Gerald D'Cunha

  “With every breath, I plant the seeds of devotion;   I am a farmer of the heart. Rumi   S ome days ago, a friend of mine called me. He said, “I want to visit Mount Mary church (Bandra), today… What is the protocol?” Well, my friend is a Hindu Punjabi. I knew about some difficult times he has been recently passing through. So, the strong urge within his heart to visit a holy shrine did not come to me as any surprise. I have, always, gone to Mount Mary during the week days and sat there quietly, feeling overwhelmed with the surge of gratitude, humility and, above all, peace… Peace is what I have come back with. Thus, when my Punjabi friend asked me, “What is the protocol?”… probably, what he wanted to know was: “Can non-Catholics go inside the shrine?” … “Are there specific hours for the visit?” … “Should one keep the footwear outside?”… “Is offering of candles or cash mandatory?”… etc., etc. I said what I believed in: “Go there with your humble heart... Mot...

  “Older men declare war. But, it’s youth that must fight and die.” Herbert Hoover   S o many of my relatives (including the families of my two brothers), friends and students – past and present – live in the Middle East countries. And, as the war has broken out, they find themselves caught up in a frightening situation... The first thing I did, after waking up this morning, was to send this message to each one of them: “The news of conflict in the Middle East is very worrying. Pray for your safety and well-being. Hope the situation returns to normalcy, soon. Love and prayers.” Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and other countries in the Gulf region are small ones. If war escalates, it will be devastating for the entire region. There is hardly anything, you and I – and our friends and relatives living there – can do to douse the engulfing inferno... Yes, except going on our knees and praying hard - “O God, please bring in sanity.” Whatever the reason b...

  “And when the broken-hearted people Living in the world agree There will be an answer, let it be…” (From the song ‘Let it Be’ by The Beatles)   A s I write this Post, two contrasting scenes come before me… The first scene is from the film ‘Lagaan’… For long, there is a drought in the village and the people are heart-broken, anxious, and worried… They have come together with the last hope: a heart-wrenching plea to God… O Paalanhare, Nirgun aur Nyaare O Paalanhare, Nirgun aur Nyaare Tumre bin hamra kaunon naahin This song is my all-time favourites, as that’s how you and I have been praying – whether alone, as a family or as a community – just crying out to the Lord… ‘Have mercy on us, O Lord’… And does the Lord hear? The hope says, ‘He does’… our sincere trust and faith say, ‘He does’… The second scene that comes before me is from the villages of Punjab which are presently devastated by floods… And, we find ourselves pleading to the same merciful Lor...

  “Tears are words that need to be written.” Paulo Coelho   A while ago, I happened to meet this woman, who asked me, “How’s your health?” “Good… No complaints,” I responded without even blinking. The woman smiled as though to tell: “You are right… After all, complain to whom?” All is seldom good in life… There are a thousand problems to complain about… But, then, who do you complain to? I find myself, particularly since last night, saying repeatedly this simple prayer: “Thank you Lord… Help me Lord… Sorry Lord.” The woman, who asked me, ‘How’s your health?”, I am sure, has several challenges in life, including her own health issues or of those near and dear to her. Still, she asked me, with all her sincerity, “How’s your health?” (She knew about my health crisis and major surgeries I had undergone seven years ago.) “Why me?”… This comes from sadness - our self-pity and blame… I have asked this enough number of times, and, now, stopped asking it… “Thy w...

  “Everything in life is speaking in spite of its apparent silence.” Hazrat Inayat Khan   T he Sufi teacher’s quote above reminds us, that God listens through only one language – silence… Yes, everything in life is speaking, in   spite of its apparent silence. Hebrew, Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic – and a thousand other languages - may help us to pray, chant or sing. But, to me, the language God connects the most is our profound silence… L ast weekend, my wife and I had attended a wedding at one of the resorts in Karjat. The couple, who were hosting their son’s wedding, belonged to Bori community. The guests belonged to varied communities… different religions, languages, food habits, customs and culture. What was impressive was the connect we all felt while we participated in this family’s happy occasion… What mattered the most was the quiet human thread that connected all of us. That night, we and our three other dear couples, stayed at another nearby farm house ...

“What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude.” Brene Brown R ashi is 23-year-old. She has some health issues - some physical, some mental. She lost her father when she was writing her tenth-standard Board exams. But, she wrote, when asked to write about her strengths, “I can be emotionally strong.” In her short explanation, Rashi described, how, when her dad collapsed and died, everyone at home – her mother, brother, grandmother – broke down uncontrollably, she remained strong and   calmed down everyone around her. Similarly, Rashi wrote about what she was good at and loved to do the most – baking. “She makes excellent cakes,” says her mother with pride… Yet, Rashi’s mother is concerned about her 23-year-old daughter, because of the young one’s certain physical and mental health issues… “Sir, will she be able to communicate clearly and logically? Will she be independent, show self-motivation?”… Concerns like these. I have been helping Rashi for some days no...

  “I felt in need of a great pilgrimage. So, I sat still for three days… and God came to me.” Kabir   O ne of the places, I very often visit whenever I find a strong urge in me to do, is the Mount Mary church at Bandra. Now, many times I do that all alone, and many times with my family. But, the, if you ask me, if I go there during the Bandra Fair (the week following Mother Mary’s birthday sept 8) – I say, without any hesitation – “No, I don’t” That’s because, I simply can’t connect to Mother Mary, Jesus or God in a ‘Fair’ – a mela. I can feel the personal deep connect, only when I am – like sever strangers out there inside the shrine – sitting there quietly all alone. Yes, there is a strange high when I tell others, that I visited the ‘Bandra Fair’… But, why did I do that? ‘ Jana maolo jaatre marolo’… This is an age-old saying in Kannada. It means, people behave strangely in every religious fair and melas… Often they act weird, illogical and, even insane. Now...

  “In prayer, it’s better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” John Bunyan   A lmost every day, while speaking on phone or through messages, I say this to people close to me: “I am praying for you.” Sometimes, “I am praying for your family,” or “I am praying for your your parents’/children’s health”, or, some other times, “I am praying for the departed soul,”… and, even this: “I am praying for my country… leaders… neighbours… enemies,” and so on… Yes, I say that so many times a day, every day… But, I have never seen myself, after saying that, going down on my knees, closing my eyes, and really praying to God - “Dear God…. “ Frankly, I have never, ever done that… So, what does this tell? “I say it just to please my loved ones… Hollow words?” Or, “Am I the only one feeling like this?” J ust early this morning, on receiving an inspiring message (on Forgiveness) from a dear friend of mine, I said this in my reply: “Good morning, my frien...

  “Eating together is an act of mutual vulnerability and surrender.” Barbara Brown Taylor   M other Mary’s birthday is celebrated as Nativity feast by the Catholics. In Konkani, we would call it ‘Monthy Fest’. For Catholic   families, in and around Mangalore, it was a big festival, and we celebrate it on every Sept 8. The most important part of the celebration, for every household, has, always, been eating together the feast meal, known as ‘Novem’… While growing up, we had no dining tables. So, we had to sit together on the floor and a fare of half-a-dozen veggies, rice, paysam and the new grains of rice ground into coconut milk was savoured with prayers. Our grandpa (dad’s dad), always, choked while saying the prayers, remembering the family members who were away from home… and, it’s for my mom to continue with it! The banana leaf had so many items of vegetarian fare, which, as children, we never appreciated… I remember eating it half-heartedly. Our mom’s at...