the "broken" cup

Well here is the deal, the year is about to end and in a few hours a new one is about to begin. Remember those moments when time seemed to crawl, now it flies. Lately I have been thinking about time and how it is a precious resource that we cannot waste, and yet how we willingly and happily sell it off. Perhaps, the most influential factor in this squandering of time is the singular thought "tomorrow" or the notion "there is time." In themselves, these are not untrue, but when there is a pressing task that needs to be dealt with, they are enemies disguised as good-willed friends. They offer us the false assurance that it is alright to postpone it just a little more. After all, what is tomorrow but just the next day; and yet we know this to be true, in most times, tomorrow never came.  So how many hours in a day? Let us go with the normal 24 without getting into the technicalities of the calculation of time. The question is do we really have 24 hours in o...

Charles Dickens in his novel A Christmas Carol introduces a Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge as the protagonist. He is an old, mean-spirited and miserly man who has nothing but disdain for Christmas. However, this mean-spirited curmudgeon is transformed as he is visited by three spirits, the spirit of Christmas Past, the spirit of Christmas Present and the spirit of Christmas Yet to Come.  The first spirit time travels Mr. Scrooge back to his own younger days which had made him to be who he is presently. The second spirit shows him Christmas as it will be celebrated in the present time and the sights fills his heart with a warmth and a longing for more. The third spirit comes and shows him what will happen in future as he witnesses his own funeral. Upon awaking Mr. Scrooge is delighted to be informed that it is Christmas day. As the story comes to an end, we see a new person, joy filled, full of zest and partaking to the fullest in the spirit of the Christmas season. What did Mr. S...

And the campus got decked in merry colours and glowing lights; Yes! Christmas is here. One question that is generally included in most of the services this season is "What does Christmas mean to you?" I have had my own share of narrating what Christmas means to me and how that meaning has actually changed or grown over the years as I too grew older. For those of us who are now older, we might be a tad tired of the question but for the sake of those who are still getting to understand Christmas better each year, it is a question worth asking.   Incidentally, the other day my wife and I were having a small conversation on the same and one of the word that came up was "obedience." Yes, Christmas is termed as the season of peace, of hope, of love, of goodwill and among the many other themes, I think obedience is also one to think of. So where do we see obedience in the Christmas story? Think of Mary who in obedience submitted herself to the message of God, think of Jose...