Thatched House

I’m home for Christmas. Today is December 19, 2013. Yesterday, as I was cleaning the house and dusting old books, I found this letter I wrote to my family on November 11, 2004 from Imphal. I was in my final year MBBS and the final university exam (the toughest exam I have ever faced) was fast approaching. It is funny somewhere but here it is, unedited. It is 3:00 in the morning and I haven’t slept yet. A friend passed away at 10:00 pm and we went to condole the family. I couldn’t slip out and come to bed early as I was leading the singing. She had been suffering from Leukemia/blood cancer and there is no cure in our college. Anywhere in the world, chance of complete cure is just one in a million (about). Rukuwe’s mom came to visit him and I thought maybe I’ll send a letter to my family through her. A letter about me. The phone line is not working and even if it’s functioning, I can’t talk for long as I want with everyone of you. I wish to come home for Christmas but I ...

'Always winter but never Christmas ' Christmas for the year 2012 is gone. There will never be a Christmas 2012 in all eternity, said the speaker on Christmas morning. Was it worth the wait? Or is the real excitement of Christmas in the waiting? You waited and waited for Christmas and it came and it is gone. Is December 25 just a date? When you look back, what was special about it this year?  'Always winter but never Christmas', said Lewis. For you, is it, ‘Christmas comes and goes, and everything remains the same’? December 25 is gone. But Christmas is still here. It still waits for those who will search for it and find it for themselves. 

Guest Post (By Samuel S. Vaiphei) Unfortunately we present-day Christians have contented ourselves with such a narrow understanding of the Gospel, often solely defined in terms of Going to Heaven or Christ Dying on the Cross for our Sins, that the real message or the bigger story narrated in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark , Luke and John is missed! Just like every year, I am afraid that this year too we will once more gloss over or ignore altogether the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:1-20. Undue emphasis is then placed on Matthew 1:21 where the angels announced to Joseph that he should name the child Jesus because he will rescue his people from their sins. This is often linked to Genesis 3:15. The apostle Matthew wouldn’t be pleased with us for not paying close attention to all that he had been trying to say in the preceding 20 verses (of Ch 1), and without which one is bound to get a defective understanding of verse 21. Moreover it is open knowledge that Matthew’s Gosp...

It has been a very, very busy year. I wanted December to be the month of PEACE AND QUIET. But it is turning out to be just the opposite. I woke up at 6:20 AM this morning and straight to work; after having slept at 2:00 AM. This post is a stolen moment. Looking back, at the work front I think I have been able to do much this year and I'm satisfied. I changed job midyear and dived into the new one right on, getting all busy at once. I was a columnist for Eastern Mirror for some months. Though I don't have much savings, financially I'm able to help family during crucial moments - Siblings college/university admissions, besides their monthly expenses. I've travelled to all the districts of Nagaland, except Tuensang. Supervision and monitoring plan for all medical directorate officers that I designed I hope will bear fruit. Now, all officers go to the districts every two months and bring back report. Through analysis of reports, I'll be able to understand the h...

  I will climb Glory Peak for you I will walk from Rukizu to Seed Farm just to meet you I will carry a basketful of cabbages from Mali Farm to Bazaar just to feed you From the top of Porba Hotel building I will proclaim my love for you But please, please don’t ask me to take bath at Pfutsero this winter        Merry Christmas everyone

If you want to get a book to read on Christmas and you have been all too familiar with the gospel narratives in the New Testament, you need not go Christmas shopping again (although it is a curiosity how many people visit the book store during Christmas). All you have to do is turn back the pages of your Bible to the book of Isaiah. The book is full of Jesus Christ although it was written 6-8 centuries before the birth of Christ. I have a number of passages that I really, really love but here's the passage from chapter 11 which  is my Bible Reading for this Christmas. Isaiah 11: 1-9   The Branch From Jesse   1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding ,    the Spirit of counsel and of might,    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD — 3 and he will delight in t...