The second obstacle we mentioned in the last Post as contributing to family discord is our undue attachment to possessions. By possessions we mean not only the material ones, but also the immaterial elements like the lust for power, sex, food etc., that is able to completely throw us out of self-control leading to unforeseen calamities and untold miseries. In a sense, they are like the harm caused by our lower self referred to in the last Post and yet the difference between the two is that while the lower self is something to be completely denied, we need not do so in the matter of our possessions The reason for this distinction is that while the lower self is out to see our total destruction, our possessions may be directed to serve us for a fuller life. The way to achieve it is through detachment from our possessions. Detachment presupposes our possession of goods and powers required for our well-being and yet we are never ruled by them. We are the masters controlling them for our own purposes making it possible for them to serve us. This kind of use of our possessions invariably leads to common good benefiting each and every member of a community including the family. Because we refuse to deny our lower selves, undue attachment to possessions cannot be prevented and the resultant discord in the family takes its own toll by splitting the family. Family is the basic unit where we experience the harmony between the sacred and the secular that is disturbed by the split among the family members. As a result, the growth of the family members is seriously hampered and they are bound to project their disharmony in later life. The heaviest casualty is suffered by the original harmony between the sacred and the secular in family life because of a distorted view of life from then on resulting in the complete separation of religious duties and our life in the world.
It is but natural for men and women to perform certain duties beyond their immediate needs that may have been imposed on them as obligations to be met in accordance with certain traditions. Chief among them is their religious duty directed to a power beyond their grasp and to be observed on the basis of their faith. The tendency to objectify and separate this kind of observance completely divorced from connections to daily life results in their meaninglessness for life. The sacred has been seen in isolation from the daily routine in such observances that do not influence their life at all. On the contrary, if the sacred dimension of a person's life is understood in harmony with his or her secular life, it is bound to influence life in their daily routines. Our life in the world contains seeds of the sacred to strengthen which we have sacred duties performed so that we may live meaningfully in this world. It starts with the fact that the human is created in the image and likeness of God Himself (See Genesis, 1: 26-27). All our activities, supported by our spiritual life, should be ordered to enhance God's image and likeness in ourselves. How this is possible without our ability to see this image and likeness through the eyes of our minds? Where shall we see a specimen, sample, model of God's own image and likeness? Here is the importance of knowing Jesus Christ who is the image of the invisible God (See Colosians, 1: 15). Does it mean that those who do not know Jesus Christ have no access to God? This may be said only if we entertain a very narrow and outdated concept of who Jesus Christ is coupled with a deficient Ecclesiology arrived at from an unacceptable view of the role of non-Christian religions. Let us remember that Jesus Christ is the link that holds together the entire Universe including the humans and that all religions have a role to play in the plan of salvation devised by God Himself. In this context, the separation between the sacred and the secular is unwarranted since the sacred must be seen from within the secular reality that engulfs our daily life. the human reality itself is the greatest meeting point between the sacred and the secular that is corroborated and sealed by Jesus Christ in his own person. In our daily interactions we meet men, women and children who are images of God to their very core in spite of certain distortions in their character caused by the vicissitudes of life. We should start worshiping God in our fellow human beings to gain strength for which all our rituals and devotional exercises should be directed. Let no one take advantage of our ignorance and fear of the unknown by injecting superstitions into our social and religious systems that should actually assist us for self development. This kind of development of our own selves will ultimately lead us to our final goal of being perfect like our Father in heaven (See Matthew, 5: 48).
All families are ultimately ordered to be spiritual families without which they cannot sustain themselves in their ordinary lives. The underlying reason for this orientation is to be seen in the fundamental interplay of the sacred and the secular in the entire universe where a family is a microcosm of the physical and spiritual dimensions of reality. One may see that even our closest physical bonds in a natural family are not sustainable in the long run without our nurturing spiritual roots to our relationships. We may wonder why some of the love marriages entered into with deep passion between boys and goals go sour after a period of the initial euphoria and end up in divorces or break-ups. The ultimate reason for the same may be traced back to lack of any spiritual roots in such relationships that totter and split up under the slightest pretext of excuses. Genuine love cannot germinate but through the influence of the Divine Spirit and any neglect in nurturing it is bound to collapse into mutual recriminations and hatred. In this context, it may be worthwhile to note that certain "marriages of convenience" entered into especially by some celebrities are caricatures of the sacred reality of marriage reducing it to the purely secular need of security and financial safety of the couple concerned. The same sex unions entered into by some and legalized by certain authorities of some countries as civil unions are in direct conflict with the original intentions of the Creator when man and woman were created as complementary to each other. The mutual affections in such cases are sought to be explained and the union justified by certain experts with the aid of the science of genetics disregarding any role to nurturing and culture in the development of personality in individuals. What is required is a comprehensive understanding of the development of personality and the underlying causes that contribute to its normal development where deviation and distortion into abnormalities may be pinpointed and remedies prescribed. The same rule applies to all types of relationships claiming to be family relationships both physically and spiritually. The unassailable rule to distinguish the genuine from the spurious in these matters is to know the trees from the fruits they produce. If the fruits do not contribute to the genuine self-development of personalities, it would be imperative to cut down such trees polluting the atmosphere of true development. (To be Cont'd).
It is but natural for men and women to perform certain duties beyond their immediate needs that may have been imposed on them as obligations to be met in accordance with certain traditions. Chief among them is their religious duty directed to a power beyond their grasp and to be observed on the basis of their faith. The tendency to objectify and separate this kind of observance completely divorced from connections to daily life results in their meaninglessness for life. The sacred has been seen in isolation from the daily routine in such observances that do not influence their life at all. On the contrary, if the sacred dimension of a person's life is understood in harmony with his or her secular life, it is bound to influence life in their daily routines. Our life in the world contains seeds of the sacred to strengthen which we have sacred duties performed so that we may live meaningfully in this world. It starts with the fact that the human is created in the image and likeness of God Himself (See Genesis, 1: 26-27). All our activities, supported by our spiritual life, should be ordered to enhance God's image and likeness in ourselves. How this is possible without our ability to see this image and likeness through the eyes of our minds? Where shall we see a specimen, sample, model of God's own image and likeness? Here is the importance of knowing Jesus Christ who is the image of the invisible God (See Colosians, 1: 15). Does it mean that those who do not know Jesus Christ have no access to God? This may be said only if we entertain a very narrow and outdated concept of who Jesus Christ is coupled with a deficient Ecclesiology arrived at from an unacceptable view of the role of non-Christian religions. Let us remember that Jesus Christ is the link that holds together the entire Universe including the humans and that all religions have a role to play in the plan of salvation devised by God Himself. In this context, the separation between the sacred and the secular is unwarranted since the sacred must be seen from within the secular reality that engulfs our daily life. the human reality itself is the greatest meeting point between the sacred and the secular that is corroborated and sealed by Jesus Christ in his own person. In our daily interactions we meet men, women and children who are images of God to their very core in spite of certain distortions in their character caused by the vicissitudes of life. We should start worshiping God in our fellow human beings to gain strength for which all our rituals and devotional exercises should be directed. Let no one take advantage of our ignorance and fear of the unknown by injecting superstitions into our social and religious systems that should actually assist us for self development. This kind of development of our own selves will ultimately lead us to our final goal of being perfect like our Father in heaven (See Matthew, 5: 48).
All families are ultimately ordered to be spiritual families without which they cannot sustain themselves in their ordinary lives. The underlying reason for this orientation is to be seen in the fundamental interplay of the sacred and the secular in the entire universe where a family is a microcosm of the physical and spiritual dimensions of reality. One may see that even our closest physical bonds in a natural family are not sustainable in the long run without our nurturing spiritual roots to our relationships. We may wonder why some of the love marriages entered into with deep passion between boys and goals go sour after a period of the initial euphoria and end up in divorces or break-ups. The ultimate reason for the same may be traced back to lack of any spiritual roots in such relationships that totter and split up under the slightest pretext of excuses. Genuine love cannot germinate but through the influence of the Divine Spirit and any neglect in nurturing it is bound to collapse into mutual recriminations and hatred. In this context, it may be worthwhile to note that certain "marriages of convenience" entered into especially by some celebrities are caricatures of the sacred reality of marriage reducing it to the purely secular need of security and financial safety of the couple concerned. The same sex unions entered into by some and legalized by certain authorities of some countries as civil unions are in direct conflict with the original intentions of the Creator when man and woman were created as complementary to each other. The mutual affections in such cases are sought to be explained and the union justified by certain experts with the aid of the science of genetics disregarding any role to nurturing and culture in the development of personality in individuals. What is required is a comprehensive understanding of the development of personality and the underlying causes that contribute to its normal development where deviation and distortion into abnormalities may be pinpointed and remedies prescribed. The same rule applies to all types of relationships claiming to be family relationships both physically and spiritually. The unassailable rule to distinguish the genuine from the spurious in these matters is to know the trees from the fruits they produce. If the fruits do not contribute to the genuine self-development of personalities, it would be imperative to cut down such trees polluting the atmosphere of true development. (To be Cont'd).
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