Guru Greg Chappell has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Does he deserve a Second Innings as India’s cricket coach? I care two hoots. The Second Innings that caught my attention is from the super hit movie, “Lage Raho Munnabhai”. The home for the aged, run by the naturally beautiful Vidya Balan, is called “Second Innings”. I was attracted to both the dame and the name! The name was expressive of a new lease of life, forgetting the past, and beginning to live meaningfully all over again, regardless of age.
As Christmas comes near I am drawn to the Sadguru Jesus, the best coach for any ball game. At the end of the liturgical year the readings at Sunday Masses are rather frightening reminders of Christ’s Second Coming; often interpreted to mean the Parousia, the end of the world, and Judgement Day. All very gruesome, and useful for stampeding fence sitters and “out-standing Catholics“ back into the pews!
In my home parish, the young preacher hammered away at this favourite line of most Bible thumpers. I could not digest it. I was asked to lead the Prayers of the Faithful, after the homily. I was constrained to say, and lead the congregation to pray, that we seem to have missed the central message of the Parousia. I then said that creation is approximately 20 billion years old, our planet earth is about 4 billion years old, precursors of humans, homo erectus in Africa were just 1.5 million years old, and homo sapiens, or human beings, are just about 40,000 years old. Documented history (and consequentially organised religion) began in what archaeologists call the Neolithic age (6000 BC) with the first signs of writing in about 3200 BC in the Early Bronze Age. Christianity, by contrast, is just 2000 years young. 2000 divided by 20,000,000,000 is just one ten millionth! The Christian era is therefore a very minor fraction in creation. Yet the great St. Paul, and several doomsdayers since, have dared to proclaim that the world’s end is imminent. Even eminent people are prone to error.
Humble people like Jesus are not. He was inspired to say to his disciples, “But for that day or hour nobody knows it, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, no one but the Father” (Mk 13:32). I would rather believe Jesus, than any doomsdayer.
After the frightening readings with which the liturgical year ends, we have the gentle and assuring promises of the Advent season – heralding the coming of the innocent and defenceless babe of Bethlehem. What a stark contrast from the haunting and daunting images of an avenging God coming as a merciless judge.
Can you think of a better way in which God could come to man? Had he been born as a King or a Brahmin, he would have been an elitist. Had he been incorporated (taking body) in a corporate house, he would have become an exclusive brand, with trademark rights. Had he been born in a Marxist’s home the revolution would have continued long after the cause had disappeared. Had he been born to a journalist, his critique would have never ended; had it been a lawyer’s home, it would brook no argument. Had he been born to a priestly class, his self-righteousness would have rendered him unapproachable.
History tells another story; of lowly animals, shepherds and Wiseman, all feeling equally at ease, and more than welcome. The God of the Manger is accessible, approachable and acceptable to all persons of good will (basically good intent – manavtha or insaniyat). Yehi hai right choice for the Baby. Aha! Pepsi will forgive me for plagiarising their ad slogan.
How do we experience the annual Christmas charade – minus the cakes and cards? Can we experience it as a Second Innings in our lives? Can we make a fresh beginning that we can carry forward into the New Year that follows close on the heels of Christmas? Can we rediscover Jesus, and his relevance in our lives?
The movie “Lage Raho Munnabhai” helped young people rediscover a dusty, rusty, musty Mahatma Gandhi, whom they had confined to the pages of history. Gandhian values, reincarnated as Gandhigiri, suddenly began to fire peoples’ imagination. A nation resigned to corruption, injustice and bureaucratic red tape, suddenly began to hope again, and believe in itself.
Can we reinvent Jesus today? Can we see him in a new light, devoid of dogmatic clichés and theological treatises? Can we experience him as somebody real, up-close and worth idealising (as against idolising)? We idolise super heroes like James Bond, Krish, Shaktiman or Superman, because they can do all the things that we can only dream of; be they bomb blasts, bombast or bombshells! They are our matinee and mutiny idols. They also render us idle, inert and impotent; because they reinforce our belief that they are different from us. We are therefore incapable of aspiring to their levels, or following in their footsteps.
This dangerous phenomenon is what spiritual writers call “Pedestalisation”. We place our idol on a high pedestal; to be admired, but not imitated. If I were the devil (and I am now playing the Devil’s Advocate) I would go on loudly proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God, and all those who don’t believe in “Him”, are condemned to eternal fire. I would also lay undue emphasis on the miracles and amazing powers of the Messiah! A few, driven by this evangelical form of “Shock and Awe”, would become “believers”. Such exclusivist, eclectic and elitist propaganda would repulse the vast majority.
The example of Jesus, and the experience of some of the great Christian saints, is rather different. Jesus always played down his miracles and messianic nature. He called himself “Son of Man” or “Bar-e-Nasa” in his native Aramaic. Loosely translated into modern Indian languages, he would quite simply be calling himself Manav or Insaan. Great Christian mystics like Sts Francis of Assisi and Teresa of Avila said that until we first understand the humanity of Jesus, we would never get a glimpse of his divinity. It is interesting that Jesus refers to himself as “Son of Man” (Nasa - Insaan - Manav – Man – Admi – Adam) 82 times in the Gospels. In contrast, others refer to him as “Son of God”, by which title he is addressed 54 times; by others, not himself.
This reinforces me in my belief that we first need to discover the humanity of Jesus. He was a great human being. He had humility, honesty, hard work, courage and compassion. He was intelligent, alert and practical. He was anti-establishment and non-conformist. He discarded empty traditions and religious ritualism. He reserved his severest reprimands for religious hypocrisy and Dharm ke Thekedars. He, of course, suffered and died for what he believed and propagated. Even if he had not risen from the dead he would have been an ideal human being, worth emulating and idealising. Having risen again, he transcended humanity, to establish his divinity.
This Christmas let us make Sadguru Jesus our coach for the game of life. Let us begin a Second Innings, no matter what our age, or state of life. We will have new life, new vision and new hope.
November 2007
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