Hinduism, meet Jesus: Post for 9/30

It amazed me how well the story, This Blessed House, was perfectly timed with the Hinduism section in my World Religions class. No joke. We just started learning about Hinduism last Thursday. I really enjoyed being able to understand Sanjeev's and his wife's perspectives on finding the Christian symbols throughout their house in a more in-depth way. The author expresses Sanjeev's unease with keeping the symbols in his house but didn't really give a further explanation of why he didn't like it. There was also no explanation of why she loved the symbols and he didn't despite the fact that they shared the Hindu belief. Did you know that many Hindus actually believe that Jesus existed and that he was a divinity? You see, they believe in one creator who is distant and does not and cannot speak to us. The way this creator speaks to people is through manifestations of himself which are known as the gods to the Hindu people. Many believe that Jesus was a manifestation of divinity, of their creator. I also find it interesting that some Hindus that believe in Jesus often have pictures of Jesus, especially Catholic images, hung in their shops, restaurants, and homes. This brings us back to the story. This Hindu belief of Jesus as a manifestation of divinity helps us to make sense of why the wife, Twinkle, was okay with and even excited about finding and displaying these Christian symbols around their home. Why didn't the husband like it? Maybe he was one of those Hindus who doesn't believe Jesus is divine at all and was just an influential man. There are also Hindus who don't find worshiping Jesus appealing because of the cultural context of him around the world. Maybe that was what he was thinking? To be honest, I don't even think that I would have those symbols in my house either and I am a Christian. I wouldn't want to get too caught up in the symbols and no longer focus on the relationship that God wants with us. He doesn't want us to worship symbols; He wants us to worship Him. Plus, I think some of those pictures and statues are just kind of creepy looking.