Leaves and flowers !

 

The garden around our cottage has an adorable look with leaves and flowers celebrating the springtime of this year! 

The world is in turmoil with war and suffering ! People live in fear, loss  and grief! 

This sight of colour and jubilation with which the plants begin their new life in spring time had an effect on me to see the current affairs through the optic of hope and transition! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Learning to feel enlarged!

A caterpillar, spider and an ant happened to be captured in the photos, during my morning visit to the garden! I noticed them only when I downloaded the photos! 

That made me realise how the colourful flowers by their brightness and radiance would hide the presence of the insects! 

One can get carried by what is obvious and loose sight of what remains hidden!

In an exercise I did during a group activity recently, the details of  a picture were captured only by two out of ten in the group in one minute. The eight who missed more than fifty percent of the details stayed looking on what was obvious or prominent. The obvious being catchy held their attention and blinded their eyes to the smaller details in the picture. 

This bias in seeing or hearing is blind spot most of us carry with us. We can have a tendency to listen in a conversation to what seems interesting and miss the rest! This can be one reason for divided opinions when we interact with each other in a group. Instead, if we can be attentive to all opinions during a discussion it is more likely to be representative of the truth or facts. 

The technician who came to attend to the air conditioner yesterday had a check list to guide him to inspect all the different functional components. He was guided by the check list lest he missed anything that was not obvious.

This is the role of recollection and reflection! It was when I revisited the flowers in the photographs I noticed the caterpillar, spider and an ant. 

I know of few people who take about five to seven minutes three to four times in a day to be quiet to reflect and recall! It is a practice of both debriefing and revisiting. It is an exercise which can bring cohesion and integration of thoughts. We become objective, recollected and refreshed through such a practice! It is one way of becoming connected with details that escaped attention initially. I know of occasions during a discussions,  someone having listened to the conversations patiently, brought an opinion that gave a new direction to pursue! 

This is one aspect of self-directed learning! We listen to ourselves inwardly, in order to feel more complete and to go beyond the initial impressions!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Peace as our birthright!

The cashew tree started flowering in our garden in December. Now the flowering continues with fresh cashews appearing.  By the time the tender ones become ripe fruits, it will be another three months. The cashew tree would been flowering and fruiting for six months during this season! It is unlike what happened in the former years where the flowering season has been confined to about three months. 

I know of experiments that are being done to prolong the flowering and yielding season in cash crops. In our garden, it happened on its own. A possible reason is the climate change when the day temperature was higher than the usual in the winter months in this region. 

I was wondering about the atmospheric pollution taking palace due to missile attacks and bombings in Iran, Israel, Middle East  Ukraine and Russia,  since war broke out in those regions for  months. I wonder if rulers of these nations think about the adverse effects on the flora, fauna and human health! The chemical effects of the toxic products of warhead might not be immediate, but can be generational! 

When I see photos of damages created to buildings and the neighbourhood, It creates shockwaves considering the extent of damage! The loss of human lives and those injured bring another disturbing outcome of war!

The territorial aggression starts with aggressive attitudes towards others. To live with an attitude of violence, aggression, invasion and destruction is not a natural human instinct. The usual human instinct is mindfulness and thoughtfulness. 

We therefore live in a season when normal values of regard for others is on the decline! 

 

The cashew fruit tree in our garden defies adverse weather conditions and flourish to bear fruits even more ! It turns an adversity to its advantage!

I have a message from a group of people who called out to remember people in war zones at a fixed time each day. The call to people in India is to remember people in war zones in our quiet prayer at 9 am each day for a minute or so!  I understand that some peace activists had sponsored such a prayer vigil during the second world war. I am not sure if the current effort  is linked to Quaker movement !

We need political leadership in our countries to have a tolerant, accommodative and dialogue based multilateral relationships. 

 

When I listen to the debates in the Indian parliament, I come across angry, accusatory and intolerant engagements between the ruling party and the opposition parties! Why the debates have drooped to a low state of hateful conversations! I wonder, how a nation which regards Mahatma Gandhi as the father of the nation because of his non-violent approach to independence movement, can dip so slow to think and talk of each other unkindly and rudely in the parliament! Have we stopped being neighbours to each other! 

To me, the cashew tree in our garden in extending its fruit bearing season, is sending out a message! The enduring spirit of resilience in harsh weather conditions! 

Let the world leaders wake up to seeing an opportunity amidst hostile setting, a window for negotiating for peace! The United Nations passed a resolution a few days ago to disapprove Iran attacking Middle East countries! An anaemic response far too late of a half hearted commitment to peace! 

I want to think that peace is our birth right! Any departure from that is against human wellness! 

Let us, while living in India  join together at 9 am to remember people in war zones and pray for peace to return to human hearts and relationships! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

A bud, young and old Flower!

The desert rose bush in our garden brought a message that engaged me for the day!

While one bud is yet to open, the two other buds which opened two days apart from each other had different hues of colour. The younger flower had a mild yellow tinge and the older carried a pink tinge ! The three together brought the message of its biographical becoming!

There is a difference in appearance between a young and old flower! It is biological and inherent to every flower! 

We live in a climate when the age pyramid of people are shifting with older people living longer. The birth rate having declined or become stationary the young population in a country like India, of people below 25 years is probably about 40 percent of the population. The vital statistics of nations like India suggests that the people above 60 years would also become about 30 percent of population fairly soon. Which means that about 30 percent, which forms the active work force.  will be the feeder population to sustain the younger and the older population. 

This demographic reality raises some questions, the important one being the sustainably of the social support system for the younger and the elderly!

During a conclave of young start up professionals working on technological innovations, a question was raised whether their initiatives are well blended with the wisdom of the elder statesmen and technologists! The ascending spiral of inventing the new wheel was gestationally longer, when the young professionals were exploring alone. When the start up had an integrating influence of the elders, the progress was faster and steadfast! 

The cross conversations between the younger and the older take place, but not sufficiently in frontiers of innovations and inventions. 

 

The advanced version of the lap top I use now would cost me four times more than the price I paid for the current one. This happened in just five years. 

The impact of technological development when computed, the cost is directly transferred to the end user! The social benefits a start up company receives in the form of subsidised factory premises, electricity, import of equipment, tax exemptions for first several years, and promotional subsidy the banks offer, by way of loans repayable over a long time, etc do not get transferred into costing the product. The investment into developing a technology came from different sources. But does the benefit of these get shared by making product affordable! 

Is this not a faulty system which creates millionaires, for which the society has also paid for! But the benefits do not get shared with the enablers who made the start up successful. I was alarmed to hear that that many startup up companies create millionaires in the first ten years. 

This is the gap in the social ethical orientation of the younger and older people in our society. The younger grow up acquisitive and the older grew up altruistic! The mandatory corporate social responsibility expected from the corporate world is a hope that the millionaires would share their plenty with those who still live in the edge of a prosperous generation!

The young are enterprising and adventurous. The older are wise and socially oriented! 

Two flowers and one bud in a desert bush! The bud waiting to  open would open into this world of uneven distribution of resources. The young in every society creates vibrancy and progress. Are they sufficiently motivated to be socially conscious and liberal to be mindful of many denied of aspirational journey in life! Are the elders in a society able to bring a leavening presence to create consciousness  about opportunity for all! 

I have these thoughts which often get sidelined by virtue of it being assigned to be a philosophical issue! 

I regret that the 'takers' are multiplying in a society who become millionaires! The 'givers' are also many, but their giving does not bring social equity as much we long for!

One of the entertainments which the social media provides is to show forth the garages of some of the millionaires with several imported cars of brands that cost beyond our imagination! Why is that the social media does not give equal or more attention to tell the tales of givers and philanthropists! 

Have we got preoccupied with the fortunes of the millionaires and lost sight of the people who live longing for a respite from the daily grind of  living !

What is the mission in Living!

Obsession with Self-sufficiency or occupied with self-giving !

M.C.Mathew( text and photo)

The blooming lilies and fruiting tree!

Each day I find more lilies blooming in our garden!

Amidst the gloom of war in West Asia and Middle East, one keeps looking for signs of hope for peace and respite from further escalation!

Although there is no sign of any peace initiative in the horizon, with more Lilies flowering, I feel drawn by a mystery. The bulbs of Lilies remain in the soil dormant for most part of the year. At one time the bulbs give only foliage ! During this season every year, they give flowers. This season of about three months brings a colourful look to the garden!

All of us require consoling thoughts to bring rest to our soul when we live in a disheartening ambience of human suffering due to war! 

My first impression of seeing only one cashew fruit in each of the bunch of flowers above, brought a disappointed feeling. While staying with that thought, a consolation sprang within. Each of the cashew when ripe has the potential to be a seed, sapling and tree in future! The prospect of three trees from one tree in the future, with each tree blossoming to give many fruits! That changed the way I received this scene! There is more insight beneath than just the first impression in most instances. 

The above Lily flowers bring the message of blossoming in due season. The fruits bring the message of the prospect of the little multiplying! 

I have two photos of Berlin city, one covered in snow sent by a friend in December. The second photo from this friend is a recent one of the sign of spring in the garden!

             

I found this contrast to be a reconciling reality to live with. The current global situation is akin to a frozen season where harmony, peace and relationships remain hidden. But the spring shall be the norm sooner or later! 

I feel drawn by this message of hope the garden gives me when I feel visited by the blooming lilies dancing in the breeze!

A hymn comes to my mind:

"O Lord, all the world belongs to you;

And you're making all things new,

What is wrong, you forgive,

And the new life You give

Is what is turning the word upside-down

The world's loving to its friends;

But Your way of loving never ends

Loving enemies too

And this loving with you

Is what's turning the world upside-down.

The world lived divided and apart;

You draw, all together and we start

In Your body to see

That in fellowship we

Can be turning world upside-down...."

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

Life is for living in fullness !

The photos above are of plants where the plant itself becomes the flowers. The leaves are not present but only flowers present in the stem.

In the photo below the plants bear flowers and the plant and its foliage is the larger sight!

The plant below is a seasonal plant that it gradually fades away after the season of flowering. 

All the three forms of flowering above in a garden symbolise the message of life! 

Life is for living ! Living by flowering in different ways. 

I came across a congregation resolving to befriend all alcohol dependent members of the congregation and others in their neighbourhood to find ways to bring them out of their habit. They made a start by visiting the homes of such people as the first s move step. The priest who initiated this move referred to alcohol dependant people as those who can have a new life to live fully, peacefully and freely! They can bring a 'flowering presence' to their homes! 

I felt disturbed by the suggestion of an activist group that one out of every fifth adult is at risk of becoming a habitual alcohol user from the risk projection they make! It is one factor that turns homes into battle fronts of abuse and violence !

The thought of seeing lives 'wasting away' without flowering is disturbing and painful! 

There is a fullness and abundance the plants bring through their presence in the garden ! 

That is the calling for humans in the garden of life!

I wish all churches have a de-addiction service for people in its neighbourhood!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

The spring time !

Although we are disturbed by the news of war and violence, most of us feel refreshed by the spring flowers we see around us. Anna and I receive flowers from friends in Europe to have glimpse of the beginning of springtime after a severely cold season !

 

I noticed today morning Rambutan flowers turning into fruit bearing stage ! That is another event in the springtime!

Poets, writers and artists refer to the springtime of the soul in their narratives and writings. 

It is an experience they refer to, when a person comes to be in touch with one's own consciousness transcending all that occupies the mind! It is like finding still water about ten feet below the turbulent sea surface !

The stillness within us is what our most being offers us when we take time to be quiet and move away the wanderings and thoughts of the mind. Our mind is only the first layer of our consciousness where most of us feel comfortable to stay as it is a known and familiar space. 

The soul is less familiar space of consciousness within as the door to its expanse opens only when we wait in silence. This form of interior silence draws us to a consciousness, where we discover a language of love, confession, forgiveness, kindness, thoughtfulness, peace and hope! 

In the book, God has a dream, Archbishop Desmond Titu tells the story of Nelson Mandela in the chapter, Seeing with the eyes of the heart (p71-74). Nelson Mandela as a member of African National Congress was leading its armed wing. He was forthright and a belligerent activist.  He was sentenced to imprisonment. He spent 27 years in prison out of which 18 years was in Robben island where he was forced to break stones into small pieces. He was an angry person when he was imprisoned, but he came out of prison with a forgiving spirit that he set up the Truth and Reconciliation commission, when he   became the president of the first independent South Africa. That commission which brought a reconciling conversation between communities diffused the communal tension and conflict that was predicted by many. Nelson Mandela suffered but was transformed  to practice forgiveness as the language of his leadership. Bishop Tutu refers to the change of consciousness that Mandela experienced because Mandela believed  that 'God loves your enemies'. 

This is the fruit of soulful living! We travel beyond the natural and temporal and experience the depth within us, which is a spiritual consciousness and ambience. 

I saw a photo of many priests laying their hands on the president of the USA while praying! I felt moved by that sight because it was intended to bring a soulful experience to desire peace and conciliation! 

This is a spring time! I long for it to become a soulful time for the leaders of nations engaged in war!

There is an alternative to war ! That is the spring time of harmony, peace and fraternal belonging!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)