what do you get when you have 13 seminarians waiting at a crowded airport for roughly 5 hours to catch their home-bound flight???
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a really great game of rummy!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Culture and Religious Practices
While travelling in India, we have had the opportunity to see how the Christian church has developed in a complex multi-cultural/religious environment. This has manifested itself many times during our journey as we have seen the intersection of Hindu, Islamic and Christian practices. It is a jolt to observe either symbols or practices from another tradition that have become part of Christian practice not a part of our U.S. centric Christian approach.
We observed this at all junctures of our visit. One such observation was in Kerala (one of 21 Indian states on the west coast of India) where tradition holds that St Thomas first came from the Middle East spreading Christian teachings to the Indian subcontinent from the Middle East. Specifically, the flagpoles in front of the reformed Orthodox churches had the symbols that are seen in the Hindu temples with a cross replacing a bull on the top (Kodimaram). The explanation was that this was adopted by the Orthodox Church to better relate to people who were culturally Hindu and maybe attracting them to become part of the Orthodox community of faith (perhaps an early form of what today of what we call making our churches visitor friendly). Having done this over time it has become part of religious practice. This applies to the outdoor oil Lamps (similar to those seen at the Hindu temples) we also saw at many of the Orthodox Churches.
A second observation, a rather stark view at a Catholic church on St Thomas Mount in Chennai where tradition holds that Thomas was killed for his religious teaching. Beside the church is a nativity scene where there were there were the normal figures we associate with a nativity scene (Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, livestock, a deep blue painted wise man who is a representation of Hinduism, straw), but the twist was the addition of water buffalo, palm trees, tigers and most surprisingly, Santa Claus and. How do these creep into the narrative?
The third observation was at the Tamilnadu Theological Seminary (TTS) in Madurai (SW of Chennai in the state of Tamilnadu) where we were fortunate to be part of the harvest festival of Pongal. This four-day festival celebrates the successful harvest (generally in this region, rice and sugar cane). The first day is a day of preparation,( the clearing out of the old and getting ready for the celebration), the second is the actual celebration (similar to Thanksgiving and New Year celebrations combined), the third a celebration of the animals that support people throughout the year, and the last the visiting of family and friends. The preparations include decorating with flowers and full sugar cane stalks as well as the preparation of pongal, a rice boil with sugar that when the pot boils over (think fish boil over an open fire), it is a signal for celebration of the harvest and the new year. This festival is celebrated by all religious traditions but what is of interest is how this celebration weaves together the many aspects of daily life: the revering of the livestock as supportive of our lives (Hindu), the thanksgiving to God(s) for the harvest (et al.), and gathering of family for the celebration (et al.) At TTS we were part of a service at the stables (think dairy cows, chickens, new born calves with pigs in the background) where the Thanksgiving service for Mata Pongal was combination of our Christian tradition (prayer, scripture, and singing) and the ceremonial feeding of the animals (pongal rice, and bananas served on a banana leaf to a cow as a sign of thanking the animals for their support during the year (milk, eggs, help with the plowing, etc.)
This dovetails with writing of sociologist, Charles Horton Cooley who developed an extensive system of thought regarding rationality based on conscience emerging from human relationships. Cooley points out that a society as a whole holds together based on how individuals perceive themselves through the eyes of others. Therefore, individuals will accept or reject themselves and their beliefs though the social perceptions of others. In Cooley’s “Primary Group”, theory the space exists for this to transpire and to see how individual beliefs shape and form. However, as Hill points out, this outgrowth of Enlightment thought does not add the component of God or spirituality. From our observation, the enculturation of sacred objects into each faiths worship space is a way of adding the element of religion and God as a way for a multicultural society to recognize the divine in all. As Christians or people of other faiths, this recognition reminds us that God’s divine purpose for all of humanity is to reside in relationship with others.
How does this apply to our practice of faith in the U.S. culture? How does culture drive religious practice in our society? How does society drive our religious practices?
Kimberly Allen, Jim Person
We observed this at all junctures of our visit. One such observation was in Kerala (one of 21 Indian states on the west coast of India) where tradition holds that St Thomas first came from the Middle East spreading Christian teachings to the Indian subcontinent from the Middle East. Specifically, the flagpoles in front of the reformed Orthodox churches had the symbols that are seen in the Hindu temples with a cross replacing a bull on the top (Kodimaram). The explanation was that this was adopted by the Orthodox Church to better relate to people who were culturally Hindu and maybe attracting them to become part of the Orthodox community of faith (perhaps an early form of what today of what we call making our churches visitor friendly). Having done this over time it has become part of religious practice. This applies to the outdoor oil Lamps (similar to those seen at the Hindu temples) we also saw at many of the Orthodox Churches.
A second observation, a rather stark view at a Catholic church on St Thomas Mount in Chennai where tradition holds that Thomas was killed for his religious teaching. Beside the church is a nativity scene where there were there were the normal figures we associate with a nativity scene (Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, livestock, a deep blue painted wise man who is a representation of Hinduism, straw), but the twist was the addition of water buffalo, palm trees, tigers and most surprisingly, Santa Claus and. How do these creep into the narrative?
The third observation was at the Tamilnadu Theological Seminary (TTS) in Madurai (SW of Chennai in the state of Tamilnadu) where we were fortunate to be part of the harvest festival of Pongal. This four-day festival celebrates the successful harvest (generally in this region, rice and sugar cane). The first day is a day of preparation,( the clearing out of the old and getting ready for the celebration), the second is the actual celebration (similar to Thanksgiving and New Year celebrations combined), the third a celebration of the animals that support people throughout the year, and the last the visiting of family and friends. The preparations include decorating with flowers and full sugar cane stalks as well as the preparation of pongal, a rice boil with sugar that when the pot boils over (think fish boil over an open fire), it is a signal for celebration of the harvest and the new year. This festival is celebrated by all religious traditions but what is of interest is how this celebration weaves together the many aspects of daily life: the revering of the livestock as supportive of our lives (Hindu), the thanksgiving to God(s) for the harvest (et al.), and gathering of family for the celebration (et al.) At TTS we were part of a service at the stables (think dairy cows, chickens, new born calves with pigs in the background) where the Thanksgiving service for Mata Pongal was combination of our Christian tradition (prayer, scripture, and singing) and the ceremonial feeding of the animals (pongal rice, and bananas served on a banana leaf to a cow as a sign of thanking the animals for their support during the year (milk, eggs, help with the plowing, etc.)
This dovetails with writing of sociologist, Charles Horton Cooley who developed an extensive system of thought regarding rationality based on conscience emerging from human relationships. Cooley points out that a society as a whole holds together based on how individuals perceive themselves through the eyes of others. Therefore, individuals will accept or reject themselves and their beliefs though the social perceptions of others. In Cooley’s “Primary Group”, theory the space exists for this to transpire and to see how individual beliefs shape and form. However, as Hill points out, this outgrowth of Enlightment thought does not add the component of God or spirituality. From our observation, the enculturation of sacred objects into each faiths worship space is a way of adding the element of religion and God as a way for a multicultural society to recognize the divine in all. As Christians or people of other faiths, this recognition reminds us that God’s divine purpose for all of humanity is to reside in relationship with others.
How does this apply to our practice of faith in the U.S. culture? How does culture drive religious practice in our society? How does society drive our religious practices?
Kimberly Allen, Jim Person
Indian Feminism
22 Jan. 10
Sister Pushpa Joseph is the professor of biblical studies at the University of Madras serving in their Department of Christian Studies as well as an advocate for and a practical theologian of Indian feminist theology.
In a conversation with Sister Pushpa she explained how Indian feminism is primarily constructed of two considerations: “1. Indian feminism is a bundle of rich paradoxes, and 2. Indian feminism is a story of fragments.”
Of the many elements that make up the varied “bundle of rich paradoxes” is the Indian national paper The Hindu. The Hindu paper offers some of the finest English language writing and analysis in the world; yet, in the same paper there can be found some of the most superstitious symbols of Indian culture and the assigned cultural identity of the Indian woman: matrimonial classified ads and astronomical forecasts. This paradox within The Hindu national paper reveals the evidence behind Sister Pushpa’s statement that “even language is getting globalized.”
Sister Pushpa herself is an interesting paradox of Indian feminism. Sister Pushpa is a Syrian Catholic Franciscan Indian-born feminist nun. Sister Pushpa is working her ministry under the patriarchal system of the Roman Catholic church in India that is simultaneously oppressing the role of women within the Church and yet it is the Church that provides her the status and resources within her own Indian culture and caste system that empowers her and others with her significant engagement within the Indian feminist movement. Sister Pushpa reflects on her paradoxical position within the Church and declares: “Catholic nuns take on the role of the authentic feminine within the Church.”
Understanding the Indian feminist movement as a unified story of fragments requires a reframing of identity and authority for some who may struggle with the complex question of: what gives integrity to the identity and thus the authority of the individual based on their shared experiences? Experiences that gathered as a whole reveal the identity of an entire community of women who must face in their culture of birth a construction that inherently denies their voices and thus their power.
Sister Pushpa says, “individual dialogue is the action by which feminist theology works within religion.” The social constructs that women in India find themselves defined by are issues of gender, class, caste, and the religious patriarchy. Emerging from under these social constructs, Sister Pushpa instructs that it is through the sharing and re-membering of the “flesh and blood realities of our women” that they are able to claim their identities within Indian society and culture with integrity. This individual sharing of personal her stories lays the foundation for the Indian feminist movement to empower “rigorous systematic critical analysis.” In addition this sharing and weaving together of all the various fragmented narratives will “preserve Indian women’s contextual uniqueness.” Quilting together a tapestry of knowing that is a sacred newly emerging consciousness of Indian feminist wisdom that “serves as a celebration of their differences.” A celebration that acknowledges the Crazy Quilt that is the embodiment of 21st century Indian life. A Crazy Quilt that is the pluralistic contingency driven manifestation of the fragments of knowing that united reflect the universal wisdom of the Indian feminist movement.
Sister Pushpa recommends Uma Chakravarthi’s work Recasting Women for a look into the vast world of Indian women and the fragmented narratives that will shed light on their ever evolving identity and the self claimed integrity of being through knowing realized through their respective shared experiences. It is through anthologies of the Indian women’s experience, a consideration the new biblical hermeneutics presented through the lens of an Indian woman in tandem with a hermeneutic of suspicion of the biblical silence in the text in regard to women and the issue of violence against women that leads us to a universal question for all women in all countries; as Sister Pushpa challenges us: “What does the Jesus movement with its application of equal disciples mean in a caste driven society?”
Rob and Renee
Sister Pushpa Joseph is the professor of biblical studies at the University of Madras serving in their Department of Christian Studies as well as an advocate for and a practical theologian of Indian feminist theology.
In a conversation with Sister Pushpa she explained how Indian feminism is primarily constructed of two considerations: “1. Indian feminism is a bundle of rich paradoxes, and 2. Indian feminism is a story of fragments.”
Of the many elements that make up the varied “bundle of rich paradoxes” is the Indian national paper The Hindu. The Hindu paper offers some of the finest English language writing and analysis in the world; yet, in the same paper there can be found some of the most superstitious symbols of Indian culture and the assigned cultural identity of the Indian woman: matrimonial classified ads and astronomical forecasts. This paradox within The Hindu national paper reveals the evidence behind Sister Pushpa’s statement that “even language is getting globalized.”
Sister Pushpa herself is an interesting paradox of Indian feminism. Sister Pushpa is a Syrian Catholic Franciscan Indian-born feminist nun. Sister Pushpa is working her ministry under the patriarchal system of the Roman Catholic church in India that is simultaneously oppressing the role of women within the Church and yet it is the Church that provides her the status and resources within her own Indian culture and caste system that empowers her and others with her significant engagement within the Indian feminist movement. Sister Pushpa reflects on her paradoxical position within the Church and declares: “Catholic nuns take on the role of the authentic feminine within the Church.”
Understanding the Indian feminist movement as a unified story of fragments requires a reframing of identity and authority for some who may struggle with the complex question of: what gives integrity to the identity and thus the authority of the individual based on their shared experiences? Experiences that gathered as a whole reveal the identity of an entire community of women who must face in their culture of birth a construction that inherently denies their voices and thus their power.
Sister Pushpa says, “individual dialogue is the action by which feminist theology works within religion.” The social constructs that women in India find themselves defined by are issues of gender, class, caste, and the religious patriarchy. Emerging from under these social constructs, Sister Pushpa instructs that it is through the sharing and re-membering of the “flesh and blood realities of our women” that they are able to claim their identities within Indian society and culture with integrity. This individual sharing of personal her stories lays the foundation for the Indian feminist movement to empower “rigorous systematic critical analysis.” In addition this sharing and weaving together of all the various fragmented narratives will “preserve Indian women’s contextual uniqueness.” Quilting together a tapestry of knowing that is a sacred newly emerging consciousness of Indian feminist wisdom that “serves as a celebration of their differences.” A celebration that acknowledges the Crazy Quilt that is the embodiment of 21st century Indian life. A Crazy Quilt that is the pluralistic contingency driven manifestation of the fragments of knowing that united reflect the universal wisdom of the Indian feminist movement.
Sister Pushpa recommends Uma Chakravarthi’s work Recasting Women for a look into the vast world of Indian women and the fragmented narratives that will shed light on their ever evolving identity and the self claimed integrity of being through knowing realized through their respective shared experiences. It is through anthologies of the Indian women’s experience, a consideration the new biblical hermeneutics presented through the lens of an Indian woman in tandem with a hermeneutic of suspicion of the biblical silence in the text in regard to women and the issue of violence against women that leads us to a universal question for all women in all countries; as Sister Pushpa challenges us: “What does the Jesus movement with its application of equal disciples mean in a caste driven society?”
Rob and Renee
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Pluralism Which Exists
While journeying through India you cannot help but be struck by the reality that is Interfaith. Here it is a daily existence within life. We often times speak of interfaith, yet it is too often in the theoretical. Here we find the existence of this pluralistic interfaith context fascinating and teaching us lessons each day. Fr. Felix Wilfred spoke of the necessity for becoming friends in order to truly dialogue and grow with one another, and throughout the trip this has been evident within day to day routine. Here the Divine cannot be squarely placed into a neat and orderly definition, but rather there is a fluidity to the Divine. Here the Sacred is not in one place or the other, but rather the sacred is present in multiple contexts and locations. God's song is being sung in multiple ways, and being witnessed and accepted in these multiple layers within this culture. In the west people are too willing to close God off, and to define God to this or that. Rather in India there is a definite understanding of the both/and reality with God. As we continue on the final stages of this journey we are truly being extended and pushed to see the Divine within the multiple layers of this culture.
God Bless, D and J
God Bless, D and J
Searching Sacred Spaces
What do you consider sacred? What does it mean to set some places and objects apart as holy? These are just a few of the questions that we have been exploring over the course of our two weeks in Southern India. Each day as we walk down the street we walk past Hindu temples filled with devoted worshipers, fragrant incense, and colorful statues. But next to these Hindu temples, just a few doors down, we also walk past Christian congregations and Muslim mosques, also filled with devoted followers. Southern India is a land full of spaces set aside as sacred, be those Christian, Muslim, or Hindu.
We have been intrigued by the Orthodox Christian Church's understanding of the sacred. Father Abraham, a doctoral student at the Syrian Orthodox Seminary in Kottayam, explained to us that sacraments are not simply limited to a few actions that one encounters in the church. Instead he contended, there is an aspect of the sacred in every facet of our lives: our careers, family life, education. That being acknowledged though, through our exploration of Orthodox churches and the two Orthodox seminaries, it still appears that certain spaces and objects are set apart, as, dare we say, more sacred. In their worship spaces the "holy of holies" is hidden behind a protective curtain. Also, the Orthodox seminary was constructed in such a way, that from its original entrance, one would be immediately drawn towards the church's altar in the distance, by an unobstructed line of crosses. Father Abraham explained that this was essential so that visiting bishops would see the sacred altar and thus could say their prayers immediately upon their arrival. To adapt a phrase from George Orwell's Animal Farm, "All things are holy, but some things are more holy than others."
We acknowledge though that the tension of seeing the sacred in all, yet setting certain places and things aside as holy, is not limited solely to the Orthodox Church in India.
How do we as people working in many facets of the Church properly live in this tension? While there is no simple answer to this question, it remains something we hope to explore over the course of our life journeys. Noting that experiences like the ones we are having in India only further broaden our cultural and theological lenses.
Katie <>< and Jack
We have been intrigued by the Orthodox Christian Church's understanding of the sacred. Father Abraham, a doctoral student at the Syrian Orthodox Seminary in Kottayam, explained to us that sacraments are not simply limited to a few actions that one encounters in the church. Instead he contended, there is an aspect of the sacred in every facet of our lives: our careers, family life, education. That being acknowledged though, through our exploration of Orthodox churches and the two Orthodox seminaries, it still appears that certain spaces and objects are set apart, as, dare we say, more sacred. In their worship spaces the "holy of holies" is hidden behind a protective curtain. Also, the Orthodox seminary was constructed in such a way, that from its original entrance, one would be immediately drawn towards the church's altar in the distance, by an unobstructed line of crosses. Father Abraham explained that this was essential so that visiting bishops would see the sacred altar and thus could say their prayers immediately upon their arrival. To adapt a phrase from George Orwell's Animal Farm, "All things are holy, but some things are more holy than others."
We acknowledge though that the tension of seeing the sacred in all, yet setting certain places and things aside as holy, is not limited solely to the Orthodox Church in India.
How do we as people working in many facets of the Church properly live in this tension? While there is no simple answer to this question, it remains something we hope to explore over the course of our life journeys. Noting that experiences like the ones we are having in India only further broaden our cultural and theological lenses.
Katie <>< and Jack
Indian Christian Identity
In approaching the cultural and religious identity of South India in the context of colonialism, we are forced to negotiate historic truth and mythic truth as loci of identity and authority. In the United States we say that history is written by the victors and set out to follow a trail of paper back as far as is authentically possible. In India, tradition and unity are emphasized through narrative.
A doctoral student whom we met at Marthome Theological Seminary in Kottayam emphasized that there is no absolute history. Primarily, Indians have not been very interested in writing and maintaining historical records. Furthermore, whatever records may have existed were likely destroyed by the Roman Catholic colonialists that accompanied the Portuguese. Oral tradition, on the other hand, is highly valued as living energy. Writing down the tradition extinguishes its energy, leading to its stagnation. Observing the tradition as it is lived out and spoken of, then, allows for a dynamism and interaction of both storyteller and audience. Therefore, the subjectivity of the storyteller is always present.
We have heard that St. Thomas brought Christianity to India. Sometimes this has been stated as fact; sometimes as tradition or legend. Regardless of whether it is fact or legend, the link to St. Thomas is of prime importance and part of the Indian Christian identity. In the United States, apostolic succession is important to Catholics and a number of Orthodox denominations. For other Christians, it is knowing when and what the reformers confessed. For Indian Christians, apostolic succession, that link to the original twelve, is an important source of self-validation and authority. God did not forget to send God's Word to India.
In contrast, the union of Protestant denominations known as the Church of South India (CSI) is a focal point of their identity. This union was not brought to them on the wave of colonialism, not a western denomination. Rather, CSI is homegrown, Indian born and bred. It is a source of identity and pride even more so than their original denominations.
From the beginning of our travels in India, we have seen the mingling of sacred symbols and different traditions: Hindu lamps and sacred bowls, for example, accompanying the adoration of the host in a monstrance. With the mingling of eastern symbols with the narrative of St. Thomas, Christianity here is distinctly Indian. Both St. Thomas and the CSI are vital to Indian Christian identity. Whether strictly factual or the thing of legends, the narrative of St. Thomas provides a foundation for Catholic and Orthodox identity. In much the same manner, many Protestant denominations ground their identity in the union of the Church of South India.
Brent & Karen
A doctoral student whom we met at Marthome Theological Seminary in Kottayam emphasized that there is no absolute history. Primarily, Indians have not been very interested in writing and maintaining historical records. Furthermore, whatever records may have existed were likely destroyed by the Roman Catholic colonialists that accompanied the Portuguese. Oral tradition, on the other hand, is highly valued as living energy. Writing down the tradition extinguishes its energy, leading to its stagnation. Observing the tradition as it is lived out and spoken of, then, allows for a dynamism and interaction of both storyteller and audience. Therefore, the subjectivity of the storyteller is always present.
We have heard that St. Thomas brought Christianity to India. Sometimes this has been stated as fact; sometimes as tradition or legend. Regardless of whether it is fact or legend, the link to St. Thomas is of prime importance and part of the Indian Christian identity. In the United States, apostolic succession is important to Catholics and a number of Orthodox denominations. For other Christians, it is knowing when and what the reformers confessed. For Indian Christians, apostolic succession, that link to the original twelve, is an important source of self-validation and authority. God did not forget to send God's Word to India.
In contrast, the union of Protestant denominations known as the Church of South India (CSI) is a focal point of their identity. This union was not brought to them on the wave of colonialism, not a western denomination. Rather, CSI is homegrown, Indian born and bred. It is a source of identity and pride even more so than their original denominations.
From the beginning of our travels in India, we have seen the mingling of sacred symbols and different traditions: Hindu lamps and sacred bowls, for example, accompanying the adoration of the host in a monstrance. With the mingling of eastern symbols with the narrative of St. Thomas, Christianity here is distinctly Indian. Both St. Thomas and the CSI are vital to Indian Christian identity. Whether strictly factual or the thing of legends, the narrative of St. Thomas provides a foundation for Catholic and Orthodox identity. In much the same manner, many Protestant denominations ground their identity in the union of the Church of South India.
Brent & Karen
Seeing the Sacred
In our travels here in India we have witnessed the Sacred in different places.
Whether it is in a temple, synogoue, or church the people of India is a perfect example of true ecumenisim and harmony across denominational lines. What we have seen is that the sacred is already on the inside of everyone that worships a holy deity. With that said the people of India illustrate the respect of worship and holiness. Thereby, creating opportunities for building friendships across religious boundaries.
As we come to the end of our journey, we will continue to seek out the sacred in ways that are radical in nature but giving GOD unconditional praise.
Katie Jo & Jacquelyne
Whether it is in a temple, synogoue, or church the people of India is a perfect example of true ecumenisim and harmony across denominational lines. What we have seen is that the sacred is already on the inside of everyone that worships a holy deity. With that said the people of India illustrate the respect of worship and holiness. Thereby, creating opportunities for building friendships across religious boundaries.
As we come to the end of our journey, we will continue to seek out the sacred in ways that are radical in nature but giving GOD unconditional praise.
Katie Jo & Jacquelyne
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