EASTER: TIME TO CONTEMPLATE CHRISTIANITY

I live my life in the US like most Americans with one exception. I do not go to church on Sundays. However, I celebrate Easter and Christmas as social festivities.
I appreciate the architectural beauty of churches. I like being inside churches, especially cathedrals with high ceilings. The high ceilings are reminders of the majesty of God. I admire the fact that one can walk into any church at any time without having to go through any barrier or ritual and sit there as long as one wants.

I liked all churches I visited from Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome to small churches in rural Mexico. Roofs of churches in the French countryside with colorful designs aroused my artistic instincts. My entry into the Saint Peter’s cathedral was one of the most awe-struck moments in my life! Then there was Michelangelo. If Christianity can inspire someone to paint and sculpt like him, then there is probably something significant in this religion.

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I find another aspect of Christianity refreshing, at least in the USA. When a disaster strikes any part of the globe the Christians are ready to donate whatever they can for whatever relief it brings without asking any question.
Despite my curiosity to explore other religions, I never get motivated to read the Bible or other holy books. They all seem to be difficult reading and advocate not too dissimilar ideas.

Several years ago, I befriended Susan who was a church-going catholic. I started attending church with her on Sundays for the purpose of understanding both her and Christianity. It was a standard routine with the same group of people; starting with coffee and donuts before the sermon, followed by the sermon from the priest which involved reading and explaining certain sections of the Bible for an hour. Then there were presentations of people with various personal problems with advice from the priest and collective prayer for them. The sessions ended with distribution of tiny cups of wine and circulation of the money collection bucket. In parallel to the main session, there were Biblical teachings to small kids in an adjoining room.

Several elements of Christianity appealed to me. I liked the concept of Jesus dying on the cross to pay for the sins of all and one could seek salvation by accepting Jesus as one’s savior. I liked the priest correlating events and emotions from our daily lives to the teaching of the Bible. I liked the idea of people grieving openly and getting solace from the collective prayers of the congregation. The entire congregation formed a support group, making it a cozy and comfortable gathering.

Unlike many people who view God as looking after us in some vague macroscopic way, oblivious to the details of our everyday lives, I always feel the presence of God in little things of life. I pray when my car does not start, I pray when I lose some important documents, I pray when I do not hear from my daughter when she is supposed to call, I pray when my roof leaks after a heavy downpour; often, the prayers seem to help. I believe that God is intimately associated with every moment of our lives. The priest at the church seemed to be saying the same thing.

I wondered about the merits of conversion to Christianity! Although technically I am a Hindu being born to Hindu parents, I never formally followed my religion. I do not go to temples, except to understand their historic and architectural appeals, do not practice any ritual and never read any holy book or scriptures. It does not make any difference in my daily life if I were to be “officially” a Christian or a Muslim or of any other religious persuasion. The thought crossed my mind that if I were to become a Christian, it would complete my Americanization! I would be welcome with open arms, not only by Susan but all “Christians”. Perhaps I was also imagining a wedding in a church. I like Christian wedding ceremonies: they are simple, solemn and short.

The Christians seem to have a zeal to convert others to Christianity. That is how the missionaries spread the word of Christ and built missions throughout Mexico and Latin America. So, it is no wonder that the priest of Susan’s church wanted to meet with me.
I met with him over breakfast one morning – just the two of us. We talked about God, love, religions, sins and salvation. He was ready to schedule a baptism ceremony for me. It was a friendly and candid discussion. At one point I said, “To me different religions are just different paths to God. It is like going to the top of a mountain. Despite many winding ways to get there, ultimately the destination is the same”. I will never forget his reaction. He looked straight at me with a grim face and said something totally unexpected: “That is NOT what the Christianity says. Jesus Christ is our ONLY savior”. I was surprised and shocked by his comments. His conversion efforts did not go too far after that meeting, but I thought about his comments for a long time.

I was always taught to be open to other religions. India, being a secular country, allowed holidays for major festivities of all religions. All the Hindu holy men have preached that God lives in every living being and different people can seek God and salvation in different ways. The Jews do not consider themselves superior to the non Jews. Buddhism is even broader in its practice in the sense that it does not demand surrender to a God or ask him for salvation. The Quran uses generalized inclusive concepts; it effectively says that anyone, Christian or Jew, believing in God and living a righteous life effectively follows Islam. Did the Christian priest get it wrong? It is childish to insist that a specific Christian formality is the only way to salvation.

The way I could rationalize Jesus being the only savior was by concluding that the Christians were taking the gospel too literally. It is like your financial consultant telling you, “Just follow exactly what I tell you to do. I am your only savior from your financial crisis. There is no reason to get confused by getting into an understanding of economic principles or long-term financial strategies”. When God sent Jesus, His purpose was to provide a means of spiritual salvation to the western societies which, unlike their Asian counterparts, were immersed in considerable prosperity and materialistic pleasures. They did not have time to read scriptures or learn theology or ponder about the meaning of life and God. They needed to get simple instructions to follow blindly and that was what Jesus provided.

In any case, I remained a happy Hindu even if this perhaps meant an incomplete assimilation into American society.

The writer is a physicist who worked in industry and academia. He is a Bengali settled in (the United States. Views are personal.)