From Snakes to Saints and to Silvers - and if you would Instruction and Knowledge

I recently quizzed a guy on what some of the wayside images were to which he immediately bowed and paid respect. He was returning from school and had caught me for a lift on my two wheeler. He told me that the images were of that of snakes?

“Sankes!” I said “Why do you praise them?”

“Well, I do not know!” he said. “Maybe that’s because there’s a snake on Shiva (one of the other Hindu gods.)”

“Well…” I queried further “Would Shiva be happy about (his) people praising the snake on his neck rather than praising him as a god?”

“I do not know.” He said and got off and left.  

It is common in India that most of the Hindu deities and their vehicles of transport which are often animals are all praised together as they consider the vehicles as gods as well. The snake idols we saw on the way side had flowers offered and incense burning for them. The adoration given to them reminded me of the statues of various Saints of the Christian faith in many churches in Kerala.

Adorned with cheap plastic flowers they (the images of saints) make a lot of believers stop at the entrance of churches from where they return after offering their prayers to be heard in heaven – not even once thinking of having a chat with Jesus whom they consider their savior. What use is it unless you do not spend time for The One True God, The God of Gods? What use is it to spend time with so many of the rest when you have been provided with Jesus who is our path to the Almighty?

So many towns and cities and maybe even countries and Islands are named after saints. Many of them do not have people in faith of the Triune God. Initially, such names for cities might have helped in remembering and honoring God with the kind of reverence people had for God and the Godly, however of what use it to have such names when people have forgotten God not to mention the memory of saints in the least? Does it make any difference if we have our cities named St. Louis or Sliver Louis?


The focus - if lost when we look onto the unnecessary and all things like that is tradition - and tradition may be discarded without fear, shame or without the fear of being judged by the Creator. For he gave us His son for us to focus on him and not on the traditions that our ancestors taught us. 

Proverbs 8:10 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.


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