2008, The Year that was...

The year that went by can best be described as a very eventful one. How else would you describe it, now that we are at the threshold of another year and await the joining of another member to our family. Mukti-Heba, which literally means Salvation,a gift from God.

We began the year with a lot of uncertainty as to where God is leading us and where we would end up as my Company was in the process of implementing a new strategy. A strategy that would ultimately prove very decisive for us and in more ways than one, reveal to us, Gods hand of guidance in our lives.

Because of health issues and waning strength, a visit to see Grandma in Vancouver was topmost on our priority. We did that in the first week of February. What a trip that was. We had waited for the moment for a long time, and finally we did meet her. It was sad to see a life so well lived at the fag end of it. Jan-Feb was also a month that I inherited a very large Project in the company and led it to recover a large sum of money. The project was implemented in June and was submitted for certification recently. The project pretty much kept me occupied the whole year. February was also the month that we had a new member added to our larger family. Lavanya was born to Rani and Jayesh on the 23rd of Feb. My mom was here at that time, and later came and visited us in April. By far the toughest month was March, however the tougher the month the greater the display of Gods hand of guidance. His grace is truly sufficient. In all the busyness of work and upkeep of the house, we managed to take sessions on Hinduism and conclude the Worldviews session at Livingston.

The worldviews session began with an idea to look at all the major religions of the world with the below points
- Concept of God_Every person has implicit understanding of God and his or her own philosophy of who/what that should be
- Concept of Man_What do we really think of fellow human beings
- Concept of Life_How is life best lived
- Concept of Salvation_If there is a problem with human beings what are the ways deployed by them to get out of it
- Concept of Afterlife_What happens to us when we die

We considered Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Roman Catholicism. Along the way we also briefly touched upon Buddhism and New Age. The sessions were very well received and many told us, how the sessions opened their minds to understand other religious systems. The worldview sessions concluded in April.

In May I was transferred to Charlotte, NC. This began a long and a painful process of staying away from my dear wife for about 3 months. Every 2-3 weeks I would either drive back or fly back and forth to Jersey. The time away gave me a lot to reflect upon. I've never had a fancy for fancy Birthday celebrations; however that’s precisely how my birthday was celebrated. Anant, Manisha, Ujju and Gifty were there to celebrate. Cyril at Livingston very generously gave about 3 boxes of books and also a bookshelf before I left for NC. The Marathi conference was the highlight for the month of June as well as the implementation of the big project. Shalu and Basu came up for the conference. July really was a month where we transitioned into Charlotte as we took up a new place. Both June and July were also the months, where I took to reading again and was greatly benefited by 'Ye Search the Scriptures' by Watchman Nee. Watchman does not spend too much time on the methodology; rather his focus is the person who is searching. A right person with God benefits from studying scriptures he would say. And thenofcourse spend a chapter on the various ways one can study scriptures.

Before we knew it, we were faced with our first month in the new apartment. The first 6 months of the year were very fast and consuming, especially with the impending Presidential elections in November, the primaries were intense. Barack Obama became the nominee for the Democrats in June. August was marked by our trip to the Akron Conference. We also spend time with Prabha and Milind there. One of the messages that stuck was “Sharing truth in love” by David Petterson. Obama accepted the nomination in August at a very grand ceremony in Denver, Colorado. More than 100,000 in the stadium and millions watching all over the US and the World.

By September I was almost putting my project together for submission, when a few things went awry and I eventually did submit the results only in December. What I will surely remember September for is the Presidential debates and a visit to one of the 'to be' presidents home town, Chicago...that was some experience. We were there for the NAINA (Indian Nurses in the US) conference with Anant and Manisha. We drove from Charlotte right to Chicago...a grueling 12 hour drive. I enjoyed every bit of it. We passed South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana and finally got into Illinois.
2 events stand out for October, a visit from Rani with Rana and Lavanya and the opportunity to speak in the Indian Fellowship in Newport News Virginia. A lot of things were weighing on my heart; however the top most was the meaning of the cross. What does the Cross really mean in terms of the values that it stands for? Well, in the 1st century AD when Christ was crucified, the Cross stood for the most shameful death that was reserved for the worst criminal. The Romans had various ways of executing a criminal; however the cross was the most dastardly way amongst all those. Many today wear crosses in their fingers and around their neck, unaware many times what it really means. I spoke on the 4 absolute values that one can observe and gain from in the Cross. Love (Gods Love), Judgment (Gods Judgment), Evil (Man's evil) and finally forgiveness. It is the last value that I will conclude this blog with. The message was well received and it was my prayer that listeners would revaluate what the Cross really means to them.
We were to travel to NJ for Vaishu's monthly class there, so we did, by road in the first week of Nov. I spoke at Livingston again on the Cross. A couple of things that the Lord had placed upon my heart while preparing for the message was about the act of forgiveness. When someone commits an offence / evil against you and you retaliate back with evil, then revenge has taken place. When evil is punished, then Justice has taken place. But then, how do you stop evil at all? You see, when evil is answered with good, then healing takes place. Does it not say in the scriptures, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good". In a very simple and yet profound sense, that is what Christ has done on the Cross. He has taken all the sins of the world (both that which were committed and that which would be committed), He has taken the judgment of God because of Mans sins and He has taken all the evil of the world and allowed himself to be nailed to the cross. Evil was finally retaliated with good.
November end and beginning of December were months where I poured myself into history books. 2 of them. The Legacy of William Carey: A Model for the Transformation of a Culture by Ruth and Vishal Mangalwadi and Freedom at Midnight by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins. Both the books are about Indian history, while the former dwells on the tremendous impact that William Carey had on India, the later deals with the final events / days of the Indian Independence movement. I have learned more about India, living here in the US, than when I was in India. Not just because of these books, but also because of what I have come to appreciate and love about India. November also marked the month where America elected its first black President, Barack Obama.

This post has become too long to include anything more to write; however I will post another article/write up on Forgiveness and Grace, the last best word.

And so we ended the year 2008. Very eventful. We are thankful to God for 2008 and very much look forward to an even more eventful year as God leads us on.

Amen