The Journey 218
Read: 2 Samuel 9
Terror has struck again. The blood of innocents have been shed again. The Americans has not got over the indiscriminate killing that happened in Aurora during the screening of the movie Dark Knight, when yesterday the news channel started beaming live the scene of another indiscriminate killing. This time the innocents were the a community of Sikhs who had gathered for fellowship and worship at their worship place called as gurudwara at a place named Milwaukee. According to the news agencies, a gunman barged into the gurudwara and fired indiscriminately on the worshipping community who were assembled there. These members were reading their scriptures and cooking food for the main Sunday service and the community lunch that was to be followed later, when the tragedy struck. The cops rushed to the scene and the gunman was also shot dead in the encounter. This indiscriminate killing leaves 6 people dead and the community of Sikhs shocked not only in the United States but also throughout the world. After the 9/11 terror attacks, the Sikhs have been target of hate crimes. This is basically because as part of their religious expression, the male members grow their hair and beard and they wear a customary turban. Thus they are often confused as Muslims and targeted for crimes that members of some other community does. We do not know the reason behind yesterday’s shooting but it is presently treated as an act of domestic terrorism. This leaves behind lot of questions. Why and how does the presence of someone who is different from us, cause insecurity in us. What cause a person to take such a sadistic step to barge into a worship place and then fire on innocents people? We don't know that answers for these questions. But then it brings to the fore the aspect of intolerance that is rising in human being and the immense hatred for the other who is different from us. How do we view these acts of hate crimes or domestic terrorism and what are the changes that we can make in our Christian living so that we become more inclusive in our thinking and in our behavior?
We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living”. The bible portion that we shall use for our meditation is from 2 Samuel 9. In this portion we find David doing his kingly and his pastoral duties. He is asking whether there is anyone in the house of Saul on whom he should show kindness and mercy. That is when a servant named Ziba tells the king that there is a son of Jonathan named Mephibosheth, who is crippled and who would need the mercy of the King. David orders that Mephibosheth be brought to his palace. Mephibosheth is scared but David assures him and tells him not to fear and that he is going to show mercy and kindness to him. Mephibosheth is asked to dine along with the King David and thus through his noble gesture, David sets a lofty standards in human relationship. The graciousness of this act can be understood when we realize that Mephibosheth is actually a potential rival and can be considered as a threat to the throne of David. But these things don't matter to David. Here is David consciously enlarging his boundaries of his life so that he can even accommodate members from the family who tried to harm him, people who could be potential threat later to his power. In times of today, when people are becoming more and more intolerant, God is asking us to enlarge the boundaries of our heart and life so that we are able to accommodate and accept people who are different from us not only in their looks but also in the way they express their faith, lead their life style. That is what is the message of cross and the mission of us who are Christians.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla
Terror has struck again. The blood of innocents have been shed again. The Americans has not got over the indiscriminate killing that happened in Aurora during the screening of the movie Dark Knight, when yesterday the news channel started beaming live the scene of another indiscriminate killing. This time the innocents were the a community of Sikhs who had gathered for fellowship and worship at their worship place called as gurudwara at a place named Milwaukee. According to the news agencies, a gunman barged into the gurudwara and fired indiscriminately on the worshipping community who were assembled there. These members were reading their scriptures and cooking food for the main Sunday service and the community lunch that was to be followed later, when the tragedy struck. The cops rushed to the scene and the gunman was also shot dead in the encounter. This indiscriminate killing leaves 6 people dead and the community of Sikhs shocked not only in the United States but also throughout the world. After the 9/11 terror attacks, the Sikhs have been target of hate crimes. This is basically because as part of their religious expression, the male members grow their hair and beard and they wear a customary turban. Thus they are often confused as Muslims and targeted for crimes that members of some other community does. We do not know the reason behind yesterday’s shooting but it is presently treated as an act of domestic terrorism. This leaves behind lot of questions. Why and how does the presence of someone who is different from us, cause insecurity in us. What cause a person to take such a sadistic step to barge into a worship place and then fire on innocents people? We don't know that answers for these questions. But then it brings to the fore the aspect of intolerance that is rising in human being and the immense hatred for the other who is different from us. How do we view these acts of hate crimes or domestic terrorism and what are the changes that we can make in our Christian living so that we become more inclusive in our thinking and in our behavior?
We are meditating on the theme “Transformed Living”. The bible portion that we shall use for our meditation is from 2 Samuel 9. In this portion we find David doing his kingly and his pastoral duties. He is asking whether there is anyone in the house of Saul on whom he should show kindness and mercy. That is when a servant named Ziba tells the king that there is a son of Jonathan named Mephibosheth, who is crippled and who would need the mercy of the King. David orders that Mephibosheth be brought to his palace. Mephibosheth is scared but David assures him and tells him not to fear and that he is going to show mercy and kindness to him. Mephibosheth is asked to dine along with the King David and thus through his noble gesture, David sets a lofty standards in human relationship. The graciousness of this act can be understood when we realize that Mephibosheth is actually a potential rival and can be considered as a threat to the throne of David. But these things don't matter to David. Here is David consciously enlarging his boundaries of his life so that he can even accommodate members from the family who tried to harm him, people who could be potential threat later to his power. In times of today, when people are becoming more and more intolerant, God is asking us to enlarge the boundaries of our heart and life so that we are able to accommodate and accept people who are different from us not only in their looks but also in the way they express their faith, lead their life style. That is what is the message of cross and the mission of us who are Christians.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla