The first indicator of the spirituality of the Indian people,(when you start to slow down and look at things), is that in almost every block you either see a church, temple, or mosque which is filled to near capacity at their worship times and on their holy days. The second indicator of India’s deep spirituality is that in almost every Auto Rick-shaw there is a sign of the driver’s religious belief be he Christian, Hindu, or Muslim.

However the main thing that has struck me about the spirituality of India’s people is in how they translate into care for people and especially the importance of family. In family life the children are expected to respect their parents and to take care of them when they become elderly. This is in marked contrast to the West and especially the United States where it seems we treat our elders as outcasts and do not try gain knowledge from their vast years of experience. The spirituality can even be seen in the Indian people’s treatment of their poor. People here do not seemed to be ashamed of poor people and try to hide them away or ignore them as we do in the U.S. Instead they try to help them in many ways even giving coins to elderly and disabled people on the street. These beggars also reflect spirituality of the people in India by giving you a prayerful sign of thanks when you give a couple of rupees to them. In other words people here in India reflect their spirituality by loving one another and practice what the Lord instructs us to do through the writing of St. Paul in 1 Timothy 5 .

I personally experienced this spirituality last month during the Islamic holy days, called Ramazan (Ramadan in the U. S.) during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, when a roommate and I dropped into a shop to buy rice. The shop happened to be run by Muslims who were at that time breaking their daily fast and who offered us some of their fruit to eat. In looking at the spirituality of India’s people I can also see that this deep faith is under a threat. That threat comes from the west in the form of its emphasis on materialism and get ahead at any cost attitude. Unfortunately along with the much needed assistance that is exported by the west we are also exporting the values of sexual promiscuity, drugs etc. I pray that instead of the values mentioned above that the countries supposedly founded on Judeo-Christian ethics would take a lesson from India and start caring more about people everywhere and start exporting the most valuable thing ever the knowledge and love of Christ.

I am encouraged to know that some people in the west are starting to take this part of mission seriously and am proud to belong to a congregation that is part of the movement to spread the love of Christ to the world and has taken action to see that it happens by graciously supporting me in my  volunteer mission here in India.

Unfortunately because of time and space constraints I will have to deal with India’s Caste system and the possible impact of India’s upcoming Parliamentary elections in my next article. Until then may God bless and keep everyone of you in his peace.

In Christ’s Service,

Rich Hahn