Lets get it right!

Ability to make choice, specially which course to choose after 12th class/B.Tech, fear of communicating in English, and fear of expressing themselves are the issues I heard repeatedly from students  when I meet with them. I dealt these issues – using law of nature and my personal experiences.

Off late, I realised to give it a thought of writing about these issues, so next time after finishing my talk with students, I can suggest them to go back to this resource material. Hence here are my efforts.

1. Making Choices – It is about which course to choose; I totally agree with you man having this uncertainty about it. Don’t worry; let’s see how it goes here.

At first, let me ask you – what is it your goal? – may your answer is so and so………………… I mean in the end you want to see yourself as a successful man/woman. Is it right? So you have to make choices which will lead you to the pinnacle of success.

For this here you need to understand a few laws – especially take any profession or any field, what its ultimate purpose? Take any profession, it is nothing but benefiting to the society we live around, I mean to the people, improving their quality and dignity of life. Is it right? How much you will be at peace when you internalise this truth. Ignorance of this truth/lack of understanding this will lead us to have a miserable life.

So you have to connect to this truth or vision. This is the core thing; it’s about people: not about ourselves. We study, we work – we live lives here contributing to the society. My point is, you will live a miserable life, even after getting the course you like to be in but still end up not knowing the purpose of life. You have to align all your goals and desires to this truth/vision/purpose.

There is no this thing called one single path to reach out to this truth/vision. We live in a society changing dynamically, people and there choices are dynamic. Let me tell you what the Bible says – Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it, For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed. (Ecclesiastes 9:10, MSG)

So do not stick to the age old thought, if I go like this I will be a successful person. Whatever is the course/work you may get in or you may be the course you’re already into it – do it with all your heart and strength. Success will follow after you.

We all know very well bout Wright brothers who invented Air plane. You know they are not from Aeronautics background; they did job-printing and published several short-lived local newspapers. They were having a press before inventing Air plane. (https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/who/1889/printers.cfm)

Micheal Farady, he worked in a book company in London with virtually no formal education but became a great inventor. There are so many like this.

Every time i met with students they asks me like this – will I be successful if I take this course? I tell them the story I had heard from a good friend of mine. He told me this when I had questions like this – He said, if you take any house – it has hall, kitchen, bed room, wash room etc. A house is complete when it has all of this. Let say, the wash room is the dirty one so if I say I don’t like it and let me not use it or if I say I don’t like the kitchen; then it won’t be called a house. Point is, every facility in the house has its own importance. In the same way, every course has its own importance in contributing to the benefit of the society.

Remember this truth and get the understanding of what it is said in Ecclesiastes 9:10, MSG. May I pray that this may help you to shake some walls of ignorance in your heart and mind.

2. Fear of communication in English and fear of expressing themselves – Students, whom i had met with mostly they are carrying fear that they are not confident talking fluently in English and they chose not to try talking in English at all. Let me break the wall of ignorance you guys carry here. Yes, ignorance has blinded our eyes.

The story goes something like this, when a kid born he won’t immediately walk, talk or do all chores on his own. He initially cries and cries – nobody understands infants cry, except the mom. Then when the infant grow he/she talks small words. They start with crawling, after years of practising it one day they stand and start walking few steps.

It is the same case when we born in English. I mean English is not our native language. To all students – we are all born in English. Let us not carry expectations that we should speak fluently immediately. It is like expecting the small infant to talk fluently. No it’s not like that. Infants keep on try/exercise to talk and to walk. Same is the case for those who born in English language, we got to keep on exercise by talking it out. Don’t give it up, think of the infants and learn from them. We don’t give up when kids can’t pronounce their mother name or dad’s name. They fumble, still they try again. They don’t carry shame in their hearts when they fumble. They don’t say that’s it, it is over. They just crawl and crawl and one fine day they stand and walk. It is all something like that being born in English.

Read it and re-read it till you get the crux of what I mean.

Best
Joseph Teja

Unfathomable Gift

In history generally we celebrate birthdays of eminent people not their death day. No country in the history has celebrated its celebrity’s or religious guru’s or a great scientist’s or even any politician’s “Death” as a good day. They counted it as “Great Loss” to their nation.

Ironically, in history, only Christ’s death on the cross counted it as a “Good day”. Ohh!! What a contrast?? Why is it called as a Good day? They didn’t name the birth of Christ as Good day but his death as a good day. Guys just think, isn’t it something special there??

Yes there is so much special in it. Let me help you here to understand this why is “Good Friday” is Good Friday!

We got our situation something like as said by Isaiah

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the lord laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:6

My friend Thomas Skaria beautifully puts it like this: In today’s society, the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart.

When we carefully read both the lines above, we realise there is something wrong with our heart, so we never follow the paths of God. We deserve punishment and doomed to destruction. But God in all His supreme mercy, He took our sins, shame, sickness upon Him to give us life with Him.

I like how John said this in John 12:24

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

We all know this principle. It is the law of nature. We bury seeds, water it. It will grow as tree and give many fruits with same seeds.

Same thing happened on the cross on Good Friday. Jesus died to make us heirs of God’s kingdom. He died so that we can live as sons and daughters of the great Creator God.

On the cross Jesus said, it is finished. Everything under the sun to be done to wash away the sins of humanity was executed on Christ. It is finished. You and I no need to struggle anymore to join the family of God. We got to believe and accept the finished work of God and unite in His family.

I wonder why still many in their ignorance trying to do so much to compensate for the wrong things of their lives. It is finished. Isn’t it so good? Therefore the death of Christ on Calvary is good, that may we join the family of God.

Read this again and re-read it till you get it. May I pray that you may get understand what it is the unfathomable love of the creator God who has created us in His own image and likeness.

Best

Joseph Teja

Identifying the ‘purpose’

One Saturday evening, Sam (the drummer) and I both were at VYK. Along with other members of GCLC worship team, we were doing run through of all the songs for Sunday worship. For some reason, I appreciated Sam playing drums and immediately he replied me – Joe, “When I play drums, the symbols talk to me and in return, I talk to them back.” That was an eye opening for me. I picked it from that conversation and stored it in my heart. A few weeks later, I was walking home from office and thinking about congestion on roads, thinking about how to solve the issues related to transport that this society is facing? All of a sudden, I landed on this thought – for Sam, the symbols are talking to him and for me the traffic infrastructure & transportation planning problems in the society are talking to me. After all, I found myself struggling to talk back to those problems.

For Peter, my friend – it is terrace gardening. He talks and he thinks on ways how to use the household waste to create these gardens. He invest his time and resources to know it and to try it.What about you?

Find out what is one area in your life that is talking to you while you are alone or walking and in return where you are struggling to talk back. Build communication bridges between you and those elements that are talking to you. Spend time, talk to them. Connect yourself with this good thing that is disturbing you. Once you start this, trust me you will find so many things coming on your way and talking to you.

On a mathematical note, ‘a line is an integral of many dots’. Connecting all these dots; the dots that are talking to you will create purpose of your life. This is what about – Identifying the ‘purpose’ through building communication bridges with the dots.

Giant Killer

Eureka of the day! If I become a professor, in Urban Planning – students, get ready for exciting classes and projects. I believe in arts and music – I will give you projects to shoot videos on reports – to make a film that can easily grasped by common people of our nation; I will ask you to make song out of a particular concept that will benefits people around the globe. If you are good at arts, let’s do some place making strategies, make some music, make some noise – I want the class to be dynamic, energetic, – full of Eurekas 🙂 🙂 . 

I like to fuel up your already existing talents, to kill the giant problems of our society. You are good enough to solve these issues. Trust this, you are good enough to be a giant killer, .  All you need is – one right opportunity to your amazing talent, to hit right into the bull’s eye. So get ready for this exciting time, will meet you soon in our class dear.

Cheers

AJ