Random Ruminations

I guess I have created this blog to share some of my random ruminations from my pastoral experiences. I like randomness so most of it would be random personal reflections. A couple of friends encouraged me to start blogging though I am not capable of writing good stuff. Anyways, practice makes one perfect so I decided to follow the advice and started to blog.
As a pastor there are umpteen number of experiences and lot of time to introspect so I would like to share some of them in this blog. I don't mean to say that pastors are not busy people but since I am working in a small village named Mupkal, I have lot of free time which I can use to write and reflect on countless number of things.
I belong to the Church of South India, Diocese of Medak and I am an Ordained Minister working in Dudgaon pastorate, village Mupkal. This is a very famous village because it is one of the Hindu pilgrim centers. Few years ago one of the banyan trees which was located on the outskirts of the village fell. Some of the villagers tried to remove it from the roots but failed so they left it and went their way. However, after few months/years (not sure) the tree stood straight, just like before. Therefore, it is believed that the tree has some special powers and is now worshiped. People throng to this place every Monday, along with a coconut, few flowers, a small bell and other puja samagri (items) wrapped up in a fluorescent color cloth, which is tied to the branches. Lovers, leaders, learners, learned, young and old, parents, children and people of all ages come over there to pay their homage to the deity. It is fascinating to see all the well educated and affluent personalities also following the masses. In a place like India wherein so many crores of deities are worshiped this scene might not fascinate some of you. But what fascinates me is the fact that people coming from all walks of life have the courage to believe that they could experience God's works through simple things.
Today, I happened to go to a newly constructed huge church in Hyderabad, which was inaugurated last Sunday. The big campus not only has huge church but also has a parsonage and an orphanage. Adjacent to the orphanage one more new construction is coming up probably it will be used for some other purpose. This church belongs to a well known person who spent 200 crores on this project. When I came to know about the huge amount they spent on this project the first random thought that came to my mind was, why did they waste so much money on this project? They could have utilized the amount to build, if not more, at least 100 rural churches. As a pastor working in rural areas I know many villages in India that still do not have a place to worship. Some conduct worship in their homes, some under the sheds, and some under the trees. The present trend in Christian circles especially, in the cities and towns is that big is beautiful. Therefore, many churches have proposed and some already built mega churches. When the Church in India is facing serious crisis, can we afford to build mega churches, neglecting the common masses? Why can't we believe that God works through simple things! Does God expects us to build mega churches so that God could dwell in it? I guess not.
Jesus, in his life time did many wonders using simple things like water, spittle, and he used his simple words to heal people. He taught profound things using simple stuff like the grass of the fields, the seeds, among the seeds the smallest seed, mustard seed, salt, lamp, bread, etc. Jesus always associated himself with the simple common folk, he was a good shepherd. He never preferred to live in palaces but lived a simple lifestyle. Why can't we believe God can work through simple things? I do believe God can use simple things and simple people like us to do extraordinary things, all that we need to do is be faithful.