Todd spoke on fear this morning to an appreciative audience. Pictures were taken of him standing at the front, making his typical gestures during his speaking. ;)
After our meeting, we went to Peter and Heather's house for a lunch of Chinese food! During lunch we spoke to a former Hindu about Hinduism, the main religion in India.
Several interesting facts have come to light:
+Red or orange dots in the middle of the forehead mean that a woman is married
+Yellow dots mean that the girls just want to be attractive; they are unmarried
+Reincarnation is part of Hinduism, with man believed to be the final stage before heaven or hell
+Reincarnation is believed to occur 8.4 million times before the final stage of man
+There are 33 million gods in Hinduism; there are many major gods and many minor gods+Shiva is one of the major gods, worshiped out of fear, called the Destroyer
+Chili peppers and lemons are hung from bumpers of cars, front gates, and other things because they are believed to protect people from evil spirits or evil "eyes"
+Another reason children have eyeliner or dots on their faces is because it is believed that it will keep them from the evil "eyes"; this happens mostly frequently in the slums
+Hindus might kill others because they say that sin cannot be eliminated without eliminating the sinner
+Other religions are viewed as a threat to Hinduism and are treated as such
This religion is alive in India.
We in the States have no idea what it is like outside of our comfort zones. May we not cease to be thankful for what we have in both freedom and possessions and to remember those who experience hardship. May we sacrifice our resources, our time, and even our lives in order to bring help and hope.
