The Journey 235
Read: Philippians 2:5-11
Their battle is being termed as the clash of the titans. Two electronics giants Apple and Samsung are involved in a legal battle. Last week the top officials of both Apple and Samsung could not reach an agreement in the dispute that has come between them. What is the whole issue about? The issue began when both Apple and Samsung brought into the market some high end, smart phones that caught with up with everyone that the sales of the both phones and tablets rose enormously. But this sales also cut into the resultant profit of each other. Apple seems to have been more grieved because their products I Phone and I Pad had already achieved iconic status. With the entry of Samsung Tablets and Android based phones, Samsung seemed to bring a dent into the iconic status of I Pad and I Phones. It is there I think that the battle began. The issue now each of the electronics giants is trading against each other is that, the other had used their designs for their own products, infringing their patency rights. Apple is demanding a $ 2.5 billion dollars from Samsung, claiming that both their I Phone and I Pad which were already an icons in the electronics industry is now being cloned by Samsung. On their part, Samsung has also files a counter claim against Apple for a whopping $399 million dollars. As the legal tangle goes on, people all over the world is watching the outcome of this case. In the business industry, imitation is considered as a treachery and also an infringement of the patent rights given to an individual or to a company. Hence as soon as someone discovers something that he/she or the company feels is landmark, it is patented, so that anyone who want to reproduce should have the prior permission and would also have to pay enormous sum to imitate that product. How strange in the area of one’s secular life, imitating has a price to pay. If you need to imitate something that is precious there is a price, but in the context of our Christian life what Jesus asks us is to imitate Him. This imitation also has a price, but price of a different kind. When apple and Samsung is involved in the battle of imitation, how can we as Christian take seriously the command of Imitating Jesus Christ in our life. We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Philippians 2: 5-11. When we study the gospels we find that Jesus does not use the word “imitate” on the contrary he uses the word “ follow”. It is apostle Paul who brings in the concept of imitating Christ. He tell in 1 Thessalonians 1: 6 “ become imitators of us and of the Lord”. For Paul imitation means that one should be submissive and be ready to be moulded by Holy Spirit [ Romans 8:4, 11]. Imitating Christ also meant to be involved in the self sacrifice for the service of others through action of love [ 1 Cor 13]. In the secular life, imitation is all about imitating maybe certain aspects of a product, but in the context of Christian life, imitation is not certain cosmetical changes on the outside but a total transformation of the individual, the total transformation which makes us also to live our life in such a way that “we have the mind of Christ in us” [ Phil 2:5]. As Apple and Samsung battle it out in the war on imitation and patency, let us also battle it out in the world so that we become true transformed individuals, thus truly reflecting and imitating Jesus Christ.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla
Their battle is being termed as the clash of the titans. Two electronics giants Apple and Samsung are involved in a legal battle. Last week the top officials of both Apple and Samsung could not reach an agreement in the dispute that has come between them. What is the whole issue about? The issue began when both Apple and Samsung brought into the market some high end, smart phones that caught with up with everyone that the sales of the both phones and tablets rose enormously. But this sales also cut into the resultant profit of each other. Apple seems to have been more grieved because their products I Phone and I Pad had already achieved iconic status. With the entry of Samsung Tablets and Android based phones, Samsung seemed to bring a dent into the iconic status of I Pad and I Phones. It is there I think that the battle began. The issue now each of the electronics giants is trading against each other is that, the other had used their designs for their own products, infringing their patency rights. Apple is demanding a $ 2.5 billion dollars from Samsung, claiming that both their I Phone and I Pad which were already an icons in the electronics industry is now being cloned by Samsung. On their part, Samsung has also files a counter claim against Apple for a whopping $399 million dollars. As the legal tangle goes on, people all over the world is watching the outcome of this case. In the business industry, imitation is considered as a treachery and also an infringement of the patent rights given to an individual or to a company. Hence as soon as someone discovers something that he/she or the company feels is landmark, it is patented, so that anyone who want to reproduce should have the prior permission and would also have to pay enormous sum to imitate that product. How strange in the area of one’s secular life, imitating has a price to pay. If you need to imitate something that is precious there is a price, but in the context of our Christian life what Jesus asks us is to imitate Him. This imitation also has a price, but price of a different kind. When apple and Samsung is involved in the battle of imitation, how can we as Christian take seriously the command of Imitating Jesus Christ in our life. We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Philippians 2: 5-11. When we study the gospels we find that Jesus does not use the word “imitate” on the contrary he uses the word “ follow”. It is apostle Paul who brings in the concept of imitating Christ. He tell in 1 Thessalonians 1: 6 “ become imitators of us and of the Lord”. For Paul imitation means that one should be submissive and be ready to be moulded by Holy Spirit [ Romans 8:4, 11]. Imitating Christ also meant to be involved in the self sacrifice for the service of others through action of love [ 1 Cor 13]. In the secular life, imitation is all about imitating maybe certain aspects of a product, but in the context of Christian life, imitation is not certain cosmetical changes on the outside but a total transformation of the individual, the total transformation which makes us also to live our life in such a way that “we have the mind of Christ in us” [ Phil 2:5]. As Apple and Samsung battle it out in the war on imitation and patency, let us also battle it out in the world so that we become true transformed individuals, thus truly reflecting and imitating Jesus Christ.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla