Lent Day 7: ‘Go’ as a word of assurance

Covid was a hard time for all of us. The vaccine and the boosters and the booking online and then the big wait. What was first available in private hospitals were then only available in government hospitals and primary health centers. This then brought about huge queues and uncertainties. Every day became a lottery and people were on their toes. I remember going for my first booster. The first vaccine went well but the second was not so. Searching in vain online and then going to various centers from morning did not give much dividend.

One Saturday the usual search ended in a center a few kilometers from home. But on arrival I figured that there were so many people that getting a vaccine was next to impossible. That was when a friend called and informed that there were vaccines in a place nearby. But we had to rush and there was no assurance that we would get vaccinated. Nevertheless, we rushed to the place but realized that many others had also come. I didn’t want to be rude to the others and so told my wife that we would try our luck another day.

This was when a person standing there held my arm and said, “go!” I was like “that is exactly what I am doing. You don’t have to shout at me.” But I didn’t tell him that. This was when he again held my arm and pointed to a hall and said “go.” I didn’t exactly know what he meant and yet I took my wife and went to the hall he was pointing to. Upon reaching there I realized that they were giving vaccinations there but the other guy could not make a general announcement as he wanted to avoid a rush and the confusion which follows. I also realized that my friend had called him and said that I was coming. He kind of recognized me.

One moment I was thinking that the vaccination would remain a dream and not only did I lose valuable time but I also wasted the time of my wife and we also had to get food for my mother and daughter. The disappointment of having to hear ‘go’, which almost sounded like a ‘get out of here’ immediately turned into relief and joy when I understood what it really meant. In St. John 4: 46-49 we read of an official who begs Jesus to come and heal his son who was at the point of death. In verse 50, Jesus says, “Go; your son will live.” Even though it is written that the man believed Jesus and went his way, he asks his servants when the fever left his son and then he realizes that it was the same time that Jesus told him so. Then it says that he and his household believed, which means, believed in Jesus.

The “Go; your son will live”, must have sounded as a death bell for his son and yet that is not what happens. Jesus sends him on his way, knowing that the son is healed and saved. This lent, we have to first of all believe the “go your way” voice of God. And secondly, we have to offer the assuring voice of go, go in peace, go your way, and go in belief to others. This is not a sending away to nothing but a sending on to everything.  

This season of lent should give us this assurance. That God will not send us away empty handed, disappointed and without hope but that God will bless us immensely and fulfil our needs and fill us with hope. Amen. 

The difference between faith and superstition in a time like this

It is important to sift through and differentiate between the grain and the husk at this critical time. More than ever we are faced with false prophets and prophecies which seek to benefit a particular speaker and is not the word of God. It is easy to get confused and misled and life can become very gloomy in the process. Without realising it, we tend to misunderstand many superstitions as faith. One has to talk of one's faith and there is no need to be ashamed by it. But there is no need to defend superstition, because it is not about faith but a corruption that has come in at some point of time. Below is a list of differences between faith and superstition.

1. Faith tells us that God’s mysterious intervention makes the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. This body and blood will offer eternal life. It cannot be totally understood. Yet it should not blind us but should show us light. Superstition makes us think that when we can’t offer or be part of Holy Communion on a particular day, it is inauspicious, unlucky and will be a curse for us. Services have been cancelled in several parts of the world. There are many who believe that this is not good and one should worship in the church at any cost, because otherwise it would not bode well for the community. 

2. Faith makes us visit the sick, pray for them and give them strength and hope. We see doctors as instruments of God. What is around us and for us is seen as good and not as a challenge to God. God is above everything and everyone is placed by God. We do not see a doctor as God but as a person used by God to reveal God's mercy. Superstition forces us to stay away from the doctor’s advice or even from the doctor himself/herself saying that God will heal us and there is no need for doctors or their prescriptions. Here doctors are placed on the same measuring balance with God and this is not fair to the doctors. We must respect them but do not need to worship them and whenever we do that, it becomes a superstition. But ignoring them and not going to them does not make us more religious. 

3. Faith makes us kneel and pray wherever we are. We are the same everywhere and don’t have different characters in different places. We all see the church building as a place which is special, holy and filled with memories. But we don't have two characters or behaviour, one inside the church and another outside it.  

Superstition gives us a special character when we are in a church and a totally different and negative character when we are outside it. This makes us different people at church and at home. The unavailability of a church is an unavailability of a chance to be good. But associating goodness with a place is a superstition. 

4. Faith does not make us test God and we will be like Christ who tells the devil that we should never test/ tempt the Lord our God. God is always there for us. God's love for us is unconditional. Faith makes us believe this one hundred percent. So there is no question of wanting God to do something to prove God's love for us. Superstition makes us test God to see if God truly cares about us. We want to be convinced time and again that God is with us. So much, that we don’t mind ‘forcing’ God to perform miracles. 

5. Faith is not trying to prove God’s prominence over anything but rather saying that God is everything for us. It does not mean that we refuse or disobey worldly authorities. Jesus’ advise is to give to God what is God’s and to Caesar what is Caesar’s. When a government says something for our good, people of faith don't feel challenged, because their faith is not wavering. Superstition questions worldly authority to the extend that it is made fun of, openly challenged, sneered at and disobeyed. Disobeying rules which are supposed to be good for people, is seen as a prerogative and something done to show off our pride of being religious.

 

6. Faith encourages hope and a better future no matter what the present condition. Even in the worst of times, those with faith will never give up and will continue turning every obstacle into an opportunity. People of faith are a blessing to society, because we see a glow on their faces, which radiates onto us as well. Superstition concentrates on “I told you so” prophesies which tries to tell people that we saw it coming and foresaw this much earlier. Instead of hope, fear is spread and is used as a way to get followers and supporters. These followers then spread the messages of hate and fear which will further divide communities instead of uniting them.

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7. Faith walks on water without talking about it. We meet people but don’t necessarily mention what struggles we went through to reach there. Every action and word is faith for such people but faith is never marketed. Faith is a matter of fact thing. Superstition creates miracles because it thrives on them. Miracles have to be talked about, blown out of proportion and packaged well when one is superstitious. So it is not whether one can walk on water but to make others believe that we can walk on water.

 

8. Faith is not overly ritualistic. It does not matter how many times you have knelt, prostrated and prayed but with what sincerity and truthfulness one has prayed. Fasting then should be a joyful exercise where no one gets to know that we are fasting. We are all ritualistic, but rituals cannot replace faith and belief. Superstition is overly ritualistic. Number of times and when and where matters rather than sincerity and truthfulness. Prayers can be rushed and mumbled as long as it is ‘completed’. The ritual then gets more importance than the act of faith.

 

9. Faith does not crumble when a church place or land is lost or becomes unavailable. It is in the heart and soul of a person. It cannot be taken away. Jesus said that one cannot destroy another's soul. Only the body can be destroyed. Faith is inside a person and cannot be snatched away no matter what. Superstition melts easily. When a physical space which is seen as important or a person who is seen as a powerful leader is lost, the superstitious crumble to pieces. It is like they have lost their way.

10. Faith does not automatically get handed over. Not everyone can get it because it is also an individual commitment to God. Just because a parent has faith, a child cannot automatically get it. One has to work hard for one's faith and it cannot be handed on a platter. Superstition passes on to the next generation very easily. It does not matter whether it is understood or not or whether it serves a good purpose. Continuity is wrongly associated with superstition and the acceptance and embracing of superstitions.

In a time like this, we need faith and have to sift through properly to find the grains we seek. Our faith is like the grain while superstition is the husk which has to be blown away and thrown in the fire.

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