The Journey 323
Read: Exodus 2,3
Last week a host news agencies like UK Daily Mail , The Huffington Post, BBC to name a few, published a news item which has evoked a sense of wonder and awe in all its readers. It was about an individual name Jose Mujica. Who is Jose Mujica?. A famous athlete, a formula one driver, a Hollywood star, or a person belonging to the infamous group or gang?. People all over the world may not even recognize him, forget about knowing him. Jose Mujica is the president of Uruguay. The news items that these news agency published about Jose Mujica which is creating ripples in the social and political field is that Jose Mujica is considered as the poorest president in the world. Why has been Jose Mujica considered as the poorest president? Jose Mujica was elected as president of Uruguay in 2009, but the moment he became president and assumed power, he changed the way President used to live and the life style that all his predecessors used to maintain, thus showing to the world what it truly means to serve while assuming a position of authority. The first thing that he did was, he did not move to the presidential palace that state provides for the president and opted to live in his wife’s farmhouse, which is situated on a dirt road. His main occupation when not discharging his presidential duties is working in his land and growing flowers. What is more interesting about Jose Mujica is that he leads a very austere life style. The car that he drives is an 1987 Volkswagen Beetle and his annual personal wealth declaration in 2010 was about $1,800, which means that the average salary that he collects is about $775 a month, which is the is roughly same as the average income of the common man in Uruguay. It is not that the president does not receive his presidential salary. What Jose Mujica does is that he donates almost 90% of his salary, which is roughly about $12, 000 to charity and thus earning the nickname the “The Poorest President”. Though this year he has added his wife’s assets also in his financial accounting, thus reaching to about $215,000, this is only two third of the declared wealth of the vice president of Uruguay and a third of the wealth declared by his predecessor. Because of the way he lives, some consider him as an eccentric old man. But Jose Mujica says “ I don't feel poor; poor people are those who work to keep an expensive life style and always want more and more. It is my free choice on how to live. If you don't have many possessions then you don't need to work all your life like a slave to sustain them and therefore you have more time for yourself”. Incredible!.... In a world where people irrespective who they are, politicians, religious figures, government officials all trying to make a fast buck while in power and authority, people like Jose Mujica can be called “eccentric”. But it is these types of eccentric people that we need today to help all of us to have a fresh perspective about life and living. What is it that has shaped Jose Mujica’s outlook about life?. What shaped his outlook was that he was a political prisoner for almost 14 years languishing in jail, because of his political outlook and for fighting for the cause of the common man. His time in the jail were spent in harsh conditions especially condemned to live in isolation and it these years in jail that has totally moulded him into a new person. I think our outlook in life is also moulded by the experience that we have gone through and how these experiences has created a positive impact on us. It is this that helps us to create a new awareness on what our priorities in life is. Bible also mentions about one leader whose life and outlook gets a drastic change through some of the hard and painful experiences of life.
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Exodus 2,3. When we examine the life of Moses we find that he goes through the most painful and the most varied experiences in his life. As a child he is separated from his mother and he grows up in the palace of the king. Though he gets the best of the world as he grows up in the king’s palace, unknowingly his heart is still a Hebrew, growing up in an Egyptian palace. This could be seen when he interferes in a fight for justice. When he sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian in a sly manner. But then he has to flee the King’s palace when he is threatened by his fellow Hebrew who tells him that they know the he killed an Egyptian and also questions whether he would do the same to Hebrews. It is here that he begins a new journey in life. He flees to the land of Midian and soon becomes a wandering shepherd, taking care of the flock of his father in law, Jethro. What a transformation. Being born in one house, raised up in a palace and then live in the desert for the another 40 years. It is only after Moses goes through all these experience that you find God calling him to lead the people out of bondage. Thus Moses becomes one of the strongest leaders in the history of Israel, all because of the way God moulded him through the different life experiences that he went through. What matters today in life especially as we try to live transformed living through Christ, is to make a honest evaluation of what are things that are important in our life. For many of us we are in a mad rush to buy the latest gadgets, to have the best of the world, forgetting the fact that through this, we are getting into a vicious circle of trying to maintain a life style that is not only expensive but a life style that only brings temporary happiness. Let us therefore like Jose Mujica and also Moses make a conscious effort, to reorganize our priorities in life and have fresh outlook about life, so that our life creates fresh whiff of air, on all who comes in contact with us.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla
Last week a host news agencies like UK Daily Mail , The Huffington Post, BBC to name a few, published a news item which has evoked a sense of wonder and awe in all its readers. It was about an individual name Jose Mujica. Who is Jose Mujica?. A famous athlete, a formula one driver, a Hollywood star, or a person belonging to the infamous group or gang?. People all over the world may not even recognize him, forget about knowing him. Jose Mujica is the president of Uruguay. The news items that these news agency published about Jose Mujica which is creating ripples in the social and political field is that Jose Mujica is considered as the poorest president in the world. Why has been Jose Mujica considered as the poorest president? Jose Mujica was elected as president of Uruguay in 2009, but the moment he became president and assumed power, he changed the way President used to live and the life style that all his predecessors used to maintain, thus showing to the world what it truly means to serve while assuming a position of authority. The first thing that he did was, he did not move to the presidential palace that state provides for the president and opted to live in his wife’s farmhouse, which is situated on a dirt road. His main occupation when not discharging his presidential duties is working in his land and growing flowers. What is more interesting about Jose Mujica is that he leads a very austere life style. The car that he drives is an 1987 Volkswagen Beetle and his annual personal wealth declaration in 2010 was about $1,800, which means that the average salary that he collects is about $775 a month, which is the is roughly same as the average income of the common man in Uruguay. It is not that the president does not receive his presidential salary. What Jose Mujica does is that he donates almost 90% of his salary, which is roughly about $12, 000 to charity and thus earning the nickname the “The Poorest President”. Though this year he has added his wife’s assets also in his financial accounting, thus reaching to about $215,000, this is only two third of the declared wealth of the vice president of Uruguay and a third of the wealth declared by his predecessor. Because of the way he lives, some consider him as an eccentric old man. But Jose Mujica says “ I don't feel poor; poor people are those who work to keep an expensive life style and always want more and more. It is my free choice on how to live. If you don't have many possessions then you don't need to work all your life like a slave to sustain them and therefore you have more time for yourself”. Incredible!.... In a world where people irrespective who they are, politicians, religious figures, government officials all trying to make a fast buck while in power and authority, people like Jose Mujica can be called “eccentric”. But it is these types of eccentric people that we need today to help all of us to have a fresh perspective about life and living. What is it that has shaped Jose Mujica’s outlook about life?. What shaped his outlook was that he was a political prisoner for almost 14 years languishing in jail, because of his political outlook and for fighting for the cause of the common man. His time in the jail were spent in harsh conditions especially condemned to live in isolation and it these years in jail that has totally moulded him into a new person. I think our outlook in life is also moulded by the experience that we have gone through and how these experiences has created a positive impact on us. It is this that helps us to create a new awareness on what our priorities in life is. Bible also mentions about one leader whose life and outlook gets a drastic change through some of the hard and painful experiences of life.
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Exodus 2,3. When we examine the life of Moses we find that he goes through the most painful and the most varied experiences in his life. As a child he is separated from his mother and he grows up in the palace of the king. Though he gets the best of the world as he grows up in the king’s palace, unknowingly his heart is still a Hebrew, growing up in an Egyptian palace. This could be seen when he interferes in a fight for justice. When he sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian in a sly manner. But then he has to flee the King’s palace when he is threatened by his fellow Hebrew who tells him that they know the he killed an Egyptian and also questions whether he would do the same to Hebrews. It is here that he begins a new journey in life. He flees to the land of Midian and soon becomes a wandering shepherd, taking care of the flock of his father in law, Jethro. What a transformation. Being born in one house, raised up in a palace and then live in the desert for the another 40 years. It is only after Moses goes through all these experience that you find God calling him to lead the people out of bondage. Thus Moses becomes one of the strongest leaders in the history of Israel, all because of the way God moulded him through the different life experiences that he went through. What matters today in life especially as we try to live transformed living through Christ, is to make a honest evaluation of what are things that are important in our life. For many of us we are in a mad rush to buy the latest gadgets, to have the best of the world, forgetting the fact that through this, we are getting into a vicious circle of trying to maintain a life style that is not only expensive but a life style that only brings temporary happiness. Let us therefore like Jose Mujica and also Moses make a conscious effort, to reorganize our priorities in life and have fresh outlook about life, so that our life creates fresh whiff of air, on all who comes in contact with us.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla