The 7:10 Travesty

It is early morning, standing in the 7:10 train waiting to leave for Bombay. The car is packed of course and the usual businessman take their places as the usual beggars make their rounds. Cologne and body odor fill the car, and the dank residue from the last passengers linger in the air. As we begin to move, I hear bells clang, a small drum play, and singing coming from a small group in the back of the train. "Hare Ram" they sing, praising the chief god over the many other Hindu gods. Soon the majority of people in the train are singing in unison to this god. This continued all the way to Bombay, about an hour and a half. If people got off, they would sing as they went, if they got on they would join in with the rest. I think we made about ten stops that day, in different cities with different people coming and going. But the worship kept playing, the unity remained.

Is it their "god" that keeps them in such commitment? Is there something that the Hindu community has found that has been hidden from the rest of the world? Of course not, Hinduism, i have learned is not something that you choose to believe, it is what a majority of the billion people in this country are born into. It’s not because their "god" has proved himself, done something of great power, or wants relationship with them. Their commitment comes from the fact that these "gods" have been embedded in the very fabric of culture and anyone who desires anything else is shunned.The committment comes from fear and tradition, their gods are just as much a part of culture as they are.

I look at our church today, I look at our relationship with a loving, caring, intimate God and I ask myself, do we as Christians have such faith and unity? Isn’t our country founded on biblical principles? If a small group of people in a train car started singing "Amazing Grace" or some other hymns would our so called Christian community sing as one body, one family to the Lord for the duration of the trip…would people join as they came on and praise God as they left? Or would they say…those people are Baptists or from the Assemblies…that hymn doesn’t align with my doctrine….they are too Pentecostal…that song is too contemporary for me…I only sing at Mass. Have we been led astray in a sense that we love God, but cannot work together or agree with our own Christian brother or sister?

I say this because I have seen a commitment to idol worship that surpasses true worship of the living God, and frankly it disturbs me. The enemy is working hard to make the lost rooted in their hopelessness while encouraging true believers to relax in their committment and bringing dissention inside the church walls.

May we remember today that we are one body, one unit, one family. When one part suffers we all suffer, when one rejoices we all rejoice. I pray we can all pull together so that our lives may reflect the truth we have found to a world that watches our every move.

Romans 12:3-5
1 Corinthians 12:12-27