The Journey 179: When Hand Shakes History Is Created
Read: Joshua 24:1-15
The CNN news channel yesterday brought out an interesting and a historical news item titled "When a handshake is not just a handshake". These were a collection of handshakes that made history, and handshakes that changed the course and history of the world. This was because yesterday i.e. Wednesday, June 27th, was a landmark day as Britain's Queen Elizabeth II shook hands with former IRA commander Martin McGuinness. This is termed as a historic gesture to mark the advance of the peace process around British rule of Northern Ireland. The news channel reports that the handshake comes 14 years later, after the end of a conflict that claimed almost 3,500 lives. It is this gesture which is termed as an action where a handshake is more than just a handshake. The news channel also brings to one's memory some of the famous handshakes that were more than handshakes. Some of the handshakes that CNN quoted were the following. When U.S. President Richard Nixon shook hands with Mao Zedong during his trip to China in 1972,which is considered as significant t step toward better relations between the two countries. Next comes the handshake of U.S. President Ronald Reagan with another Communist leader: Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, thirteen years later, in Geneva, Switzerland. The goal of the meeting was to seek common ground on arms reduction and other issues. Another landmark handshake is the one in 1990, when the South African President F. W. de Klerk shook hands with Nelson Mandela. This handshake is considered as an iconic moment on the path to end apartheid. The final handshake that CNN mentions, is the handshake done by Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat hands at the White House in 1993. This gesture of both leaders earned both of them the Nobel Peace Prize. Thus all these gestures are gestures that are more than gestures and has a greater meaning both in the life of individual and in the life of the nation. For any family, or church or society to move forward and to be channels of transformation they need symbols that help them to understand and communicate a religious truth and also in the expression of one's commitment to the Lord.
This week we are meditating on the theme " Transformation in our Family" based on Joshua 24:1-5. We understood from this biblical portion the importance of the spiritual heritage that God has given to us through our family, the nurturing that our parents have done for us in the growth of the faith process in our life and how we need to rededicate our life to God in midst of challenges in Christian living. It is in such a context that Joshua raises a question to the people as to whom they will serve but as far as Joshua is concerned he affirmed that he will serve the Lord. To this reply, the people also takes a decision to serve the Lord. It is then that Joshua makes a covenant with the people and then writes the words in the book of the law of God and then he does a symbolic gesture. Joshua takes a large stone and sets it under a oak tree in the sanctuary of the Lord. Thus the stone is remind them of the commitment that they made to the Lord. Here the stone in the sanctuary is more symbolic than a stone. It is a constant reminder of their commitment that they had made to the Lord. What is needed today as the church and families while engaging in faith nurturing process, are rich symbols and gestures both in the family and the church, which could help the next generation to make and grow in their commitment to the Lord and also to understand the rich legacy of faith that we carry through history. It is so sad that both in church and family we do not have any gestures or symbols or even if we have one we do not know what it stand for. Hence the need to reclaim the message of the gestures and symbols. What are the gestures and symbols in your family and church that gives you meaning in life and also in your faith expressions?
The CNN news channel yesterday brought out an interesting and a historical news item titled "When a handshake is not just a handshake". These were a collection of handshakes that made history, and handshakes that changed the course and history of the world. This was because yesterday i.e. Wednesday, June 27th, was a landmark day as Britain's Queen Elizabeth II shook hands with former IRA commander Martin McGuinness. This is termed as a historic gesture to mark the advance of the peace process around British rule of Northern Ireland. The news channel reports that the handshake comes 14 years later, after the end of a conflict that claimed almost 3,500 lives. It is this gesture which is termed as an action where a handshake is more than just a handshake. The news channel also brings to one's memory some of the famous handshakes that were more than handshakes. Some of the handshakes that CNN quoted were the following. When U.S. President Richard Nixon shook hands with Mao Zedong during his trip to China in 1972,which is considered as significant t step toward better relations between the two countries. Next comes the handshake of U.S. President Ronald Reagan with another Communist leader: Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, thirteen years later, in Geneva, Switzerland. The goal of the meeting was to seek common ground on arms reduction and other issues. Another landmark handshake is the one in 1990, when the South African President F. W. de Klerk shook hands with Nelson Mandela. This handshake is considered as an iconic moment on the path to end apartheid. The final handshake that CNN mentions, is the handshake done by Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat hands at the White House in 1993. This gesture of both leaders earned both of them the Nobel Peace Prize. Thus all these gestures are gestures that are more than gestures and has a greater meaning both in the life of individual and in the life of the nation. For any family, or church or society to move forward and to be channels of transformation they need symbols that help them to understand and communicate a religious truth and also in the expression of one's commitment to the Lord.
This week we are meditating on the theme " Transformation in our Family" based on Joshua 24:1-5. We understood from this biblical portion the importance of the spiritual heritage that God has given to us through our family, the nurturing that our parents have done for us in the growth of the faith process in our life and how we need to rededicate our life to God in midst of challenges in Christian living. It is in such a context that Joshua raises a question to the people as to whom they will serve but as far as Joshua is concerned he affirmed that he will serve the Lord. To this reply, the people also takes a decision to serve the Lord. It is then that Joshua makes a covenant with the people and then writes the words in the book of the law of God and then he does a symbolic gesture. Joshua takes a large stone and sets it under a oak tree in the sanctuary of the Lord. Thus the stone is remind them of the commitment that they made to the Lord. Here the stone in the sanctuary is more symbolic than a stone. It is a constant reminder of their commitment that they had made to the Lord. What is needed today as the church and families while engaging in faith nurturing process, are rich symbols and gestures both in the family and the church, which could help the next generation to make and grow in their commitment to the Lord and also to understand the rich legacy of faith that we carry through history. It is so sad that both in church and family we do not have any gestures or symbols or even if we have one we do not know what it stand for. Hence the need to reclaim the message of the gestures and symbols. What are the gestures and symbols in your family and church that gives you meaning in life and also in your faith expressions?