Forgotten

Dear readers! Happy 78th Independence Day! Have we forgotten the great poet Bharathiyar, who ignited the spirit of freedom with his bold declaration, "Even if the heavens fall upon us, we fear not"? Have we forgotten Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who proclaimed, "Self-rule is my birthright, and I shall have it"? Have we forgotten V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, the Tamil sailor who hoisted the Indian flag? Or Veerapandiya Kattabomman, the valiant warrior who stood against the British? No, we haven't.

Every year, we remember the sacrifices of our freedom fighters while celebrating our Independence. But what have we forgotten? We have forgotten that despite living in independent India we are still subjugates. We might think that we aren’t subjugated by anyone anymore. But that is not quite so. Hear me out.

We are still subjugated by two things. Firstly, we are subjugated by our “self”. Let me elaborate. If we were to think back to our childhood days, we’d fondly remember times when we did not have a care in the world. Everything was taken care for us by others around us. We were happy to waddle around, and despite not contributing to anything, we were filled with glee and brought joy to everyone around us. Of course we were just kids back then, and everyone is happy to see kids; and it is true that we can’t go back to our childhood days to relive them. However, the take away from this is that we did not have “burdens” imposed on us back then. But now, often we tend to bite more than we can chew, causing us a lot of pain and discomfort. Why do we do this? Because - Self.

While it is undeniable that we do what we do for the benefit of not just us, it is also undeniable that all our pursuits do ultimately align with our own “self” benefits. Ergo, we take longer working hours, justifying that it’ll not just help with a comfortable wage for ourselves, but also that it would help our family and others around us. At the same time, the longer working hours just keeps us from those with whom we want to spend the time with. Again, I’m not advocating that one should never pursue their dreams, but just to take a break and ponder once in a while if what we do is a joyful pursuit (of happiness) or a miserable toil of self subjugation. Strike a balance, let’s be kind to ourselves.

“Self” extends far beyond this. Self-importance, Self-esteem, Self-Confidence, Self-Awareness, Self-Centeredness, Self-Preservation, Self-Discipline, Self-Efficacy, Self-Criticism, Self-Control, Self-Image, etc., are all crucial for us. But only in moderation would it be beneficial. Hence, striking a balance is vital. Now, this is easier said than done, but it is possible; more on that below.

Secondly, we are subjugated by “sin”. Yes, sin. And not just the kind we hear about in the news. The Bible says, "Whoever commits sin is a slave to sin." We’re familiar with the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. It is easy to imagine the extremities of sins. But let’s try out an exercise for what might seem as trivial but still end up in the category of sins. Pride: A small achievement where we feel better than everyone else? Having something which not many have? (Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall). Greed: unquenchable desire to fulfill all our wants, be it social standing or wealth? Wrath: few minutes in traffic? Issues in the workplace, redirected to unsuspecting family members? (“We are the masters for the words yet spoken, but slaves to what we have already spilled”). Envy: grief at other’s prosperity? Lust: our wandering eyes can testify. Gluttony: not just for food, but in general, overindulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of wastefulness. Sloth: this could be anything which keeps us from what we should be doing. Maybe whilst trying to imagine the trivialities, a common device might have popped out - our mobile phones. It is easily possible to commit sin with just our mobiles in hand. The simplest being the time we waste on our devices doing nothing meaningful. So yes, turns out we are slaves to our devices and to sin; often without even realizing it.

Luckily for us, or rather by the grace of God, it is possible to break free of all subjugation which we are under - through Jesus Christ. It is for this explicit purpose of freeing us from the slavery of sin did Jesus Christ come to this earth. By His blood we are purified - breaking all our chains. All we have to do is to ask for Him to take hold of us. Further, we have a comforter who is always with us - the Holy Spirit. Thus, once we lay off our earthly burdens by His help, everything else would be simple and plain. Moreover, Christ, who died for our sins, will soon return to take us to our eternal dwelling. The blessed day when we will see Him is near. We ought to be prepared to meet Him.

With our sins forgiven, we still have to deal with our “self”. But this time, we aren’t alone. We have the Holy Spirit with us. Moreover, while we experienced the love of God who came to earth solely for each and everyone of us and to die for our sins, how can we not radiate this love to others? The world has become a cynical place as of late. There is less trust, less good, less happiness. But these didn’t go extinct. It may be easy to reason out the causes for why our earth has turned out like this. We might feel pessimistic about the future, or be overwhelmed by nihilistic outlooks. Nevertheless, we still have the present. Having learnt to be kind to ourselves, we should extend that to others as well. Let us practice to love our neighbors. Let us serve our communities and make a positive difference in the lives of those in need.

God has blessed us so that we may share our blessings. Let us remind ourselves that we are communal creatures, not solitary beings glued to our devices and crushed by our own self-centered pursuits. Let us remember to truly understand freedom - to do the right thing, to help out where needed, and to not expect returns. Not for gold or glory, but for justice, peace and joy. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” May God bless us all.

Click here to read this article in Tamil.