HOLY LAND IS EVERYWHERE
“The moment you pick
up a weapon
in the name of a religion
is the precise moment
that your God ceases
to exist.”
R. Patient
I
have, often, asked this question to myself: “What if I was born into a non-Christian
family – say, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, Jewish or atheist?”
Like most around
me, I, too, did not choose my religious faith – I just happened to be born into
it; and, since then, willy-nilly, I have been following it…
I know, as I
became quite an adult, I very much had that choice to pick the faith I wanted. Yes,
I could have become a Hindu, a Muslim, a Sikh, an atheist or whatever…
But, I chose to
stay what I was born into – a Christian.
Am I happy about
that choice?
Oh, yes… I am.
Do I consider it
to be a privilege?
Oh yes… I do.
But, if you ask
me, if I consider myself a superior human species just because I am a Christian –
I would shout, with all my energy – “No, I don't.”
As the quote at
the outset describes, all conflicts, and all wars, that we wage in the name of
our religions, kill our ‘Gods’. Look, I said ‘Gods’… and, it indicates, that we
believe not only, that our Gods are different, but also, that they are superior
to others’…
A week
before Israel was attacked by the terrorist-group Hamas and killed hundreds of
innocent citizens and brought about horrible destruction – my wife’s cousin Sunita
and her husband Benjamin had just returned after a ten-day-long trip to what we
Christians call as ‘The Holy Land’. That has been one of their long-cherished wishes,
just as a Muslim fellow-being would harbour the wish to visit the Holy Land of
Mecca/Medina, or a Sikh fellow-being would harbour a wish to visit the Golden
Temple… A deep wish to visit Ayodhya, Bodh Gaya or every other ‘Holy Land’ is
something that our personal faith brings about in our hearts…
I overheard
Sunita sharing her unique experience with my wife, the day after they had
returned… “It is a lifetime experience,” she was describing.
And, how lucky –
and blessed – they must be now considering themselves to have ‘left’ this Holy
Land, only a few days before the ravage was to come!
What about hundreds
of those pilgrims who are now caught up in the unfortunate crossfire of
destruction? Do they consider themselves to be lucky, blessed or chosen ones?
I find it difficult to digest this whole concept of ‘Holy Land’… “Holy Land is everywhere,” says Jaco Strydom.
Is Hamas wrong?
Certainly yes.
But, do they or
their supporters think so?
Certainly not.
Is Israel wrong?
Certainly yes.
But, do they or
their supporters think so?
Certainly not…
This business of
‘justification’ doesn’t allow us to come closer to God. As long as I think,
that being a Christian makes me think I am holier than thou, I remain the same mad
guy who sets a ‘Holy Place’ on fire, or who provides the fuel of matches…
So, as Jesus
said to the weeping women on His traumatic way to the Calvary – “Daughters of Jerusalem,
do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and your children," … Yes, instead
of weeping for the innocent Palestinians or Israelites, let us repent and weep
for our own selves and our own children…
Each one of us
here, no matter on which land we live on, is guilty for this ‘war’…
Prayers for all.
Peace for all. “Father forgive us; for, we do not know what we are doing.”
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic’s: INSIDER
Videos: 1 & 2 : ABC News 3: CNN News18
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