Upward and Downward!

The first photo of this squirrel was of a movement upward. 

I noticed it paying its attention to its body by turning its neck over the back, following which, it changed the direction to move downward. 

The third photo of it moving downward caught my attention. It moved slower than when it was moving upward. In between it paused to search for white ants, which often can be found on the trunk of a coconut palm.

The movements in life are often a response to situations and context.

But there is also movement originating out of the voice from within. 

One such movement from within that I came across, was by a couple who felt prompted to move out of their large house, with a garden and swimming pool, to an apartment in the outskirts of the city where they live. It was a move to live more relationally with people in the neighbourhood, where pace of living gives space and time to be relational. It meant giving up a lot that they were used to for twenty years. 

Another couple that I know left their position in a prestigious medical college and moved to a hospital which needed revival. Five years later, the hospital located in a rural area, has become a place of hope for the rural community. 

Recently I heard about a physician in his middle age moving from South India to a  hospital located in a rural area in central India. He referred to it as an urge from within to move!

The voice from within is gentle, soft and clarifying to feel a sense of the calling awaiting!

I remember listening to a former director of the Christian Medical College, Vellore while he spoke to the members of the governing council about his longing to create a low cost health care ward, in the main hospital campus, to welcome the rural community of Vellore when they needed hospitalisation. His persuasion to offer good facility at low cost to the residents of Vellore received approval from the council. That initiative became a landmark in the history of CMC Vellore. This happened around the time when CMC Vellore was preparing to celebrate its centenary of the hospital. Since then it has grown into a large facility where family physicians are trained, The low cost ward currently located in the eye hospital campus is an example of the fruits of heeding to the voice from within. Once when I met Dr Pulimood when he was declining in health, I happened to refer to this initiative that he took, to appreciate his efforts to be mindful of the residents of vellore. His response was, 'The voice from within originated that thought'! 

The movements in life can be due to external circumstances or compulsions in personal life. But there are times, when the voice from within would lead us to paths that one would not have naturally chosen! 

As Anna and I conclude forty years of our association with children who were developmentally challenged and their families, I confess that this voice from within led us to this path, which was not at all in our horizon of consideration. 

Now we seek for this voice from within to give us a sense of direction about how we are to use our time during the retired phase of our lives!

How timely it was to watch a squirrel turn its direction!

It was given to remind us to wait and hear the voice from within!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)