On New Year's Eve, which I spent in New York with Clara and Myq, I was asked what my New Year's resolution would be. After thinking for moment, I declared that I would learn to sing... in Hindi. So... about a month later, back in India, I went with my "little sister", Nicki, to meet a music teacher. I was impressed right away, not just by her voice (which is quite lovely) but by her nature. I began vocal lessons, with the focus of learning bhajans, that week. After my first lesson, I remember thinking, "this is who it's all for"... this woman is the reason why I learn about culture and music. She's full of bhakti (devotion) and God forbid that ever be taken from her. Her culture, esp. it's music, shines through her in a special way. God created this beauty and if she's to hear of Yesu... it must be in a way that communicates to those depths.
This last week we had our second Maheela Mandali (Ladies meeting). We gather to sing Yesu bhajans and pray together. I asked my music teacher, Gopa, if she would like to come. She was the first to arrive and the last to leave. We had an excellent time of worship. Afterwards, while we were visiting, Arati asked her if she would sing something for us. She sang a bhajan... later Arati mentioned that she noticed that there was something about the way she sings that's not just beautiful, but really touches people's souls.
Today, in my class, I took a copy of the Yesu Katha... stories from the life of Yesu, written in song form. I told her that I want to learn how to sing it... but we only have the words, not the tuning. She looked at the first few lines and began to sing it softly. It was beautiful. "This will take time," she told me. She had me leave it with her to work on... after she learns it, she'll teach me.
The thought of singing the Story... we'll... that's much more than I had hoped for when I made my out-of-the-clouds New Year's Resolution.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Bhajans
I've mentioned "Bhajans", Hindu devotional songs, on this site several times. I wanted to share a few of them with you. Some of the ones we sing are "Yesu Bhajans", written by followers of Jesus, but others are written by Hindus, who as far as I know, do not follow Jesus... I'll share one of each. It would be wonderful if everyone that read this site knew Hindi, but unfortunately most don't, so I'll have to post the translation, which won't sound nearly as nice.
"O Palanhare"
Oh, Creator! Transcendent and Distinct.
Apart from you we have no one.
Solve our problems, Lord, apart from you we have no one.
Only you watch over us, You are our caretaker.
You have filled the moon with moonlight...
The sun's brightness is from you alone.
The sky is lost in you.
You have given us the stars.
Lord, if you don't bless this life, then who will?
Oh Lord, please listen to our prayer.
Give patience to the sad!
Let them never be overcome with sadness.
Give the weak your protection and let the poor live in happiness.
Give power to your devotees.
You are the Lord of the world, even so hear our request. On this dark road give us the gift of your brightness.
[This song was actually in the Hindi film Lagaan, which you all should watch.]
"Yesu Raja"
Jesus my King, Lord of the Three Worlds
You are the Sustainer of the Lowly
and the lifter of the downtrodden
Protect my honor in the world, for I have no on here but you
Jesus my King, Lord of the Three Worlds
You came into the world for me, a sinner,
and gave your life for my deliverance
Jesus my King, Lord of the Three Worlds
"O Palanhare"
Oh, Creator! Transcendent and Distinct.
Apart from you we have no one.
Solve our problems, Lord, apart from you we have no one.
Only you watch over us, You are our caretaker.
You have filled the moon with moonlight...
The sun's brightness is from you alone.
The sky is lost in you.
You have given us the stars.
Lord, if you don't bless this life, then who will?
Oh Lord, please listen to our prayer.
Give patience to the sad!
Let them never be overcome with sadness.
Give the weak your protection and let the poor live in happiness.
Give power to your devotees.
You are the Lord of the world, even so hear our request. On this dark road give us the gift of your brightness.
[This song was actually in the Hindi film Lagaan, which you all should watch.]
"Yesu Raja"
Jesus my King, Lord of the Three Worlds
You are the Sustainer of the Lowly
and the lifter of the downtrodden
Protect my honor in the world, for I have no on here but you
Jesus my King, Lord of the Three Worlds
You came into the world for me, a sinner,
and gave your life for my deliverance
Jesus my King, Lord of the Three Worlds
Telling the Story
I’ve discovered over the last several years that I have a real love for storytelling and folktales. Being in India has drawn this out so much. The love of stories goes deep in Indian culture and I wish I could convey the excitement I feel as I delve more into this sea of stories (I think I’m going to have to share some with you!). You can learn so much about a place and it’s people by looking at their stories. Ideals, fears, motivations… it’s all in there somewhere. And, I’ve been seeing more and more that God has put his stamp on mankind… in every culture you can see His truths, sometimes in the most unusual places. Probably my favorite story so far is about a merciful king. He is described as perfect and compassionate, gracious to all his people. As a test of this mercy, one day a dove comes to him for protection from an eagle who’s about to devour him. The king, of course, takes the dove into his care, but then the eagle challenges his mercy… reminding the king that he also needs food to live. So, the king offers him any food in the kingdom, equal in weight to the dove. The eagle smirks… “You will give me anything in the kingdom?” “Of, course… whatever you desire”, the king declares. The eagle then demands the king’s flesh… and the king gives it without hesitation. But, as they are cutting out the flesh and putting it on the scale… the scale never evens out, and the king must give all of himself on behalf of the helpless dove. The story ends with the “gods” acknowledging that this king, who was perfect and willing to sacrifice all of himself, must be the Lord of the World. The first version of this story that I found was in a book I found at the University bookstore, “Cradle tales of Hinduism”. I felt the hair on my arm stand up as I got to the end of the story… “Hmm… I think I know this King!”
Not only is India full of stories, but Indians really enjoy hearing and sharing stories. I’ve seen this a lot recently in the house where I live. Within the Indian family that’s taken me in as a daughter, I have a little sister… Nicki. She’s about to turn 17. We became fast friends and spend a lot of time together. A couple weeks ago the two of us were eating together and she was talking about the pain involved with being a woman and giving birth to children, etc. “Why did God make it that way?” she asked rhetorically. I sighed understandingly, then said, “Nicki, do you know the story of the first man and first woman?” At that point she lost interest in her food and all of her attention was on me, as I proceeded to tell her about the garden, the fellowship with God, and the forbidden fruit. I talked about how they were deceived by the snake to disobey God and about the consequences that came after they did. I described the conversation they had with God and the blame-shifting. I told that one of the consequences that God said would happen is that women would have pain in bringing forth children… BUT, He also promised that one day a child would be born from a woman that would crush the head of that snake (meaning that he could defeat evil). That was seemingly the end of the story and she seemed quite pleased.
“Do you know who that child was?” I asked.
“Who?”
“Yesu… and he was able to defeat evil because he was willing to die”
“That’s very difficult [defeating evil]” I grappled for words to explain why and how… and reached for another story.
“Do you remember when we went to see Narnia?” [It played at the theatre here, dubbed in Hindi, Nicki loved it.] “You know how the boy was supposed to die because of what he did, but instead the lion died. But, he couldn’t stay dead because he was perfect…?”
“Because he was the truth thing, so he can’t die…” she interrupted. [In Hindi, perfect is translated “exactly true”]
“…And that’s how they defeated the witch, who was like the snake…” I told her that the man who wrote the Narnia stories knew the story of Yesu, and was telling it in a special way.
“Is it true?” she asked.
“The Narnia story was made up, but the story of Yesu is true”.
A few days later, she found a bracelet I had been given which has symbols that tell the story of the birth of Jesus.
“What is this? It’s pretty!”
“It tells the story of Yesu. Here, let me show you…” Starting from the star that appeared the night he was born and the beads for each of the wise men, I told her the Story. When I was telling about his mother and the angels, I realized again how scandalous the story is. A young girl, engaged, turns up pregnant. In India, the culture is still more like it was in that time. I mentioned that his mother was probably 15 or 16 at the time… “That’s my age… whoa…” She connected herself to the Story her first time hearing it more than I ever have perhaps. She continued to be amazed that He was born in a place for animals because no one would let them in, but wise men came to see him. I continued through, past the little rings for each of the disciples and eventually to little silver cross. I explained that it was a way of killing criminals, and described how He was nailed to it. Her face filled with concern and disgust. Then there are the three dark beads… for the three days in the grave, and a bead for His Spirit which he gave to his followers. It was such a privilege to tell her the Story. Since then I keep thinking about how common the Story has become to me. I wish I could hear it again for the first time… and experience the shock and amazement that I saw in her face. We forget how beautiful and tragic and scandalous and real the Story is. Nicki asked me again that night, “This is a true story, it really happened?” “Yes”, I told her, and realized I need to remind myself… this really happened!?
Not only is India full of stories, but Indians really enjoy hearing and sharing stories. I’ve seen this a lot recently in the house where I live. Within the Indian family that’s taken me in as a daughter, I have a little sister… Nicki. She’s about to turn 17. We became fast friends and spend a lot of time together. A couple weeks ago the two of us were eating together and she was talking about the pain involved with being a woman and giving birth to children, etc. “Why did God make it that way?” she asked rhetorically. I sighed understandingly, then said, “Nicki, do you know the story of the first man and first woman?” At that point she lost interest in her food and all of her attention was on me, as I proceeded to tell her about the garden, the fellowship with God, and the forbidden fruit. I talked about how they were deceived by the snake to disobey God and about the consequences that came after they did. I described the conversation they had with God and the blame-shifting. I told that one of the consequences that God said would happen is that women would have pain in bringing forth children… BUT, He also promised that one day a child would be born from a woman that would crush the head of that snake (meaning that he could defeat evil). That was seemingly the end of the story and she seemed quite pleased.
“Do you know who that child was?” I asked.
“Who?”
“Yesu… and he was able to defeat evil because he was willing to die”
“That’s very difficult [defeating evil]” I grappled for words to explain why and how… and reached for another story.
“Do you remember when we went to see Narnia?” [It played at the theatre here, dubbed in Hindi, Nicki loved it.] “You know how the boy was supposed to die because of what he did, but instead the lion died. But, he couldn’t stay dead because he was perfect…?”
“Because he was the truth thing, so he can’t die…” she interrupted. [In Hindi, perfect is translated “exactly true”]
“…And that’s how they defeated the witch, who was like the snake…” I told her that the man who wrote the Narnia stories knew the story of Yesu, and was telling it in a special way.
“Is it true?” she asked.
“The Narnia story was made up, but the story of Yesu is true”.
A few days later, she found a bracelet I had been given which has symbols that tell the story of the birth of Jesus.
“What is this? It’s pretty!”
“It tells the story of Yesu. Here, let me show you…” Starting from the star that appeared the night he was born and the beads for each of the wise men, I told her the Story. When I was telling about his mother and the angels, I realized again how scandalous the story is. A young girl, engaged, turns up pregnant. In India, the culture is still more like it was in that time. I mentioned that his mother was probably 15 or 16 at the time… “That’s my age… whoa…” She connected herself to the Story her first time hearing it more than I ever have perhaps. She continued to be amazed that He was born in a place for animals because no one would let them in, but wise men came to see him. I continued through, past the little rings for each of the disciples and eventually to little silver cross. I explained that it was a way of killing criminals, and described how He was nailed to it. Her face filled with concern and disgust. Then there are the three dark beads… for the three days in the grave, and a bead for His Spirit which he gave to his followers. It was such a privilege to tell her the Story. Since then I keep thinking about how common the Story has become to me. I wish I could hear it again for the first time… and experience the shock and amazement that I saw in her face. We forget how beautiful and tragic and scandalous and real the Story is. Nicki asked me again that night, “This is a true story, it really happened?” “Yes”, I told her, and realized I need to remind myself… this really happened!?
Ganga Night
Hey... I've made some changes with my photo site. Here's the new link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/94443103@N00/
There are new photos there too!
There are new photos there too!
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
"We too often forget that faith is a matter of questioning and struggle...
"We too often forget that faith is a matter of questioning and struggle before it becomes one of certitude and peace. You have to doubt and reject everything else in order to believe firmly in Christ, and after you have begun to believe, your faith itself must be tested and purified. Christianity is not merely a set of forgone conclusions. Faith tends to be defeated by the burning presence of God in mystery, and seeks refuge from him, flying to comfortable social forms and safe convictions in which purification is no longer an inner battle but a matter of outward gesture."
- Thomas Merton
- Thomas Merton
Monday, October 03, 2005
A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
- Dr. Martin Luther King
Full Speech (it's mostly about Vietnam): http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm
- Dr. Martin Luther King
Full Speech (it's mostly about Vietnam): http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm
