Abraham's Children!

I'm taking a very intersting class namely "Abraham's Children" run by three scholars from three different religions: Jews, Christian and Islam. It has been my concern to know more deeply those three religions, because historically we can trace our root to Abraham. We are Abraham's Children. Perhaps by telling who I am, it will be clear why interreligious dialogue is important for me. I am a Javanese. I grew up in a Muslim area in central Java, Indonesia, where Christianity is less than 1%. My parents and relatives mostly are Muslims. I became a Catholic when I was fourteen years old. I became a Catholic because of my education, from elementary school until high school I studied in the Catholic school run by the Jesuit priests. I was enrolled at the Catholic school because it was the best school in my area. In terms of facility, my school had everything. Catholic Schools in Java usually serve the middle and high-class people. For the first time after many years I had the opportunity to interact actively with Muslims. My friends were mostly Muslims. To be a Catholic has been a privileged for me. I cannot deny that. Being a Catholic in my own area is like I declaring myself different from you. At least, I could say that I have a better education (than most Indonesians), health insurance and some other privileges. But at the same time, I am alienated from my origin, my culture as a Javanese. People look at me like a stranger, because being a Javanese and a Muslim are seen as identical. Javanese Catholicism is almost entirely a European transplant. For centuries missionaries from Holland had come to Java with the aim of conquering souls for Christ. They built churches, hospitals, and schools. I am one of the Javanese people who taste and enjoy those “facilities”. The stereotype that I usually hear from my fellow Muslims is that being a Christian is to follow a colonist. I would say that the idea of colonialism is still there. It is not easy to be a Catholic and a Javanese at the same time. People consider that to be a Javanese is to be a Muslim. I think that is true because Islam in Java has a different face. Clifford Geertz notes that Islam in Java has its own identity that has mingled with Javanese culture especially mysticism. Islam is not alien for most Javanese. My struggle with my identity brings me to a “strange attitude”. Even though I am a Catholic, I still celebrate Ramadan. Practically, I follow almost every celebration in my culture. From my experience, I would say that dialogue is imperative in a pluralistic world. It is not a ”strategy” to conquer souls for Christ as if we had a “scenario” to “christianize” others. As a theologian I would say that the scenario belongs to the Holy Spirit while we try to listen to her/him. Dialogue has to do with spirituality. Spirituality is a living faith in daily life. As a theologian, this particular course is not only about knowing others better but also about learning from each other.

Valentine- the market of love!

Apa yang paling istimewa di hari Valentine? Orang menyebutnya sebagai hari kasih sayang, sebagai saat yang tepat mengungkapkan rasa sayang kepada orang special. Mengingat kembali dulu waktu SMA kayaknya harus diakui bahwa hari Valentine memang special terutama bagi mereka yang sedang fall in love. Mengikuti trend kayaknya sudah menjadi bagian dari sifat anak muda. Secara alami mereka tergoda untuk kelihatan hebat, romantis, penuh perhatian, pokoknya the best lah di mata orang yang special. Ketika umur sudah mulai merangkak (belum tua banget lho) paradigma baru mulai tercipta. Apa yang disebut cinta romantis kemudian sedikit di beri makna dan arah baru. Romantisme kemudian tidak berhenti pada perasaan saja tetapi mengantar pada komitmen. Bahkan romantisme adalah bumbu dari komitmen kita. Romantisme tanpa komitmen adalah hidup langit di antara binta, rembulan, ombak. Sementara komitmen tanpa romatisme adalah kering, hambar seperti masakan tanpa bumbu. Komitmen dan romatisme hendaknya saling melengkapi. Kebanyakan orang suka romantisme tapi takut pada komitmen jangka panjang. Aku kira itulah sebab dari gagalnya cinta. (ehm...). Komitmen yang disertai romantisme membuat kita hidup di alam nyata, menginjak bumi dan bukan dalam mimpi seperti digambarkan di film-film atau syair-syair lagu cinta. Logika syair lagu cinta seringkali terbalik, ia tidak lagi merepresentasikan pengalaman manusia, tetapi justru menjadi "mimpi" yang hendak kita capai. Dan kadangkala mimpi tetaplah mimpi nun jauh di sana jika tidak disertai cara memujudkannya.

Menurut aku satu sisi dari kerinduan manusia yang kita sebut romantisme kini telah di marketkan. Ada istilah "the market of love". Valentine adalah salah satunya. Seperti dilaporkan CNN setidaknya 10 juta kartu valentine dikirim hari ini, 85% nya dikirim oleh kaum hawa (perempuan lebih romantis?). Ada apa di balik data tersebut? Secara ekonomi kantor pos dan produsen kartu akan diuntungkan. Secara tidak sadar kita telah terjebak dalam jaring-jaring pasar market of love. Seperti kebanyakan orientasi pasar adalah kapital, so cinta pun telah dipasarkan.

So....Valentine hendaknya mengingatkan kita akan apa yang imperative dalam keseharian kita yaitu komitmen untuk mencintai (ceile....).

back to school!

Vacation is over, back to school. Today is the first class, but I stay at home, I don't have class. Tomorrow will be my first class. J-term (the class I took the whole January) was over last week. Thank God for the result I got last semester. There is alway a reason to give thanks for the guidance of God. I started my classes last semester with lamentation but I ended it up with a joyful moment, snappy ending. I got a very nice result for my MA classes. I myself never thought that I would be able to do the best. But you know miracle happens when I expect it. I did well. Perhaps I just need to be more comfortable with my new method in study ( it's my secret, I won't tell you..he..he...). I am lucky to study here in the USA especially there is a freedom to choose your own research. Once you love thing then the next step seems so easy. It works like that. For example for my cross cultural class, I decided to make a research about theology in Asia. It's just amazing when I was in Indonesia I never really studied this topic. Once I was going to the library and I found a lot of books regarding that topic. So, i's just like swimming in the ocean. I can catch the fish I want. Also I can take advantage from the online library such as De Paul University, the University of Chicago and almost all schools of theology around Chicago. That's the benefit that I get from the library. I can make my own research and even declare myself as a researcher. Being a student is always interesting for me. Ehm....for how long? Study is an ongoing process.