Monday, July 12, 2004
The gods never answered...Part 2
My mother was going to kill us. I wanted to scream and run away, but I couldn't move and my voice froze in terror. Trancelike, my mother's face contorted as she opened the box of matches and tried to light one.
I closed my eyes; my sister clutched my arm, whimpered, and suddenly screamed, "oh God, help us!"
Mother immediately fell to the floor unconscious. I quickly jumped to her side, searched her pockets for the key, and fled to safety.
When my sister and I returned home later in the afternoon, my mother had cleaned the house and was busy cooking the evening meal as if nothing had happened. We were tense, but no one talked about the incident. The house was quiet the rest of the day.
That's when I started struggling with the doubts and questions over my faith in Hinduism, a religion that had given us only pain, trauma, and agony. Why did we have to worship snakes? Could fire really purge us of our sins and end the cycle of rebirth? How could the gods justify my mother's attempt to kill us? I cried to God, "When will it all end, and what will be the life hereafter?"
One day a blind women, who was a Christian, stopped at our home, asking if someone would lead her to a "house meeting" nearby. I volunteered, but my mother sternly warned me to beware of associating with Christians.
"Under no circumstances are you allowed to enter a Christian church!" she shouted. "we are Hindus, and Hindus do not forsake their religion!"
Her warning only increased my curiosity, so I entered the house with the old women.
Click here to go to Part 3
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I closed my eyes; my sister clutched my arm, whimpered, and suddenly screamed, "oh God, help us!"
Mother immediately fell to the floor unconscious. I quickly jumped to her side, searched her pockets for the key, and fled to safety.
When my sister and I returned home later in the afternoon, my mother had cleaned the house and was busy cooking the evening meal as if nothing had happened. We were tense, but no one talked about the incident. The house was quiet the rest of the day.
That's when I started struggling with the doubts and questions over my faith in Hinduism, a religion that had given us only pain, trauma, and agony. Why did we have to worship snakes? Could fire really purge us of our sins and end the cycle of rebirth? How could the gods justify my mother's attempt to kill us? I cried to God, "When will it all end, and what will be the life hereafter?"
One day a blind women, who was a Christian, stopped at our home, asking if someone would lead her to a "house meeting" nearby. I volunteered, but my mother sternly warned me to beware of associating with Christians.
"Under no circumstances are you allowed to enter a Christian church!" she shouted. "we are Hindus, and Hindus do not forsake their religion!"
Her warning only increased my curiosity, so I entered the house with the old women.
Click here to go to Part 3
