identity and behavior...

So...which came first?  The chicken?  Or the egg?

You need a chicken in order to lay the egg.

But you need an egg in order to hatch a chicken.

"The chicken or the egg" is a causality dilemma, a metaphor that we often use when we are trying to express a conundrum about which of two events is the cause, and which is the effect.

Let's change the argument, ever so slightly.  Suppose we look at this dilemma as not a question of cause and effect, but, instead, a question of identity and behavior.

At the risk of incurring wrath from any of my knowledgeable friends, I will make some assignments that perhaps should be better justified (perhaps could even be argued at great length), but for purposes of my greater point, I will avoid.  In this rather simple metaphor, I suggest that the chicken is the identity, and the egg is the behavior.

Chickens (something with identity) lay eggs (a behavior associated with the identity).

Now, I suggest that behavior must necessarily spring forth from identity, right?  I mean, the thing that possesses identity must be present before we can mark any behavior associated with that thing, yes?

Ergo, the chicken came first.  First the identity (the chicken exists), then the behavior associated with the identity (the laying of the egg).

At this point you're likely wondering why you chose to take the time to read this ridiculous blog post your friend has written, but, I promise, I have a bigger, more substantial point here.

I recently was accused of antinomianism.

I had to look it up.

Apparently "antinomianism" is a theological pejorative used to indicate someone who holds that obeying a moral or ethical code is unnecessary due to the law of grace.  In simple terms, it would be the notion that, because of the grace found in Jesus Christ, we can go on sinning as much as we like because, well, "Jesus paid it all", right?

I am definitely not antinomian.

The real issue here is one that we in the faith have struggled with for a really long time.

It's grace versus law.  It's salvation by grace or salvation by works.

The oddest thing to me is that every church I have ever been a part of has loudly proclaimed

"It is by GRACE you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by WORKS, so that no one can boast."   EPH 2:8,9

and yet it is equally true that nearly every church I have ever been a part of has then lived out it's life by placing a burdensome focus on behavior (or WORKS), to the extent that those who do not display the proper behavior come under judgment.

It is the reason some people eventually leave the church in shame and guilt.

It is the reason some people never would consider setting foot inside any church.

It is the reason so many churches find it nearly impossible to effectively reach out to the lost.

And the problem, I think, is that we have confused the IDENTITY with the BEHAVIOR.  Or, as Pastor Greg Boyd so eloquently explains, we

"...put(s) the ought before the is, the command before the proclamation, the imperative before the indicative, the acting before the being."   (Seeing Is Believing, p26)

Our behavior springs forth from who we are, not vice versa.  We behave according to the identity that we possess.  Our very ability to live godly, holy, and righteous lives is only possible once we are one with He who is godly, holy, and righteous!

In Jesus Christ we are made completely and utterly new.  We have been place IN Christ Jesus - he who was perfectly godly, holy, and righteous.  Our IDENTITY is now that of Jesus Christ, and from that identity we begin to manifest the BEHAVIOR of Jesus Christ.  You can't make this work in the opposite order.

Now, we know that even those of us in Jesus Christ still fall short of the mark - we still find ourselves in sin from time to time.  But this is less a failing of our BEHAVIOR as it is a failing to realize and experience our IDENTITY in Christ!

Look, if our EFFORTS could not get us anywhere close to salvation, what in the world would make us believe that it is now our EFFORTS that will bring us to holy living?

So what are you saying Bill?  Are you saying we just throw up our hands and give in to sin?  Are you really an antinomian after all?

Of course not.

Our desire to live more godly lives, our desire to sin less, our desire to follow the will of God more perfectly in our lives, all these things are already made possible for us in our IDENTITY found in Jesus Christ.  It's literally who we ALREADY are!

But when the apostle Paul, in Romans 12:2, tells us to "be conformed no longer to the ways of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds," I believe he's telling us that our problem is that for far too long our IDENTITY has been shaped by the world, rather than by Christ.  That getting to the point where we see godliness and holiness as bigger and bigger parts of our daily lives is not about our effort or trying harder, but about realizing more fully our IDENTITY (that is already true and real!) in Jesus Christ!

Behavior proceeds from identity.

We need to stop trying to get there by behavior modification, and start seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness - which already is alive inside of us!

We need to stop expecting godliness from those who have not been made new by God's grace through Jesus Christ - the identity comes before the behavior!

As Pastor Greg Boyd says,

"There is simply nothing anyone can do to improve what God has already done for us in placing us in Christ Jesus.  When God saved us, he established us in Christ as being everything he eternally wants us to be."

Putting First Things First...

"You can’t get second things by putting them first. You get second things only by putting first things first."
C.S. Lewis

Are you a Martha or a Mary?

There is a story in the gospel of Luke about Jesus visiting two sisters, Mary and Martha.   Jesus seemed to find great value in taking time out to visit with family and friends.

In the story though, there is a bit of an issue between the two sisters.  Martha, perhaps wanting to make Jesus' visit as nice as possible, is busy, busy, busy.  She's cleaning, arranging, preparing, and just in general hustling and bustling trying to get things done.   At the same time, her sister Mary is reclining on the floor at Jesus' feet, just enjoying his company.

Naturally, Martha feels a bit put out at being the only one in the house who feels the need to get all the necessary work done, and she appeals to Jesus, asking him to get her sister Mary involved in the work.  But Jesus perhaps surprises Martha with his reply.

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things,but few things are needed--or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

It wasn't that the work Martha was doing didn't need to be done.  But Martha had the same choice that Mary had - focus on the work, or focus on the visitor.   Mary had made the better choice.

Jesus knows that we all have a tendency to focus on things rather than God.   We get caught up in the issues of life, we get busy with activities, we get concerned with things in this world - and we tend to forget about the things of God.

"So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "   (Matt 6:31-33)

Do you really believe that the God you follow is a kind and loving heavenly Father who wants the best for you, who is meeting your needs even before you ask, who has a plan for you that is a good plan full of hope and a future?  If so, why do we spend so much time worrying about things that aren't really that important in the long run?

When was the last time you spent some "Mary" time with your God?  What a shame it would be to find that the Lord of Glory had called on you to spend some time together, but only got your answering machine becauses you were just too busy.

Put the first things first.   Devote part of your day, every day, to God first.  Spend time with Him.  Speak your heart to Him, and incline your ears to hear from Him.

I think we'd all be amazed at how differently our days would go.

Coat of Many Colors

          "And I couldn't understand it

For I felt I was rich

And I told them of the love

My momma sewed in every stitch

And I told them all the story

Momma told me while she sewed

And how my coat of many colors

Was worth more than all their clothes

But they didn't understand it

And I tried to make them see

That one is only poor

  Only if they choose to be

  Now I know we had no money

  But I was rich as I could be

  In my coat of many colors

  My momma made for me"

  ("Coat of Many Colors", by Dolly Parton)

Do you ever think you're just not good enough to be used by God?

Are there times when you are reminded of your many mistakes and failures, and you just get overwhelmed with the sense that there is no way that God could want anything to do with you, let alone actually want to use you in His kingdom?

I feel that way sometimes.  I think we all do.

In Psalm 139 it says, "you knit me together in my mother's womb...I am fearfully and wonderfully made."  I am reminded that God was the one who put me together as I was being created.  Even before I was visible as a child in my mother's womb, God could see me and knew what I would look like.  This same psalm even says that God knew all the days of my life, that he ordained them, all while I was being formed in the womb.

One of the many reasons that God so wonderfully and richly loves every single one of us is that He is the one who created us.  He wasn't just involved - He did it all.  I think of God knitting together this amazing tapestry that will be our life, full of intricate design, pattern, and color.  A beautiful image of the life that He has planned for us, complete with all the amazing twists and turns that make life rich and full.

Oh, but what we do with that beautiful tapestry...

We drag it through the mud.  We rip and tear it.  We take it places it was never intended to go.  In seemingly no time at all, God's beautiful work of art is nothing more than a filthy rag.

But, what if God never stops knitting?  What if the whole time we are stumbling about creating rips and holes, God is stitching and sewing those holes closed, repairing the damage we are doing.  What if each stitch is sewn in love, restoring His beloved tapestry to wholeness again? 

Not that God removes all evidence of our mistakes.  The point is not to pretend we've never stumbled or walked through the valley.  Instead, God redeems those dark times, and the lovingly stitched repairs serve to forever remind us of His love and goodness towards us.   Even better, they allow us to relate to others who have experienced similar scars.

How did Thomas come to believe that the resurrected Jesus was actually the Jesus he had followed and ministered with?  By the holes in Jesus' hands and feet.  Did you ever think that God could have taken those horrible scars away, and yet, it was by those marks that the resurrected Jesus was revealed.

The apostle Paul said, "if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation."  You and I don't have to continue to be the old person we once were.  God, through Jesus Christ, is restoring, redeeming, making new.  We are His "Coat of Many Colors," each healing stitch sewn in love.  

Putting to death the god of me...

I've been meeting with some of the men from church on Saturdays, and we've been studying the issue of idolatry.  It seems like every book in the Bible talks about idolatry in one form or another.  When idolatry is the very first of the commandments given to Moses ("thou shalt have no other gods before me"), I guess that's a pretty good sign of two things:  idolatry is a significant problem in God's eyes, and He knew it was something we were going to have a problem with.

God is a jealous god.  In fact, scripture says that one of his names is "Jealous."  I think that might bother some people because we have a fairly negative impression of the word.  On the other hand, if I was flirting with another woman and my wife wasn't jealous, I'm thinking that might be a cause for concern.  Still, sometimes we as human beings twist jealousy into something that really is more than a bit negative.  But not God.  His jealousy is entirely holy and pure, and it stems from his great love and passion for us, his creation.

One time Jesus was teaching and he said, "if anyone comes to me and doesn't hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters - yes, even their own life - then they are not fit to be my disciple."  Talk about harsh.  But he wasn't really telling me that I had to hate my family members in order to follow him.  He was telling me that I had to love him more.  He was telling me that I had to love him most.

In our men's study we are talking about the many things that can become idols in our lives.  As soon as we love something most, and that something is not God, then we have begun chasing after an idol.  Idols can be perfectly good and healthy things in our lives, things like family, a career, even getting physically fit.  But when that perfectly good and healthy thing begins to consume our time, our thoughts, our resources, our focus - especially to the exclusion of relationship with our God - we are perilously close to a serious problem.

What I'm discovering is that, out of all the things that can become idols in my life, there is one that is tougher than all the rest to deal with.  It's harder to recognize.  It's harder to unseat.  It's harder to keep from slipping back in to.

It's the idol of me.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the idol of "me" is not just a problem for me.  It might even be the case that the idol of "me" is kind of like the boss idol that all the other ones like career, family, success, and others work for.

• When I get mad at the driving of other people on the roads I'm traveling, I get upset because they are inconveniencing ME.

• When unexpected things happen in my life that produce anxiety and frustration and irritation, it's because they aren't fitting into MY plans.

• When I decide I need a collection of weapons at my ready disposal, it's because I've decided that my safety and security is all up to ME.

• When I ignore the pain and rejection that a personal symbol like a flag I wave brings to millions of my brothers and sisters, it's because what matters most is ME.

• When I ignore or refuse to help a person in great need because they are unworthy, it's because that money is MY money, earned through MY works.

The only thing you can do with idols is destroy them.  You can't put them on a shelf or pack them away in a box because, if you do that, they'll find a way back in.  And as you destroy these idols, you must also "set apart Christ as Lord," the only position that God is willing to take in our lives.

The apostle Paul told the church in Colossae, "Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature...and put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of it's Creator." When Jesus said we had to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily, I think he was urging us to put these idols to death.  And the toughest idol to put to death is the idol of me.

Idolatry keeps us from seeing the world as God sees it.  It keeps us from being in the world what God planned for us to be.  And it keeps us from accomplishing in the world the very purpose that God chose for us - to be salt and light, the pleasing aroma of Christ among both those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

When I Will See Clearly...

Over the years, I've heard many people point to the world around us and use it to explain why they refuse to believe in or follow God.

They point to natural disasters that take lives and ruin whole communities and ask why they would choose to follow a God that allows such a thing to happen.

They point to wars and the sometimes unfathomable violence that people do and wonder how they are supposed to believe that there is a God who loves mankind in the midst of that.

Some of them have seen terrible diseases, sicknesses, or accidents take the lives of friends or loved ones and then refuse to follow a God that wouldn't save someone from such a thing.

What do you say to these people when there is so little that you can say?  How do you explain what really is the unexplainable?

In Philippians 3 the apostle Paul writes

"But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

I believe that Paul is talking about life in heaven.  For every person who has believed in God and has trusted in the grace gift of Christ's work on the cross, heaven is our eternal destination.  And it seems to me that Paul is reminding us that, one day, we will be transformed from these physical bodies that wither and perish, into glorious spiritual bodies that will never do either of these things.

Revelation 15:3 talks about the believers in heaven singing the "Song of Moses."  Pastor Matt Chandler, in his book To Live is Christ, writes about how that verse bothered him for so long.  He wondered, why are the believers singing the song of Moses?  Wouldn't you think they would be singing the song of Jesus?  Or the song of God?  Or at least the song of heaven?

Remember the story of Jesus having dinner with Simon the Pharisee?  In the middle of their visit, in walks a woman of ill repute, unannounced and uninvited.  Immediately she begins worshiping Christ by anointing him with expensive perfume and washing his feet with her tears.  Simon is a bit put out by this, thinking that, if Jesus knew what this woman really was, he would never allow her to do such a thing.  And Jesus, of course, uses the moment to teach Simon.  When this story is written in the gospel of Mark, there is a powerful quote by Jesus at the end.  He says

"Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

 So what does this have to do with the song of Moses?  And what does any of this have to do with people who see the darkness in the world and choose not to believe in God?

Heaven will be filled with the praises of God and his son Jesus Christ.  In the book of Revelation we read powerful testimony to angels surrounding the throne praising God, saying

"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

and

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and praise and glory!"

We get the picture that heaven might be a place where all we do is forever praise and glorify God the Father and Jesus the Son.  And they are well deserving of that.

But...

To be totally honest, there was always a bit of a thought running through my head that, well, maybe praising God 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (not that there will be time like this in heaven - just making a point) will be really awesome...for awhile.  But...maybe it will get kind of repetitive after awhile?

But then I thought of the song of Moses...

And I thought, maybe we'll be up in heaven.  And maybe we happen to notice that there's a bit of a celebration going on at this table.  When we wander over, we find Moses, and Moses is telling his story, and he's saying "And then God did this!  And then God did that!"  Meanwhile those listening are shouting roars of praise and celebration as Moses recounts his life story.

Then you notice that there's a fuss at another table across the room.  At that table the story teller is Abraham, and he's saying "And then God did this!  And then God did that!", again to loud praise and celebration by all listening.

Maybe there's another table where David is doing the same thing...

And maybe another table with Paul and the other apostles...

And, just maybe, there's another table.  At this table there's a woman.  That woman.  She's saying, "And then Jesus did this!  And then Jesus did that!"  To the praise and celebration of all those around her.

In fact, won't there be a table there for you and me as well?  Because the believers are not just singing the song of Moses.  Everyone has a song in heaven.  Everyone has a story to share.

Maybe you're thinking, "I don't have much of a story to share."

But maybe that's because, right now at least, you don't see the whole picture.  Because you and me? We're in the same boat as those in the world who can't understand why some of these terrible things can happen in a world that was created by a loving heavenly Father.  As we live on this earth, in these physical bodies, we don't see it all.  We don't understand it all.

But one day?

The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 that "Now I know in part; then I shall know fully."

One day, in heaven, having been transformed into our glorious spiritual bodies, we will know and understand fully everything that has happened in our physical lives.  We'll be able to look back at our earthly lives and see every little and big thing that God was doing in our lives.  We'll understand the bad things, why they happened, and how it was that God was right there alongside us trying to see us through.  We'll be able to answer the whys, and we'll be able to see that God was true and faithful to His love for us every step of the way.

What a day that will be.

And until then, the life we lead, we live by faith in Him who is faithful, praying every day that He will strengthen our faith and increase our trust.

Until the day we get to sing our song in heaven...

 

My Ways Are Not Your Ways

There’s a sadness in me today.

At one point in history, a single man and 12 or so followers radically changed the face of the earth.

Today, millions of people who claim to be followers of this man, to believe what he believed, to have the same mission he had, and to possess the same power he had, are hard pressed to make a dent in any of the significant problems in the world.

How can that be?

Are we not really followers?  Do we not truly believe what he believed?  Have we misunderstood what his mission really was?  Do we really possess the same power that he possessed?

People were attracted to Jesus.  And yes, some people were offended by Jesus. 

In Matthew 5, Jesus is teaching and says…

                “blessed are the poor in spirit…”

                “blessed are those who mourn…”

                “blessed are the meek…”

                “blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness..”

                “blessed are the merciful…”

                “blessed are the pure in heart…”

                “blessed are the peacemakers…”

                “blessed are you when people insult you because of me…”

Can you picture those kinds of people?  They were the people who flocked to Jesus when he entered a town and began teaching and ministering.  Yes, even some of them would eventually turn their backs on him, but they were the ones to whom Jesus’ words were a healing balm, a hope.

But the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, the scribes and Pharisees, they didn’t care so much for Jesus.  And I’m reminded that these were the people who were in the lofty positions in terms of faith.  They were the ones with the training and knowledge.  They were the ones who knew the law of God inside and out.

But they were also the ones to whom Jesus said (in Matthew 23)…

                “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!”

                “Woe to you blind guides…”

                “For you are like whitewashed tombs…full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanliness.”

And I think of these things not to point fingers at anyone in particular.  I think of these things to remind myself how easily we as human beings can begin getting it wrong.  I think of these things to remind myself that when we apply too much human “common sense” and “logic” to the ways of God, we can easily create something that is not at all what God intended, and that can ultimately lead people away from God, rather than towards God.

I think about the Israelites after the exodus from Egypt.  After centuries in slavery to the Egyptians, God had miraculously set them free.  But He didn’t just set them free from slavery to the Egyptians.  God promised them a land, a good land, flowing with milk and honey.  All they had to do was go and possess the land that He had promised to deliver into their hands.

Scouts were sent out to explore the land and to bring back some of its fruit.  When they returned, they reported that indeed the land was prosperous, but…

To their human eyes, and by their human reasoning, the current occupants of the land were too strong, too powerful, too well fortified.  In their mind, these weak, unarmed former slaves could never overtake such formidable opponents.

The people, hearing these reports, broke into a panic.  They weeped, they wailed, they grumbled against Moses.  They insisted on returning to Egypt, to slavery, rather than die trying to take this promised land.

Their human eyes, their human reasoning, their human logic saw only destruction.  And truly, there was no way that these Israelite slaves, in their own power, could have ever defeated the trained armies of these lands. 

But it was never THEIR strength that was going to claim these lands.

It was never THEIR battle strategy that was going to lay waste to trained, experienced armies.

It was never anything that THEY were going to do, or any power or skill THEY possessed that was going to put these lands in their hands.

Sometimes, as believers, we get caught in the trap of evaluating God’s call in our lives based upon what we see, what we know, what we can reason.  How many times have I dismissed a burden for ministry that God laid on my heart because I saw no way that it could ever happen?

Not enough money!

Not enough people!

Not enough interest!

Not enough time!

Too much opposition!

I should be face down on the ground thanking God that he hasn’t caused me to shrivel up and die like the 10 Israelite scouts who used their eyes and their minds to decide that what God said was going to happen, couldn’t happen.

What is impossible with man, is possible with God.

The fact is, scripture is replete with evidence that God’s ways run almost completely counter to the general wisdom of man.   We even plaster scripture over coffee mugs, tshirts, and bumper stickers that says

                “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”  (Isaiah 55:8)

Jesus’ teaching during him ministry on earth was filled with specific examples of how God’s ways are not our ways.

“Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.”  (Luke 6:30)

“…whoever wishes to become great among you shall become your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.”  (Mark 10:43,44)

“You have heard that it was said ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”  (Matt 5:39)

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.”  (Luke 6:35)  

Over all these specific teachings of Jesus, we cannot forget that when asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied with…love.  Love for our God first, and love for our neighbor next.  And it is by this love that he said “all men will know you are my disciples.”

So what are we doing?

Where is this Jesus-like lifestyle that flies in the face of conventional wisdom, and that will show to all the world that we really do follow him, that we really do believe what he believed, that we really have taken on his mission and really do walk in his same power?

Is our hope and trust truly in God?  Or are we trusting instead in the ways of man, the ways of government, the ways of the court system?  Do we believe God is truly in control, or are we doing everything we can instead to use the ways of man to accomplish the work that God has already promised to do…through us?

In Judges 6 begins the story of Gideon.  As the chapter unfolds, the Israelites have once again abandoned God and as a result have been handed over to the Midianites.  But God, in His mercy, once again plans to restore his people, and he chooses Gideon to be the instrument of His redemption.

Now Gideon is no fool.  When God tells him to go and save Israel out of Midian’s hands, Gideon questions God’s choice, reminding Him that Gideon is from the weakest tribe and that he, Gideon, is the least of that tribe.  Gideon is seeing with his eyes and thinking with his mind.

God’s response is, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

Eventually, after several confirmations from God, Gideon amasses his troops to attack the Midianites.  But when God sees the 32,000 men Gideon has gathered, He tells Gideon to let those among the soldiers who are afraid to leave, and ten thousand do so.  Gideon is down to 22,000 men.

But this is still too many for God.  So God sends Gideon and his men to the water and tells them to drink.  Gideon is to separate his men by how they drink the water – lapping at it like a dog, or kneeling to drink.  Three hundred of his men quench their thirst in the canine way, the rest by kneeling to drink.  You just know that Gideon figures the 300 dog lappers are the ones heading home.

But God says, keep the 300, send the others home.

Can you imagine what’s running through Gideon’s mind at this point?  The least member of the least tribe of Israel is called by God to attack a formidable opponent who has had their way with the Israelite people for seven years.  And now God expects him to accomplish this task with only 300 men?

But it was never God’s intent that this battle would be won through Gideon’s strength or wisdom, or by the abilities of the Israelite soldiers.

God was going to win this battle.  God was going to provide the victory.  God was going to accomplish His plan.

And He did.  To His glory.  Which is always the point anyway.

God is glorified when things happen that cannot or should not happen.

God is glorified when people realize that what just happened couldn’t have been done by you or me.

Jesus and the disciples did not use the courts or the government accomplish the mission of spreading the gospel to the world.  They did not rely on their own strengths, talents, or abilities to successfully teach people about the gospel.

They trusted God.  They submitted themselves to God.  They sought out His perfect will and allowed the Holy Spirit to guide them and empower them. 

They obeyed the call, even when it made no sense, even when there seemed to be no way it could happen.

This is the burden on my heart.  This is the conviction God seems to be instilling in me.  And I can’t help but wonder how different our impact on the world for God and Jesus Christ would be if we all would stop trying to figure out the best lawsuit, the best piece of legislation, the best way to force people to accept what we know is true.

How easy and sad it is to win a battle, but in the process lose the war.

Moving on to Delhi - Leg 3 of 4

So yesterday we flew out of Pune and arrived in Delhi, the capital of India. Between Mumbai, Pune, and now Delhi, we have been in cities with a total population of nearly 40 million people. Wow.




The first impression of Delhi compared to the others is that it seems much cleaner and much more organized. Traffic seems to move much more smoothly as well. I’m fairly certain that I saw more actively engaged policemen in the drive from the airport to our hotel than I saw in over a week in Mumbai and Pune. And I suppose that makes sense, since this IS the capital and center of government.



We were on the drive to the hotel when we passed this really cool, old looking building. Several people were ooo’ing and aww’ing, even fumbling to take a bus picture, when we were told that the building was actually our hotel! The Oberoi Maidens Hotel is amazing. It looks a bit like an old mission from the outside and on the inside. The halls are long and very wide. And the rooms are incredibly spacious. My roommate Tom and I were lucky enough to get what appears to be a suite, meaning that we are actually sleeping in two different rooms for the first time on this trip. Very cool.

One unfortunate change we have encountered by coming to Delhi is the temperature. After a week in Pune with low 80’s and quite bearable humidity levels, we are now battling much higher temperatures and ridiculous humidity. A leisurely walk outside can have my shirt fairly wet with sweat in just a few minutes. Thank goodness for a tour bus that has good A/C!



For our first full day in Delhi, we began by visiting the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara Sikh temple. It is a very large Sikh temple, and they do an amazing work in feeding the poor in Delhi. Each day they serve a free breakfast, lunch, and dinner to about 30,000 people per meal. That’s nearly 100,000 meals served each day! And they have been doing this for…well, a very long time.

To visit the temple proper, we were all required to have our heads covered in the Sikh tradition. That meant all the men had to find something to wear, and many of us borrowed scarves from the ladies on the trip. It made for some very interesting looking Americans, as you can see in the posted pictures. We were also required to remove shoes and socks, but this is fairly common for most of the temples we have seen throughout the trip. Finally, we were allowed a trip through the kitchen where the meals are prepared for the feeding of the poor. It was so hot in that kitchen that it actually felt cool outside when we left! But seeing the many volunteers giving of their time and energy to accomplish such good was very inspiring.

After the temple, we had the unique privelige of having an hour with Dr. Shashi Tharoor. Dr. Tharoor is the Minister of Human Resources for India, though this title actually has quite a bit to do with the issue of education in the country. It was roughly equivalent to being given a sit down with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for about an hour. Dr. Tharoor spent many years working at the United Nations before taking a position with the Indian federal government, and he has written many books, both fiction and non-fiction. He is incredibly intelligent and an extremely gifted speaker. The hour he gave us was quite a pleasure and I was impressed with his candor.



A nice lunch at Lohdi Garden was followed by a couple of sightseeing trips. The first was to Lotus Temple, which is an amazing structure built by the B’Hai faith as a place of meditation and spiritual seeking. It is open to people of all faiths, but you are asked not to speak while in the temple, so that all those there may pray, meditate, or worship in their own way.

The second site we visited was Hamayun’s Tomb. Hamayun was the second Moghul Khan who ruled in India in the 16th century. During a recent visit to India, President Obama was unable to fit a trip to the Taj Mahal into his busy schedule, so he visited Hamayun’s Tomb instead. It is a beautiful and historical sight that has been well kept up and restored, providing a really interesting glance in to a time in India’s history that is over 400 years old.

Our trip is rapidly winding down. There are still some big highlights yet to come, but I find myself looking forward to getting back home to Debra and our humble little home in North Carolina.



Namaste!