Wednesday 4 November 2009

Gandhiji 's Three Monkeys

Speak no evil
See no evil
Hear no evil

The three monkeys proclaiming this message to the world
are closely associated with Gandhiji
who kept them as a paper weight
on his desk, a gift from
visitors from ( you know where?)
CHINA!
(The Chinese beat us at this one)
The Mahatma illustrated his lessons on
peace, nonviolence and tolerance
with his beloved simians.
Keep yourself away from from evil
by not participating in it.


In today ''s HT newspaper I saw this advertisement
which presents the monkeys in a new avtar.
And rightly so.
When you see someone victimized by evil and corruption
DO SPEAK UP.
Sting operations , media coverage and
citizen protests are making a difference small as it may seem.
Sometimes it can even cost a life.
There was a news story about a young man in Mumbai
who was stabbed to death as he tried to break up a fight
between 2 groups.
18 year old Rukhsana in Kashmir came face to face with three
Islamist terrorists who invaded her humble village abode and held
her family hostage for several hours, a few weeks ago.
Brave Rukhsana who had never handled a gun in her life
overcame a militant and shot him with his AK 47.
She wounded another and the third one escaped.
This courageous young girl did what most of us would be too inept to attempt.
The Bible says;if we know what is right and do not do it
it is sin.
I am reading a book entitled
Who says you change the world ?by Danny Smith.
Smith of JUBILEE CAMPAIGN is an Anglo Indian living in UK.
He set out to help seven persecuted Christians
but soon found himself going undercover to fight
paedophilia,campaigning against oppressive regimes,
rescuing children from the streets and raising money to aid victims
of Saddam Hussein 's poison attacks.
I will encourage you to read this book which reads like a thriller.
Its on Amazon.
We may not be able to make a huge dent.
But we can make a difference one person at a time.
Psalm 1 says

1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
***************************
As the old hymn says
Keep on the Firing Line

21 Fertilize my soul:

Felisol said...

Dear Amrita,
You are right again.
Sometimes it costs more to speak than to be silent.
Especially when it comes to injustice harming our neighbor, but not ourselves.
To turn a blind eye to evil will in the end harm ourselves.
Oh, Lord, give us courage and wisdom to talk when its needed and be silent when that's right.
From Felisol

Donetta said...

Hello, so true so true.
This is the perfect thing for me to see today. An old friend is recently divorced after a long loveless union now having an affair with a married man who notices she is alive! Oh I am grieved and so sad she has lost her compass. I stopped at her home to speak to her and she was not there. Oh I feel like she died or something just so broken up over her ill choices.

Olde Dame Penniwig said...

It is often difficult and upsetting to fight the forces of evil in this world.

Amrita, begin your wait for a small envelope to arrive in your beautiful country!!! Something quite small but I think you will enjoy nonetheless.

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

There are times we have to act and there are times we have to hold our peace. By being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to discern God's will in our lives. Sometimes the obvious is not the will of the Lord. We can have an inkling of what the Lord's will is by asking this simple question, if Jesus is here, what will He do? Or, if I do this, will it give glory to the Lord? Thanks for the lovely post. God bless you always.

Amrita said...

Thank you for your remarks dear friends.Each one of you are world changers you know. You have changed my world...MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN MY LIFE through your love and kindness.

Holly you are so sweet.

Amrita said...

Dear Donetta may the Lord enable you to reach out to your friend in love.

Becka said...

I agree,
Me & a Friend of mine was talking the other day about how to speak up to friends in church, that you might think is falling back on God,
we talked about it on tues, then yesturday me & my children was doing our morning study ,& the Lord let me read on Peter & how he told them at the passover supper one would betray him,
I think we coward out sometimes because we dont want a friend to get mad or something,
but I know now if you speak up because you love them & out of love ,God will be with you,
Thanks for this post ,The Lord let you do it for me,

Creations by Marie Antoinette and Edie Marie said...

Hello Dear,Love this post.I always loved Gandhiji,A great man.
Amen to speaking up.Loved the three monkeys but silence is not always goldin and the eyes are to the world,your ears need to hear more of whats going on around them.
Thank you so much for stoping by my blog.Would you send me a link or the name of the blog who has my name so I can go visit her?I would very much appreciate it Dear.You take care of yourself.May you be blessed always.XXOO Marie Amntionette

Annie K said...

Great post Amrita and thanks for the reminder that we may be small but can be a big voice!

Pia said...

okay, this might sound kinda stupid but i've always wondered why monkeys? i never knew the story behind those monkeys.

Carol-Ann Allen said...

Great post, my friend! Your blog reads more like a favourite, general interest newspaper column! Always interesting! Always challenging! Love to you and your Mama!

Crown of Beauty said...

This is a beautiful post, so deep, so reflective, so full of insight.

And yes, the Bible says that there is a time to be silent, and there is a time to speak up.

Love
Lidj

Anonymous said...

let this righteousness prevail among everyone of us and most importantly for us to think objectively and in the right spirit leaving our narrow interest and keeping in mind the social interest at large...it as if until we ourselves face the problem we just love to keep silent...nice reading!

Louise said...

Amrita, I think the poem I posted is meant to challenge us, not frighten us. As children of God He will discipline us but not turn us away. For that I am thankful.
Blessings to you my dear friend.

Becka said...

Its me again ,I came back to read your post once more was thinking on some things,
& I just wanted to say ,Ilove that song ,

singing it in my head...

David C Brown said...

Thank you - this nudges me on to do something I was moving towards anyway.

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hi Amrita:)

Your header photo is absolutely beautiful. Very colorful and symbolizing the calm, peaceful and happy life of the villagers.

Your post is very interesting and informative.

The Psalm you have quoted is my favorite one. I have been trying to learn it by heart a few months back and yet I have not mastered it. Now that you have posted this psalm, I think I should sit with my Bible and learn it by heart in the next few days.

Have a nice day Amrita:)
Joseph

Dick said...

Yes, yes, you are right the Monkeys are right also.
So many things to speak up about but when one does he/she might get beaten up, but of course we have to work for a better world.

Sita said...

Love the new header photo..and the Psalm as well (great minds think alike, huh!) I should check out that book for my Anglo Indian in-laws--sounds good..
later, Amrita,
Love, Sita

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Hi Amrita,
thanks for sharing,funny monkies. I like christmas-Hymns, we are going soon to a music-play in the (nearby)Old- Church with a choir too, the Acoustic is great. Your header looks also great,-nice coloured- its almost christmas -on your blog anyhow- right? How are you, and your doggy, and your mom doing?
Greetings from JoAnn/Holland

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