THANKSGIVING SUNDAY: Channeling your Energy
(25-11-2018, KWS,
Pune)
Fr Paul Lelen Haokip
Why thanks?
1.
I
accept the reality that I need someone’s help
2.
I
acknowledge the service of others
3.
I
proclaim to that person and others about that incident
Biblical understanding:
There
is a striking resemblance of the Thanksgiving celebration to the Feast of
Tabernacles, which Scripture also calls the Feast of Ingathering. Sukkot,
the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, celebrates the autumn harvest.
The
roots of Thanksgiving go back to ancient Israel. In a real sense, the Jews
invented Thanksgiving. For the ancient children of Israel, thanksgiving was a
time of feasting and fasting, of praising
God, of singing songs. It was a rich celebration - and still is for
observant Jews today. Ancestors of Kukis did celebrate feasts of
Thanksgiving akin to that of Jews.
The
agricultural cycle of ancient Israel revolved around two harvests, one in the
spring and the other in the autumn. “When
you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you will
bring to the priest a sheaf, the first fruits of your harvest, and he shall
wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the
Sabbath the priest shall wave it…sacrifice a lamb without defect…” (Lev. 23:10-12).
Ancient
Israel was commanded to create a booth, tent or tabernacle - a basic temporary
dwelling. This would remind that their ancestors dwelt in booths when God
brought them out of Egypt. This is to remind us that this life is temporary and
that all of our lifelong dreams, hopes and aspirations should point toward the
coming kingdom of God.
We have the story of
Elkanah-Peninnah-Hannah.
Samuel’s parents kept the Feast every year. One year, during this time, Hannah
prayed to God for a son and God intervened, granting her a child. Her son
Samuel would become a great servant of God (1 Sam 1:3).
It was also during this Feast that Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who
believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of
living water” (Jn 7: 37-39).
Traditional understanding: Chavang
Kut, Chang-Ai, Sa-Ai
Ability
to cultivate a land and wait for its due season of harvest is a form of certain
permanence and ownership of land. This is also parallel to Israel’s
understanding of land as permanently belonging to God but temporarily belonging
to humans (Lev 25). Thanks is a sign of gratitude to God for his generosity and
constant upkeep of relationship with nature. Ownership of land gives us identity and accords citizenship.
Social life would have been quite
monotonous without variety of activities and festivities. The few celebrations
associated with agrarian life style were occasions for the Kuki people to relax and unwind their tired bodies. An interesting
gesture before killing mithun for
festivals, Thempu asks the animal to
hold no grudge against them. Thempu prays
to the spirits that he and the people are going to kill this for their need,
not because of sadistic reason.
Chavang
Kut
Chavang Kut was one festival
that made the Kukis celebrate the
bounty of God. It was also a time to meet friends and relax from manual works.
On this day, Thempu dedicates the
whole village. Merry making and drinking of wine is part of the celebration.
People prepare wine much ahead of time. They would also prepare changlhah – traditional Kuki bread. Young and old would join the
festival. Those great hunters would be first to drink wine as a sign of honour.
There would be sports like long jump, high jump, race, javelin throw, etc. A mithun will be tight to a pole. They
ears of the animal would be blocked with ashes, the eyes of the animal are covered
with a cloth. The animal is beaten black and blue with sticks all over the
body. The animals is tired and almost dead, but still standing. Then men will
jump over the animal as sport. As the high jump improves, a saipikhup shawl is laid over the back of
the
animal.
Then people jump again. If there are still competitors, more saipikhup shawls are laid over the back
of the animal. This feat will be spoken much in the village till the next kut.
Chang-Ai
Chang-Ai was a voluntary feast hosted by a
person for the rich harvest of paddy in a particular year. This encourages the
owner of the paddy not to hoard up but share the paddy to people by feeding the
whole village. This is a thanksgiving gesture and a sign of generosity.
If someone has taken about 1000 tins of paddy, the mother of that family will
celebrate Chang-Ai as a sign of
gratitude to God and she will offer a feast to the villagers. All the ladies of
the village will go to the field of that lady to carry paddy. When they return
with paddy bags, the lady of the house is seated at the veranda of her house. Thempu performs vaiphit over the head of the
household lady saying, “Today is your day of honour,
you are a hard worker, may you be blessed further.”
Sa-Ai
A
sharp shooter who has shot many big animals conducted this particular feast. Sa-Ai was performed to thank God and
also to declare to the village about his achievements. All the heads of the
animals the man had hunted will be exhibited at the entrance of his house. Mere
number of animals is not enough. He had to kill animals like Yak, Tiger, Lion, Elephant, Stag, Bear,
Hornbill, etc. The big animals will be exposed at the top and the small
animals will be at the bottom.
During Sa-Ai, there is the custom of drinking local beer (vaiju). While
sipping vaiju, those married men who
have not killed animals are asked to stand and take a support with the strap of
a basket as a sign of shame and defeat. Those who have killed animals will be
seated at the front with a turban called Mangvom.
The unmarried, newly married men were not allowed to partake of the wine
provided.
This ritual is done to thank God.
Belief is that when he dies, he has to go
along with those animals he killed. When a great hunter is about to die but
finds difficult to die, Thempu comes
and performs a ritual for his peaceful death saying, “Gather all the animals
you have killed and go peacefully.”
Sometimes, some hunters rise back to life and utters
“I am not able to gather and tame the animals I have killed.”
Usually, while celebrating Sa-Ai, Thempu erects a Shithing post in the portico of the sharp
shooter’s house. The man proclaims, ‘lililili…kathang
e, kathang e, salha hung in, vaphol lha hung in, sajuh
lha hung in, ngalchang lha hung in, humpi lha
hung in, keipi lha hung in, abon a hi tunia kaloupina
kasa tha nahiuve…
Then, along with other men who have come, they sing Han la – song of bravery.
Family understanding:
When
someone is born, the priest was called upon to offer sacrifice of thanks.
Relatives and neighbours come and wish the new born baby and mother. They bring
gifts to thank God and congratulate the mother. Marriage, Job, Achievements,
etc., are occasions for Thanksgiving these days.
Personal Application:
Birth
and death are two pages of life already written. No one has choice over these.
The former has begun and the latter is sure to come. There is only one page
left to be written – the page between Birth and Death. It may be small or big
but responsibility is ours.
Unfortunately,
most of the time, we are occupied by those people who hurt us or are against
us. This is normal. But, we need to be up-normal
to find reasons to thank each other. Count your blessings and name them one by
one. You can do this on daily or weekly
basis. Keep a diary and record your blessings.
You
spend your energy either in anger,
revenge, thanksgiving. Science tells us that energy is never over. It is in
the atmosphere, it only changes its space. Bad energy and good energy – both
vibrate and exist around us. Learn to thank yourself. Reward yourself after you
complete an important work. Once you have thankfulness-energy in yourself, you
will be able to give to others. It can vibrate more. Thanksgiving is a powerful
form of energy.
“Karate”
is a form of channelling energy of the body through hands, legs, elbows, knees,
etc. “Kara” means “empty” and “te” means “hand”. Every punch, kick or defence
is an execution of energy. Every move is important. Every move can be the last
move too. We have energy in us. We should channelize it creatively and
effectively. The energy in you can create or destroy you. Learn the art of
useful channelling of your energy – may be through thanksgiving, volunteering,
service. NDA’s motto is “Service before Self” (S
vā paramō dharma). Service is giving your energy to
someone or something. This is a positive vibration.
Occasions for thanksgiving:
(i) The Sabbath, (ii) The Passover and the
Unleavened Bread feast, (iii) The Offering of the First Fruits, (iv) Feast of
Weeks, (v) Feast of Trumpet, (vi) Day of Atonement (vii) Feast of Tabernacles
(Lev 23). You can personally create your own occasions for Thanksgiving.
*Further readings: Leviticus 23, Deuteronomy 16.
paulhowkeep@yahoo.co.in
paullelenhaokip@gmail.com
Involve in:
LIFENOWHERE
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