“A man fully consecrated to Him “ : Life and Times of D. L Moody

D. L Moody’s Anecdotes and Illustrations was a random pick by me from C.S. I Bookshop. The bus was ready to leave the stand and I needed to reach my home soon.
A quick glance through the blurb during my way back home proved the pick was right and profitable , spiritually. Now upon his life an spiritual odyssey.

D. L Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts on the 5th Feb. 1837 as the son of a stonemason. After his scanty education he left to Boston, to join as a clerk in his uncle’s shoe store. In 1856 Moody moved to Chicago. He gradually began to prosper as a traveling sales man. His association with church started as a Sunday School Teacher. Later he provided some commendable service through Y.M.C.A. (An interest that he continued even after becoming a full-time Evangelist) . It was after the Civil War Moody Decided to “give all [his] time to God”. His friend confronted him with the question “..but how are u going to live?” moody replied” God will provide for me to keep on. And I shall keep on until I am obliged to stop”

The real turning point came when Moody met Henry Varley “the English butcher and lay preacher”. It was in the summer of 1872, Moody was in England, When he and Henry Varley left an all night prayer meeting, Varley said, “The World has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him”. Varley was unintentionally setting a new challenge and goal to his listener. Moody wrote “A man …. Varley meant any man, Varley didn’t say he had to be educated or brilliant or anything else. Me, I will be that man.” Here begins the saga of the legendary 19th century evangelist.

His “Anecdotes and Illustrations” are drawn from rich and varied experience. Underling them we can see his total commitment and unconditional surrender to the will of God the Almighty.

A lady told me once that she was so hard hearted she couldn’t come to Christ ” I said “My good woman it doesn’t say all ye soft-hearted people come , Black heart, vile heart , hard hearted soft hearts , all hearts come . who can soften your hard heart but Himself?”.

His unconditional surrender to the will of God is Evident in one of his letters , wrote immediately after the death of his grand child Dwight, when she was just one year old.

“I know Dwight is having good time , and we should rejoice with him”


Soon after the death of death of Dwight , Tragedy struck him again , this tome this time it was the death of another grand child Irene (4 years ) .At the funeral Grand farhet rise and spoke

“The chariot of God came down to the Connecticut Valley yesterday morning about Half-past six and took our little Irene home …..Irene has finished her course….”

Hope glitters in every word .

The demise of his grand children left a deep gash in the mind of Moody . He remembered and “saw ” them even in his death bed . “This is my triumph . This is my coronation Day ! I have been looking forward to it for years …….Dwight and Irene …I can see the children’s faces “ .

Moody died on the 26th of Dec. 1889 and laid to rest in Northfield’s Mount Hermon

Remembering a Butterfly...................

“Man can be destroyed, but never defeated”
Ernest Hemingway

Jean Dominique Baubay continues to soak my eyes .It is the Tenth Year of publication of his remarkable autobiography-“The diving bells and Butterfly”. What makes it so special, enduring and unforgettable? Just because it is an heroic endeavor by a common man almost going to be deleted from the pages of life.

Brought down by a rare kind of stroke to the brain stem (the link between the brain and the spinal cord), Jean Dominique Baubay (43) , the editor in chief of the acclaimed French magazine Elle . He decides to write an autobiography after 20 days of coma, with a paralyzed body expect his left eye. It blinked as sign of unimpaired mind. He feels like a body prisoned in an invisible diving bell, or in other words jailed inside once own body. “………at times like crab dug into his rock”.

Blinking to selected letters one by one, he eyed this remarkable autobiography. As the result of a Herculean task, he brings to through this book us the whole spectrum of human sentiments – bliss, deep dejection, annoyance, etc .Though his body is pinned down by fate, mind shatters these fetters and travels far and wide. The memoir starts with a Prologue, moving on to its first section entitled ‘The Wheelchair’ ending the text with an optimistic chapter ‘Seasons of Renewal’. His deep attachment to his family is clearly brought out through two incidents –seeing his children Theophil and Celeste and hearing his aged father’s voice on the phone. It also sketches the Hi-Fi life of French fashion world and cosmopolitan Paris.

This heart breaking memoir is as Elie Wiesl says”…..about transforming pain into creativity, human despair into literary miracle” . One fully agree with Cynthia Ozick when she says “….most remarkable memoir of our time – perhaps of any time” .

Jean Dominique Baubay died two days after the French publication of this book .

My Favourite Quotations

My Favourite Quotations
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“As long as there are flowers and children and birds in the world , have no fear , Brother Leo :every thing will be fine” –
Nikos Kazantizakis
Saint Francis

“Without music life would be a mistake “-
Friedrich Nietzsche


“What I am not , that for me is God and virtue”-
Friedrich Nietzsche

“Whatever you can do , or dream you can , begin it . Boldness has genius , power and magic in it”
Goethe

“People travel because it teaches them things they could learn no other way”
Lance Morrow

“A journey is measured best measured in friends rather than in miles”
Tim Cahill

“We must travel in the direction of our fear”

“I wish I could describe the cataract as it is , its beauty and awful grandeur and the fearful and irresistible plunge of its water over the brown of the precipice one feels helpless and overwhelmed in the presence of such a vast force “
Hellen Keller On Niagara falls

The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument

Can a ten minute argument be a stuff for- what “the New Yorker” called“A terrific Book”? Yes, if the argument is between two great philosophers of the last century.David Edmonds and John Eidinow in their work Wittgenstein’s Poker , brings to light in a really interesting manner the in/famous ten minute confrontation between two great philosophers – Ludwig Wittgensteinand Karl Popper .
In 1946, Wittgenstein was working as a professor of Philosophy in Cambridge University and the Chairman of Moral Science Club- a weekly discussion group for the university philosophers and philosophy students. In the same year January , Karl Popper arrives in England as he was offered the readership in Logic and Scientific Method at the London School of Economics , London University .
The stage of confrontation is set, when Wittgenstein chaired Moral Science Club called upon Popper to present the paper “Are there Philosophical Problems?”. Popper started his paper by inviting the attention of the audience to the invitation of the secretary of Moral Science Club “…… a few opening remark, stating some puzzle….”.Popper’s argument is that philosophical problems are not really puzzles but genuine problems . Wittgenstein interrupted and at some point took up a poker and gesticulated rather freely. Disagreement on puzzle Vs problem drew to such a level that , Popper as an example for “moral principle “ gave a situation induced example-“one ought not threaten visiting lecturers with poker” . Wittgenstein left the meting the before the end of the session “slamming the door behind him”, ending a ten-minute long argument.
This book is not only a real exploration into history of Philosophy of the twentieth century but also provides a historical peek into Vienna - Birth place of the two philosophical juggernauts , postwar Cambridge University, and The black days of Nazis occupation of Austria . Authors also provides a detailed analysis of the philosophical statements of Wittgenstein and Popper underlining their position in the philosophical terrain of last century and centuries to come.

TEACHER'S WORLD

TEACHER'S WORLD
“You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?” .
Romans II , 2:21


As a teacher this is my guiding principle. Before, I had the opportunity of learning the theoretical and practical side of the art of pedagogy. My main source of inspiration and introspection about this profession was manly such quotations, words my Gurus --“….teacher should not only teach the prescribed syllabus, but also essential lessons from the syllabus called ‘life’ ”.-Proff. Ninan -- and books of course. Regarding books I should mention at least three books at length. “The Art of Teaching” by Gilbert H and Autobiographical works of Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes and Teacher Man) .
Let me start with Franks works. It was from Reader’s Digest that I first came to Know about him . He was recollecting his first class as a teacher. This article led me to the knowledge that Frank was a teacher at Stuyvesant High School , New York was also the teacher of the year 1976. More than that he was catapulted to fame by winning the coveted Pulitzer Prize for his Autobiography Angela’s Ashes : A Memoir -recollection of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland -at the age of sixty-six . Frank McCourt was born in 1930 in Brooklyn , New York , to Irish immigrant parents, grew up in Limerick, Ireland and returned to America in 1949. For 30 years he taught in New York . Second installment of his autobiography is entitled ‘Tis dealing with his early years in New York . His third and probably the final installment- Teacher Man- of his autobiography is that matters me to a lot as a teacher. This work is all about his 30 years long teaching career. Frank traces the ups and downs, tests and accomplishments as a teacher of creative writing New York High Schools.

About “The Art of Teaching” by Gilbert H , sometimes later......