Are Christian arms bloodied too ??

It is known that 16% of the people in this world are either agnostics or atheists.

While atheism argues that there is no God, agnosticism is the view that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. Agnostic atheism is a philosophical position that encompasses both atheism and agnosticism. - wikipedia.org

84% of world population believe in God, ie. 6.3 billion people. The concept of religion and God actually came only around 4000 BC after man settled at one place and started using metals and did agriculture around 6000 BC.

World major religions ..

When we go through world history of religions we find Hinduism at 6000 years is the oldest, followed by Zoroastrianism 4000 years, Judaism 3500 years,  Jainism 2700 years,  Budhism 2600 years and Confucianism at 2500 years existed before Christ. All of these beliefs have been older to Christian beliefs. - wikipedia.org

Let us not forget that Christianity too had its patch of violent, forcible conversions and annexation starting from the time of Constantine, the Roman emperor in the 4th century AD and later forcibly the Crusades between 11th and 17th century AD in the Iberian peninsula, the Ottoman empire of Turkey and with Islamic followers. 

We Christians too have a share of blood on our hands 😢

Click here for a video of the growth of world religions..

If we go through world history,  we find most of all religions from birth have had a violent patch of growing up (adolescence I would say), before settling down to sensible peaceful ways, accepting other faiths as equal and just ..

Christianity has been no exception as explained in the above blog. Christians were violent at some point in history but has understood the futility of violence over time and have embraced peaceful ways.

Islam being the youngest kid of global religions at 1300 years age (second youngest is Christianity), is passing through its adolesent phase and possibly will settle down for peace soon, maybe in 300 - 400 years after realizing futility of trying to establish it's superiority over the rest of humanity.

Many of the people from my state Kerala make a living serving in the occasionally violent but tolerant theocracies of the middle east and have no qualms about it. Indeed, at times, ignorance is bliss ..

This is my understanding of evolution of global religions .. please prove me  wrong ..

George 

What has driven famous people around the world in history ?

Homo sapiens started walking on planet earth around 50,000 BC. Click here for the Discover magazine article ..

Of the world population of 300 million in 1 AD global population is presently around 7.4 billion people. Throughout all of human history it is fairly estimated by historians that almost 108 billion have ever lived and perished on planet earth, 108,000,000,000 ..

McGraw Hill has come up with an Encyclopedia of Biographies which covers the biographies of 10,000 of the greatest of these 108 billion people, some of them are living today.

Four traits that have been found common for all these ten thousand people are given below. (based on a video talk on Youtube by Dr Alexander Jacob IPS in malayalam)

• Vision - a deep desire of what they wanted to achieve
• Planning process -  a deep and accurate plan of hos to go about achieving their vision
• Hard work -  where to concentrate and how much to work
• Spiritual guidance - belief in the supreme guiding power of the earth

I found the talk interesting. Even though there were factual inconsistencies in the numbers mentioned by Alexander Jacob, he has done a great job to present these four points. All these 10,000 great people have meticulously followed these points and have excelled in life.

George

Kejriwalji, we adore you ..

Kejriwal continues to surprise each and every one of us. How an initial 2 month  internship with the Saint of the gutters, Mother Teresa changed the outlook of this young, dynamic, resourceful IIT Kharagpur engineer, central govt. revenue official turned CM of Delhi. It was the similar stint with Mother Teresa, an opportunity to treat her, that changed the life of the famous global heart surgeon, Dr. Devi Shetty of Narayana Hrudayala in Bangalore.

India's future Prime Minister

Kejriwal, as a potential future Prime Minister of the country, should seriously consider conducting a 2 day workshop for all politicians of the country on how a politician can effectively and selflessly serve the people who voted them to power..

Just last week, Kejriwal's Delhi government has embarked on a proactive move to wean away dropouts from unproductive pursuits, to give meaning and direction to their lives and to help their families. Delhi govt. is to conduct 100 hrs FREE tuition classes each for more than 30,000 students who failed the Maths exam in the recent Class X board exams. What a great way to help the unfortunate and give back to society !!

The 2006 Magsaysay award winner Arvind Kejriwal shows the nation and the world at large, on how to serve the people of the country.

In Delhi he shows how the citizen's tax money can be used to benefit the citizens itself in numerous ways, be it 

• free education, 
• free healthcare, 
• free electricity, 
• free wate
• free metro ride for women
• free tuitions .... 🙏🙏

Click here for news update ..

The citizens in return are very regular in paying their taxes because they know they get it all back .. After all these philanthropic moves, the Delhi government finds it has almost Rs. 200 crores extra cash in it's coffers .. How an ideal government - citizen system should be !

The big challenge now is to get other politicians with different ideologies from the right, left and centre adopt these initiatives of Kejriwal to make a difference in the lives of at least 600 million people of India. Hope the Nobel peace prize committee in Oslo, Sweden is watching all these developments !!

George..

Our youngsters are confused ..

The rift between the Malankara Orthodox Church and the Syrian Orthodox Church (Jacobites) in Kerala and elsewhere in the world is getting murkier and murkier after each passing day. Even though the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the 1934 constitution, hoping that the priests would find a permanent, peaceful solution, acceptable to both parties, not in favour of any church, the Malankara Orthodox Church takes it as their victory. Before God is there victory or defeat ..

None of the Malankara Orthodox church leaders worth the salt has come forward to issue a detailed statement of the stand of the church in this rift other than stating that the verdict of the SC has to be followed. But is the Orthodox church following it in the right spirit that was desired by the Supreme Court, taking the other side also into confidence and working to bring permanent peace, not eternal rivalry and further split.Has the Orthodox church taken the initiative to offer peaceful negotiations and discussions with an aim to solve the rift, no to prolong it.

Is worldly justice same as heavenly justice ? Just because it involves land and buildings which were built up or donated by the laity, do the priests have such an over-riding say in the materialistic affairs ? Can the materialistic issues of the church be decided by the clergy, who are just keepers of the assets prepared or donated by the laity. One senior intellectual in the society questioned the rights of the clergy to decide the fate of these assets donated by the laity.

How Christ-like it is ? Is this what Christ preached in this world ? During these times, what are the Christian lessons our head priests including Bawa are giving to our growing youngsters ?

What are the Christian values these high priests exhibit through their lives than one of senseless and sinful opulence, plenitude, luxury and affluence ? What sacred, devotional, divine lessons do our spiritual leaders convey through their lives to these youngsters ?

Home prayers, spiritual guidance from parents are the only means we can handhold our youngsters. We never discuss the factional rift at home because we know how shameful and disgraceful it is. The Orthodox church and it's overtly materialistic spiritual leadership have failed our youngsters, we should all bow our heads in shame 😢😢

Since 3 July 2017, the Jacobites have come for negotiation and we have flatly refused any negotiation at all. 29 months are over we are still busy annexing the empty concrete structures called churches,  throwing away all Jesus' principles of love, forgiveness.. 

Our priests don't practice what they preach. This is the issue our youngsters cannot  understand. How can our priests be such hypocritical ? Double standards 😥😥 a set of standards for the laity and another set of standards for the clergy..

As of my information, we do not yet have a copy of the original 1934 constitution. If by some bad luck, some aspect of the invisible 1934 constitution is misinterpreted by law and court takes a new stand asking us to give our churches to Puthencruz group, how will it sound like? 

Discussions are a must, not just court verdicts, for such issues like faith, belief etc.. Even UN does it in the General Assembly and Security Council, countries do it between ambassadors .. what is our problem  ? Why can't we, being victors, at least call them for a meeting ? Foolish obstinacy 😥

Their forefathers have also helped to build the church as much as ours, when all of us were Thoma Christians for 2000 years. How can we suddenly, one fine morning, dispossess them and throw them out ? 😢

George..

Myers Briggs personality Test ..

I tried a test to find my personality profile.  I went through the Myers Briggs test. (Click here to take the FREE 15 minute test). You can take yours too. If you register, it is beneficial.

MBTI online is more exhaustive and official .. Referred in HBR .. (click here..)

I found that I was overly an Extrovert, work more on Intuition and Feelings, am of a Judging dispensation, am more like a teacher. (E-I-F-J)

Here is the report (from truity.com)

My Personality Profile

You are driven by a deep sense of altruism and empathy for other people. 

You have an intuitive sense of the emotions of others, and often act as an emotional barometer for the people around you. 

You tend to personally experience the feelings of others, and feel compelled to act when you see people suffering. But your compassion is not reserved for the people close to you; 

At heart, you are a humanitarian, and you feel genuine concern for the ills of the entire human race.

Your Core Values:

• Compassion
• Cooperation
• Altruism
• Responsibility

Your Key Motivators:

• Helping people reach their potential
• Making ideals into reality
• Working as a team
• Accomplishing meaningful goals

You want close, supportive connections with others, and believe that cooperation is the best way to get things done. 

You like to be liked and are very sensitive to feedback, both positive and negative. 

You expect the best not just from yourself, but from others as well, and may find yourself disappointed when others are not as genuine in their intentions as you are. 

You work hard to maintain strong relationships, and strive to be a valuable member of your family and community.

You are typically energetic and driven, and often have a lot on your plate. 

You are tuned into the needs of others and acutely aware of human suffering; however, you also tend to be optimistic and forward-thinking, intuitively seeing opportunity for improvement. 

You are ambitious, but your ambition is not self-serving: rather, you feel personally responsible for making the world a better place.
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Thanks to Truity.com ..

Hope many of my friends will be able to identify their true personality and march ahead in life after taking this test. 

George..

How to keep our brains real young and active ...

Some months back I happened to visit my professors at IIT Mumbai as I happened to be in Mumbai from Bangalore for a couple of days on some personal work. I was taken aback to see, Prof. Uday Gaitonde of Mechanical Engineering Department getting adept at using his left hand to move the mouse while he was typing with both his hands. His efficiency at work had drastically improved.When I asked him how come he has changed his working style, he told me how he keeps both hemispheres of the brain active.

Creative intellectual activities keep your brain active

Immediately after that visit I had penned this blog (click here..).  In the next four to five years humans would have mastered how to tinker with the genes in the human body that ensures longevity of human life. We would live on an average upto 120 years. Though the thought was initially shocking, it is going to be a truth of life, we all need to be preparing for that.

Longevity of life is interesting and beneficial if one is healthy, ie. a healthy mind in a healthy body. A healthy mind is an active and occupied mind, occupied in productive and creative pursuits. Age may tire out the body, but the mind can keep it active and young.

The best way to keep our brain active is to start using both hemispheres of the brain, ie. both our hands for the daily chores. The left hand keeps our right hemisphere of the brain active and the right hand ensures the left hemisphere gets all the stimuli. Excessive use of the right hand puts the left hemisphere of brain to more use and the right hemisphere to disuse, making it a hot candidate for Alzheimer's disease in future.

Compulsorily engage in some physical activity daily

How many of us know that continuous stress actually shrinks our brain. It is in our best interests to develop healthy habits of life that can help keep our mind active and rejuvenated. I happened to listen to an interesting TED talk by Elizabeth Amini on how to keep one's brain young, the points mentioned are interesting and inspiring too.

1. Walk at least for 30 minutes , 5 times a week. Most of us lead sedentary lives keeping our minds and brains active,

2. Engage in mind engaging games and activities like cross word puzzles, Sudoku etc on a daily basis to keep your brain cells active

3. Avoid poisons to the human body like excess alcohol, smoking etc.. 

4. Be a socially active person engaging in social reunions, social engagements, volunteering activities, catching up with friends etc..

5. Having a purpose / direction / cause in life and working to attain it.

6. Relax / meditation/ yoga / reading books whenever one get time to relax the brain cells

Yoga / meditation - medicine for body and soul

7. Partner with a doctor focusing on whole body health using preventive medicine, exercises etc. than active chemical medication etc.

8. Protect your head - that's the most critical part of your body and possibly the most delicately placed part. Don't text while driving..

9. Follow the Mediterranean diet - 7-10 servings of fruits / vegetables daily, include fish, nuts, beans, legumes etc in your daily diet regularly. Take good natural supplements like cheese, curd etc..

10. Maintain and follow a positive outlook on life. Forgive and forget .. We are just travelers here. Nothing is ours and we are not going to take anything with us. Loss and gain is part of life. Enjoy and experience it, never lose your peace of mind over it.

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Mayo Clinic advice for a young, healthy and active brain ..

Mayo Clinic is one of the most helpful preventive medicine centres of the world which is famous for its numerous medical departments.(click here for an interesting video). They have listed ten points that can help our brians active and young.

Catch up with friends, engage in some activity

1. Socialise more - increase your circle of friends and social contacts and try to meethem more frequently

2. Keep moving - avoid sedentary activities like sitting a a place for more than an hour, keep moving your buttocks..

3. Take a class to learn something new - it renews brains connections and helps establish new ones

4. Eat plenty of plants and fruits and healthy fat like Olive oil (cocnut oil is not mentioned)

5. Get enough sleep and rest daily, minimum of 7-8 hours daily to help rejuvenate and revitalise your body for a new day of exciting actions and thoughts..

6. Train the brain to take on new challenges to improve mental sharpness

Play around with young people, care for them ..

7. Quit smoking to reduce risk of cognitive diseases like poor learning, perception, memory and problem solving

8. Manage stress by relaxing often to ward off depression, fear, anxiety etc..

9. Protect the head to prevent concussions that can harm later on in life.

10. Keep blood pressure in check, what's bad for heart is equally bad for the brain.

The last and final advice I can give the elders is to move and enjoy the company of youngsters. Mingle with them, it definitely takes years off your life. 

Here is a very useful and interesting link to Mayo Clinic's 50 health tips... (click here..)

George..

Deglobalisation and the modern world ..

These days we observe a global trend growing towards looking inward. US, the immigrant country, which has believed in getting immigrants in droves to the country to aid in economic growth, now is shutting its doors to immigrants. India which thrived on globalisation has now a nationalist government that is against opening of the economy to outsiders and is more to natives running the country on capitalist principles.

What are the risks associated with Deglobalisation ?

1. Competition to control the Internet : The Internet is getting divided these days, SPLINTERNET, with China and US trying for independent ways and means to control the global usage of Internet. With Internet protocol and standards matured and accepted across the world, the security protocols are still being debated, the control mechanisms, the over-riding mechanisms and the like. Any country that gets to control the Internet, will in effect control a good portion of humanity.

2. Dearth of talent in developed countries : Because of the inward looking policies of the developed nations, it is becoming difficult with each passing day to attract the best talent to these countries. Countries then resort to selective relaxation for specialised skills and resources to get immigration status for specialists to the developed countries

3. Multi national corporations (MNCs) are more inward looking : MNCs are now comfortable being being local MNCs that global MNCs. This is because every country is concerned about their security and safety and want MNCs and global internet companies to have local servers which are more accessible to their country's judiciary and legal system than be out of it. For example India has asked Google and Facebook to place their India users servers within Indian territory and jurisdiction.

4. Global organisations are finding it difficult to raise funds or financial resources from cheap international financial markets for their development, leading to stalling of developmental projects and limited growth across geographies.

5. Growing tensions across geographies: This is leading inward looking and nationalist leadssearch on defence related projects than looking at the general growth and benefit of humanity.

Can stronger subsidiaries for corporations with stronger local leadership held loosely by the global leadership team lead to better and fast decision making for corporation and organisation in the deglobalised world ? More discussions will ne needed to adress this global issue.

Will deglobalisation take us deeper into our trenches and prevent us from climbing to higher strategic and tactical trenches or prevent us from falling into lower trenches ? Will deglobalisation lead to countries forming alliances and flexing their muscles and military might lead to global tensions and threats to air and maritime trade and transportation ?

Time can tell.

George. (credits to Dambisa Moyo 's HBR article , Dec '19, highlighting the threats of global business on deglobalisation)