Make a Wish

Amitabh Bachchan as Genius, the genie, in Aladin

My grown son, David, and I went to Aladin this weekend, the new Hindi movie starring Amitabh Bachchan as the genie. See a promo for the movie. The movie has subtitles, and is available for a little while at a few movie theaters in the US. After that, I think that your best bet for legal viewing in the US will be www.erosentertainment.com. I will not call this a deep movie, but it's fun.

I respect Amitabh Bachchan greatly as an actor, and have also been delighted to get to know him a bit as a person through following his blog, which he is amazingly faithful at writing. Since he is one of the most famous actors in India, I was initially startled to find that this one is not a fake, the man actually writes a daily blog, the quality and consistency of which is an inspiration to bloggers everywhere.

On the way home, we got talking about wishes and genies. David pointed out that in the stories, and certainly in this version of the story, people seem to have given very little thought to what wishes they would make if a genie showed up. He allowed as how this is a topic that he has given a great deal of thought to over the years (presumably to be ready, should the opportunity arise. One never knows what the day may bring.) The key issues in his mind were that you have to wish for things that would be useful, but not to wish for anything that would change your nature, or the nature of people around you. His suggestion for this was to wish first for a large amount of money (he suggested that a hundred billion dollars would be nice, if you could also request no accompanying hyper-inflation) followed by the ability to play all musical instruments well, and the ability to speak and understand all languages fluently.

It got me thinking about the fact that the Bible has a "wish fulfillment" story, though not the traditional three wishes of the fairy tales. Solomon was given a wish after he built the Temple (2 Chronicles 1:7-12). God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." Wow! And Solomon chose pretty well, too, asking for wisdom and insight to be able to lead the people and thus fulfill his duties as king. He doesn't wind up with a sausage glued to the end of his nose, or with a gift that destroys everyone around him. His request actually makes God happy, and he not only gets what he asked for but lots of other stuff as well, "wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have," thrown in as a bonus. But it still goes sour in the end, because Solomon lacks the one key thing that his father David had, a heart fully devoted to God. And in the end, all of Solomon's wisdom does not provide the blessing of a heart that is turned to God.

The thing that Jesus suggests we seek, rather than riches, rather than wisdom to rule a kingdom, is the kingdom of God, a gift that he says the Father is pleased to give us, though perhaps we would do well to remember than right after the assurance that it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom comes the command to sell our possessions and give to the poor (Luke 12:31-33). Something to think about.

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Aik Alif (Only an A/Only One Thing)

Noori, one of the groups I saw in Chautauqua
(and the group that performed this song)

I wrote most of this when it was fresh in my mind, but never posted it.

This past summer, I was fortunate enough to hear a concert at Chautauqua, NY by a variety of Pakistani musicians, that included a song called "Aik Alif," which sets words to an 18th century poet Bulleh Shah to modern music by Ali Hamza and a modern Sufi musician Saieen Zahoor. You can listen to the song with subtitles here.

You read to become all knowledgeable
But you never read yourself
You run to enter your mosques and temples
But you never entered your own heart
Every day you fight Satan
But you never fight yourself
Bulleh Shah, you try grabbing that which is in the sky
But you never get hold of what’s inside your own house
Stop seeking this knowledge [of the world] my friend.
Stop this seeking my friend
Only an alif [the letter A, beginning, or oneness] is what you need
Only an alif is what you need; truth
Stop seeking this knowledge my friend.

God beloved, God beloved, God beloved…

I am going, I am going along
With the devotional one

One who doesn’t know the strength of truth
One who doesn’t know the strength of truth
God won’t give them the strength
We are drowning in our own selves
There are no boats or rough waters; only truth
Stop seeking this knowledge my friend
Stop seeking this knowledge


For me, the song seemed like a Muslim scholar's version of what Jesus said to Martha, when she was concerned about Mary's seeming indifference to the demands of service. "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:41-42).

In the poem, Bulleh Shah reminds himself not to chase after all this learning, as though that will take him to God. He also scolds himself for focusing on the fight against Satan instead of worrying about the evil that is in his own heart. Both concerns seem appropriate to me, though as a Christian called to academia and in the midst of the struggle to write my dissertation, I have to acknowledge that part of my focus on God requires a focus on books and knowledge. In the same way, many housewives feel the story of Mary and Martha cannot be taken to mean that the laundry and the dinner preparations should be completely ignored, but still find that it is relevant to their lives.

"Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this:
'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind and with all your strength.'"
(Mark 12:28-30)

Kiva--Encouraging Entrepreneurs

Kiva is a way to support microfinance--small loans at interest rates which are low for the area, to entrepreneurs in the third world who generally have little access to alternative means of finance. The result is that many people in the third world are helped.

This happens with minimal cost to the individual lender. You lend in increments of $25, and your loan is bundled with the loans of others to allow larger loans to the borrowers. You get to pick the businesses that you want to support. As they repay, you can take your money out via Paypal, or you can lend to others, watching your money roll over and support a wide range of enterprises. You don't get interest on your money (and yes, you might not get repaid--but this is rare). Still, you have a rare chance to see what your money is accomplishing.

Check it out.

Psalm 112:5 Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.

Thoughts about Geese

The Canadian geese near my home are moulting. I know because the paths are covered with feathers and goose poop. In the past, I have harvested these feathers, carrying grocery store bags to bring home quills which would be filled with the insides of Bic pens for Colonial Day, or even experimented with to make quills that could write with real ink (not as easy as it looks). As my kids got older, some feathers became paint brushes for interesting effects. But today I have no such projects, and the feathers can be left for other moms with younger kids. Or to decompose as they eventually will.

Today what caught my attention was the timing of the moult. The geese all have babies who are not yet old enough to fly. And here comes the hand of God, making it impossible for them to escape danger by flying away. They are forced to use the same strategies that are available to their children, running for the water. True, they have another defence--the parents can turn on the attackers, and several geese hissed at me while I passed too close to their little ones. But for this season they cannot take to the air to get away from it all. This surely helps the survival rate of baby geese, who do indeed face many hazards in their trip to adulthood.

So in my life, when God "clips my wings" is it to keep me tuned to the things that matter? Might I do well to ask God to treat me like the geese in some ways?

Ecclesiastes 3:1 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."

Three Cups of Tea

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10.

If you have not read this book yet, put it on your list. It will be worth the time invested. It is the story of Greg Mortenson, and how he came to be building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

What I appreciate most about the book is how clearly he was the right man for this job, and how his life prepared him to be able to do this. He is the son of missionaries, and at one point in his life he was an Emergency Room nurse with his life focused on rock climbing. It might have been easy for him or his parents to wonder if he would ever "make something" of his life. And yet the truth was that his passions and skills were exactly what he needed for a specific and very difficult path and yet very meaningful path that God had yet to open up. When it did open up, he walked out the good works that God had prepared him to be able accomplish. It took courage and resolve, but he had what it took. I read this as a reminder that we never know what may lie right around the corner to be done by us.

A poem from a while ago

I thought I'd begin with this, to introduce myself to others, and to remind myself. I wrote this years ago. I still believe it.

I am here...

To dance, to dare
to belong, to believe, to bare
my soul before my
loving Lord.

To love, to leap
for joy, and to employ
each scrap of wit and wonder,
heart and hand,
in service of my King.