Posts

Showing posts from 2016

Time pass and the passage of time

I could walk uphill, a steep climb up Birch hill, to the Shrub-berry park in a single wind. No panting, no stopping for breath. That was thirty years ago. Now, at barely half the distance uphill, I have to stop to catch my breath. The ticking of the biological clock, its silent but steady tick-tock, tick-tock, unwinds my image of the the young me; with lean but sturdy muscles, keen eyesight, upright bones and sharp memories. The me of today with gray hair, aching bones, a biggish belly, a little forgetfulness here and there and the extra strain of the eye, are grim reminders that age and time are catching up. Fast. Chronus..in Greek...from where words like chronicles, chronology and chronometer have all arisen, is this word for this passage of time. Time passes; inevitably, unwittingly, assuredly. Yet in midst of this passage of "Chronus" time is "Kairos" time. Kairos: the Greek equivalent of a special time; a time of opportunity, a time of immense valu...

Thy will

Image
It is amazing how the most beautiful songs come from the most difficult times. Lady Antebellum and "Thy Will". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAmh3yvmzXs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp4WC_YZAuw

Closed doors: saare darwaze bandh

Image
Through the last two weeks I have been groping behind a closed door. Dismayed and disappointed. Deep within is an assurance that "all things work together for good" and my life is in God's hands. However, the reality of each moment comes back with discomfort and pain. It is all of a sudden, last Sunday, I hear a song. It gets stuck in my mind. Through the week the song keeps repeating, reverberating ...as an old stuck record. This morning, I am compelled to go to the internet, hoping perhaps google will give me more clues about the song. Thankfully it is there, in you tube, with the composer who narrates the story behind the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU9zuoXbCLA

Bookmark: August 11, 2016: This experience must come

I bookmark this day. Such days do not come often. So clearly when I hear the Voice. Clear, meant for me. Prophetic. 11th August, 2016. Here in the morning as usual; my first thing in the morning in my work day. My time with Oswald Chambers. "My utmost for His Highest". "This experience must come". http://utmost.org/this-experience-must-come/ It is clear what I hear. It is unmistakable. I cannot continue with what I have held for so long. I had depended on it. My Elijah. This Word is for me. It is prophetic. I do not know what is ahead. Yet I know it is coming. A loss. A grave loss. And in minutes, "up in the whirlwind it went and I saw it no more". What now? I am shaken, stirred, hit.......I am alone. I go back, I read "utmost" again and slowly it comes to me....like stages of progression of what lies ahead. Alone at my Jericho. Alone at my Jordan. Alone at my Bethel. Yet, I am not alone....in each of the challenges I am g...

Lemons, Grapes and Coffee!

"And she was in bitterness of her soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore" 1 Sam 1:10 It has been a tumultuous month for me. Unexpected upheavals and unforeseen blessings. In times like these, my regular Bible study has taken me to the book of 1st Samuel. Here, I meet young Hannah; with her own story of grief and turmoil. As I read the prayer of Hannah, I quickly note many aspects of her prayer. She prays to the Lord of Hosts, she prays in faith, she prays in tears, she prays with fasting, she prays persistently, expectantly and wholeheartedly. What happens after her prayer is answered is history.... I am driven to think aloud "When life gives you turbulence, its time to remember your moments of blessing! and Pray!!". Here's a poem about lemons and grapes and coffee; the sour, the sweet and the bitter! "I wake up, a little late in the afternoon. It has been a long long night. I have been awake. It is only in the morning I have caught u...

Darjeeling: Home sick

Image
thank you for all these videos..makes me terribly home sick!

a cold and broken hallelujah!

Image
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H0ou7FvNJY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCrnAFVQ3fg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74tM5lYmUw8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTGeDwSR6lA

Goosebumps

Image
May God give you the goosebumps!

Hidden away

Image
Colossians 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. I have been grappling with this issue of "hiding" for a while. My earnest prayer has been that I may be hidden in Christ. This has also meant I have needed to hide myself, sometimes reluctantly, sometimes deliberately, from pulls and pushes that separate me from Christ. Ravi, grapples with another issue of "hiddenness".  Almost the other extreme from my current position. While my current position is tending towards sensitiveness to God's presence, the other side of the coin would be the hiddenness of God. Why is God not obvious to so many people? For many He may be up there somewhere but certainly not in a realm where He is relevant to our day-to-day lives. For some He simply does not exist! That's it from me. It would be good for you to listen to Ravi now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_dt9_iAhJI

My little corner

Image
"Even the weakest saint can experience the power of the deity of the Son of God, when he is willing to “let go.” But any effort to “hang on” to the least bit of our own power will only diminish the life of Jesus in us. We have to keep letting go, and slowly, but surely, the great full life of God will invade us, penetrating every part. Then Jesus will have complete and effective dominion in us, and people will take notice that we have been with Him."  Oswald Chambers in the devotional "My Utmost for His Highest". I have kept a little corner, in the quiet of my life, a place of stolen moments, for unwinding of my strife. I do not go there often, but I keep it safe and secure, its my little haven, where only one can venture! Since long there has been a restraint, a rightful one I must say, My Master tells me daily, That I can't keep on having my way. When every bit to Him I have given, To have His will I know, Then why do I keep this corner? W...

Happy Valley and Shillong Chamber Choir

Image
Weren't you there in Happy valley many years ago? I know that once your footsteps trod the land that's far to go, But from there have come these songs that touch our deepest chord, I believe when you were there, you must too have walked with God! Thank you Shillong Chamber choir for your uplifting and stirring songs. You definitely are my favorite choir. I take the liberty of sharing these in this blog. And here once again their humble story! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivMJUNZAS4Y

Stressed out! Devotion from Psalm 46

Image
A Monster in Tip Toe! Anxiety and stress have their own subtle ways of coming into our lives. They seldom intrude as ominous creatures that hound us during our days, take away our sleep at night, perplex our minds and topple down our lives. In fact, they begin as nice things like desires, hopes, duties; the small demands and pleasures of life. Every day harmless things that weave neatly into the fabric of our lives. Many of these become necessities, few of these become aspirations. Soon the list of everyday things heap up; first a mound, then a hill and before long a mountain. Sometimes, as a small crack; a loss of composure and comfort; a small outburst, anger and finally we just fall apart…much like an earthquake, shaking away our very senses and defenses! There is a fine balance between what we can cope with and what we cannot. There are many things that we manage well: personal life, demands of work, social commitments and our aspirations. Our personal lives have relat...

Choices...my vocation

Ringing, Deeply, is my clarion call. Sweeping,Shaking,Settling. Every other choice, is mine to deny. Willingly, yet with utmost difficulty..... I make my choice Seeking, strength beyond my means, Mustering HOPE, for all I leave behind, I FORSAKE, and for those I do it is a BETRAYAL. Yet, I make my choice I reach to the promises I have to keep, To my becoming of  a transcendental bridge, between the earthly and divine!

Silently now

Image
Silently now, I wait for thee... Ready my Lord, Thy will to see, Open my eyes, Illumine me, Spirit Divine. -Old Hymn                                                      I have stilled myself, like a baby weaned of its mother's breast. In a deep calmness...waiting for your voice in the silence. These are quiet times..times of unraveling as much as times of restoring. My time of reconciliation, of realization that I am so-so incomplete. Unable. Needy. Vulnerable. There are chasms within my soul. Deep recesses. Gashes. Areas usually glossed over by the days of busyness and hidden away my moments of madness.  But in silence, like the melting of the snow on a warm summer day, I lie exposed. Unhidden. Just as I am. As I am, I am open. Yet willing. To listen. To the still clear voice. The voice in the deser...

Ganges and three stages of life!

Image
Three stops on the Ganges, and many things to learn about life! Ganges, Mighty river, a goddess, a queen, You flow, from age to age, City to city, as a spectator and a narrator, Of stages of life itself! By Rishikesh. You flow restlessly, through sages locks, Abounding, aggressive, angry, In the wild abandon Of your youth. By Pataliputra, In mid age, you course by, winding, unwinding, Amused by births of teeming peoples, Only again to lap up their funeral pyres, the burning hopes of the son of Patali, the Queen of yore! In Sundarbans, Amongst beautiful mangrove forests, Your journey ends. Your every drop, joins the ocean, But you seem reluctant, to give yourself up, To the vast unknown!  3 stops down the course of Ganges: Upstream Rishikesh, Midstream Patna and sea entry: Sundarbans forest in the Gangetic DeltaGanges  Sundarbans : Man...

Home again-in a toy train

Image
My home in the hills, A young boy, of the age when I left home. On a roof top, as I would have been, among the clouds, with the sharp hoot, of the toy train, from across the hill, and the chug-chug, of its steam rhythm. Thank you, Namkha, you take me home again!

Songs of blessings and sorrow (with Rohit Thapa)

Image
Jeremiah 31:12  Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Rohit dai sings of our homes in heaven and earth; he sings with joy and sorrow, and stirs the very depths of me. Thank you Rohit dai! My Home; My Fathers Home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrVunUCibLg A song for My Friend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42on_kfP8xg The Amazing Spirit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl5zNwPLxHA He sings about his journey ..from one home to another https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SDgeJUs-aI

A new song (with Adrian Dewan)

Image
Isaiah 42:10  Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Amazing Lyrics..transports me to my final home..thank you Adrian..your words are inspirational and heart touching! My Home Beyond: Tiya Paari https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-zA3F-g08o A heart of thankfulness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NeXkYfy-OA a melody of joy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQV91b5yQUE now to dance : lai bari lai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOYc85NSbUw

a time to dance (with Bipul Chettri)

Image
Ecclesiastes 3:4  A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; Some striking songs that transport me home and some good dance to go with it. Thank you Bipul Chettri; the Nepali equivalent of Bob Dylan!. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhzc1aR6NDg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q39v5tFdHzA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-FdpZ1U8YQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkUeFU6wbuM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUZAEDevb6w

bookmark: mix dont match!

Image

the cost of my obedience.

Image
My devotional "My Utmost for His Highest" speaks again of those we hurt as a cost of our obedience! Excerpt from today's reading in http://utmost.org/ What My Obedience to God Costs Other People January 11, 2016 As they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon…, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. — Luke 23:26 If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the pain begins. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything— it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does cost a great deal. If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset. They will ridicule us as if to say, “You call this Christianity?” We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are obedient to God. We must let the cost be paid. When our obedience begins to cost others, our human pride entrenches itself and we say, “I will never ...

Arise and shine

Image
Time to get up? There are heaps of promises for those who do! Here are some of them: excepts form the first Sunday devotion of 2016.

2016 a year of Breakthrough

Image
Even before I started on the new year, one word kept ringing in my ear! "Breakthrough". As I went through the passage in Isaiah 61; I could see God's plans for breakthrough in many areas. I am sharing the verses in the chapter; which was the fodder for my meditation as well as that of my team as we begun the new year!