If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways
peter_asirvatham@yahoo.co.in

"At 6,988 ft above sea level, it's the closest you could get to heaven," read the advert headline my copywriter colleague had written for a time-share resort at Shimla, many years ago. For my part as an art director, to add fillip to the insightful headline, I designed the advert as a "vertical' one (54 cm h X 19.5 cm w). I laid out the headline at the top, got a beautiful photo of Shimla, cropped it vertical, and added a layer of clouds some distance above the peak. The fonts for the ad were condensed fonts, kerned to create space and, set in thin columns. As young advertising "Creatives," my colleague and I felt sure that the headline and the way Shimla was shown would rope in many time-shares for our client. While our client generally appreciated our idea, the marketing manager commented, "Shimla would sell by itself, you don't need to run such an expensive colour ad." So, the ad was "right-sized" to a smaller black and white ad. In its mutilated form the advert did not generate the desired response.

I quite liked the play of words my colleague had crafted for the advert. Advertising executives, especially in the creative department, while promoting tourist destinations try and draw parallels with "Heaven." For example, many years ago, the advertising agency I worked for ran an advertising campaign for Kerala with the baseline, "Kerala-God's own country." But there is an element of truth in the line my colleague had written for Shimla. Man's experience in mountains. Perhaps its the nippy mountain air and the scenic view of the valley below, or simply, the nature that confronts man at such heights, theistic man sometimes feels drawn close to God from the top of a mountain. Man's closeness with God in mountains is mentioned quite a number of times in the Bible. It was at Mount Ararat that Noah and his family thanked God for his act of salvation, before descending to the plains. Mount Moriah was the mountain that the LORD designated where Abraham would sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abraham passed the test and there, on the mount, the LORD reconfirmed his covenant with Abraham. Jesus Christ, our Lord, took three of his closest disciples up a mountain in Galilee, and there (called Mt. Tabor) he was Transfigured, and his garment shone brightly. Here the disciples heard The Father, from Heaven certifying The Son he loved. Some months later Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven from The Mount of Olives. As the disciples looked heaven ward on Jesus' ascension, two men in shining clothes announced, that the same Jesus who was taken up will one day return.

For some days now, I have been reading the story of Moses and the Israelites' arrival at the foot of The Mountain of God-Horeb, also called Mount Sinai. Here as the Israelites camped, Moses ascended and descended the mountain to deliver The Word of the LORD and ultimately the Ten Commandments written by the finger of God. On these days my mind's projector has been re-playing scenes from my trek up Mt. Sinai on the morning of 28th April 2008.

That morning 12-14 pilgrims from our group set out at about 3:00 am. Grace and my father stayed back. Isaac, my son and Binu, my friend and I put on warm clothes and armed with cameras set out for the trek. At the entrance to the mountain, we had to go through metal detector door frames, and our bags were checked and we, frisked by the Egyptian Antiquities police. A young Bedouin, Mohammed (my friend Binu re-christened him Romeo) was our guide for the trek. The code word for recognising our group, should we stray in the dark, was "Sai-da." In Arabic, if I had got it correct, "Sai-da"could mean anything from "Good morning," to "Good day," to "Good night." We had learnt the word from our tour guide to The Pyramids, Mr. Sayyed-el-faraq, the previous day.

It was a grueling walk, about 7-8 kms one way, from St. Katherine's Monastery at the foothills to the summit of Mt. Sinai. The sky was clear and the constellations of stars above the Sinai Peninsula emitted faint light on the tracks as we climbed the mountain. Though camel drivers along the way tempted us with a dollar discount on the "Camel taxi," (the going rate was $12-16) I had resolved that I'd walk all the way up. If an 80 year old Moses could do it, so could I. I wish I had carried a tripod for my camera. The stars and the faint twilight against the mountain ranges was awesome. I managed to shoot a couple of photos on slow shutter speed by placing the camera on rocks. When there was sufficient light, I selected a small flat stone, as a souvenir, from the stones and rocks on the way. Someday, when I find time, I want to inscribe the verse from Exodus 33:13(a) on it.

When we stopped for tea at the end of the road, we saw a brilliant sunrise. The "camel taxis" stopped here, and the climb became arduous. About half the number from our group, dropped out here. The remaining half straggled up the rocky climb to the summit. Isaac and Binu, at one place, stopped, exhausted, they were contemplating giving up the idea of going for the summit. I continued the ascent.

Four men, including one pastor from our group had reached the summit a few minutes before I reached there. We were the only pilgrims at the top. The chapel at the summit was shut for the day and I felt so disappointed. We requested the pastor to pray. And standing outside the door of the chapel we prayed. Shortly, Isaac and Binu reached the summit. I was so happy to see the two.

Though we had arrived behind "schedule" at the summit and, therefore had to leave soon, we spent sometime in prayers. Did I feel any closer to God or Heaven from the summit of Mount Sinai, than in the plains? Well, not really. However, in my prayer I was overwhelmed, with God's graciousness. God has been so good to me in the past. The present was so exciting. We were in Egypt, later today, we would cross into Israel. And I laid the future in his caring hands. "If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you." Exodus 33:13 (a) Isaac prayed too, the previous day (27 th April) was his birthday. I piled up seven small stones as an "altar" at the summit, in remembrance of God's graciousness.

It was time to move. There were no camel taxis on our way down. Ahamad, our tour guide in Egypt was waiting for us in our tourist bus. We were driven to our hotel. Famished and fatigued, we hurried to the restaurant. None of our group members were angry at us for returning so late, the older ones appreciated the privilege that we could exercise. Even our tour organiser, Brother Raphael, in a lighter vein, commented that our faces were radiant like Moses' on his return from the Mountain of God.

Our pilgrimage ended seven days later, on another mountain, in Jordan, at Mount Nebo. It was from here that The LORD showed Moses The Promised Land. At the end of the forty year journey in the wilderness, God had kept his promise to his friend Moses.

In my life, God fulfilled my dream of visiting Israel.

Link to the photo album.

When I consider your heavens
peter_asirvatham@yahoo.co.in

As I gazed intently at the moon on the night of 20th July 1969, I wished I had a telescope. A few days earlier my father had got us all excited about an American rocket called Apollo 11, which was on its journey to the moon and that soon men would walk on it. As a six year old I figured that the moon being so small and a rocket big, I'd be able to see the rocket land on the moon through a telescope. Like the rest of the world, I too was fascinated at the thought of human beings walking on the moon.

In a couple of days, Neil Armstrong's words, as he stepped out of the lunar module-Eagle, "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind." became famous all over the world. Soon photographs of the famous "moon landing" and man's footprint on the lunar surface were splashed in newspapers and magazines. As a kid I loved drawing and painting the subject of man on moon. One time, my father, seeing me take great trouble to paint the dark sky with little stars, demonstrated how easily it could be done. Bringing an old toothbrush, he loaded it with white paint and holding it above my painting, gently brushed his thumb on the bristles. Lo and behold! There appeared on the inky black sky of my painting, stars! By varying the distance of the toothbrush to the painting, father showed me how I can paint small clusters of stars or scatter them in the expanse.

On 4th October 2007 our world celebrated 50 years of Space age. It was on this day in 1957, the then Soviet Union successfully placed in orbit an artificial satellite, Sputnik. The event marked the beginning of the space race between America and the USSR (now Russia). In the 50 years since, thanks to the race between the two for military superiority, science and technology in the field of astronomy has advanced by leaps and bounds. Man, now can look into the far reaches of an expanding universe.

In those days-the beginning of Space Age-my father used to share with us fascinating tidbits of information on space journey that he came across. One such incident was that, when Yuri Gagarin, the first human being to enter space, a Russian, looking out of his rocket window, commented,"I don't see any God up here." Whether the cosmonaut actually said it or not is a matter of debate. But what is central to the comment is, the question of the existence of god. In spite of God leaving a lot of clues to his handiwork, the universe and everything in it, above all, the unique creature called man, many intelligent human beings cannot accept the idea of creation by a creator.

The Holy Bible's opening verse, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Gen 1:1) is a summary statement of God's creative act. The subsequent verses reveal clearly the six days of "forming and filling" of the blue planet that we live in. But what is clear for the Jew and Christian is not so clear for the atheist and agnostic, and of course, the Muslim.

On a cloudless, star studded night thousands of years ago, an ageing old man was asked to, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." And as he looked up, the LORD said, "So shall your offspring be." (Gen 15: 5) The Bible says that "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." (Gen 15:6) The simple belief that Abraham had in God's word, mind you, he was eighty five years old at that time, and, the first promise of fatherhood had been given him ten years earlier, is the hallmark of absolute faith.

I believe in a creator God, not only because the Bible says, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command..." (Hebrews 11:3) or because, "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6) Or yet again, because I confess the creed, "I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth." every Sunday.

No. I believe in God, also because science, to me, in some ways, points to a creator.

Even with the oodles of data scientists have, they cannot prove evolution. Evolution is still a theory. I guess, as long as man is around in this world, there will be the two kinds of people. One, obstinate and unwilling to admit God. The other, simply believing, and pleasing his creator.

A few days after man walked on the moon, my mother read to us Psalm 8.

Awesome!

Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem
peter_asirvatham@yahoo.co.in

As I beheld Jerusalem for the first time in daylight, I recalled three verses from Psalm 122:- I rejoiced with those who said to me, Let us go to the house of the LORD." Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. (v. 1,2) and, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (v.6) It was the morning of 30th April, 2008, my family and I were on The Mount of Olives, Israel, part of a 29 member pilgrim group led by brother Raphael of our church and, head of Family of Jesus Tours. Earlier that morning after leaving Bethlehem, we went to The Chapel of Ascension on Mount of Olives, from where Lord Jesus Christ had ascended to heaven. From there we visited The Church of Pater Noster, where Jesus had taught his disciples "Our Father" - The LORD's prayer. Now, we were still on Mount of Olives, looking at Jerusalem, more specifically, the walled city of old Jerusalem.

We did catch a glimpse of Jerusalem from our bus on the evening (28.04.2008) as we crossed into Israel from Egypt. The view of Jerusalem from outside the Church of Dominus Flevit was breathtaking. It was from here that Lord Jesus Christ had wept for Jerusalem.

The Dome of the Rock-the Islamic mosque with the golden dome that dominates every other landmark on the Temple Mount shone brilliantly and seemed to attract every ones attention from other holy sites. As our tour guide kept pointing out the places of biblical interest around Jerusalem, I was looking through the view-finder of my camera-mounted with a tele-lens, for that one place which in Jesus' time would have been easily recognisable-the surviving western wall of The Temple. It was not easy to spot the Western or Wailing Wall but, beyond The Dome of The Rock I could see two blue coloured domes. While the golden dome of the mosque seemed to dwarf the ones of The Church of The Holy Sepulchre in magnificence; the domes of the church dwarfed the brilliant Dome of The Rock in sheer significance-martyrdom of the highest order for all mankind. It is the place venerated by Orthodox Christians as the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and later, resurrected.

After feasting our eyes on the historic Holy City we made our way downhill, down The Palm Sunday Road to The Garden of Gethsemane. We couldn't keep quiet like the people who marched along with Jesus on his Triumphal Entry of Jerusalem, even though we had no palm fronds we all sang, "Osanna paaduvoum." Mr. Sayed, our tour guide, an Israeli-Arab Christian who knows quite a few Tamil words like "Vaangae, vaangae sheekeram vaangae, busikku pongae," informed us that to our left was the "kidhron palathaaku". When we heard the way he pronounced "kidhron palathaaku" we couldn't stop but laugh and correct his Tamil. We corrected him that "palathaaku" means, literally, "attack the tooth." Perhaps he knew the meaning all along and wanted to make our walk memorable. It was, thanks to Sayed's meticulous planning we could visit so many places.

The Church of Agony is built around the bedrock in the garden where Jesus, in anguish sweated blood on the night he was betrayed. Here we had to maintain silence as a church service was in progress. Left to ourselves we would have sung, "Paareer gethsemane, poongavil yaen nesara ai, paavi aenakaai..." The Garden of Gethsemane is divided in two by a road running through; one part adjoining The Church of Agony. Here the olive trees are cordoned off from pilgrims as some of the trees are believed to be more than 2000 years old. We had some peace and quiet in the second part of the garden where, brother Raphael led us in prayer. Many of us felt overwhelmed here, tears flowed down our cheeks. Some of my family and colleagues had requested me to pray for them from here. It was such a privilege to be on this pilgrimage. Leaving the garden of Gethsemane, we went to Mount Zion. The "Upper room" is a small room some short distance from the Tomb of David. Here, I could only say silent prayers in my heart as I tried to imagine our Lord's Last Supper. As we exited the room, I was strangely reminded of Judas Iscariot, leaving the room to collect his thirty pieces of silver.

Cute paintings of roosters on small tiles on compound walls directed us to The Church of St. Peter. Here, some pieces of art poignantly depicted the hours leading up to Jesus' passion. One, a mosaic showing Jesus being mocked by soldiers. A bas-relief showing Jesus being bound and dragged away to Caiaphas' house and, a bronze sculpture where Peter is surrounded by two soldiers and vehemently denying knowing Jesus to a young woman. A rooster above the shade of the sculpture brought to mind how Jesus' words came true regarding Peter's bravado earlier that night in the Upper Room. How Peter wept bitterly when Jesus turned and looked at him! Words cannot really express some of the feelings I went through in this tour.

My family and I thank the Lord, for, in His Providence he had allowed us to see the Holy Land.

The places and events narrated are only half-a-day's itinerary of Day Five of our pilgrimage. There were so many places of biblical importance we visited in the ten day tour of Egypt, Israel and Jordan. What an awesome experience it was to stand in "Terra Sancta" or "Sacred terrain," to tread upon, with my unworthy feet, the places where Jesus Christ had walked two thousand years ago!
On day nine of our tour we crossed the Israel-Jordan border. While I was pushing the trolley with my baggage towards the Jordanian customs office, suddenly the trolley veered off and made a small U-turn. Seeing this, my wife Grace commented, "Your suitcase doesn't want to leave Israel." I retorted, "May be I'll come back to Israel again!" How awesome it would be to come back and behold The Holy places, and recite the verse all over again, "Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem."

A selection of (24) photos taken on Day Five.