Johnny Naga
If St. Paul is still alive today I am sure St. Paul will write a letter to Nagas like he wrote to Corinthians, Philippines, etc. (This is an imaginary letter and readers and Church leaders are requested to not to consider this article a heretic. The purpose of this letter is just for reflection only)
I give thanks to God for you in Jesus Christ. God in His kindness has given Nagas a spirit of truthfulness, virtue of kind heartedness and blessed with rich cultures among many tribes to live in the green hills and valleys. The seed of the word of God has come to you first among others. In the power given to me by Jesus Christ the son of God, I challenge you to rise up from your inactivity and make every Naga families a Christo Centric family, so that no Naga young lad and damsel will bring tears in the eyes of fellow Naga by living an unproductive life. Today is the day, my fellow Nagas, Stop fighting for freedom on earth but begin the freedom movement for your soul.
Since the message of Jesus Christ our Lord came into your land, you have made progress in the building of the Church. With the increase of believers among you, the size of your Church structure and compounds have become bigger and glamorous. To a great extend, the equilibrium of the size of your Church and deepening of your faith in the teaching of Jesus Christ and your Christian deeds are never proportionate. Your Church building has become just a simple piece of architect and your living example in accordance with the teaching of the gospel is sinking into the valley of crippling irrationalism and paralysing obscurantism.
I have heard about the wide confusion and many Nagas are in colossal disappointments in all spheres of Nagas. I have also heard that for many Nagas, life is a mirror in which you only see self and not a window through which you see other selves. The rich man in the bible went to hell, not because he was wealthy, but he was not tender hearted enough to see Lazarus and because he made no attempt to bridge the gulf between himself and his brother. I have learned about your situation in Nagaland where many voices and forces are urging you to choose the path of least resistance and many unholy pressures have unconsciously conditioned your minds and feet to move to the rhythmic drum-beat of the status quo. Many Nagas are afraid to fight for an unpopular cause and never found in the pathetic minority of two or three.
Inspite of the prevailing tendency to conform to many unholy pressures that you may be facing and experiencing, as Christian we have a mandate to be non-conformist but to transform by renewing your minds in the love of Christ with the conviction that Nagas are the citizen of the world of time and world of eternity. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I opines, many Nagas fear nothing more terrible than to take a position which stands out sharply and clearly in true spirit as Christian from the prevailing majority opinions. Your tendency in the current situation facing Nagaland is to adopt a view that is so ambiguous that it will include everything and so popular that it will include everybody. Along with this Nagas have grown an inordinate worship of bigness, finding security in that which is large and extensive, big tribes, big Church. In the current situation where many Nagas are suffering, there is a dire need for Naga men and women Christian who will courageously do battle for the truth in the power of Christ. Nagas must make a choice. Will you continue to march to the drumbeat of conformity and respectability, or will you, listening to the beat of a more distant drum, march to its echoing sound? Will you Naga, march only to the music of time or will you, risking criticism and abuse, march to the soul saving music of eternity?
It is midnight within the social order of Nagaland, engaging in a colossal and bitter contest for supremacy. This midnight in the social order and political order of Nagaland is paralleled by midnight in every internal Naga individual life. Deep cloud of anxiety and depression are suspended in Naga mental skies. More Nagas are emotionally disturbed today than any other time in Naga history. Nagas have come to the point of stand still at the cross-road unable to discern which path to travel. But under any circumstances one thing sustain my fellow Nagas, the voiceless voice of the Lord Jesus Christ within each of you. That was the leading voice which I followed on the road to Damascus and I follow still to this day. And still that voiceless voice of the Lord Jesus Christ is leading me and here I am, I will continue following that voiceless voice of the Lord Jesus Christ until I rest.
My dear fellow Nagas, Love is the most durable power in the world. This creative force so beautifully exemplified in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the most potent instrument available in Nagaland’s quest for peace and security. Do not depend yourself my fellow Nagas on force. Many of you Nagas, have become self-centered, deficit in your thought, easily sway away by the popular falsehood story. By His grace you are baptised, in His grace build the foundation of Nagaland anchored in the power of Love like in the ancient days of Naga society. Naga should build a society base on the love of Christ a Culture Centric in Peace, Plans and Hopes for the future. So that people who come after you will celebrate that culture we leave behind. A culture which foster dictate of reason in the world where reason is sacrificed at the altar of selfish gain. A culture for collective thinking rather than patronizing individual idea. A culture of prudent learning that will become a source of richness and innovation. A culture of Integrated, Comprehensive learning with philosophical bend of mind yet full of spiritualism and serenity of mind. A culture of building the connect between physical science and spiritual world. A culture of web connecting the young for benevolent world. A culture fertile for nurturing young contemplative and articulative leader to comprehend the inner event and what is happening in the society. In the end the culture is to become an industry, to produce breakthrough leaders, with extra ordinary capabilities, to envision as well as to plan and implement strategies, to lead the society with direction.
To my fellow Naga Church leaders, be the advocate of peace of the Lord Jesus, rather than looking for material gain and popularity in your ministry. And to my fellow Naga politician, be wise and always discern the will of God by transforming your mind in the grace of the risen Lord in your attempt to govern Nagaland. When your soul is in trouble know that “God gonna take care of you”.
May the heavenly Father, in union with His only son Jesus Christ our Lord and through the grace of the Holy Spirit purify your love and help you Nagas to see and know the quality of love came from heaven in Jesus Christ from all eternity. May the grace of Lord Jesus transform the whirlwind despair of Nagaland into warm and reviving breeze of hope. Amen
(The rest left to the best spiritual imagination of the readers for the betterment of Naga society) 2ND IMAGINARY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO NAGAS IN THE PRESENT SITUATION OF NAGA SOCIETY TO BE CONTINUED....
