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Second chances are for the prudent
Every new day of Lent is a time to grow stronger smarter, taller and freer than we
have ever dreamed we could be.
“T
here is no chance which
does not return,” says a
French proverb. But in
daily life, it looks as if we are starting
everything anew all the time; every
day, every minute. We keep starting
a new day, a new friendship,
new jobs, new adventures and of
course, new problems __ just when
we thought we are done with the
old ones.
I can never forget how angry I
used to be as a small boy when
my mother repeatedly gave some
household chores which I disliked. I
always like to innovate and tried to
do new things. I hated my teachers
who made me study the boring
lessons again and again. I hated
the idlys of Tamilnadu when I was
a kid and refused to have them for
breakfast when offered every day,
unless I was too hungry and there
was no other choice.
Just when you are about to relax
after a heavy dosage of work, there
crops up the next trouble, another
hurdle and a huge problem. You
are surrounded by problems all over
again and find yourself in a critical
juncture. You are back to square one
to start everything all over again.
We hate doing things again if they
are not what we wanted to do in life.
Finding yourself in a pool trouble is
not what we dream for.
At the same time we know that we
like to do the things that we cherish
most. We don’t mind doing them again
and again if we have some personal
or selfish interest in that. We do not
hesitate to spend money, time and
energy to make an attempt once again.
We even go on to say, “ If only I get
another chance I will certainly perform
well.” More than all our theoretical
lessons, we learn to grasp the secrets
of life better after a few experiences
of failures. In fact we could finally get
everything right—and it would be so
much easier the second time around.
But, we go in search of new avenues,
new chances, new experiences and new
relationships. We keep experimenting
with new things in life. We know we
are not going to do things again and
again eternally. We know that we will
not get second chances all the time.
In fact we will not be able to take back
the harsh and angry words aimed at
someone. We cannot give out mercy
and kindness when we were too busy or
insensitive. But, when we are in the fear
of tradition and routine, there is a new
and fresh invitation from life to lead an
innovative life and to start afresh.
Chris Benguhe says, “In actuality,
however, we are all getting second
chances over and over again every time
we wake up and take a breath. May
not always with the same people or
the same situations, but with the same
heart and soul that we are constantly
Don bosco march 2009
challenged to expand. Instead of
fearing or dreading those chances
let’s reap them for what they really
are.” Lent is a second chance given to
us. Every new day of Lent is a time
to grow stronger smarter, taller and
freer than we have ever dreamed we
could be.
Let us let go of the regrets over the
past and stop trying to fix the old
issues. Instead let us learn a new way
of handling our future. Even if the
hard work on our side does not pay
results, the smart work we put in will
pay much results. All we need to do
is to be very sincere with our own
conscience.
Lord Acton once said, “ You can
fool some people all the time; all
the people sometime; but not all the
people all the time.” You can never
successfully make use of the second
chances if you are fooling around
with yourself. You cannot escape
from life’s pressing problems all your
life. You will not be given chances to
prove yourself endlessly
It is true, according to the French
proverb, that there will not be a
chance which will not return. But,
chance fights ever on the side of the
prudent. Only the prudent will know
the benefits of the season of Lent
that makes us spiritually agile and
pure again.
Glorious Steve sdb
Editor


The only sensual pleasure
without vice
“M
usic, the greatest good
that mortals know, and
all of heaven we have
below,” said Addison, in his ‘Song for
Ceceilia’s day’.
Whether you admit it or not, music
imbeds our daily life, weaving its
beauty and emotion through our
thoughts, activities and memories. If
you’ve paid much attention to how you
respond to a variety of music, you may
have noticed that some music seems
to energize you, some music can move
you to tears or spark a special memory
of a time, place, food, or perhaps a
certain person. Some music seems to
make you relax, feel less stressed, and
feel happier. And some music fills you
with deep spiritual attunement.
If you look on the Internet or go into
your nearby audio store you are likely
to find music labeled “Healing Music.”
The section may include music for
relaxation, meditation, stress reduction,
pain relief or tapping into one’s soul.
There may be a variety of instruments
or sounds from a forest or the ocean.
So what makes this music “healing
music?”
Music has a way of stirring our
innermost feelings and all of our senses,
of tapping into parts of ourselves unlike
anything else. Music is a universal
language that has the ability to speak
to us deeply and uniquely because of
its healing qualities. That is what John
Logan meant when he said, “Music is
the medicine of the mind.” It is a sweet
and healing balm of troubles.
I remember watching “Titanic” and its
gorgeous love theme that permeates
throughout the movie and throughout
ourselves with its bittersweetness,
generating the beauty of love and the
tragedy of the massive ship’s sinking and
loss of so many lives. It is because emotion
is the sphere of music more than thought.
One aspect of “healing” music is to stir
our feelings, to help us deal with grief,
sadness, anger or other feelings. By
allowing ourselves to ‘feel’ those feelings,
the intensity will eventually lessen and even
dissipate, resulting in being healing for us.
When we avoid our feelings, consciously
or subconsciously, they nonetheless tend
to build up inside. They don’t just go away.
Music can be a tool to help us deal with
feelings within us, whether we’re aware of
them or not. This is one of the wonderful
ways music can be incredibly healing.
In ‘The Mozart Effect,’ Don Campbell
talks about using music in a variety of
ways throughout the day, in the morning
to help energize us, throughout the day to
help us focus or concentrate better, music
to help our intelligence, and in the evening
to help us relax.
What exactly is “relaxing” music? Whether
we are aware of it or not, music that’s
relaxing tends to slow down our heart
rates to about one beat per second. If
we’re feeling stressful, angry, anxious, or
irritable, our heart rates tend to increase.
Music can actually help our heart rates slow
down to a more relaxing pace, changing our
physiology. This phenomenon is what can
help people fall asleep more easily. That is
what is found with many meditation tapes
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E d i tor i a l
or other music specifically designed for
stress reduction or relaxation.
Chanting has existed for centuries. For
example, there are wonderful recordings
of Gregorian chants, Indian chants,
chants sung by Catholic or Buddhist
monks and other religious or secular
groups. They tend to be repetitive with
the goal of deepening our spiritual lives,
whatever they may be, or at the very
least, to help bring peaceful feelings into
our beings.
There is a large variety of music that
taps into our souls. Listening to music
has been a truly inspirational journey,
one that has been incredibly healing. It
reaches the soul directly to give a healing
touch. All that we need to do is to pay
attention to our responses to a variety of
music - physically, mentally, spiritually.
Music does things that even human
beings cannot do at times because of
the space that it creates for you to be
yourself. When someone enters your life
you are happy. But, slowly he/she takes
away your time, energy, space and your
possessions. Instead music fills you
with enough riches: memories, feelings,
rejuvenation and make you energised so
that you take on anything with ease.
A new song can reflect a new way of
being without creating side effects,
and a new way of imagining life in the
world. This is what music means to all
of us. We can say with Samuel Johnson
that music is the “only sensual pleasure
without vice.”
Glorious Steve sdb
Editor


Work and Temperance
T
he rate of inflation is going higher
and higher. A couple of months
ago the rate of inflation had just
crossed 7 per cent, and that was the
highest price rise witnessed in the previ-
ous 40 months.
There was an air of acute despair amongst
top Congress leaders since no easy op-
tions seemed to be available to the gov-
ernment to control the surge in prices of
a wide range of commodities, including
most staple food items.
Today, the prime minister and his senior
cabinet colleagues would probably be
very happy to give up their salaries for a
month or two if they could turn the clock
back to April! The rate of inflation has
now touched a mind-boggling 11 per
cent. And what is worse is that the future
looks just as bleak as it was in April. No
one can predict when the process of
spiralling prices will come to an end.
We know that the current inflationary
process is a global phenomenon and
practically every country is suffering.
Nominal prices of oil have increased by
150 per cent. Food prices keep rising and
pressure keeps mounting on families. In
simple terms, the world economy is just
not producing enough to satisfy rising
world demands.
Emerging and developing countries have
been growing significantly faster than the
rest of the world, and there has been a
steep surge in demand in these countries.
This has been a major cause for the rise
in world demand because the economies
in most developed countries have been
stagnating. Since there is no reason to
believe that world production will rise
miraculously at least in the immediate
future, many people expect that prices will
keep on rising.
These expectations in turn exacerbate the
inflationary process. Households buy more
of non-perishable goods than they need for
their immediate consumption because they
expect prices to go up even further.
What can the government do under these
circumstances? In the short run, it is not easy to
increase domestic supply. So, its policies must
be aimed at reducing aggregate demand.
Of course, attempts to restrict demand will
obviously have some adverse consequences
for growth. People are not accustomed to
give up their desire to hoard up. We got
used to linking growth with more and more
acquisition of wealth.
There is no magic cure-all solution for all
times and all economies. But when inflation
rages at close to double digit figures, clearly
the only sensible solution is to lower the
consumerism level and to produce more with
our capacity to work all the harder.
While contractionary monetary policies will
have some effect on the general level of
prices, more needs to be done in order to
reduce food prices. Unfortunately, there are
no easy options, partly because of the past
sins of the government. Krishna Iyer once said,
“ In times of crisis, the democracy of India was
safeguarded not by the educated rascals; but,
by the ordinary simple people who toiled and
sacrificed even their basic needs.”
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
The government’s efforts to buy small
quantities of food grain from world markets
which will also signal to domestic traders that
the government is determined to curb prices.
This in turn may induce traders to release
additional quantities because of fears that
hoarding would no longer be profitable.
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E d i tor i a l
Apart from government machinary’s efforts,
what is going to be the measures taken by
individuals who are part of this government?
The salesian constitution Article 18 has
something important not only for critical
moments like current inflation, but. It gives
a general norm for life. It speaks of work
and temperance:
“Work and temperance will make the
Congregation flourish”, whereas the
seeking of an easy and comfortable life will
instead bring about its death.
The Salesian gives himself to his mission with
tireless energy, taking care to do everything
with simplicity and moderation. He knows
that by his work he is participating in the
creative action of God and cooperating
with Christ in building the Kingdom.
Temperance gives him the strength to
control his heart, to himself and remain
even-tempered.
He does not look for unusual penances but
accepts the daily demands and renunciations
of the apostolic life. He is ready to suffer
cold and heat, hunger and thirst, weariness
and disdain whenever God’s glory and the
salvation of souls require it.”
Hard work is the hallmark of any
development. Similarly is the curbing of
desire to acquire. Giving into ease and
comfort will make us die a slow death. We
had learnt to grow fast; now is the time
to device pace suitable for our growth.
Temperance is the key to a stable growth.
These are difficult times particularly for the
families. But, let us continue to work and
follow temperance. That is all that we need
to arrest any inflation.
Glorious Steve sdb
Editor


Use Skills, Not Pills
S
tress is the most commonly used
word in today’s busy world. Many
health hazards are immediately
connected to stress. While it is said to
affect the most busy business people,
the reality that it affects even children
who are burdened with too many
lessons to study and too many home
works to complete, saddens us.
Some people want to reduce their stress
so much that they are willing to pay
large sums of money to do so. People
spend thousands of rupees needlessly
on stress vitamins, tranquillising pills,
sleeping pills and many more products
in the hope of eliminating the harmful
effects of stress on their health.
Sometimes stress becomes really
severe, in spite of all your efforts.
Then even small details become
overwhelming. If you find yourself
chronically unable to function because
stress is so overwhelming, it may be
time to seek outside help.
Perhaps that is the time when people
caught in stress begin to look for any
product or service that can bring you a
little relaxation and tranquillity. Today
one needs to be aware that any product
or service that can bring you relaxation
can take your money, and make
empty promises that it will bring a
soothing relaxation.
“It is fatal to enter any war without the
will to win it,” said General Douglas
MacArthur. Stress is the by product
of entering into a war without a will
to win. For those who are determined to
win and courageously enter into any risk,
stress has no place.
Wise time management can also help
you to minimise stress. When students
say that they spent all week studying for
their exams, it actually means that they
spent six days worrying about the exams
and just spent one day studying. Thus,
instead of worrying too much if we can
make the best use of time, stress can
be released.
All of us, at certain moments of our lives,
need to take advice and to receive help
from other people. Perhaps you can
choose the moments of stress to listen
to others and humbly receive some helps
from others, so that you don’t lose your
inner peace and calm.
Helen Keller said, “When one door of
happiness closes, another opens; but
often we look so long at the closed
door that we do not see the one which
has opened for us.” Perhaps stressful
moments open new horizons for anyone
caught in stress. The saddest reality is
that those under stress remain looking at
the door that is closed instead of the new
horizon that has opened up.
Stress comes into the life of so many
people primarily because many of us want
to be men of success rather than men full
of values. Human mind can easily work
out a clear plan without taxing your mind
or body in such a way that it can lead us
to a stress free life. Instead of relying too
much on the artificial ways of removing
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E d i tor i a l
stress which in turn may bring additional
problems, it is better to opt for a simpler
and personal solution to the problem.
The exact opposite of the stress
response is the relaxation response. This
response reduces blood pressure, slows
the pulse, quells anxiety, and releases
tension. Relaxation permits your body
to recover from the effects of stress,
and you can will it to happen, even in
the midst of a stressful situation. You
can relax anywhere, any time. You can
simply tune into a tranquillising thought
or word and relax. For most people,
though, relaxation is first learned
through a formal exercise.
Leonardo Da Vinci said, “Every
now and then go away, have a little
relaxation, for when you come back to
your work your judgment will be surer.
Go some distance away because then
the work appears smaller and more of
it can be taken in at a glance and a lack
of harmony and proportion is more
readily seen.”
You need to develop many personal
skills to handle your stress. The best
relaxation will always come not from
outside, but from inside. Because,
relaxation, happiness and peace are
inside jobs. The skills you develop
to handle your worries will guard you
against stress.
Relax! Enjoy your life! For tranquillity,
Glorious Steve sdb
Editor


And then...they came for the christians...
W
hile the whole nation was
just trying to recover from
the economic crisis, a fresh
political storm has set in in the name
of religion. It looks as if the words
‘religion’, ‘God,’ ‘Swami,’ and ‘priest,’
can easily set fire to the whole nation
more than any other fire accidents.
While the former sets fire and rifts
people apart the latter only destroys the
property and not so much the people
with flesh and blood; people with heart
and soul and conscience.
The great nation that claimed that it
was tolerant for centuries towards any
religion, kings and empires, proves
now that such tolerance and goodness
are over with the bygone ages. This
seems to be a new era. Intolerance is
the order of the day. Anything can
kindle fire to appease the political
thirst of the parties particularly the
BJP, RSS and VHP that use religion for
political gain.
The recent attacks on Christians and
churches come as a retaliation for
the killing of swami Lakshmanananda
and outside Orissa and practically in
many parts of India as a retaliation for
conversions to Christianity. No BJP
leader has as yet condemned or even
regretted the attacks on churches.
In an article, ‘It’s time to act, Mr
Advani,’ written by Raghu Krishnan
that appeared in THE ECONOMIC
TIMES on 21 September, 2008
commented like this: “Those of us
Hindus who studied in convent schools
and continue to be Hindus will know
how irrational the argument is that the
recent attacks on churches in Orissa
and Karnataka was a response to an
attempt at forcibly converting members
of the majority community. Even if the
Bajrang Dal activists claim they were
upset by what they perceived as forcible
conversion, the logical response should
have been to bring this to the notice of the
state governments.”
He continues, “If its governments in
Karnataka and MP cannot even prevent
attacks on churches while investigating
complaints of forcible conversion, then
how can the party keep claiming that a
BJP-led national government will protect
the entire country from serial blasts by
diabolical terrorists!”
And if there are recent reports that
some Christian missionary somewhere
is involved in an attempt at forcible
conversion, it should not take too long
for an experienced national leader like Mr
Advani to have things sorted out through
administrative measures, especially in BJP-
ruled states.
Just nine years and two months ago,
when the BJP-led NDA ruled the nation,
its leaders inspired young soldiers of all
faiths to fight and die for the country while
evicting armed cross-border intruders
from the frozen heights of Kargil.
Surely, some 110 months later, it should
not be too difficult for a national leader
like Mr Advani to ensure that the unity and
integrity of the country is not harmed by
unruly activists who think that vandalising
a church or any other place of religious
worship in a BJP-ruled state is what 21st
century India is all about!
While the BJP, RSS and VHP groups have
lost the control of their senses, there is still
another question that deeply arises: What
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E d i tor i a l
is quietly happening to the Christian
community that is known for its unity?
Not many years ago Muslims were
attacked. Mosques were demolished
and Christians kept quiet about it.
They thought that Christians will never
be attacked. We wake up to see the
Christian Community under attack in
many parts of India.
This immediately reminded me of the
poem “First they came…” which is
attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller
(1892–1984) about the inactivity of
German intellectuals following the Nazi
rise to power and the purging of their
chosen targets, group after group:
“In Germany, they came first for the
Communists, And I didn’t speak up
because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade
unionists, And I didn’t speak up because
I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I
didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . .
And by that time there was no one left
to speak up.”
Times have ripened for attacks on
Christians. We have been studying
about the various attacks in history on
Communists, Muslims, and Jews. This
time they came for the Christians…
Unfortunately, to their astonishment,
they found them divided. Our divisions
based on language, caste, creed and
greed are killing the Christians more
than any external force. The pity is that
we are not united when they came for
the Christians.
Glorious Steve sdb
Editor