5/29/2013
KOSLI CHILDREN
GOAFS II: #44
KOSLI CHILDREN
MAY 29, 2013
For too long
now the West has flirted with a Naturalistic worldview that has jeopardized the
most sacred aspects of life and living. Vishal shows how profoundly and
meaningfully the Bible does have the prescription for bringing healing to the
nations that have never known human dignity or social, economic, and political
freedoms..
Ravi Zacharias, speaking of “The
Book That Made Your World, by Vishal Mangalwadi”
Not long ago I read a marvelous book; THE BOOK THAT MADE YOUR WORLD; HOW THE BIBLE CREATED THE SOUL OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION. The author, Vishal Mangalwadi, is the modern Indian equivalent of de Tocqueville, as he examines America from a distance and describes what he sees from an outsider’s perspective. His subject is the influence and importance of the Biblical truths embedded in the Judeo-Christian Bible to the growth of Western Civilization.
Vishal
Mangalwadi, LL.D, was born and raised in India where he studied philosophy in
secular universities and Hindu ashrams. After studying in Swiss L’Abri for six
months, he returned to India a Christian, to serve the rural poor through
several creative projects. This frontline engagement with corruption and
oppression sent him to jail, helped to prevent the revival of widow-burning,
and led to politically organizing peasants and lower-caste “untouchables.” He
has lectured in thirty-five countries and authored fourteen books. Christianity Today calls him “India’s
foremost Christian intellectual.”
The woman at the left has spent her life on the smooth dirt
floor of her small house and its courtyard. She had polio as a child.
These pictures were taken in Kosli, a small Muslim village
about 60 kilometers outside New Delhi. I was there in 1989. The homes were
small and adobe, most with only one room. The streets were dirt, as were the
floors of the homes. This village had a number of polio victims of all ages.
World Vision was there with a variety of medical and development projects. The
thread that connects the book and these pictures is a story of Christian
missions .
India had 2000 year history of medicine but by 1900 it had
deteriorated due to the relative absence of public compassion and the hoarding
of knowledge by experts to get and maintain power. Modern medicine came to
India in 1900. It happened this way.
In 1892, Ida Scudder, a young woman graduate of D.L. Moody’s
school for young ladies at Northfield, MA, came to visit her missionary father
in South India. One night a Brahmin (the highest caste Hindu) man came to her
and said that his wife was ready to deliver a baby, and experiencing very
painful labor, so would she come and help deliver the baby? Ida replied, “No I’m
just a girl. I’m not a doctor; I know nothing about medicine. My father is a
physician; you take him!” The Brahmin answered, “I can’t take a man to see my
wife.”
A little later, a Muslim man
came and asked if she would help his wife, also experiencing a difficult labor.
Ida said, “Look, I am just a girl visiting my dad—why don’t you take him, he is
a doctor?” The Muslim, echoing the Brahmin, wouldn’t take a man to see his
wife.
Next a man from the Mudaliar (one of the higher Hindu classes)
caste came and plead with her to come and help deliver his wife’s baby. Again
she had to refuse and the man refused to take her father. By morning, all three
women, and their babies had died. This shook Ida so that she took it as a
message from God. She came back to America, trained at Cornell Medical College,
and then returned to India in 1900 to establish a one-bed clinic which
eventually grew into Vellore Christian Medical College.
Mahatma Gandhi called it the best medical college in Asia, and
it became the largest in India. In some ways it may be the best in the world.
The professors serve as mentors. They do not practice privately; all their time
is available to the students and patients. The college is also on the cutting
edge of developing medical education through distance learning.
Heroic efforts of missionaries like Ida Scudder produced an
amazing result. After a century, there are more women doctors in India than in
any other country in the world. Neither Hindu India nor Muslim India welcomed
Christian missionaries bearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But this did not
deter the missionaries. They proceeded to bring modern western medicine and
compassion, and this was eventually welcomed.
Many young woman like this have at chance in India today because of the work done by dedicated Christian Missionaries over a hundred years ago.
The same story can be told of modern education there. Islam
works hard to keep its followers in ignorance, chained to the seventh century.
It has little regard for women of children, especially girl children. Hinduism
is a different religion but its practical result is not all that different from
Islam. The modern medicine and education, and the values of compassion and
equality that missionaries brought have been the foundation of western
civilization in India, and that foundation is anchored firmly in the rock of
the Word of God.
JERRY SWEERS
cmudgeon@windstream.net
5/22/2013
LOVE AND DEATH
GOAFS II: #43
LOVE AND DEATH
MAY 22, 2013
Hang my
locket around your neck,
wear my ring on your finger.
Love is invincible
facing danger and death. Passion laughs at the terrors of hell.
The fire of
love stops at nothing—
it sweeps everything before it.
Flood waters can’t drown
love, torrents of rain can’t put it out.
Love can’t be bought, love can’t be
sold—
it’s not to be found in the marketplace.
Song Of Songs, 8.6-8 The Message
Taj Mahal is regarded as one of the
eight wonders of the world, and some Western historians have noted that its
architectural beauty has never been surpassed. The Taj is the most beautiful
monument built by the Mughals, the Muslim rulers of India. Taj Mahal is built
entirely of white marble. Its stunning architectural beauty is beyond adequate
description, particularly at dawn and sunset. The Taj seems to glow in the
light of the full moon. On a foggy morning, the visitors experience the Taj as
if suspended when viewed from across the Jamuna river.
Taj Mahal was built by a Muslim,
Emperor Shah Jahan (died 1666
C.E.) in the memory of his dear wife and queen Mumtaz Mahal at Agra, India. It is an "elegy in marble" or some say an
expression of a "dream." Taj Mahal (meaning Crown Palace) is a
Mausoleum that houses the grave of queen Mumtaz Mahal at the lower chamber. The
grave of Shah Jahan was added to it later. It is believed that Shah Jahan was
planning a bigger tomb for himself, of black marble this time, and he was
deposed by one of his sons out of fear that he would bankrupt the treasury. He
was given luxurious retirement quarters in a fortified government building
where he lived out the rest of his years under what amounted to house arrest.
This picture was taken from the spot where he could sit and contemplate the
Taj, a mile away, across the Jamuna River. If you look carefully you can see
the Taj on the horizon above the middle red tree along the moat wall.
There are many stories about this place. Mumtaz was the
Emperor’s fourth wife. She married him young and bore him fourteen children,
then died at an early age. She was greatly loved and sorely missed and inspired
the construction of this tomb.
The queen’s real name was Arjumand Band. In the tradition of the
Mughals, important ladies of the royal family were given another name at their
marriage or at some other significant event in their lives, and that new name
was commonly used by the public. Shah Jahan's real name was Shahab-ud-din, and
he was known as Prince Khurram before ascending to the throne in 1628.
Taj Mahal was constructed over a period
of twenty-two years, employing twenty thousand workers. It was completed in
1648 C.E. at a cost of 50 Million
Rupees. (At that time, 1 gram of gold was
sold for about 1.4 rupees. Based on the October 2005 gold price that would
translate to more than 500 million US$) The construction
documents show that its master architect was Ustad ‘Isa, the renowned Islamic architect of his time. The
documents contain names of those employed and the inventory of construction
materials and their origin. Expert craftsmen from Delhi, Qannauj, Lahore, and
Multan were employed. In addition, many renowned Muslim craftsmen from Baghdad,
Shiraz and Bukhara worked on many specialized tasks.
The Taj stands on a raised, square
platform (186 x 186 feet) with its four corners truncated, forming an unequal
octagon. The architectural design uses the interlocking arabesque concept, in which each element stands on
its own and perfectly integrates with the main structure. It uses the
principles of self-replicating geometry and a symmetry of architectural
elements.
Its central dome is fifty-eight feet in diameter and rises to
a height of 213 feet. It is flanked by four subsidiary domed chambers. The four
graceful, slender minarets are 162.5 feet each. The entire mausoleum (inside as
well as outside) is decorated with inlaid design of flowers and calligraphy
using semi-precious gems such as agate and jasper. This 2 inch diameter jewelry
box was made in the style of the inlaid design from the same white marble and
semi-precious stones used for the tomb. The main archways, chiseled with
passages from the Holy Qur’an and the bold scroll work of flowery pattern, give
a captivating charm to its beauty. The central domed chamber and four adjoining
chambers include many walls and panels of Islamic decoration.
The mausoleum is a part of a vast
complex that includes a main gateway, an elaborate garden, a mosque, a guest
house, and several other palatial buildings. The Taj is at the farthest end of
this complex, with the river Jamuna
behind it. The large garden contains four reflecting pools dividing it at the
center. Each of these four sections is further subdivided into four sections
and then each into yet another four sections. Like the Taj, the garden elements
serve like Arabesque, standing on their own and also constituting the whole.
This structure has suffered damage from weather and wars but
has been kept in good repair as a national treasure and is still beautiful
today.
So, what do you
think? Is love stronger than death? If so, how, in what way?
JERRY SWEERS
cmudgeon@windstream.net
