From either Side

From either side    

Come Good Friday and the Christian community around the globe embark on this ritual of self purification through prayers and rituals that proclaim the common theme of repentance and sacrifice. The inevitable Bible portion read out on this day relates to Jesus on the cross with two persons crucified alongside him, one on the left and the other on the right. One among them asking Jesus to exercise his powers if he truly had them and save all while the other asking for a place with him in heaven. The two persons though indulging in a common occupation portray a different view point.

Our society is equally divided among both the above types; the one who wants Jesus to exercise his powers can be seen running around overlooking all the nooks and corners and mocking rules and systems, emphatically overruling a major view point, twisting and turning things to suit his view point and his end objective, even going to the extent of erasing history and inserting this view point into history books to purposefully affect the new generation.

They will trample upon the peaceful mind and intimidate them to get a ruling in their favour. They are the ones who will propagate their view point among the innocent and get them to endorse their will. They will introduce systems and procedures and through sheer intimidation coax the masses to endorse them. Those who resent will be called names and talked about in demeaning ways to the extent that dissenting voices are muffled at the altar of this new dawn. They will poach in your territory, and hearts that were once considered yours can be seen changing sides overnight.

When the wheel turns and they find themselves at the receiving end, they expect miracles to happen, they expect rulings to leave them at peace, they are not willing to be adversely referred to in the pages of history and constantly call upon the powers of their masters to bring them succor. They simply must be saved in spite of the ever increasing evidence against them. They believe in the theory “if I sink, I take you along”, so it is in your interest to save me because by doing that you will be saving yourself.

On the other side is the type who is willing to chug along, who doesn’t want the burden of his past to reflect on the happiness of the silent majority.  He is willing to pay the price of his deeds, willing to be called upon on judgment day. He will wish to show resilience but he dare not, for fear of being portrayed one way or the other. He will never do anything that might cause a ripple. He is simply one who has everything except a spinal cord to stay upright in thought and action.

Never will his utterances be considered extreme because he will always mince words to portray himself as the most amiable person ever lived on this planet. Never will he will, to be the lone survivor amidst a holocaust. He is the kind who has had bad days under the sun, but will showcase those bad days as the woes of someone else rather than his own mistakes. He is the one who will ask you to take medicines because his stomach aches. And by virtue of this seemingly wonderful trait he expects to be the good guy who righteously owns a place on the right side.

This is the story in our society; we are caught between the viewpoints expressed by both these persons on the cross. Even though most of us have lived life ordinarily, we do not expect to take accountability for our actions. The flip side being that we turn an approver late in life and seek forgiveness for all our actions and therefore redemption from the ills of our actions. Look into the faces of people gathered to repent on Good Friday, study them as they prepare to sink in the sermons. Capture their feelings as they dissect the priest and his sermons and you will be able to identify both categories of people.

Finally some are not willing to react to things that they see and experience. They would rather be seen as inactive and happy and be termed passive in their lives as long as it does not in any way bring down their personal aura and stature. They would rather be seen as a Robin Hood character without the hood, who in spite of being capable relents when it matters just because the consequences may not at all be favorable to his standing in society. He would rather sit it out and be seen amiable rather than disturb the tranquility even if it makes sense.

Robin Varghese

13^th April 2017