Friday, April 18, 2014

Veil of Veronica


Veronica said in mind
This fabric I weave is for my Lord-
Who mended the torn fabric of my life;
For the last fourteen years, worst was my sufferings
Much tears I shed and it soaked my apron always;
Afraid to look back that darkened past, where
I wept in silence, my sighs were only my companions;
I wished the nights would not have ended
And the day would not have broken out
Never I wanted to see anyone, and
Never had I wanted to live any more.
But death did not come as I wished
So I continued my life in complete misery.
Medicines I took much, treatments I had many
But all were in vain, my ailment continued the same.

I heard a prophet from Nazareth called Jesus
Is healing patients either by a touch or at a glance
Or by a word of command, all sound unbelievable!
Without a second thought I made my way to Nazareth
The sun was burning high, I was very weak,
Yet it did not turn me back, my lagging legs moved forward.

Huge was the mammoth, I saw an ocean of men,
In the midst I saw him, like a sun amidst dark clouds
I saw his merciful eyes, calm smiling face; at one glance
I made up my mind, he is a prophet, true son of God!

Very merciful and kind, I can tell my sorrows without fear
If I could reach him and go him near, who will help me?
I felt alas! Feeble was my body, strength was no more
The crowd was heavy, I stood away a while helplessly;
"God, helper of hopeless and the weak come for my rescue"
My mind prayed so in silence, for I was so tired,
Tears rolled down through my cheeks,
 I wept a while, then a serene tranquility and stillness I felt-
I felt as if a cold breeze wrapping round my worn-out frame.

All fatigue vanished, I regained a juvenile vigor,
Heard someone say from inner self “God cannot act until
A sinner forsake his sins and the ways of sin he pursues;
If you have any grudge against anyone in your mind,
Forget it now and forgive him forever, for God forgives everyone.

To err is human, to forgive is divine, and you forgive 
Your enemy unconditionally, and pray for his repentance
 For heaven rejoices when a sinner repents, and
God does not want any one perish in his sins.
Everyone must leave his sins and must come back to God
That only God wishes to see, nothing other than this.

My blessings won`t work on you while your enmity
Stay fresh in your mind and while devil dwells in you
Hence, first go and compromise with the differed one
And then come to me seeking any help you want on earth.
Cure from diseases, money for sustenance,
Home for living, job, life mate, anything you ask;
It will be given; for I am the Lord and you are my child,
Give up all hatred from your mind and love one another,
For we are a family, I am your father, men are my children
How I will bear, when you fight each other; every father
Wishes his children live in unison and in great harmony-
I too wish the same, to win the world,
Be good to all and love one another,
This is the only covenant you are to keep in mind
The only covenant that brings you, all happiness on earth.

Cleanse your heart by giving up hatred and enmity
And make a clean platform for God to work;
Envy, enmity, hatred, grudge, jealousy and vengeance
Are the road blockers of divine grace?
Expel them from your life;
Then heaven will descend on you
And experience the sweetness
That God has kept alone for you.

No disease, no poverty, no problem will harass you,
Safe in the hands of God, you are forever!
Who loves me more, will obey my words and will become
Heirs of heavenly father and will inherit the treasures
That is heaped for you in heavenly cellars.

"Forgive, forget, compromise and pray for enemies"                          
All sound well and easy to preach-
If you were not ever offended, wounded and assaulted;
If ever you were once being a victim of
Any offence, assault, or harassment,
Would feel how impossible, and
IMPOSSIBLE this advice to obey.
My rebellious mind murmured in great protest.

-There was enough reason for her to keep
Vengeance ignited in her mind-

"Veronica, what you said is true,
It is impossible for everyone who is born of flesh
But is possible for every man who listens Jesus
And who wishes to follow him and accept
Him as his savior, master, leader and lord.
Hence you pray for His grace, he will give you strength-
To forgive all trespasses against you.
Fold your arms, close your eyes
See Jesus in your mind and tell him
"Jesus, I accept you as my savior
I wish to lead a life entirely pleasing for you
Help me Jesus, lead me Jesus on your way
I want to be with you always!
Give me grace to forgive and forget
Everyone who has done wrong against me"

My mind was not under my control
Ferociously I wept, no shame I felt'.

Abruptly I felt my past is taken away
And a new life is opened before me
In great ecstasy I stammered
"Father, I forgive, I forgive, I forgive
All trespasses against me, in thy name;
I only need your love, I only need your love
I don`t want to take revenge any more,
Fill me with your divine love
And take me as your child.

I lifted my sunken face to look at Jesus
Then I found him near passing by
Along with the flowing mob.
I stretched out my hand in an ecstasy
To touch him, the mob was flooding forward
Hardly my finger could touch his robe;
Yet he stopped there and asked the crowd
Who touched me now? Power went out from me,
In trembling voice I confessed
It was I, my lord, who touched your rob
 I apologize you for my iniquity.

Jesus turned to me and smiled
Blessed me and said, “Peace be with you,
Your faith shall save you"
Sooner I felt relief all over my body
And found I am relieved of all my ailments
Which pestered me for years.

My Lord went with the mob,
I came back home in great peace and ease
My mind was full of happiness
And laughter was always coming out
Of my control, to that extend
To feel others I have gone mad.
My mind was so happy and was lifted to
A state of unending happiness;
I felt all tears disappeared from my life.

When I look back my miraculous cure
I realize a fundamental truth
As long as our mind is impure
We will not receive Gods` grace.
When my mind was full of vengeance and hatred
Jesus stood far away from me
But when I pardoned my foe I saw Jesus
Very near at my hand`s reach.

As a token of my love and thanks giving
I wanted to give something special to my Lord
Something very special, I affirmed in my mind;
After much thought I decided to make a veil
For it can be used to protect Jesus’ head
From the burning sun through which he always walk.
Sure he will like it and will remember me
 Whenever he see it and wears it.

Veronica put all her mind and time
To make the veil more beautiful
Losing her meals she sat late at night
To finish the work at the earliest.

Today she woke up very early
To finish the last touching on it
She was sure, like every Jew
Her Lord will come to Jerusalem
On the Passover day to pray 

In the twilight Veronica saw 
People running helter-skelter,
From their whispering
She could make out something
Worst has already happened.
Every one feared that one day
Jesus will be assassinated
By the priests and the lawyers
For they had spite against Jesus
And His teachings they abhorred,

Veronica joined the crowd
With the veil in her hand
Quite a distance away she came across
Jesus, carrying a heavy cross on his shoulder
And wearing a crown of thorns on his head
Blood was flowing down through his forehead
And face, making a dreadful look.

Veronica drew out the veil she brought
And wiped Jesus' face as if a mother
Wipes her child with great affection.
The brokenhearted Veronica kept the veil with her
And when she opened it with great remorse
Mysteriously she found outlines of Jesus' face on it.

Jesus still imprints his holy face on those hearts
Who has forsaken their sins and forgiven others.
Let us be his best friends by pursuing a life
Totally void of selfish motives, and selfish interests;
A life full of service to our fellowmen.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once the writer of this verse had a similar experience in his life. One evening his mind was very perturbed, for solace he Prayed to Jesus. Thinking of Jesus he was scribbling on the ground carelessly. At the end when he came to senses he found his careless scribbling’s have gained the form of Christ lying on the cross. Beyond our expectation, Jesus stands nearer to us.

© 2014 Sebastian Thottunkal. 

Thursday, April 14, 2011

आँसू



रोता रहता है बच्चा एक पेड़ के नीचे
जान नहीं मुछे वो क्यों ?
प्रफुल्ल कुसुम एक निकट खिला है
और गा रही है चिड़िया गाने मधुर!
मन्द पवन, सुन्दर गगन सब
निकालती है दुःख की बात मन से
पर क्या हुआ इस छोटे बच्चे को
रोने को इस दोपहर में अकेला!

ऊपर रविवर प्रज्वलित है खूब
और इधर उधर लाल रंग की बादल भी है
नीचे लतिका खिले-खुले
खूबसूरत है पूरे ब्रह्मांड देखने को
पर बुरा क्या हुआ इतने छोटे बच्चे के साथ
ये चिल्लाने को इतनी जोर से
जिज्ञासा उमड़ आया मेरे मन में
और दौड़ पहुंचा उसके सामने !

दंग रह गया में एक पल के लिए
मन टूट गया मेरा दुःख से
एक ताज़ा खिले फूल के मृदु
पंखुड़ी जैसे सुन्दर चेहरा
आँसू से भरा हैं; खराब किया
मेरी मन की सब शान्ति !

खबर मिली पूछने पर, वो क्यों
रोते रहते है अकेला वह छाया में
भूका है वो दिनों से
और अब भूख उसे खाने लगे है !

अकाल पड़ा अचानक उस गांव में
और ले गयी उसकी माता को मृत्यु
अब मदद करने को उसकी माँ नहीं है
भूख मिटाने को कोई चीज़ नहीं हैं
क्या करेगा  बेचारा बच्चा रोने के सिवा
क्रूर कठोर दुनिया हैं सामने !

यह बगीचा नहीं होवे यदि
इसमें फूल नही खिलते तो !
कैसे एक घर घर बने यदि
वहां एक घरवाली नहीं तो !
सारा संसार ऊसर बने, यदि
बच्चे न खेले वहां तो !
वे हैं फूल, वे हैं मृदु पराग
वे हैं दुनिया के मुख्य जीवन धारा !
जैसे सितारों हैं आसमान को
वैसे ही बच्चे दुनिया को !

शतक यह है बीसवीं की, मानव के
सुख की खोजना अभी आगे ही बड़े
पर शांति कभी नही मिलेगा कवी कहते
यदि संसार में एक भी बच्चा हो
जिसकी आखों मैं है भूख की आँसू
भूख से जले एक पेट हैं तो
कैसे भर सकते हो पेट तुम्हारा ?
फटे-फूटे कपड़ों के बीच
कैसे साहब बनके घूम सकते हो तुम !

यह है भाई, यह है बहन
वह बूढी-बूढा माँ-बाप जैसा
हर बच्चा हमारा हैं  और
हम आपस में भाई-बहन है!
आँसू पोछो सब आँखों से
मदद करो सब को जीने की
भगवान की पसन्द उन में हैं
जो देखता है भगवान को गरीबों में !

Copyright © 1975-2011 - thottunkal.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Pangs of a lover – An original hearty poem for the Valentine’s day



As the sun began to sink down in the west,
A sort of restlessness began to dwell into my heart.
It is not the west wind, nor it is the cold dusk
That brings this agony to my mind.

I am away, far away, from my loving dear.
Her tear, hot drops of tears still roll over my heart;
Alas! No words can console her robust grief.

'Grief'! 'Restlessness'! 'Pain'! And 'Sorrow'!
Come out from all the nooks of the entire world.
Come, come and dwell into my heart
And convert me into a mass of senseless junk!
Oh! 'Nature', the healer of thousand wounds,
Do not stretch out thy consoling arms
For, I love this burning pain of love.

This pain, tenders always my heart
To feel the tenderness of my sweetheart.
Pain is not always painful; I conceive
For it always imparts us great pleasure
When it is for our dear ones' sake!

(Originally written in the winter of 1994, while staying away from family. Digged out for the Valentine’s day)

Copyright © 2010 - thottunkal.blogspot.com. All rights reserved

Valentine's Day Poem,Valentine Day Love Poems,Valentine Poems
Valentine's Day Poem,Valentine Day Love Poems,Valentine Poems
Broken heart valentines day poems

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Two Brothers



Cain and Abel - the first brothers on earth;
They lived atop a mountain so happy and gay.
Sporting and racing everyday on the hillside
And running home at the dusk, tired and torn.

Cain jumps to his bed and he falls asleep soon,
But Abel goes on his knees before his God.
He takes stock of the day and thanks the Heavenly Father
For all the fun and sport he had all along the day.

Days went by; weather changed many times;
They grew in size, their perspective entirely different!
To avert famine, farming is best; Cain took to farming,
He won in it, plenty of grains he reaped.
Store houses, he built one after the other.
Cain laid hope in his strength and in his wisdom.


Abel grew in humility and knew, how fragile
A man, if divine providence does not avail..!
Abel loved sheep so he became a shepherd;
Every day, he bowed his head before Almighty
And renewed his friendship with the eternal father!
Before any work he started, he prayed to God;
Before he eat anything, he raised his bread to
Heaven, and thanked god for the meal he was given..!
In every laughter and in every sorrow,
He praised and thanked, and thanked God always!

Cain felt awe at Abel's way of living;
For he abhorred all time worship and thanks giving;
"Who knows there is a God in heaven, and
Has anyone seen him anywhere above?
If God is there in heaven let Him be there;
For our meals, we must thrive hard.
Let god live happily in heaven
Enough work he may have there,
Why we drag him to ground, here we are masters!!
At our whims and fancies we will live here."
This was the attitude Cain kept throughout his life.

Blasphemy! Blasphemy! Abel thought in mind
But he did not dare to argue, for he knew his brother,
Cruelty to co-creatures was craze for him,
Hence he prayed to god for his enlightenment.
And Abel stealthily continued his way of life.
Every day he went nearer to heavenly father.

Cain got bumper crops once, joy made him mad!
"Plenty of grain I’ve got, all my skill and effort,
I will enjoy it alone for I won it by my skill."
From the heap he took some grain carelessly
And made an offering to heavenly Father;
When found no sign of acceptance he scared not a bit.
For his faith in God was mere an assumption.

For Abel God was a real perception
He worshiped God with his whole heart
And knew Him by blood and soul;
Each breath he took was for His glory,
And every thought was an offering to God!

He took his sheep to wide pastures for grazing,
And led them to calm waters for drinking,
Often he knelt on the green grass spread before him
And looked up on the blue sky to see God's face;
He thanked God for the growing herd he was given,
And the wide pastures for grazing them well;

Among the herd he selected a wholesome lamb
And with great devotion he made a grateful offering.
By opening the sky with lightning and thunder
God accepted the offering, and pleased in him.
"Lo, Wind, thunder, fume, lightning and fire,
What the heck is happening there,"
Cain ran to Abel’s den, to see what’s going on.
From Abel’s description he learned
God came down to accept his offering!
Cain perceived, God is not a myth, He is a reality.

The thought, Abel will win all the love of God
Made Cain once again mad, his wrath roused,
His jealousy went up, for vengeance
He accused discrimination from the part of God;
And Cain hit Abel violently on his face
The most brutal and inhuman crime
Firstly happened on earth, the soil was
Soaked with his brother’s flowing blood;
Abel breathed his last!

Soon Abel was taken to Lord’s lap
There he was crowned in heaven’s glory and got
All the mirth and glee that Heaven alone had!!

The earth, the plants, and all the creatures in the world
Turned against Cain; he lost all that he had earned hard,
And could not produce any more! Who can stand
When the whole nature turns enemy to someone?

Worship God; He is the master of all, avert all type of
Sacrilegious deeds from our life;
Otherwise ruin and disaster will carry us away!
Cain led a desperate life later;
Died of poverty, disease, and full of sufferings!
Leave aside all hatred jealous and vengeance,
For it will lead to bloodshed and disasters!!

Your each deed is a seed to germinate and produce
And it will bring you tenfold return from each of it;
If your deed is good and virtuous you will reap virtues,
If it is of evils, prepare to fill your bag with full of evils.
You are your Destiny Makers; why you abuse your Lord?
He has given the covenant to make your life brighter
Obey His Words and follow his ways
And make your life more cheerful and meaningful!

~ Sebastian

Copyright © 2008 - thottunkal.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.
Picture courtesy Honolulu Academy of Arts

Friday, August 15, 2008

Pangs of a lonely tree!



Since four score years, I stand here in your grove
Seeing all that happens near and around
Unscrupulous cutting of my fellow trees
Have almost made this ground a desert land.

Hear my prayer and song, Oh! my dear friend
A song that comes out frome my heart and soul
And save yorself and countrymen altogether
From the impending disaster that awaits you near.

Rear me around your field, Oh, dear friend
For my leaves will provide you a cool shade
When hard toil and sivere sun exhaust you
A permanant arbour I will give to rest and relax.

I avert cyclones and draught by my might,
And bring the underneath nutriants to the surface soil
For rainfall and pleasant weather I must thrive well;
Each breath I take, purifies your breathing air.

Fruit in plenty I give at no cost
Firewood you can take at any amount
For a roof over your head, my timber comes
Nothing waste in me, a business eye would say.

Bees make their hives on my trunk and
For you they collect honey from my flowers
A swing hung on my branch will give all sports
That your children need on their holidays.

I can speak a lot, what we have done to men and earth
But who is there to listen me, you are always too busy
Bear in mind, friend, if you plant a tree in your lifetime
It will tell the generations that you had once come on earth

What better monument one can make on earth
Better than a tree that lasts for generations
Stop your nonsense of unveiling statues for memory
Plant, plants everywhere and save the land for ever!


~ Sebastian
Copyright © 2008 - thottunkal.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Father and child

Oh god, my heavenly father
I stand near your feet with folded arms
With bowed head and tearful eyes
Full of repentance and great fear.

Oh god, you are almighty;mountains-
Tremble at your sight and oceans flee
Thunder, lightning, and storm
Wait for your orders to sweep
All that stand against thee

I fathom oh lord, you are a god of love
More merciful than frightful,
More helping than rebuking
More caring and more loving.

Father, I lay my trust in you
For I am your child, where I go elsewhere
Wash all dirt and clean me
Wrap me in your prescious robe
And keep me in your lap ever and ever.

Hugg me to your bossom oh lord,
Closer and closest to your chest
Rebellious is the nature of every human soul
I fear, my father, I may fall again.

~ Sebastian
Copyright © 2008 - thottunkal.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

The Lighted Lantern




"Build thy castle on a mount and
Let its architecture be shown to all
Light your candle place it on a stick
For light is to be illuminated and
Not to be suppressed under a bushel"

All this was His command from above
Celestial, mundane or what it be
Is true and true everywhere

We light this candle oh! Lord
In thy name and faith to behold
Wind! we see mightier outside
Yet we light it, oh! Lord, in thy name

Night, storm, shower so severe
Feeble is our flame to resist and glow
Yet we feareth not a little, Oh! Lord
For we see the wings of thy angel around

Coal makes not its presence in night
Coke never shows its presence in darkness
But a glowworm light is more enough
To make its way in heavy night

We light this lantern of service
And place it amidst kindling stuffs
Kindle, Oh! Lord, kindle every dormant stuff
For thy light is needed everywhere!

~ Sebastian
Copyright © 1975-2008 - thottunkal.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.