A Trip to India
While I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran, I took a trip to India. To get there I traveled overland through Afghanistan. That was the most devastated country I have ever been in. Granted, it was back in 1972, but I am sure after the war with Russia and then the United States it is not better off. Electricity was available only in the largest cities and then only until dark. I paid 25 cents a night for a clean bed and a complete dinner was only 10 cents.
I flew from Kabul to New Delhi, India. People lined the streets everywhere. There was no getting away from people. Idols were on every street corner. The smell of cows mixed with incense filled the air. It was the most intense culture I ever experienced.
I visited the Taj Mahal. It was completed in 1648 and was built to house the tomb of Shah Jehan’s wife. Upon his death his body was also placed there. Then it was on to Varanasi, the city of mourning in India. It is located on the Ganges River. Funeral fires burn twenty-four seven there. As I listened to widow’s wail and mourn from a nearby rower, I was overwhelmed by the hopelessness of those who have no hope. That sound has never left me. It serves as a constant reminder of man’s spiritual pain.
We have hope! Our future is secure in Christ. Not because we are perfect, but because He is perfect. Not because of our good deeds, but because of His sacrificial act.
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18 NIV
So interesting with a spiritual point. We are so blessed.
Hope restored, joy and peace, at Jesus feet all trife and worries cease. So thankful we have a God
of everlasting love. We need not turn elsewhere- thanks for sharing.