4. We are all in it together Dr. Ninan D. Kurunthottickal Page

Dr. Ninan D. Kurunthottikal*

As faithful believers, reconciled to God through His son Jesus Christ, we are in it together to try to bring about what can be described as an ethical and moral revival. It should begin in our neighbourhood and spread to the wider society. We should pray to God Almighty to give us the inner strength to lead by example holding onto our Christian faith based on the Holy Bible. As the commandment goes, we should love our neighbours as we love ourselves.

We are in it together to raise our voice against socioeconomic and political injustices, against religious intolerance and persecution and against gender inequalities. We are in it together to speak out against wars and oppression of vulnerable communities.

At this juncture, one is reminded about Frank Buchman's Moral Re-Armament Movement (MRA) of the latter half of the 20th century. He had hoped that a moral reawakening of men and women would go a long way in solving most of the ills of society and the wider world. We, the world-wide Christian Diaspora, need to take a non-denominational revivalist stance and we are all in it together. Frank Buchman's MRA was succeeded by The Initiative of Change.

As members of a worldwide 'Atonement Community' we can together lead the initiatives of change under the banner of 'FOCUS'. We owe a great debt to our parents' and grandparents' generations to uphold our faith and hand over to future generations a legacy of ' faith, hope and charity'.

We should respect all religions and faiths and teach our children and grandchildren to do the same. We should speak out against any bigotry and persecution in relation to gender, caste, colour or faith. And we are all in it together.

As a schoolboy in the early 1960s, I remember reading about Buchman's Moral Re-Armament movement in the Malayala Manorama. The late Chief Editor of Manorama was a fan of this movement, which was quite active in South India owing to the support of dignitaries like Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Rajmohan Gandhi.

Conrad Hunte, the West Indian cricket supremo, was an ambassador of the movement and travelled the world, working for better race relations through an MRA interra cial group. Interfaith dialogue is an area where through FOCUS, we can all work together towards harmonious race relations and a peaceful society.

As Marthomites with a strong faith enriched by generations first on the Pamba River basin and now world-wide, we are all in it together to embrace initiatives for change in moral, social, economic, educational, cultural and political fields. Let us reconcile ourselves with our brothers and sisters and build trust in the communities that we live in.

Sam Robert Band sang: ''We're all in this together So, keep moving, don't stop Keep moving, don't stop We're all in this together.''

*Dr. Ninan Daniel hails from the Kurunthottikal family in Kozhencherry, Kerala. He has a special interest in the history of the Mar Thoma Church. His other interests include a deep passion for the Malayalam language and literature. He has retired now after forty years of service in the NHS as General Practioner (GP). He is methodical in taking careful notes of Bible study sessions at the Maramon Convention and FOCUS had the privilege of publishing them.