BE THANKFUL FOR YOUR LIFE’S ACHIEVEMENT  

You must have seen the picture of “The Praying Hands”, but have you heard about the story of sacrifice behind that popular picture?    The story behind the picture of the praying hands goes to a fifteenth century family with eighteen children in Nuremberg, the German state of Bavaria. We can imagine the plight of the father, a goldsmith by profession, to provide even the food for them! In spite of their seemingly hopeless condition, two of the elder children, Albrecht and Albert, had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but their father was not able to provide for their education. At last they came to a mutual decision.  They would toss a coin and the one who wins shall go for the art studies whereas the other shall go to the mines and earn for the education.  After the four years of study, the one who shall go for study shall return and support the other brother to pursue the education.    

  Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht's etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works. When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht's triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, "And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you." All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, "No ..no ...no ..no." Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, "No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look ... look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother ...for me it is too late."

More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer's hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer's works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office. One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother's abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands," but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love "The Praying Hands."

 The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your reminder – behind your successful life, there is someone whom you may or may not know.  It is the numerous people who have worked sacrificially for your welfare – it may be your parents, siblings, friends, or may be the people who work in the power generating establishments, the farmers who have toiled in the sun for giving you food, the people in the armed forces who guard you vigilantly day and night (if I try to enumerate, it shall be countless and ageless.). Take turn and Make your life a blessing to others!

I LOVE WHAT I DO BECAUSE I DO WHAT I LOVE

The Fox News TV (USA) asked the Iranian President Mehmoud Ahmedinejad during an interview with him, “When you look into the mirror in the morning what do you say to yourself?”  He answered: “I see the person in the mirror and tell him 'Remember' you are no more than a small servant, ahead of you today is the heavy responsibility, and that is to serve the Iranian nation. I love what I do because I do only what I love".  

Mehmoud Ahmedinejad, the Iranian President (2005-2013) astonished many when he first reached to the office of the Presidency by donating all high valued Iranian carpets to one of the mosques in Tehran by replacing them with the low cost ordinary carpets. He observed that there was a huge extravagant lounge for receiving and welcoming the VIPs and he ordered it to be closed and asked the protocol office to arrange for an ordinary room only with wooden chairs.

On many instances he joined the cleaning staff of the municipality for cleaning the streets in the area where his home and the Presidency were located. Under his authority whenever he appointed any minister to his post he got a signed document from him with many points particularly highlighting that he shall remain poor and that his personal and his relatives’ accounts will be watched and the day he leaves the ministry shall be with dignity, and therefore it is not  lawful for him or his relatives to take any advantage of his office. First of all he declared himself for all the 'Big' wealth and the property he owned was a Peugeot 504 car, model 1977, an old small house inherited from his father 40 years ago in one of the poorest zones in Tehran. His accounts with a zero balance and the only money comes in to his account was from his salary from the university as a lecturer with an amount equals to about US$ 250 only.

This is all what he owns even now - the president of one of the world's important countries; strategically, economically, politically and with regard to its oil and defense! He even doesn't take his personal salary with the argument that all the wealth belongs to the nation and he is the safeguard over it.  One of the things that impressed the staff at the presidency is the bag the President brings with him every day, which contains his breakfast; some sandwiches or bread with olive oil and cheese prepared by his wife and eats and enjoys it with all happiness.

One of the other things he changed was his personal carrier 'the President's Aircraft' to a cargo aircraft in order to save the spending from the public treasury and he ordered that he will be flying with the ordinary airline in the economy class. He organized meetings every now and then with all the ministers to know their activities and efficiency and he closed down the office of the Manager of the president and any minister can enter to his office without any permission. He also stopped the welcome ceremonies like the red carpet, the photo session or any personal advertisement or respect of any kind while visiting any place in the country.

Whenever he has to stay in any of the hotels he asks them to make sure not to give him a room with any big bed because he doesn't like to sleep on beds but rather likes to sleep on the floor on a simple mattress with a blanket.

How can we compare him with our leaders - political, social or religious!

WHERE DOES GOING AFTER MONEY TAKE US TO?

This is from a friend's Wall in Face Book and found worth sharing (edited a bit):

In 1923, nine of the wealthiest people in the world of that time met at Chicago's Edge Water Beach Hotel. Their combined wealth, it is estimated, exceeded the wealth of the government of the United States at that time. These men certainly knew how to make a living and accumulate wealth. Attending the meeting were the following men: the president of the largest steel company, the president of the largest utility company, the president of the largest gas company, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, the president of the Bank of International Settlements, the greatest wheat speculator, the greatest bear on Wall Street, the head of the World's greatest monopoly & a member of President Harding's Cabinet. That was a pretty impressive line-up of people by anyone's yardstick.

Let’s examine what happened to them 25 years later:

1. The President of the then largest steel company (Bethlehem Steel Corp), Charles M Schwab, lived on borrowed capital for five years before he died bankrupt.

2. The President of the then largest gas company, Howard Hubson, went insane.

3. One of the greatest commodity traders (Wheat Speculator), Arthur Cutten, died insolvent.

4. The then President of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was sent to jail.

5. The member of the US President’s Cabinet (the member of President Harding's cabinet), Albert Fall, was pardoned from jail just to be able to go home and die in peace.

6. The greatest “bear” on Wall Street, Jesse Livermore committed suicide.

7. The President of the then world’s greatest monopoly, Ivar Krueger, committed suicide.

8. The President of the Bank of International Settlement, Leon Fraser, committed Suicide.

9. The president of the largest utility company, Samuel Insull, died penniless.

What they forgot was how to "make" life while they got busy making money!

I am not proposing that money in itself is evil; it provides food for the hungry, medicine for the sick, clothes for the needy. We should not be a slave to money, but it’s masters who have good control over it. It should only be a medium of exchange.

We need two kinds of education:

a) One that teaches us how to make a living  &

b) One that teaches us how to live.

There are many of us who are so engrossed in our professional material life that we neglect our family, health, social and most important spiritual responsibilities.  If asked why we do this, we would reply that "We are doing it for our family". Our kids are sleeping when we leave home and they are sleeping when we come back home!  (While serving a New York parish, I once said to the congregation, “You are so concerned about the welfare of your children that you forget the children! What they need is not your money, but a warm hug.”)  

Without water, a ship cannot move. The ship needs water, but if the water gets into the ship, the ship will face existential problems. What was once a means of movement for the ship will now become a means of destruction!  Similarly we live in a time where earning is a necessity but let not the earning enter our hearts, for what was once a means of living will surely become a means of destruction for us as well. So take a moment and ask yourself “Has the water entered my ship?”   

FALSE COMMITMENT

A ship was caught up in a storm in the sea.  All started praying - a wealthy man also was among them.  He prayed loud, "If you save us today Lord, I shall sell my castle and distribute the proceeds to the poor."  Anyhow, the storm stopped.  He felt remorse over his loud mouth.  Now that everyone has heard, he could not go back from his promise.   He published that he is going to sell the castle.  He tied a cat in front of the house and priced it to be ₹ 10 million and priced the castle to be ₹ 1.  There was one condition that both shall be sold together only.  Buyers didn't care to give ₹ 10 million to the cat and ₹ 1 to the castle because the palace was worth it.   The rich man pocketed   ₹ 10 million   and distributed ₹ 1 to the poor. 

Are we different when we make a commitment to God?  How many of us are faithful to our commitment? Do we not try to find ways of break away from paying the cost? Bible cautions us to be vigilant in keeping our commitments in spite of the loss it can bring upon us. In Psalms 15 the Psalmist indicates as to who shall dwell in the sacred tent and live on God’s mountain. One of the qualifications given is the one who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind (Vs.4).  

ACCEPT CHANGE WITH GRACE

We live in a world of change, yet we act on the basis of continuity.  Change is unfamiliar, it disturbs us.  We try to ignore, avoid and more often resist it.  ‘Continuity’, on the other hand, is familiar, it provides safety and security.  Thus when we plan for the future, we prefer to assume present conditions will continue, but they rarely do.  As a result, we experience unnecessary losses and miss unseen opportunities.  If we could learn to anticipate change and to prepare for it, we could make it work for us, not against us.  Leslie Newbigin in his book One Body, One Gospel, One World writes, "There is a very natural human desire that things should always remain unchanged, but to succumb to this is death."

Alvin Toffler, in his book Future Shock has warned that the future would shock us.  In order to avoid that shock we must learn to master change.  The new approach is to recognize that change is natural and to be expected and that continuity is unnatural and to be suspected.  Hence we have to learn to cope with change that takes place around us.

Most of the stress and pain that we feel when unexpected changes come in our lives is from wishing that things should be different from what they are. When we can accept life as it comes to us, a great deal of the anxiety disappears. One of the worst traps is to let change throw us into a mood of despair and hopelessness. Moods weaken our ability to win the battle. It's important to find ways to keep our mind positive and free of negativity. We should practice to dump our negative mood as soon as we are aware of it, before it can grow too big to handle.  The powerful prescription for moving quickly through life's trials is that we always be “even-minded and cheerful.”

Committing ourselves to being happy in every circumstance is the first and foremost step to achieve this. When we are caught up in the web of change and unexpected incidents that pull us down, we have to learn to strongly affirm our decision to be happy. We may not be able to change our circumstances, but we can control our reactions to them. This simple ability will change our life. Positive reactions bring positive results! For real power, go one step further;­ learn to be grateful for your challenges. Try not to dwell on past events or future plans; stay in the here and now, expanding our hearts to all. Then we can be happy wherever we go and whatever we confront.

Prayer is a powerful help for dealing with change. Deepening devotion to God is the most important thing you can do to prepare for change. When your mind is still, you will find the joy and peace that are deep within you, and you will gain a new perspective on life. Especially important is the practice of meditating every morning and evening. In the morning, meditation prepares you to face the day with inner calmness and joy. At night, it helps you to release your life back into the divine light.

We cannot change the waves of the ocean, but we can learn to swim or float or skate on it.  So are the waves of life; learn to play on it and maser it. Then life becomes a game that you enjoy every moment of it.