a new god, a new faith story for the people to believe.
He tells them: “Here are your gods, Israel;
these brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
When he says, “'I' give you a god,” what is his real intention?
Going to worship Yahweh in Jerusalem, might turn their hearts away from him,
and they might kill him. So he gave them a god; a ‘godly’ action, but a political intention.
People’s longing to worship, and loyalty to their faith are manipulated and consumed by his purpose.
Apparently they would sing, dance, worship and feel happy, but they go incomplete and still hungry.
Jesus could easily make it a reality to rise up as a popular hero,
one who is able to treat their hunger.
It was not 'he himself' who was in his heart,
but it was 'they and their hunger' that was there in his heart.
He really felt their fainting spirit,
“They have come to me… if I send them hungry, they may faint on the way…”
Jesus feeds the multitude in compassion.
We are given into our hands, our own life and the lives of anyone who is in our life, what do we do with them?
Treat them with shapeless gods,
offer them a spiritual path that benefit our honor and glory,
and let them faint on the way, is that we do?
The very human hunger and need is the issue.
When inappropriate solutions and agendas are initiated, idols find their place.
When the same hunger and need is raised in blessing, idols lose their place.
Raised in thanksgiving Jesus becomes the bread broken for the life of the world.
How often have we given our forms and shapes to God to suit us and our feelings?
We may give disfigured faces for God which appeal to the masks we have created for ourselves.
Such gods may be the greatest obstacle in meeting God. In our own families, prayer meetings and so on,
we too may, in small or larger ways present our agenda in a language of religion and faith.
Unfortunately these bloodsucking tools do work.
In the process we present gods, or at times we ourselves become gods.
"'This statue' will give 'this special favour',"
"'this' prayer will work miracles,"
"'do this' and 'this blessing' will be sure".... where is the place for God?
We need to free ourselves from these specifying superstitious attitude.
"Pass around 'Mary pictures', and 'Hail Mary's without breaking,"
"I am blessing in the name of Jesus," .... the digital sources of graces, what do they tell about our faith?
One might say that all these are part of devotion, and these do matter.
Actually these does not seem to be devotions, but easy techniques with assumed magical effects.
True devotion teaches a person loyalty and trust. It will enable the devotee to wait patiently.
But we have a fastfood access in the present 'pious' practices.
They might be 'tasty,' and delivered at once, but how much does it offer sustenance for us?
Though being so sincere in spiritual life, why do we not grow in freedom and maturity?
Perhaps, we have believed in ways that might be binding us to the gods created in ulterior motives.
Perhaps we were carried away by wonderful pop culture presentation,
style of celebrity worship and mass appeal.
It might have been greatly appealing,
and so we did not bother about meaning and depth in faith.
We were not fed with real bread.
Bread could have been an idol, and Jesus could have been a celebrated icon.
Jeroboam said: "They may turn away from me and they might kill me."
Jesus said: " I have come to give my life as a ransom for many."
This is the difference, between an idol and a life-offering.
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.... എന്നിട്ടും എനിക്ക് വിശക്കുന്നു
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