Title: Seek Righteousness First
Text: Matthew 6:25-34
If you take a closer look at the ground these days, you can see delicate life sprouting up here and there. The land, which rested during winter, is protecting it from harsh winds and cold, and budding life. Spring seems to be the season to feel the mystery of life and gratitude for it at the same time.
I traveled to Nepal and India during winter break. I traveled to India three years ago, but back then I mainly traveled by plane and this time by land. Land travel gave me a feeling I couldn't feel on air travel. I was able to see and feel the life of the Indians vividly.
This 20-day trip to India felt like an asceticism. Every time I deal with people and animals suffering from hunger, I feel exhausted. On my last trip, I decided to stay on the banks of the river Varanasi and stayed there for a few days, thinking about life and death and many other things.
It was a completely different feeling from the last time I went to Ganga River. Last time, as the sun rose and the darkness had just lifted off the river Ganga by boat, the countless small bowls of flowers and candles that people had dedicated to the god Ganga, and the candles in them, swaying beautifully along the waves on the river. Watching people taking baths and washing clothes reverently, and burning corpses over a wood fire in a crematorium, I was immersed in romantic thoughts such as how the myth is alive in reality, how the castle and the inside are living together as one.
But this time, unlike the last time, it felt difficult to see them suffering from hunger. Riverside People waiting endlessly for death by the riverside, young beggars holding their infant little brother to their chest and reaching out for their hands! Hunger was not unique to humans. Animals also suffered from hunger. Sick and hungry pigs, cows and dogs rummaging through the trash. Monkeys running away when people are careless while carrying something...
One day, while trying to enter the hotel, it was shocking to see the mother dog licking the mosquitoes on the wall with her tongue following the lights on at the hotel entrance. My heart ached at the thought of how hungry a mother must have been to feed her six pups and feed them mosquitoes.
There are pains and difficulties in all life, but the lives of the people there seemed too difficult. Moreover, the lives of the Untouchables who do not belong to the Four Holy Orders are extremely poor. I know that it has been 50 years since the class system was constitutionally abolished, but the customs and perceptions of the caste system that have been maintained for many years are still deeply ingrained in Indian life. So, I think it is overflowing with people who are endlessly longing for happiness and peace there, and waiting for death incessantly.
In particular, there are many people waiting to die on the banks of the Varanasi River. Rivers have special meaning for Indians. Because it is believed that rivers have life and purifying power. Among the rivers in India, seven rivers are sacred, the Ganga and the Yamuna, and the Ganga or Ganges is particularly sacred.
Hindus believe that immersion in a river can wash away accumulated sins, and that death in a river can lead to their ultimate goal of liberation or the heavenly world. Hindus believe that the Ganga River is a river of heavenly origin. According to Hindu mythology, the earthly king Baghirat prayed to Vishnu to bring heavenly water to the earth through asceticism. It is called a river. Therefore, the river is sometimes called the ‘stairway to heaven’. This belief made Varanasi, especially the river Ganga, a very important place in relation to death.
Hindus visit Varanasi to pray for good fortune in the present life, but many come to Varanasi for peace of mind or to die and be cremated here. Death in Varanasi is considered the greatest happiness, as we believe that dying in Varanasi will at least liberate us from a better life to come, from a heavenly life, and ultimately from the endless cycle of life and death.
Here, the cremation ritual is interpreted as a kind of sacrifice. A lifetime of living itself is a ritual sacrifice to the gods, but cremation is considered to be the final sacrifice to the gods. Also, makeup is a kind of cleansing agent. It is believed that by being burned, all sins are purified by Agna, the god of fire.
The sacred Ganga River attracts many people from the early morning, including those who pray and meditate. On the other hand, there are people who take a bath right next to the laundry person and wash their teeth with the water right next to them washing their shoes. do. Nevertheless, the Indians' belief in the Ganga River, which purifies everything, was astonishing in the eyes of the Gentiles.
One day, while sitting on the river bank in front of the hotel where I was staying and meditating, a monk reached out to me as I passed by. I asked him if he wanted money or something to eat. He asked me to eat. I told him to wait, returned to the hotel, ordered food, brought the prepared food, and went to serve it to him. But he took the food and shared it little by little with the people around him.
As I watched, I remembered today's Bible verse. Whenever you see hungry people, animals wandering in search of food, etc. Think about how you grow...Therefore, do not be anxious and say, "What shall I eat, or what shall I drink, or what shall I wear..." Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." He told me not to worry while thinking about what he said... I often thought that I couldn't shake my worries.
But as I watched the monk's actions, I suddenly thought, that's it. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be. One day of suffering is enough for one day.” I mean, that's the meaning of what you're saying.
The situation at the time of Jesus must have been worse and more difficult than the situation in India today. In difficult circumstances such as the Galilean riots and famine, the powerless people who work and live day to day stopped working and gathered in front of Jesus in search of hope. He tells them not to worry about what they eat, drink, or wear, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.
What is the meaning of seeking his righteousness? It may be different depending on the situation, but I thought it might be about caring and sharing for the suffering and powerless. Observing the performer's actions. I wonder if this is the act of knowing how to share small things and caring for the suffering.
Verse 24 says, “You cannot serve both God and money. After all, isn't this saying that we should not build up worrying about tomorrow and share it from time to time... The Kingdom of God His righteousness is not grandiose, but comes from such a small heart practice. I think that the kingdom of God is coming closer with small steps such as caring for the elderly living alone in our service department today.
While traveling in India, I couldn't eat much. When I saw people starving, I returned to the hotel and couldn't get enough to eat. Throwing away food was seen as something that should never be done. I thought about what it would be like to eat a little and share.
J Mc Daniel understands the world as the Body of God. Of course, God exists in the world, but his non-identity with the world is also emphasized. It is said that the creatures of the world should be regarded as the cells of the body of God. But he is not saying that it is God Himself. Nevertheless, the destruction of natural ecosystems hurts the body of God, and God always sympathizes with the sufferings within the world. Just as a child feels the presence of a mother, so God is an omnipresent subject who responds to and empathizes with world events.
Meg Daniel says that eco-spirituality should aim for the totality of life from a relational point of view, and should have a sense of awe for all that exists based on awareness of the web of life. He says that humans as well as animals and plants are individuals within the community of life, consciously or unconsciously, participating in the common destiny. Therefore, it says that the predation that occurs in humans should be minimized and that the wisdom of living with the minimum in the light of the awe of life should be obtained. The greed and waste of creation is man's pride toward God. In this regard, sustaining life on Earth and sustaining all life is the reality of salvation pursued by Christian eco-spiritualism.
It seems that we cannot be indifferent to the starvation of life anywhere on Earth. Because we cannot be indifferent to God's suffering as the Mother's Heart, the Universal Heart.