They would not have even heard of Tirukkural let alone several aspects of our cultural embellishments through the ages. They also tend to impinge on us that they the Sir Oracles and what they say goes and this should never be challenged by us. This writer has several examples to illustrate that theirs is a track and on that, only they are power coach. Our option is only to be dragged along to their destinations.No community in its right senses will tolerate the break-up of an institution like the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India (JDCSI) that is being attempted by a group that seems indifferent to traditions that we value and how we have nurtured and developed precious sentinels in our society over the years. The coming together of several protestant churches in southern India was a mammoth hallmark event in the Christian world with which we were also blessed in Sri Lanka. How can we allow this to be dismantled?
The progressive successors to the original Missionary Outpost launched in 1816 by missionaries from the United States, this institution apart from its principal activity of preaching the Word of God according to the Christian faith have been engaged in health and educational activities to such an extent, the enormity of its impact on us can never be fully gauged.
A feature of this nature cannot comprehend the depths of nourishment our community has been privileged to receive for 190 years. The hospitals and schools and the towering presence of Jaffna College are ample evidence of the several new grounds this missionary endeavour has brought about to the people of North Sri Lanka. It was this activity that created, among many others, a social revolution across gender and caste stratifications especially in the area of education.
We had many great missionaries who appreciated and fitted excellently in the Cradle of our Culture which is Hindu and not only they won the love and affection of the people but enabled each other to become more conscious of the two faiths and understand their nuances better.
Little do we realize that which began in 1816 was a Social Revolution that grasped progressive ideas as a spontaneous pursuit in which Hinduism was the base and Christianity its powerful catalyst for change.
One can see several examples of these in southern India and among the many sentinels there was the work of the Rev G U Pope. His translation of Tirukkural, a collection of ethical and moral precepts without parallel, was a momentous gift to the entire world
The Church Union became a possibility because the people of the regions that came together were imbibed in religious and cultural traditions that were founded on the Hindu faith and its all-encompassing nature and believe in the Eternal Creator of all creations.
Every religion has its fundamentalists too but essentially their messages are conceived largely on their inability to delve deeper into the human spirit. This is also why it is dangerous for smaller groups in the established traditions to split because their grounds are often too shallow and the gains they seek are the immediate.
In this context, I could point out that the work of the American tele-evangelists should be considered as one of great concern for far too many counterfeits and con-artists are engaged in what has become one of the greatest money-making swindling activities of today. Their evil tentacles reach far and wide globally and presents Christianity very much like the man who sells fake medications on the pavements.
American tele-evangelists seem to think they are licensed by Jesus Christ, a tendency that has been observed in some missionary bureaucrats who have fouled up some of the missionary ideals.
One of the reasons for this feature is to point out that some of the problems faced by the JDCSI have its origins with the bureaucrats of the Wider Churches Ministries of the United Church of Christ and the Trustees of Jaffna College Funds who hardly know and understand the Cradle of our Culture.
They would not have even heard of Tirukkural let alone several aspects of our cultural embellishments through the ages. They also tend to impinge on us that they the Sir Oracles and what they say goes and this should never be challenged by us. This writer has several examples to illustrate that theirs is a track and on that, only they are power coach. Our option is only to be dragged along to their destinations.
It is easy for them to create dissensions with individuals and groups that are favourably inclined towards them at the toss of a dollar but at great cost to our pride and dignity. This is why we must regard our institutions as the sentinels of our integrity and dignity and inspirational to progress. We ought never to abuse them because they are foundational to our well being.
Institutions are like mighty trees in a tropical forest. They keep the forest alive and healthy and regions far and wide enjoy immense benefits from them. We cannot bring them down to plant for immediate gains, the way the British planted tea and rubber on our mountain ranges for quick profits by devastating the forests.
I need not go at length how it has adversely affected the weather patterns and also led to the massive erosion of the soil. This activity also wiped out the traditional agriculture of the lower regions of the hill country.
The foundations of the JDCSI go back to almost 200 years. We have achieved immense progress in several fields during this time and it has become a soaring institution in the community. In 1855 out of sheer shorts-sightedness and arrogance we were denied a university; that would have been the way the Batticotta Seminary would have developed. The local people were helpless because some American missionary bureaucrat called the tune. He was too insensitive to respect the real needs of the community.
We are once again faced with a similar danger when the same kind of bureaucratic bearing threatens to come into play in support of a group with questionable intentions singing hallelujahs to them. Those who are familiar with the early Clint Eastwood films know those spaghetti westerns titled “Fistful of Dollars” and “For a few Dollars More” and sans the guns and the blood-letting, we now have the missionary westerns, all for a few dollars, whatever way they are sought.
It is my fear that this western show is already on, and dollars are flowing under the guise of work in East Sri Lanka when these should be channeled through the JDCSI since the principal player is in its employ and it was this organization that placed him in the east on its behalf in the service of the people there. There is virtually no accountability and the Americans seem not to mind it as long as they have the American Ceylon Mission flag flying and not that of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India.
There is hardly any doubt, the Bishop Issue is being used as a cover-up to cause a break away from the JDCSI so that there need be no accountability whatsoever for all the work done in East Sri Lanka and the funding support received during the last few years. It appears the Wider Churches Ministries of the United Church of Christ and the Trustees of Jaffna College Funds are turning their eyes blind and ears deaf and even want to choose whom they want in their deliberations in the States to represent from Jaffna College and the JDCSI. This is sheer impertinence.
These are people who are not at all familiar with the Cradle of our Culture with its roots going back to eons of time implanted in one of the greatest civilizations of the world. We value our pride and dignity and believe that any human endeavour for its wellbeing is a partnership of honour and trust. It appears the US missionary bureaucrats find this hard to understand and appreciate and would prefer the principle of the power coach on a single track.
Let them and their local contacts understand that the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India is not for dismantling. The free verse “Precious sentinels of generations” is dedicated to them so that they will have an opportunity to comprehend and empathize with what is really precious to us.
The progressive successors to the original Missionary Outpost launched in 1816 by missionaries from the United States, this institution apart from its principal activity of preaching the Word of God according to the Christian faith have been engaged in health and educational activities to such an extent, the enormity of its impact on us can never be fully gauged.
A feature of this nature cannot comprehend the depths of nourishment our community has been privileged to receive for 190 years. The hospitals and schools and the towering presence of Jaffna College are ample evidence of the several new grounds this missionary endeavour has brought about to the people of North Sri Lanka. It was this activity that created, among many others, a social revolution across gender and caste stratifications especially in the area of education.
We had many great missionaries who appreciated and fitted excellently in the Cradle of our Culture which is Hindu and not only they won the love and affection of the people but enabled each other to become more conscious of the two faiths and understand their nuances better.
Little do we realize that which began in 1816 was a Social Revolution that grasped progressive ideas as a spontaneous pursuit in which Hinduism was the base and Christianity its powerful catalyst for change.
One can see several examples of these in southern India and among the many sentinels there was the work of the Rev G U Pope. His translation of Tirukkural, a collection of ethical and moral precepts without parallel, was a momentous gift to the entire world
The Church Union became a possibility because the people of the regions that came together were imbibed in religious and cultural traditions that were founded on the Hindu faith and its all-encompassing nature and believe in the Eternal Creator of all creations.
Every religion has its fundamentalists too but essentially their messages are conceived largely on their inability to delve deeper into the human spirit. This is also why it is dangerous for smaller groups in the established traditions to split because their grounds are often too shallow and the gains they seek are the immediate.
In this context, I could point out that the work of the American tele-evangelists should be considered as one of great concern for far too many counterfeits and con-artists are engaged in what has become one of the greatest money-making swindling activities of today. Their evil tentacles reach far and wide globally and presents Christianity very much like the man who sells fake medications on the pavements.
American tele-evangelists seem to think they are licensed by Jesus Christ, a tendency that has been observed in some missionary bureaucrats who have fouled up some of the missionary ideals.
One of the reasons for this feature is to point out that some of the problems faced by the JDCSI have its origins with the bureaucrats of the Wider Churches Ministries of the United Church of Christ and the Trustees of Jaffna College Funds who hardly know and understand the Cradle of our Culture.
They would not have even heard of Tirukkural let alone several aspects of our cultural embellishments through the ages. They also tend to impinge on us that they the Sir Oracles and what they say goes and this should never be challenged by us. This writer has several examples to illustrate that theirs is a track and on that, only they are power coach. Our option is only to be dragged along to their destinations.
It is easy for them to create dissensions with individuals and groups that are favourably inclined towards them at the toss of a dollar but at great cost to our pride and dignity. This is why we must regard our institutions as the sentinels of our integrity and dignity and inspirational to progress. We ought never to abuse them because they are foundational to our well being.
Institutions are like mighty trees in a tropical forest. They keep the forest alive and healthy and regions far and wide enjoy immense benefits from them. We cannot bring them down to plant for immediate gains, the way the British planted tea and rubber on our mountain ranges for quick profits by devastating the forests.
I need not go at length how it has adversely affected the weather patterns and also led to the massive erosion of the soil. This activity also wiped out the traditional agriculture of the lower regions of the hill country.
The foundations of the JDCSI go back to almost 200 years. We have achieved immense progress in several fields during this time and it has become a soaring institution in the community. In 1855 out of sheer shorts-sightedness and arrogance we were denied a university; that would have been the way the Batticotta Seminary would have developed. The local people were helpless because some American missionary bureaucrat called the tune. He was too insensitive to respect the real needs of the community.
We are once again faced with a similar danger when the same kind of bureaucratic bearing threatens to come into play in support of a group with questionable intentions singing hallelujahs to them. Those who are familiar with the early Clint Eastwood films know those spaghetti westerns titled “Fistful of Dollars” and “For a few Dollars More” and sans the guns and the blood-letting, we now have the missionary westerns, all for a few dollars, whatever way they are sought.
It is my fear that this western show is already on, and dollars are flowing under the guise of work in East Sri Lanka when these should be channeled through the JDCSI since the principal player is in its employ and it was this organization that placed him in the east on its behalf in the service of the people there. There is virtually no accountability and the Americans seem not to mind it as long as they have the American Ceylon Mission flag flying and not that of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India.
There is hardly any doubt, the Bishop Issue is being used as a cover-up to cause a break away from the JDCSI so that there need be no accountability whatsoever for all the work done in East Sri Lanka and the funding support received during the last few years. It appears the Wider Churches Ministries of the United Church of Christ and the Trustees of Jaffna College Funds are turning their eyes blind and ears deaf and even want to choose whom they want in their deliberations in the States to represent from Jaffna College and the JDCSI. This is sheer impertinence.
These are people who are not at all familiar with the Cradle of our Culture with its roots going back to eons of time implanted in one of the greatest civilizations of the world. We value our pride and dignity and believe that any human endeavour for its wellbeing is a partnership of honour and trust. It appears the US missionary bureaucrats find this hard to understand and appreciate and would prefer the principle of the power coach on a single track.
Let them and their local contacts understand that the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India is not for dismantling. The free verse “Precious sentinels of generations” is dedicated to them so that they will have an opportunity to comprehend and empathize with what is really precious to us.
Precious sentinels of generations
By: Victor Karunairajan
Life’s landmarks are prized sentinels
Reminiscent of decades gone
The time of our dear ancestors
Fragrant, redolent and evocative
Their lives, their will, grit and dreams
That were the very foundations
On which we were tenderly raised.
As every generation takes it bow
The mantle is cast on a new one.
That which lovingly nourished us
From childhood to adulthood
Goes very much with a debt
To nurture and cherish the new
Enriched further as better humans.
Should this not our commitment be
Persevered with steadfast devotion
To follow suit to bring to reality
That which our parents had dreamt
With sweat of joy and toil of purpose
So that every succeeding generation
Will take its steps more nearer God?
By: Victor Karunairajan
Life’s landmarks are prized sentinels
Reminiscent of decades gone
The time of our dear ancestors
Fragrant, redolent and evocative
Their lives, their will, grit and dreams
That were the very foundations
On which we were tenderly raised.
As every generation takes it bow
The mantle is cast on a new one.
That which lovingly nourished us
From childhood to adulthood
Goes very much with a debt
To nurture and cherish the new
Enriched further as better humans.
Should this not our commitment be
Persevered with steadfast devotion
To follow suit to bring to reality
That which our parents had dreamt
With sweat of joy and toil of purpose
So that every succeeding generation
Will take its steps more nearer God?
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