Work for your highest calling.

These words were scribbled down in margins of the book I was reading at the time they were spoken.  They were said by Ivor, an individual I met while exploring Lodi Gardens in Delhi my last day in India.  He is involved in helping non-profits develop their potential, meaning, and breadth, and he is also a rare, welcomed soul who sincerely listened to my recent travels and asked me thought-provoking questions; a very timely meeting, I must say.

Many years ago, a friend and I took up an interest in determining trifectas in the world.  That is, three interrelated things, events, or seeming coincidences that build upon or complete each other.  Ever since then, the memory comes up when I consciously acknowledge such trifectas in my life today.  Others do this too, and it's seen as a sort of "rule of thumb" in Scripture as well, that if a lesson or phrase is stated three times, we had better listen and heed the instruction because it's extra important!

Trifectas also spur my blog-writing.  Peace, justice, Christianity - the usual topics I like to research, but sometimes they harmonize in a lovely way, so here it is, combined with by recent thoughts from India travel.


I will begin with my recent readings of corruption - and anti-corruption.  One article I read about the massive scale of corruption we see in cities (the article was written in more of an 'alarmist' tone) led me to research a bit the topic of corruption - institutionalized corruption.  When issues come to such a large scale that they are institutionalized (and so many are these days - slave trafficking, prostitution, drug trade, everything I think actually), this is where grass roots seem to be helpless, or at least a concerned citizen seems so.  But there also exist counter- and anti- organizations to these institutions, and one such against corruption is very interesting to me, it is Transparency International, "the global coalition against corruption." (They have a cool interactive infographic that illustrates political states' levels of corruption, according to their scale.  This is the Corruption Perceptions Index 2011.

Because of this, my recent trip to India, and discussions with individuals about injustices and corruption within the country, I was happy to come across the Indian social activist Anna Hazare who is promoting Indian anti-corruption movements through non-violence.  (If you are Indian and reading this, I apologize for seeming so uninformed and naive, we simply do not receive much of the press of current events in the East, nor its modern or ancient history in school, so therefore need to find it ourselves.  And it's quite a large topic with which to become current.)  There was a recent protest in Delhi on August 26 I read about and saw in Reuter's (photo #7) that was his supporters.
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I'm a big fan of Tedtalks, as you may know.  I recently watched one by Scilla Elworthy, "Fighting with Non-Violence."  She is one of the few speakers who, even with the barrier of displaced time and the medium of a computer screen, is still able to captivate the audience (me) through her words, the meaning and weight of her words, and her quiet fierceness and demeanor by which they are expressed.  She explains where those invoking violence come from often - anger, fear, terror, and the need for us to commit to active non-violence, and opening our hearts to its possibilities.  I would like to stress the importance of "opening our hearts" - this can be achieved only on an individual basis, but a society can and does greatly affect how easily this is done.  As my beloved professor noted, art is essential to soften the soul.  As many believe through the old adage "It takes a village to raise a child," it takes a societal mindset to encourage many individuals' hearts opening to non-violence.


I recently finished reading a book titled Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message by Ravi Zacharias.  My sister graciously purchased this book for me the day before I left for India, as I was enthusiastic to read about Christianity from an Indian Christian's perspective during and for the trip.  While the book addressed secular, western, and eastern philosophies as they oppose Jesus' message, it was valuable to understand what Zacharias bis saying the root of a sustained, freed, sacred life to be.  Other philosophies will either "dig their own graves," so to speak, through a philosophy that contradicts at its very core (possibly to the surprise of followers who do not put it under scrutiny and believe for its own sake), or put themselves in a position where no moral authority exists and therefore our meaningless lives become dull (a life very few would aspire to).

Rather than these choices, the Christian message enforces the sacredness of love, the importance of the physical and its union with the spiritual (uniquely varied from many Eastern religions and New Age philosophies), and an individual worth that is found and rooted in our earliest identity - children of the Creator of the world.  In this way, and several other points, Zacharias beautifully and intellectually illustrates how the Bible and Christian claims satisfy our deep yearnings and deep questionings - all of these, from his perspective, should be asked correctly, and when done so, the Christian message has a solid foundation and answer to them.  For example, the common question of how a good God could allow evil in the world is addressed in the video below by Zacharias, who explains that if there is evil, there is good.  If there is good, there is moral law to differentiate this.  And if there is a moral law, there is a moral law giver who supersedes the temptations and failings of evil.  And as beings even questioning good and evil, we acknowledge a framework in which to differentiate the two (Zacharias explains it much better, believe me and listen to the video!)

Here are some of the highlights from Zacharias' book.  It's difficult to pick up a quotation from his writings because its very interwoven, but these get to some of his key points.

It is the assemblage of an object that gives it its purpose, not the reduction of it.    

In understanding ourselves, our worth, and purpose, we cannot break up every aspect of our being, but rather must look at the larger picture and context, which is even larger than ourselves - this is where faith in the right thing, the right story and properly decided faith, is critical.  He explains this further, that

Jesus came to remind us that we who are bound to the temporal subsist without life’s blueprint.  Though we continue to exist, we miss life for what it was meant to be.

Concerning wealth as an end means for happiness, Zacharias refutes this, as many can see true in our society today, that

Wealth must be processed through a philosophy of life that is greater than wealth itself.

Concerning claimants of divinity versus modern ever-shifting thoughts,

One may be surprised to hear that history does not have a long list of serious claimants to divine status.  What has resulted, however, is the gradual manufacturing of divinity by human choice.  That list is ponderous.

Many marvel when a faith is grasped amidst difficult times, which is a blessing for the believer indeed.  But Zacharias points out,

An equally viable faith is demonstrated when dependence upon God is shown in the midst of success, when everything is going right.  That kind of faith knows that every moment and every success in life is a gift from God... But certainly, to turn to God when all your earthly needs are met is to express in no uncertain terms that faith in God is to trust Him even when other supports are within reach.

As mentioned earlier, all generations of society miss an injustice that is before their very sight, a fact even Jesus noted:

The tendency of the human heart is so defiant that every generation will find ways to challenge that which God proclaims.  This point is critical in order to understand that whatever proof is offered at any time in history, we will always demand something else.

 Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:

“‘We played the pipe for you,
    and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
    and you did not cry.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’  But wisdom is proved right by all her children.” – Luke 7:31-35, emphasis added.

 

Referencing this passage and its context earlier, there is a bleak future and blatant contradiction in many philosophies that claim relativity where Christianity claims truth:

Writers like [modern writer Matthew] Parris, who brag that they live in the bright sunlight of reason and wish to deliver this world from the darkness of every religious belief, abound today.  They are only outwardly more sophisticated than the woman on the side of the road who said, “If you want to believe he exists, then he exists.”  

This longer passage relates to the video below, and the vulgar state our world sees, a largely institutionalized injustice of sex trafficking.  It emphasizes that even if we see certain instances in our daily lives as questionably evil, others, such as this, are clearly demarcated:

During my travels in one particular part of the world, I found myself sitting next to a woman who worked for an international agency that cared for children.  As we talked, she confessed to me that after all she had seen in her work, it was very difficult to remain optimistic about the future of this world.  Why, I asked her, had she become so cynical?  She paused and began a narration of heartbreaking stories.  She named a particular city where she had been recently and described the horror of all that went on there.  In a section in that city called “Snake Alley,” men come at night and drink a combination of snake’s blood and alcohol.  When they are under its influence, they are taken into a back room where children are offered to them for their sexual pleasure.  This woman told me that the youngest one they rescued from this terrible state was only eleven months old.  Many, of course, are used this way and then killed, often in the act itself.  “Where are the city fathers of a city such as that?” I asked.  “They are on the take,” was her sad reply.    How is it possible for something like that to be given legitimacy?  Or is it just easier to pretend it does not happen?  

The point Zacharias makes to me is summarized in a small version in this way,

If I am to be fulfilled, I must pursue a will that is greater than mine – a fulfilled life is one that has the will of God at its focus, not the appetite of the flesh.  

and in a larger way in this passage,

The problem of evil has ultimately one source.  It is the resistance to God’s holiness that blanketed all of creation.  And there is ultimately only one antidote, the glorious display of God at work within a human soul, bringing about His work of restoration.  That transformation tenderizes the heart to become part of the solution and not part of the problem.  Such a transformation begins at the cross.  

or, here,

We are not in need merely of a superior ethic, we are in need of a transformed heart and will that seek to do the will of God.

At the center of this is Jesus and His sacrifice.  As it concerns us, as an individual encountering both the truth (Christ and His message) as well as evil (deliberate or, perhaps worse, a slight twist that easily deceives), and living in the world, we make choices.  But to both the author and myself, we believe "Without that bread [the Bread of Life found in salvation through Jesus Christ], all other hungers will be improperly perceived."

 Therefore, as I have been learning in life in general and through my trip to India specifically, while it is important to satisfy physical needs, and indeed this is important to ensure justice, goodness, art, creation, and all things beautiful to allow a soul and society to flourish, it starts at the center, with establishing what or Who you follow, where your faith is placed.  With the truth of Christ at the center, as pastor Richard Dahlstrom points out with his theory of Fibonacci Faith, the rest of our lives and its impact stems from this deliberate, daily, and lifetime choice.


To learn more of the horrors of Snake Alley:
Snake Wine ~ Poisoned Minds
Time's article on Snake Alley in Taipei 

Also, my outline of Ravi Zacharias' book, Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message can be found in pdf form here. 

 The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 

 

I, Wisdom, live together with good judgement.  I know where to discover knowledge and discernment.  All who fear the LORD will hate evil... I love all who love me.  Those who search for me will surely find me... How happy I was with what he created - his wide world and all the human family!  -Proverbs 8:12, 17, 31