Walking with HIM

Walking with HIM

The word 'persecution' need not be confined to mistreatment or torment. It can also express  itself in terms of a mild, yet evident discrimination. Persecution can also hold a strong association with  one's religious beliefs. Most of the times, it manifests itself in the form of being treated distinctly.

As a follower of the Christian belief system, I have found the word 'persecution' being repeatedly used in the scripture and have felt it creeping slowly and persistently into the day to day life . This is a persistent yet slowly progressing form of separation from the rest of the world. In one's growing years spent in the safe, secluded, familial world, this form of tyranny is only heard of but the worldly experience comes at a chosen time, at different stages. Generally, by now, one understands the hidden meaning of the word well and can also relate to the implied meaning of  its synonyms. 

I remember the classroom in the college, the front row chairs occupied by the confident, elite, the discrimination purely on the basis of schooling and parental contacts with the faculty. The professor enquired about something very important before bringing forth a debatable subject. When that question was asked in the small crowded classroom, nearly half the class turned their neck around to see me. All eyes on me except the ones that should have been. The professor was asking if someone is from Christian faith here. With hardly a handful of Christians in the college staff , it was least expected to find one in the class. She kept staring at the book and pondering over the words that she was about to use, putting them on the weighing scale for a final check and in the process lost touch with the actual question that she had asked. She commented on poor Christian people and how they use their children to win favours. The comment must have shocked everyone as the stare this time was awkward. She still didn't realize. 

This happened more than a decade ago, but the memory of it, if not the hurt, is still fresh. That was my first experience with discrimination as a form of persecution after stepping out of a Christian school. I still remember the faces in the first row, turning especially to see me.But the professor never knew that she was commenting on a student from the same belief system. The student was not among the elite, but eventually topped in the finals in her subject! 

Even after moving to a new country, the experiences don't go away easily. On one of the office cell phones, someone sent a message talking about the meaning and significance of the crucifixion of Christ. An Indian co-worker read it and mocked at it. Well, had it come from an atheist, I would have still understood. But he was a strong believer, not in Christ ofcourse! We remember very well to dust off the shoes at the airport and not let the foreign soil enter our new earth, yet we forget to dust off the ideas!

The events have never ended and may not end.They might differ with people, time, occasions, soil. 

This account of events doesnot aim at reflecting a wrecked heart yet it puts forth a wishful desire that no such episodes take place ever. Amidst these serialized events that helped me grow, I found  immense peace in HIM.

"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions in distresses for Christ's sake : for when I am weak, then am I strong". 

(The Bible; 2 Cornthians 12:10)