Face the Sun

Bible makes us encounter two characters in stark contrast; One who satisfied his hunger at the expense of sacrificing his birth right for a cup of lentil stew – Esau; and One who stayed hungry for 40 days in spite of having opportunities to quell the hunger – Jesus the Christ. Life is all about self-respect and dignity. This dignity is not conditioned by human standards but appropriated by the Divine. Martin Luther King Jr. remarked, “Life is not worth living until you have found something worth dying for.”

The Holy Eucharist is the celebration of the conviction of a Man who chose to die for a cause. Nothing is more ferocious than a person who has abandoned the fear to die. When Jesus equated his body and blood to the bread and wine and inspired his disciples to remember the same, he was urging them to find their own causes to die. This is the real anamnesis offered by Christianity. Each Eucharist celebration is an invitation to transcend the sacrificial elements and tread towards becoming a sacrifice.  

Today is a very important day for the Syrian Orthodox Church as it commemorates the feast of the 40 Martyrs of Sebastia - 40 brave souls who died for the sake of preserving their faith in Christ. The forty holy martyrs of Sebastia were martyred in approximately 320 CE. Upon the decree of Roman Emperor Likianos, Lucias, Duke of Caesarea, organized interrogations to identify Christian soldiers among the regiment. Forty of the soldiers remained steadfast in their faith, defying the judges by their brave answers and were imprisoned. One cold winter night the soldiers were thrown into a lake near Sebastia, to freeze to death. One of the 40 soldiers, unable to endure the torments, came out of the water to find salvation in a bathhouse built on the bank. The lone soldier died, deprived of both earthly and heavenly life. At dawn, halos were seen encircling the heads of the remaining soldiers. One of the guards charged with the execution of the 40, witnessing the holy phenomenon, accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour and threw himself into the lake to be martyred along with the others. In the morning, the 40 soldiers were miraculously saved from freezing. This infuriated their captors and they executed all of them.  

Unlike above having a cause to live and die for need not always be noble. The Nazis, the denominationalists, the pseudo-nationalists etc also have causes towards which they vouch to even sacrifice their lives. Thus the cause to live and die should be analysed from a humanitarian perspective. In India the great saints are usually called Parama Hamsa - like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Paramahamsa Yogananda etc. Hamsa means swan. Swan has got a sieve like structure (lamellae) in its mouth which could separate milk from water and drink only milk. Like swans, Saints are the people who teach the world how to imbibe only the good forsaking the evil.

Education plays a vital role in preserving humanity. It is usually said that “Parents are the first teachers and teachers are the second parents.” Teachers like the saints are vested with the responsibility to transform students into better humans. They should help students discover their own noble causes to die for. Remember the designation given to Christ – Rabbi (teacher). I reminisce reading an excerpt of a letter written by a School Principal who survived the Nazi camp  - ‘An Appeal to Teachers’.

“I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no person should witness: gas chambers built by learned engineers. Children poisoned by educated physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses. Women and babies shot by high school and college graduates. So, I am suspicious of education.

My request is:

Help your students to be human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths or educated maniacs. Reading and writing and spelling and history and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our students more human.”

Lent is a time to pray for our schools, colleges and other educational institutions for these are the transformative sites where the staples of humanity are nourished - where we unlearn and relearn various things. Becoming aware of our own flaws is the first step towards leading a dignified life. It is only when we allow the light of the Divine to fall upon us do we recognize our blemishes. Just like the Tyndall effect. In the small beam of light breaching a dark space we see the dust particles being made visible.

I conclude with a story by James Baldwin - ‘Alexander and his Horse’

One day King Philip bought a fine horse called Bucephalus. He was a noble animal, and the king paid a very high price for him. But he was wild and savage, and no man could mount him, or do anything at all with him. They tried to whip him, but that made him worse. At last the king bade his servants to take him away. When everybody gave up their efforts, Alexander ran up to Bucephalus, and turned his head toward the sun. He had noticed that the horse was afraid of his own shadow. Henceforth Alexander and Bucephalus were the best of friends.

Always face the Sun else we would be afraid of our own shadows.

Let us Pray

Illuminating God, may we always face you so that we do not fear our own shadows. Give us the courage to mend our flaws thereby transform us into better human beings. For Christ’s sake we pray. Amen

Prayers

Dn. Basil Paul