In Jesus we have the prime example of the manifestation of the sacred and the secular in such a way that his very being is permeated through and through with those two aspects of reality as far as we are concerned. St. John the Evangelist expressed it very succinctly by saying that "the Word became flesh" (John, 1: 14). It should serve as the prototype of all religious activities where people try to be united with the divine. Our religious activities should originate from and end with the divine initiatives perpetually exercised by God through His graces occasionally manifested through specially chosen priests, kings and prophets. The underlying authority of all of them derives from the Word of God that has become flesh in Jesus of Nazareth. The Word of God being sacred, belonging to the other world, and the flesh being secular, belonging to this world, Jesus carried in himself the sacred and the secular in a unique manner as a model for all religious activities. Add to this the fact that the Word was already active in the world even before becoming flesh by enlightening every man and woman born into the world (See John, 1: 8-9). Although the Word was already in the world in virtue of its being the source of the latter's existence, as a general rule, the world did not know the Word. To all those who were able to give their allegiance to the Word when he entered the world, he gave the right to become the children of God. The status of the children of God is completely different from that of the children of men (See John, 1: 10-13). Thus the sacred and the secular, although different in themselves, find a meeting point in the children of God, who are given the right to be so by the Word of God.
In every society, the family is considered to be the basic unit of nurturing and developing the children into responsible adults who in turn repeat the act in their own way. As times change, the very concept of 'family' too undergoes changes in different degrees in various societies of men and women. In ancient times, when clans and tribes used to be the norm of human families, the modes of training and nurturing imparted to the children were of a more social character where every one was responsible for every one else. Recently in our own times, the joint family system was but a miniature version of the same attitude towards individuals where the family took precedence over the individuals. The cruel and heinous practice of honor killings engaged in by certain conservative families when some members are perceived to have overstepped the accepted norms of social behavior is an example of the ill effects of such closely-knit families. This can be corrected by education and overall development of individuals where ignorance and superstitions especially connected with religious beliefs are overcome. In this connection, the right combination of the sacred and the secular plays the most important role whereby a correct understanding of religion is attained. For, it is not enough to think that one knows the religious principles practiced, but they have to be truly in accordance with the Word of God. To understand the Word of God as intended by God, we must prepare our understanding that has a tendency to interpret everything according to our likes and dislikes prompted and guided by our own egos. Here we see the importance of the command of Jesus to leave the self behind if we want to follow him (See Mark, 8: 34).
In modern times, the concept of 'nuclear families' gained ground with father, mother and one or two children seen as the ideal families. Here, the importance of individuals is taken care of and sometimes exaggerated to the point of the children as adults reaching the conclusion that as individuals the parents, though old and sometimes penniless, should take care of themselves! A natural outcome of this mentality has resulted in numerous old age homes, especially in the West, creating a new kind of family. Everyone is fond of calling any group of individuals working together or living together as family thereby diluting the real concept of family involving self-sacrifices leading to unity and communion among the members. A typical example of the misuse of the concept of family may be seen in those employers who label the employees as their family members solely for the purpose of exploiting their talents without any intention to enhance their development. We may see from the evolution of the concept of 'family' from the beginning that it was always invariably bound up with the occupation and economic situation of the groups and individuals concerned. As training and nurturing ground of individuals, therefore, the family was and always will be intimately connected with the interplay of the sacred and the secular. There is no better training ground than the family for inculcating the right combination of the sacred and the secular in the individuals. This shows the importance of educating and training the family itself for the role of bringing up children with the right dose of the sacred and the secular. In this connection, we should not forget about the deviations in the set up of the families resulting in divorces, abandoned children, broken families, same sex marriages, trafficking of women and children, plight of sex workers etc. Such groups of people need special care and systems for which all care-givers should be ready to help without waiting for them to call on us and without being judgmental.(To be Cont'd.).
In every society, the family is considered to be the basic unit of nurturing and developing the children into responsible adults who in turn repeat the act in their own way. As times change, the very concept of 'family' too undergoes changes in different degrees in various societies of men and women. In ancient times, when clans and tribes used to be the norm of human families, the modes of training and nurturing imparted to the children were of a more social character where every one was responsible for every one else. Recently in our own times, the joint family system was but a miniature version of the same attitude towards individuals where the family took precedence over the individuals. The cruel and heinous practice of honor killings engaged in by certain conservative families when some members are perceived to have overstepped the accepted norms of social behavior is an example of the ill effects of such closely-knit families. This can be corrected by education and overall development of individuals where ignorance and superstitions especially connected with religious beliefs are overcome. In this connection, the right combination of the sacred and the secular plays the most important role whereby a correct understanding of religion is attained. For, it is not enough to think that one knows the religious principles practiced, but they have to be truly in accordance with the Word of God. To understand the Word of God as intended by God, we must prepare our understanding that has a tendency to interpret everything according to our likes and dislikes prompted and guided by our own egos. Here we see the importance of the command of Jesus to leave the self behind if we want to follow him (See Mark, 8: 34).
In modern times, the concept of 'nuclear families' gained ground with father, mother and one or two children seen as the ideal families. Here, the importance of individuals is taken care of and sometimes exaggerated to the point of the children as adults reaching the conclusion that as individuals the parents, though old and sometimes penniless, should take care of themselves! A natural outcome of this mentality has resulted in numerous old age homes, especially in the West, creating a new kind of family. Everyone is fond of calling any group of individuals working together or living together as family thereby diluting the real concept of family involving self-sacrifices leading to unity and communion among the members. A typical example of the misuse of the concept of family may be seen in those employers who label the employees as their family members solely for the purpose of exploiting their talents without any intention to enhance their development. We may see from the evolution of the concept of 'family' from the beginning that it was always invariably bound up with the occupation and economic situation of the groups and individuals concerned. As training and nurturing ground of individuals, therefore, the family was and always will be intimately connected with the interplay of the sacred and the secular. There is no better training ground than the family for inculcating the right combination of the sacred and the secular in the individuals. This shows the importance of educating and training the family itself for the role of bringing up children with the right dose of the sacred and the secular. In this connection, we should not forget about the deviations in the set up of the families resulting in divorces, abandoned children, broken families, same sex marriages, trafficking of women and children, plight of sex workers etc. Such groups of people need special care and systems for which all care-givers should be ready to help without waiting for them to call on us and without being judgmental.(To be Cont'd.).
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