It’s hard to believe we have been in India for over a month now! Somewhere between weeks three and four, I started to feel more at home. And, with the purchase of our little red scooter, we have entered a new and glorious era of freedom. We can eat lunch whenever we want! Sometimes, I can even stay home for half a day and enjoy some introvert time while Ben is at the office. It’s amazing how much three hours of alone time does for my emotional state. I have been a much more pleasant person this past week! Also, the apartment is actually clean.
Trivial as it is, one of the highlights from my week includes finding fresh basil at a vegetable stand and successfully making marinara sauce. I cannot explain my level of excitement when the vendor pulled out the herb, which he had tucked away somewhere and reserved, apparently, for me. He probably thought I was crazy the way I started jumping up and down and yelling… anyway, the next morning, I went to work and made a pretty decent sauce for a beginner. It took me an amount of time that I’m not yet willing to admit, but it was a small sort of accomplishment.
Also, as Ben mentioned in the last post, we have seen a lot of Hindu festivals lately and even been invited to a meal sacrificed to an idol, which we politely declined. Never thought that would happen to us! It’s strange when things happen that we’ve only read about in scripture! Anyway, our landlords, who had invited us to the meal, were kind and understanding when we told them we could not eat. The next night, Auntie invited me over to learn how to make pulao, and I got a chance to explain why we are not allowed to partake in idol worship. It was an enlightening conversation for both of us!
One thing I’ve been noticing is that the Hindu mindset is remarkably similar to post-modernism in the West. According to Auntie and others we have talked with so far, people here think that all religions are basically the same and encourage people to be “good.” To the Hindu, everything is relative. The gods you worship depend on which caste you are from or which state, and when it comes to the way a person lives, it’s “to each his own.” There is no concept of sin here because there’s no common standard for truth. Naturally, all of this makes it challenging to try to explain to someone our belief that Jesus is the only way to salvation. I am thankful that God is with us and we do not have to fulfill His mission by our own power. When things seem impossible (which they often do here), we have a chance to see God’s power and glory!
