Christmas Musings !!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas is a time of remembrance, thoughtfulness, and sharing. It is good to contemplate the loving message of our God:

"God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life"(Jn 3,16). And "this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent" (Jn 17,3). Jesus is the Good News - Embodiment of God's love and mercy and compassion for all peoples!

May Jesus the Saviour of the world, born in a manger, enable us to look at the world with the eyes of a child - with love and admiration, gratitude and wonder! "When we know that everything has two sides, let us look at the bright side only"-says Gandhiji.

I had spent an hour in the bank with Uncle, as he had to transfer some money. In a small SBI branch in a sleepy area of a small town. I couldn't resist the urge.

''Uncle, why don't we activate your internet banking?''

''Why would I do that?'' He asked

''Well, then you wont have to spend an hour here for things like transfer. You can even do your shopping online. Everything will be so easy!'' I was so excited about initiating him into the world of Net banking.

He asked ''If I do that, I wont have to step out of the house? I wont have to come to the bank?''

''Yes, yes''! I said. I told him how even grocery can be delivered at door now and how amazon delivers everything!

His answer left me tongue-tied. Our parents, have somewhere found the perfect balance. They enjoy seeing the photos we send them on Whats App but they have not broken their human ties. They have adopted technology on our insistence but not forgotten where it all began.

He said ''Since I entered this bank today, I have met four of my friends, I have chatted a while with the staff who know me very well by now. My kids are out of town and visit me now and then but this is the company that I need. I like to get ready and come to the bank. I have enough time, it is the physical touch that I crave. Two years back I got sick, very sick. The butcher from whom I buy meat, came to see me and sat by my bedside and cried. The man who comes every month to collect my bills and goes and physically pays them for a nominal charge from me, has only that mean of earning and the only thing that keeps him busy in his retired life. My wife fell down few days back while on her morning walk. My local grocer saw her and immediately got his car to rush her home as he knows where I live. Would I have that 'human' touch if everything became online?

Why would I want everything delivered to me and force me to interact with just my computer? 

I like to know the person that I'm dealing with and not just the 'seller' . It creates bonds. Relationships. Does Amazon deliver all this as well?'''

Point to ponder!

One day Thomas Edison came home and gave a paper to his mother. He told her, “My teacher gave this paper to me and told me to only give it to my mother.”

    His mother’s eyes were tearful as she read the letter out loud to her child: Your son is a genius. This school is too small for him and doesn’t have enough good teachers for training him. Please teach him yourself.

    After many, many years, after Edison’s mother died and he was now one of the greatest inventors of the century, one day he was looking through old family things. Suddenly he saw a folded paper in the corner of a drawer in a desk. He took it and opened it up. On the paper was written: Your son is addled [mentally ill]. We won’t let him come to school any more.

    Edison cried for hours and then he wrote in his diary: “Thomas Alva Edison was an addled child that, by a hero mother, became the genius of the century.