"We've now been in India for 24 hours. The experience thus far has been one of overwhelming sensory overload, but has also been laced with consistently generous hospitality. I am surprised by the prevalence of images and statues of Jesus - even in our hotel lobby. Jesus is always light-skinned - even moreso than US depictions - a remant of the nation having been colonized by England for so long, I assume. Here the term 'secular' does not refer to the absence of faith as we often understand the word in western context. Instead, it speaks to the co-existence of multiple faiths - what a refreshing balm to lean into. However, that peaceful co-existence is being tested by the current Hindu Nationalist government which seeks to make all of India a Hindu nation. We are going to be learning more about that in our days here.
Today we took a 3-hour bus ride to Kottayam, still in Kerala. We visited 2 seminaries - one in the Syrian Orthodox tradition and another borne out of the Mar Thoma tradition. Our visit to the Syrian Orthodox Seminary brought the gift of a tour of the chapel and tea with students. The seminary's founder is interred inside the chapel and is from a long line of priests. We learned that family lines carry priesthood and the gentleman who shared the story of the seminary with us was a fourth generation priest. The chapel and altar had been refurbished in 2019 and it was magnificent. The colours, the ornate carvings, the images.
It should be noted that our visit, while scheduled, was simply to be a "look around" visit as the seminary was closed and most students were not on campus. However, a doctoral student noticed us and came directly to our group to offer over an hour of his time to share his story, his tradition and hospitality with us. We were, in effect, "surprise" guests and our friend, Father Mottye, had arranged for us to stop in but we were all surprised by the warm welcome since we had been prepared for just walking about. In the time it took for us to arrive, visit the chapel and learn a wee bit about the Syrian Orthodox tradition, a woman in the refectory area had prepared homemade Medu Vada (savoury donuts), fried bananas, and chai...homemade chai....
We were treated like royalty and were served a feast but the students and chef didn't join us to eat. From this tea, we traveled a short distance to the Mar Thoma Seminary in Kottayam. The Mar Thoma tradition is built upon the diciple Thomas' biblical teachings. We got to interact with the Mar Thoma students in a Q&A session followed by another tea - more fried bananas and homemade chai - it was lovely! Interestingly, we learned that extreme nationalism is as much an issue in India as it is in the US and we also share the same concerns around dimininished involvement of young people in the church. All students are men and they come from all over India and as well as outside the country.
Finally, we finished our day meeting with Father Jerry - a Jacobite priest - and his wife Chris to discuss their traditions (most aligned with Catholocism but separate from Catholocism). We had frank discussion about caste, gender, and LGBTQ inclusion in the Jacobite church and we enjoyed dinner together. I took notes on what Father Jerry shared with us as his words seemed prophetic and I wanted to revisit them:
- Vulnerability sometimes leads to isolation
- Sometimes being pushed to a wall can lead to a conversation with someone on the other side of the wall, and that conversation can lead to self acceptance. But, it requires the courage to say something and not remain quiet.
- To be in the church is a struggle
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