John the Baptist - Martyrdom

John the Baptist is courageous. He stood for the truth. All that he did in his life was to be simple and to speak the truth. He was born of older parents – like the sons of Abraham. The long silence of God is broken with the birth of John the Baptist. His life becomes the inevitable evidence, at least as narrated in the Bible, for the intervention of YHWH. People might have been happy that God comes down to us breaking his silence. He with his prophetic proclamation prepared the people.

He had great ability to gather people around him. This is astonishing because it is easy for a religious to speak in a church. But to make people come to him looking for his words is amazing. He meets them outside the temple. He meets them near the river. In a sense, he is taking God out of the temple to the streets. God is not to be seen only as residing in the temple and in the pool within the walls of the temple but outside of the temple too. He is a great prophet in this sense.

He is a great prophet again because he also indicated that religion is not simply to attend ceremonies in the temple but practicing a good life. The good life becomes the basis of one’s relationship with God. Without ever living well, one’s prayer cannot help. One cannot live anyway one likes and yet claim to be a faithful just by attending the services at the temple.

He is great also because he knew who he was. In spite of the people flocking around him, he knew that he is not the one whom they are looking for. If there are 10 followers behind us, we think that we are the savior of the world. If John the Baptist had willed, I think he should have established another religion in which he might have been respected equivalent to God. But his greatness lies in knowing the truth of who he is and what his mission is.

He is a great prophet because he gave away his life for speaking the truth. He stood for what is right. The most difficult part of a prophet is this. But we do find lots of prophets in our time.

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Many may have forgotten him but the characteristics do remain in many. 

I think many today still want to be like John the Baptist. 

I said that he was born of older parents. 

It is said that many these days like to give birth to babies after the age of 40 and fifty. 

May be because they want John the Baptists? 

John the Baptist is not forgotten! …

AUGUSTINE - A MAN OF OUR TIME

Augustine is a name that many will remember. He has been leading a life that is humanly. He has enjoyed the human life following the desires that was considered by him as the inner voice. There was a moment in his life in which he listened to the true inner voice, at least as claimed by Augustine.

For him God’s voice can be heard only when one turns to oneself. God cannot be seen outside of us. Our human structure becomes the source of our intimate relationship that we can establish with God. Probably one can understand this inner voice when she first follows her desires and then listens to the true inner voice.

He became a strong opponent of Manichaeism which was his house earlier. A strong supporter becomes an antagonist. Great people always have two views. The later views are juxtaposed to the former views. St. Paul was a strong believer and ardent supporter of Judaism. And on a sudden day, he becomes the supporter of Christianity. I also think of Wittgenstein – the best example of the early and later writings. Now every philosopher is claimed to have such an early and later… A before and After… If we want to be famous, if not philosophers, should we have to have an early and later life that is opposed to each other?

The division is not only between the before and after, but inner and outer, between the secular and the religious – The two cities of Augustine are very famous and continue its influence one way or the other in the contemporary discussions. Can we not live without binaries?

Augustine’s influence has been tremendous that one can learn from his personal life or his philosophical writings. He may have lived in the 4^th and 5^th century, yet he is not far from us. Many of the contemporary thoughts can be traced back to him. He is so close to us, may be also because Plato who lived earlier than Augustine is closer to us.