Blog@GraceJunction

The train chugged powerfully thru the drizzle as I kept waiving. This was the beginning of a journey; a journey which just like the train was powerfully pulling the load attached, moving against all odds, piercing thru darkness, thru the cold wind and the rain – unstoppable.

It was not the pull of the train that powered the journey, rather it was something else more powerful, that was moving forward – It was the journey of Truth. My mind couldn’t forget the young child’s smiling face, less than a year old. The journey reflected innocence, trust and childlike faith. This friend of mine was traveling out to a very remote jungle to meet an unknown tribe, a tribe which still is centuries behind the normal world, cutoff from the rest of the world this tribe still lives in prehistoric stone age era.

Armed with bows and arrows, with signs and in a strange unknown tongue they communicate among themselves. The world has forgotten them, our lives are too busy to even notice them. Their faces marked with ashes and strange colors, make their already Neanderthal faces gory, they do not have anything that would attract us. However something strange has captured my friends heart, as I talked with him minutes before the train left the station, his eyes were gleaming, he was very excited, he had fallen in love – in love with this tribe. And his love was not merely expressed in words but he has demonstrated it with his commitment and deeds. The journey he has commenced, is a journey to reach this tribe – the journey of light, of truth. We’ve all wondered about the great miracles and mighty deeds mentioned in the bible, where are they today? We have all desired to meet real heroes and stars like Joshua’s, Daniel’s, the young Hebrew boys of today. But unknown to us, unknown to the glamour, glitter and media coverage of the world, unknown to the applauses – there are great heroes of faith alive and working at unknown locations, without any popularity or camera’s catching their every act.

I was having such an encounter with a great man of faith, a Joshua moving to the promised land leading a grouchy and grumpy nation, a Daniel who was encountering the lions, an Isaiah trying to turn a nation to God. True love is very contrasting, it makes everything else look dull. Love never comes without sacrifice and love often demands everything.

He was smart and handsome, well educated with a master’s degree, he was very presentable, had good communication skills, was very expressive, could easily earn a handsome salary and reach high on the corporate ladders. He was the lone bread earner to his family. However, his romance with the unknown tribe has forced him to leave his widowed mother alone back in the city, where they once lived like a normal happy family. It is hardly two years since they have been married, the child is just about to speak words but now it seems the child will talk in the strange tongue of the tribals.

His task isn’t easy, he has committed himself to such a great work, a path which is full of dis-couragement, where results are not palpable. The task ahead of him is so huge that the results of his efforts can hardly be seen during his generation, he will have to live his entire lifetime trusting that the results will soon be there, even when he is gone.

He has chosen to work among a tribe, which has no language. They are centuries behind even the poorest of all settlements in the world. He will commit very hard long years to become a part of this tribe, learn their tongue, culture and traditions. Then he would begin his work on their present form of impoverished script less language, form alphabets – grammar, language and texts, develop stories and songs, once that’s done he will have to mobilize various organizations and ever slow government offices to aid him teach this language to the tribe. Then train volunteers and teachers who would further teach this language to the tribals. So much to do in a lifetime !!

Decades later, no one will die without medical help as the tribe would have their children as medical doctors, the poor and jobless will have better socio-economic status, the quality of life would improve, there will be well lit roads, children will be educated they too will have a chance for a better future. Above all, they will have a hope and a great future – as truth will reach them. But will any one know and recognize the sacrifice of this man ?

The journey he has embarked upon will demand off him - Everything, his career, his child’s future, his wife’s peace and security, the only comfort of a widowed mother. He will loose his identity, he has chosen to rewind his life to go back centuries behind and live in frustrating jungles. His patience will be tested as he will have to learn the language of the tribal’s, at the same time communicating to them and becoming a part of them, he will have to beat all odds like diseases, lack of basic facilities ( food, water, medicine, house, electricity) and even face hatred of the tribes – all alone. We ve heard of furnaces heated seven times over, but he has willingly chosen to enter one.

He has got this tribe on his mind, during the few minutes we spent on the platform all he had to talk was about the tribe, he sought prayers, as he knew very well that without divine assistance and favor he would never have any kind of success. I was wondering had he invested those years in a city, he could gather a whole lot of people, his efforts would have appreciable results, he would have recognition, fellowship and people around him, he would be honored among spiritual leaders and people in his community, he could have all his basic needs met – life would have been easy.

But still like Moses he chose to live and suffer in the wilderness than splurge in the palaces of Egypt. Like Moses, he was on a journey to connect a grouchy nation (which hated him) to GOD and to their promised land. He chose to invest the most precious of all things – His LIFE, His TIME. All for a people unknown, far off, perishing. He was there to learn to communicate with them, give them a script, and if successful in his lifetime against all odds and fierce resistance - share the TRUTH. Or else leave this task to other torchbearers, if someone would be willing, if he could find one.

We sometimes struggle with issues in faith, we look for miracles, we struggle and need big things to happen like the parting of the Red sea to find an anchor for our faith. We need great motivation to do things, we need applauds and recognition to keep moving, we would never take steps without first seeing concrete results, we tread each step with so much of caution, not allowing us to be disturbed in any way, and then we all want to become stars.

We look up for stars, we search on TV channels and among the shutters and flashes of cameras to find them. But God, he looks down and knows each one of them, he even calls them by name. His true passionate love, when allowed to permeate thru, when allowed to pass thru crucibles and furnace like situations still creates stars today. Unknown and unheard, even among the dark clouds of the world, among all the false demi gods, among all the commotion of the false and fake spiritualism, there still are stars shining, faithfully, committed, ones whom the world is not worthy and who have truly renounced it, working (read shining) for no self glory – Taare Zameen Par (Stars are on the Earth).

Ps: There still are around 180 scriptless languages in India, which are awaiting truth to reach them in their only comprehensible tongue.

Tags: Bible, Bollywood, education, films, God, help, heroes, journey, languages, lifestyle, Religion, sacrifices, script, Society, spiritualism, stars, Taare, Taare Zameen Par, Teaching, tongue, tribals, tribes, truth, Zameen

This entry was posted on Friday, May 30th, 2008 at 12:17 am and is filed under Art, Articles, Blesson, Grace, Purpose of Life, Religions, Society, Workaholic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.