by Paul Agniswar | Apr 6, 2020 | Article
Addressing a social issue of India
It has been on my heart to write a post addressing a social issue in our country that involves social discrimination that has arisen in this time of crisis.
During this pandemic, as the whole world trembles in fear of catching the Coronavirus, our Indian government has decided to lock down the whole country except for a few essential services to remain operating and ordered the citizens to maintain social distancing with vigilance to avoid the widespread effect of the virus.
There is no doubt that we, as the whole nation, are experiencing a huge crisis. However, I feel greatly distressed hearing news reports on Corona effects leading to social discrimination in different parts of the country, especially targeting the people from the Northeastern states of India.
As every other demographic in India, are scattered throughout the nation because of work, business, job, charity or carrier settlements, so are the people of the Northeastern states. They are afflicted because their appearance is akin to the Chinese people.
“There is no doubt that we, as the whole nation, are experiencing a huge crisis.”
People in our society from all parts of India, except the Northeast states, seem to have developed a mindset that the North-easterners are carriers of COVID-19 because they look like the Chinese.
Now, we all know that China was the first country to be exposed to the Coronavirus pandemic. They were the first nation to experience crises and deaths of thousands due to the outbreak of COVID-19. There have been rumors that the virus outbreak was caused due to a laboratory accident in Wuhan, China. Nonetheless, there is no concrete evidence that can back up that claim.
The matter has not come to light if the outbreak is a result of a natural disaster, a human error or malpractice in the field of science. So far, scientists from multiple countries indicate the possible cause for the outbreak of COVID-19 is to be an act of nature. Consequently, I am not quite sure if we want to blame the Chinese for our days of trouble. However, I will leave that choice to you.
My objective is not to talk about the cause and effects of the virus, but rather to simply identify how it is causing panic among us and leading us to lose our sense of love and social values that secures our relationships.
“It is in the face of trials, we get to truly discover ourselves.”
In pursuit of eradicating COVID-19, we are turning the idea of social distancing into social discrimination. We are forgetting the people from the Northeast states may look alike the Chinese, Japanese, or Thai people, but they are 100% legal Indian citizens like you and me.
They look much like the Chinese because they are Mongolian descendants, but it is a common misperception that they are Chinese or Japanese. They are Indians and have all the constitutional rights to be so. They are not the carrier of Coronavirus, but rather being the victims of its devouring attack, just like the rest of the world.
Discriminating the people of the Northeast with the blame of being the virus carrier, will not get us to our ultimate victory. Our adversary has great potential to show us who we really are besides many other things.
“In pursuit of eradicating COVID-19, we are turning the idea of social distancing into social discrimination.”
It is in the face of trials, we get to truly discover ourselves and have the opportunity to learn to transform our hearts and mindsets. Let’s not forget that we live in a nation we can be proud of so much and where we celebrate unity among diversity.
I realize change is never easy, but perhaps, the need for it has arrived at our doorstep. We can welcome it inside or chase it away, that is completely our choice. In fact, the pandemic has come with its purpose of not only killing people, which must be stopped, also displaying the nature of humanity. It is exposing some dirty parts of our society.
I say we take this opportunity by faith to transform our society and the neighborhood we live in. So, we will be able to promote love over hatred, harmony over division, social empowerment over social discrimination.
“We live in a nation we can be proud of so much and where we celebrate unity among diversity.”
There is a scripture in the Bible that says, “Consider it pure joy, brother and sister, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance, and when perseverance finishes its course, you will become matured and complete and lack nothing”.
These are strange days, and we are facing trials of many kinds at the moment. We are seeing what this little invisible enemy called a virus can do to us and our society. Nevertheless, let us not lose our battle against it by socially persecuting the North-easterners and dividing our nation into pieces before we can ever rebuild it. After all, they are our brothers and sisters.
I believe you will find this writing in the right spirit. My love to all of you and your family.
God Bless.
by Paul Agniswar | Mar 31, 2020 | Article
What to do when we feel stuck in life?
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the whole world is facing a great crisis and panicking in “Fear”.
Now, that our current generation has seen and is experiencing the pandemic of Coronavirus, everyone is greatly affected mentally, emotionally, physically, socially, economically, and even spiritually.
Our world is shaken with a massive wave of uncertainty and confusion. People are frightened to the point of terror.
“I realize fear is our natural response to unfamiliar situations.“
The government has decided to lock down cities and even the whole country to take an extended measure of safety. Schools, colleges, workplaces are shutting down.
A great number of people just do not know what to do in this season of the pandemic. They do not find a purpose sitting at home and not being able to do so much, except perhaps worrying about what could tomorrow possibly bring.
But what to do? Going outside the house despising the government orders can bring terrible consequences to us and our loved ones. Ignorance always cost a great price.
“The struggle is real. The pain is real. The fear is real.”
We know the seriousness of this season, as numerous people across the world have lost their loved ones to the devouring attack of the Coronavirus. I do not quite know how to express the sadness of their loss.
The only thing I see happening to us during this season of the pandemic is that the more we hear the statistics of deaths in the world every day due to COVID-19, the more we start panicking. I realize fear is our natural response to unfamiliar situations.
Moreover, knowing there is no vaccine available to treat the disease leads us to even greater distress. The government has ordered to maintain social distancing which can, in turn, create social discrimination in many countries of the world.
“Perhaps, we can look at our current situation as a season of opportunity and not stagnancy alone?”
A lot of us are trying to control our lives from getting affected by the virus. However, we seem to find absolutely no way out of this.
The struggle is real. The pain is real. The fear is real. We do not know what to do anymore. As a result, we feel stuck in life with seemingly no way out.
At this very moment, I am thinking of one of my favorite characters from the Bible, Peter. At some point in life, Peter became stagnant before he met the Messiah.
“our adversity has great potentials to help us discover who we are, to remind us what matters the most in our lives, and to remind us what should be the priority of our life.”
He was a fisherman who barely made enough to get by. He sailed off the shore expecting to fish over the course of the night but came back with discouragingly empty hands. Like most of us, during this epidemic, Peter must have experienced stagnancy in life.
As Peter found himself at the end of his strength, and all of his attempts to fish had miserably failed, God steps in to still him and redeem him from all his worries. Perhaps, we can look at our current situation as a season of opportunity and not stagnancy alone?
I wonder how many of us tried to fix our life in the circumstances of uncertainty and miserably failed, yet have not learned a lesson. It led me to contemplate that many of us are probably looking at the current state of the world from one perspective. Possibly, there are other ways to look at it too.
“Now, our life has abruptly come to a pace where time stands still.”
However, I am not in denial or ignorance of the disaster this virus has brought upon our world and the damages it caused in the lives of many.
I received a profound revelation, which is what inspired me to write, that our adversity has great potentials to help us discover who we are, to remind us what matters the most in our lives, and to remind us what should be the priority of our life. We probably have to readjust our perspectives to look at the current circumstances of the world and redefine our focuses.
Most of us have been running around pursuing a career, opportunities, and other self-centered agendas. Now, our life has abruptly come to a pace where time stands still.
“I wonder how many of us tried to fix our life in the circumstances of uncertainty and miserably failed, yet have not learned a lesson.”
Perhaps, this is the time to rediscover our life’s greatest purpose, to think and care for others, to spend quality time with family, and, above all, to spend time learning about our creator. God has finally got our attention in this season of stillness.
My goal is not to sound religious from any angle, but rather collaboratively think and process things of this season we are presently in. Even the best of us, with all their efforts, money, and intelligence could not help us from trembling in fear.
“Your purpose is found only in knowing and experiencing who your Creator is.”
It almost feels like the world has stopped moving. We might have been too busy dreaming to become something, to achieve great things according to our understanding, to run with unstoppable enthusiasm for self-centered agendas.
I am not implying dreaming is wrong, but maybe somewhere in the process, we have forgotten the one who has originated the passion in us to dream and see great visions.
“While nations rise and fall and the world is shaken, there is only one truth that remains unshaken: Jesus is the one true God who is yesterday, today, and forever the same.”
So, I am giving an open invitation to my readers to step out of stagnancy and step into rediscovering your life’s greatest purpose by restoring your connection to your Creator. Redefine your focus and keep Him in the center of your attention.
Your purpose is found only in knowing and experiencing who your Creator is. Remember, at the end of all things and ages, we can not deny the undeniable existence of our Creator.
While nations rise and fall and the world is shaken, there is only one truth that remains unshaken: Jesus is the one true God who is yesterday, today, and forever the same. Blessed be His name.
Stay connected and blessed.
by Paul Agniswar | Nov 5, 2018 | Article, Uncategorized
Today, I thought of sharing about creativity. What is creativity?
Well, one way to describe it is that it is the main ingredient or flavor in all things we cook up in life, just like salt. Another way to talk about it is, that it is the way we express our God-given potential to manifest the Creator. If something we are doing is missing creativity, it is like eating your lunch without the taste of salt in your food. Life without creativity often leaves us in a boring game-zone where we cannot find the next level to move up to. Creativity should be in the foundation of everything we do or think of in our day-to-day life.
The author of our life, the creator has created us creatively to be creative beings. So there is no escape for us from being creative in every situation or in all things we do. We were originally made in a way that we don’t lack creativity whether we are a movie star working in movies, an artist painting his own reality on the canvas or an engineer making the blueprint of a bridge. Creativity has to be the center of attraction!!! It is nearly impossible to pursue the purpose of our life without an innovative mind.
When I think of the whole scenario of creativity and how we can improve the world around us through our creativity, my mind often leads me to these very few questions: But what is wrong with us? Why are we lacking creativity? Are we really lacking creativity? Or is it our lack of willingness that interrupts us to think outside the box?
There are solutions to the problems in our lives and in the world around us if we can start exercising our minds to think creatively to come up with innovative ideas that can bring a resolution to our problems. But a lot of us are either lazy or stuck in the traditional ways of thinking which rob us of our creativity and sabotages the possible growth.
A great lie we often speak out from our mouth is, “I’m not creative enough”. By declaring this kind of proclamation over our lives, we are diminishing our God-given potential within ourselves.
We all have been taught that hard work is the leading way to a successful life. But I say that it is only partially true if our interpretation of the concept of hard working is physically wearing ourselves out. There is a grandma saying – “You can work really hard all day but end up getting nothing done”. That is very true and a great lesson!!! We can physically work very hard and may never achieve our life goals. That is why we need to begin thinking outside the box. We must work hard in our creative thinking not just physically. There could be a solution to our poverty situation, family problems, education etc. if we had allowed ourselves to think creatively.
Look at what all we have done to make life better, from inventing the bicycle to the satellite in space, everything came out our creative thinking and innovative minds.
Some other factors of creativity are that we need some sort of touch of creativity in our lives in order to make it more fun and enjoyable. For instance, if we have always been receiving the same present on our birthday since childhood or the same gift on our marriage anniversary every year since marriage, it will not be as exciting.
In the end, one thing remains the same: the Creator who created us in His likeness and everything around us is an outstandingly creative being, so we must be creative. The whole creation sets a great example as to why we should be more creative in all the ways we do things.
I have written this blog to empower my brothers and sisters from across the world who have lost the aroma and the very flavor of their creativity.
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