A Formation for togetherness!

After a state assembly elections in a state in India, the selection of the Chief Minister by the elected party, that won the election is stalled, on account of an intense contest between a leader who is 75 years and another who is 61 years old. The negotiation process is now entering the fourth day. The particular party who won the election admirably in response to the aspiration of people wanting a better governance is disappointing its electorate. There are news of the electors becoming anxious over this leadership struggle. 

We have acquired a highly individualistic approach in our family life, social life and political life. The personal aspirations drive us and not the collective good! 

As I walked on the streets looking at the flowers and fruits in the gardens in front of houses, I found a phenomenon of formation, where flowers and fruits are often together. This is common than the flowers or fruits being just single. 

The following photos that I gathered illustrate this vividly!

Let me reflect on this in the light of the life of Nehemiah, who appears in the Old Testament of the Bible. 

While Nehemiah, an illustrious self giving high official in the King's palace left his job and went to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem which was broken down, he got the permission to leave his job and obtained t from the governor of the region to rebuild the wall. The next step he took was to gather people(Nehemiah 2:16-20). What followed is history. In the court chapter of the book of Nehemiah, there is a record of how there was resistance to building the wall, which Nehemiah resisted by gathering people to work with their hand and mind! They set up guards to stop others interrupting their work and laboured till they finished the task, about which there is a good story line in the fourth and fifth chapters of the book of Nehemiah. 

In their togetherness, they completed the calling to save people from the reproach they suffered for having to live in captivity in a dilapidated city. 

This Nehemiah way of work is something that is altogether missing. We are people who live divided and disunited! The selfish interest rides high on our consciousness. We have a foot wear stand in the department for people to place the footwear, when they come to the area where children play and crawl on the floor. Most people would leave the footwear scattered around the footwear stand, rather than place them in the designated shelf. It involves bending  to take the footwear in the hand and placing them on the footwear stand for the common good of keeping the place clean. During the in between consultation yesterday, I went to pick up the footwear and place them on the stand. About fifteen people whose foot wear I placed in the stand, stood in their chair watching this! Does it not tell us something about our mind set! We receive what others do for us! By ourselves, we are not earnest or thoughtful enough to look for the common good!

The flowers and fruits in the pictures above tell us a message of togetherness. We are all God's created beings on a common journey from our mother's womb to the earths' tomb! During the in between time, we are destined to live in harmony, 'loving our neighbour as ourselves' in the words of Jesus of Nazareth. 

How a different a world if would be, if we live in this attitude of including others as our companions and fellow travellers in this journey of life!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)