciliation.
However, looking back over what happened during my recent involvement in the CMC Council, I realise that I was least effective in my role of reconciliation. I have regrets and sorrow on account of this. However, I also, remember, Achen telling me that reconciliation is a vision and disappointments are not to be taken as a reason to give up! A senior Bishop whom I met recently while talking about the denominational conflicts that exist, mentioned to me that, ‘ when Achen Oommen and Dr Tharien were around, they encouraged dialogue’! That was another testimony to Achen’s mission in life.
Achen remembered Arpit and would ask me often about him. That was an indication how mindfully he lived remembering people whom he would not often meet.
Achen communicated to me on some occasions about the deep impact kochemma had on his life! He talked about occasions when he was able to sing to her when she was unwell, which brought consolation to her!
His vision for his children and families was one of blessing them to ‘ go their way’ in response to God’s call. He had double bereavement- his wife and daughter. Referring to that once he told me, that the 'pain of separation is permanent, but the memory of their joyful presence in our memory is also permanent’.
He loved his grandchildren. He commented about it once, saying 'enjoy them and bless them. Let all the remaining be done by the parents.’ I carry that as a mission for myself as Anna and I relate to 4 grandchildren.
Achen to me was a mentor in my human formation. He was in a similar role to many. Whether it was the SCM work camps, or a sermon at the chapel, he brought fullness into everything he was called to do. I remember some faculty at CMC mentioning to me that they would get a call or a visit if any one was regularly missed in the Sunday evening chapel service. Dr. LBM Joseph, director of CMC once told me that after the strike was over, the community would have disintegrated, had it not been for Achen who took the role of being a reconciler. That was the beginning of the faculty retreats in CMC. Dr P Zac mentioned to me about Achen, ‘as one who brought faith and action in convergence’. In fact it was Achen who encouraged the senior faculty to meet in Dr Scuddr’s room in the auditorium after the chapel service on Sundays for fellowship! It was symbolic. He knew that at the leadership level there was a need for togetherness.
I felt that Achen during his life time demonstrated a new frontier in healing by promoting partnership between health care team, patients and their families. He promoted a vision for the church to be healing communities.
Achen was ahead of his time in thought and in Biblical narration on contemporary issues.
I am grateful for hours of conversation with him for which he found time! He spoke truth as no one else spoke. I have been a beneficiary of his self giving. I am grateful!
M.C.Mathew
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