Dear Friends,
It was great to be back in India once again, second time in
little over a year. As far as weather
was concerned, we couldn’t have picked a worse time for traveling in India than
when we did. Even at midnight when we
landed in Delhi the mercury was registering in the high nineties. While the north was experiencing sizzling
heat, the south was just coming under the effect of monsoon rain. However, neither the heat of the north nor
the monsoon of the south deterred us from what we went there for: yoga and
meditation in Rishikesh, visiting family in Kerala, officiating my grandson’s
baptism and attending Josh’s (Johanna’s brother) wedding in Bangalore.
Officiating my grandson’s baptism was the highpoint for
me. As I held Dhruv in my hand for the
baptism, the image of my grandfather, who was a priest in the Mar Thoma church,
holding me in his hand and sprinkling water on me many moons ago flashed
through my mind. As Dhruv’s grandfather
and a priest in the Episcopal Church, it was a special privilege for me to
officiate his baptism in India in the presence of eighty or so family
members. Along with Ranjit and Johanna,
my brother, Jacob and Johanna’s aunt, Marina, as godparents, made promises to raise
Dhruv in the Christian faith and life.
Following the baptism, as Dhruv was officially welcomed by Susan, she
was overwhelmed with emotions of joy and thanksgiving over how God has brought
this little child this far from the edge of life at the time of his premature
birth. In the carefully and meaningfully
put together baptism liturgy by Johanna, there was a reading from Khalil Gibran;
Your Children are not your children. The words of this poem are so meaningful to
me especially in the light of Dhruv’s baptism, please indulge me in citing the
poem as part of this letter.
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you.
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,
not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent
forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and bends you
with might that the arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the Archer’s hand be gladness;
For even as the Archer loves the arrow that flies,
So the Archer also loves the bow that is stable.
What we can provide for our little ones is stability. As parents let us not hope and make our children
fulfill our unfulfilled dreams and let us not live vicariously through their
lives. Instead let us provide them with a stable family that is open, caring
and understanding. And as a church, let us be a place for them that is
nurturing and accepting.
Just as it is wonderful to be away and enjoy the deluge of
recklessness of a short vacation, it is great to be back and experience the
familiarity of routine life.
Peace and love,
Koshy
Baptizing Dhruv Jacob Mathews in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Dhruv after baptism with parents (Ranjit and Johanna) and their friend Robin from New Zealand
Dhruv after baptism with godparent (Jacob Mathews)
Dhruv is now sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ's own for ever.
Grandma (Susan Mathews) receiving Dhruv into the household of God
Grandma (Mariam Jacob) saying a thanksgiving prayer for Dhruv
Uncle Josh and grandparents in the congregation at United Theological College
On the way to the reception after baptism
