my name is bala

…have you ever received an email IN ALL CAPS?!?!?! How did that make you feel? To me, ASAP means you are yelling “urgent” and “right away” and “stop everything and do this NOW” – rarely does anything need to happen ASAP.

on the other hand, “as soon as possible” conveys, to me, “please can you make this happen, this is important to me”, “I’d really appreciate if you would…”

I get 70+ emails that I have to respond to each day, and when 15 of them have ASAP in them, it starts to loose its value and becomes really annoying.

Just as speaking has a tone, writing does too… just saying.

3 points to summarize this post:

#1: LOVE is the point of it all.

#2: You have to experience Jesus otherwise you have no idea what you are talking about, and please don’t claim to know all about Christianity.

#3: For Christians; not everyone believes as we do (there is even division within the faith) so see point #1, we are all in progress.

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In order for this to make sense, you have to know what I believe.

I get apprehensive when people put down and bash “Christianity” as a whole. I wouldn’t consider myself an apologetic, but I find myself playing that role more often lately.

As an organized religion, when it is healthy, there are immense amounts of good that Christianity can perform, the hungry are fed, the homeless are sheltered, the broken-hearted are comforted…

As an organized religion, when it fails, there is also tremendous harm that can be done. If you look over time, this failure tends to occur when – as an organized religion – focus is placed on, and substituted with, the teachings, thoughts, and opinions of any person other than Jesus.

When LOVE is substituted for rules, process, hierarchy… we should run!

One note I’d like to interject here is that it is also important to make a distinction between religion as an institution versus the belief system. **As an institution, religion aims to further the teachings and causes of a specific belief system – this is where you see hierarchies, titles, diocese, parishes, etc**. As a belief system, it is inherently personal – a pursuit of a relationship with a higher deity by being in community with others who share the same belief system. Today we are seeing more and more Christians rejecting the institutionalized form of Christian religion.

Also understand that as an institution, Christians are trying to get it right, this is why you see so many denominations. When our instincts tell us that the current institution is starting to sway in its interpretation of the gospel, you’ll see a group break away – as did the Protestant Reformation – in search of the ultimate truth.

The fact is that some have been terribly hurt in the midst of the Christian church. Sometimes the damage is done in a specific permutation such as Catholic or Pentecostal or Lutheran, maybe even Anglican. I am not denying that the pain is very real, but to throw a blanket over the entire Christian spectrum is misleading and irresponsible.

I would also posit that for most Christian antagonists, the source of pain has come from the decisions of one individual (maybe a leader) in the church. Our problem as Christians in an institutionalized setting is that we do not always hold our leaders accountable when they are wrong – because we are trying to protect the institution [see ** above].

For me, the key is to focus on the belief system – that says Love God, Love Others. One simply has to experience Jesus and a relationship with him. For me, this relationship became amplified when my family went through the kidney transplant ordeal.

Only in a relationship with Christ can anyone express the true merit of the Christian faith.

And with any love-based relationship, the manifestation of affection, disdain, or even admonition will vary. If you throw in some cultural context, Christianity sometimes feels like a buffet – the point is that Christ is inviting us.

With any relationship, when a non-participant offers their, sometimes academic observation and opinions, it is usually met with defensiveness and “you have no idea what you are talking about”. I have to check myself here because I get so upset when people cite the crusades from the 11th century as one explanation to why my belief system is flawed…

At the end of the day, we ALL have to be careful in our assessment of one another – especially beliefs. What I am seeing is that the new breed of Christianity-haters are indulging themselves in the same hypocritical and prejudicial behavior that they accuse Christians of.

If you are going to bash Christianity, please be specific, don’t paint the faith with broad strokes. With your specificity, maybe we can address some of our issues.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Some day soon I’ll try to write about the monotheistic claim of the Christian faith…

I recently had the opportunity to appear on berks county television (BCTV.ORG). Seriously, we can all make a difference here. Follow us at Meetup.com/berkscountytech

Watch: bctv on berks county tech and the teafactoryco.

I feel incredibly blessed to have a lovely family, my awesome wife and sons, are the joy of my life. On father’s day 2012, my wife gave me the best gift ever. Ever! There is nothing better than knowing you are loved.

Watch: Happy Father’s Day Baba.

I am learning that trying to be a better person, is way better than actually being the better person. This applies to exercise too: trying to be in shape is better than being in shape.

Let me explain. [for me] Trying automatically puts me in a humble, ‘in-process’, disposition. In the process of trying, one is in a place where you haven’t actually arrived, or achieved. Trying is iterative…

Technically*, trying as an adjective is defined as: “difficult or annoying; hard to endure”, as a verb it is to: “make an attempt or effort to do something”, and as a noun it is: “an act of doing, using, or testing something new or different to see if it is suitable, effective, or pleasant”.

You see all the definitions and permutations of the word have a similar theme, which is that when you are trying, you are ongoing – “continuing; still in progress.”

Contrastingly, when you see yourself as the better person – as opposed to someone who is trying to be one – you [in my opinion] automatically become the worse. I say this simply because being the “better” person automatically puts me into comparison mode, which inevitably puts me in a [bad] competitive mode.

When individuals, groups, nations, even religious organizations believe that they are “the better one”, resentment, animosity, greed, and even jealously is birthed.

Ultimately, if you see yourself as better and you ask yourself: “relative to who/what?” you tend to find reasons to be derogative to that which you are comparing against in order to boost your stance. However, when you are “trying” to be… you will always look to a higher standard – which I think is better.

Besides, we will never be the better person until we are dead and in heaven.

SO yeah… I am trying.

What are your thoughts?

*These definitions were retrieved from the dictionary on my mac which I believe is the OXFORD AMERICAN DICTIONARIES.

Reading PA was recently tagged in the national media as the “poorest city” in the US.

And even more recently it was ranked as one of the most obese cities in America.

In the midst of the mess, there is so much talent and creativity.

Those of us who live here find these statistics very disturbing, and it is time we start to revive our city. I believe that ventures like this coworking space can indeed help to turn the tide and inspire people in Reading, by bringing the community together.

I am excited to be part of this (vital) community project.

I would encourage the global community to please keep tabs on us as we take on the coworking challenge.

Follow our progress at http://www.teafactoryco.com

Thanks
talk to you soon.