Devotionals

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Loneliness is a fact of life. No one has or ever will have time, for the other person and this is a reality we must come to terms with.

However, thanks to modern day gadgets like mobile phones, computers, the Internet, television, and social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook and Twitter, we are often saved from the experience of feeling lonely. They open up the world at the touch of a button, and bridge all physical distances between people.
The irony here is that because of these ‘loneliness banishing phenomena’, our world, even our immediate surroundings, suddenly become part of ‘virtual reality’. So much so that even our neighbours become ‘screen icons’ and ‘chat windows’, and all our networking is catapulted to a space-time realm. Often our immediate physical neighbours are strangers and not the ones we interact and converse with on a daily basis or people we need to greet even.

Nurturing a ‘physical’ neighborhood community rarely becomes our need and priority.

My grandfather used to tell me about life till his middle age. A stark contrast from today’s frenetic pace, life in his heyday was calmer, slower and had a lot more to do with what could be seen and felt rather than imagined.

Picture this: In those days, there was no telephone, no electricity or even a battery powered torch. Prayer meetings used to be held in homes and were something eagerly anticipated throughout the day. All the neighbors congregated and walked together to attend such spiritual gatherings, even in the dark, with a makeshift torch made of coconut leaves. There would be three four of such leaf bunches, sufficient to keep burning till the group returned home.

Also, whenever someone needed assistance, everyone would rush to the affected person’s home, and take care of the situation.
But those days of glory soon passed. My grandfather laments how, with the advent of the telephone, the television and the Internet, the need to call others and meet people face to face has come down drastically. Our telephone and Internet Service Providers become our lifeline and take on the role that people in flesh and blood once performed. There is no conversation, no camaraderie and no bonding. Everything is virtual and imagined.
Today, to experience a life like that of my grandfather’s, we may have to go to Amish Country, perhaps the only place where the pace of modernity is not as accelerated. Everywhere else is just a homogenous mass of modernity. Times have changed.

Sadhu Kochukunju, a missionary preacher who lived in the early part of the 20th century in the Southern part of India, brought together area prayer fellowships in his parish, and some of the neighboring parishes. The prayer fellowships in those areas, near Kozhencherry – Aranmula – Punnakkadu- Kuzhikala- etc are known as vayana groups. Vayana in Malayalam means ‘ ‘a reading session’.
People used to come together to read and ponder upon the Bible. Apart from reading, Sadhu Kochukunju wanted that these Vayana sessions should be an opportunity for these eclectic groups of people to discuss issues in their village or neighborhood. If an individual had a problem or a need, everyone together must put their heads together and sort it out, thus becoming extended family members, he wished. So for instance, if a ‘Vayana’ member was arranging the wedding of his child, then the entire group should consider it a common responsibility.

But in the modern world, in the world of mobile phones, facebook, orkut and ipads, can we think of a sharing economy? Living in the spirit of sharing, caring and love is indeed the foundation for a better world and a green economy. There is no point in mindlessly embracing modernity-what is needed is take a step back and embrace some of those old habits, while imbibing the spirit of everything new. This will ensure that together in Jesus Christ, we can make this world a much better place to live.

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