Kirkiescreativitiy

06/10/2022

Well done! To our sibling Paul for a fabulous, intense, passionate musical production to support the cast of this Tamil play 'Ponniyin Selvan'. Love and Blessings Kirk/ Kirkie

Audience Interview and Scenes of PerformanceDuration: 25 MinutesPlace of Performance : Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore

14/03/2022

As a result of Covid-19 and the lockdown, the Anglo-Irish Province adopted a new way of being Church by gathering creative ways to share the Word of God. Early in the pandemic, the communications team began building an online presence for the Oblates and those of the Oblate family.
We began with short daily online morning prayer with the focus reflecting on the Gospel of the day. Leading these daily prayers are lay people, Oblate priests and brothers from the Province. You may have seen some of their faces, both the young and the old in the opening sequence. It has been a great collaborative effort and from feedback which is clearly much appreciated from the Anglo-Irish Province and beyond, with the most distanced viewer living in Japan.
Complementing the online prayer initiative, our London Retreat centre developed some new offerings and these have included three very successful retreat programmes; two of which were in Advent and the other in Lent. Other opportunities from the Centre included art sessions facilitated by a lay person who spent lockdown with the Tower Hill Oblate community. In addition to these, the Provincial youth team offered evenings for the young people which were very well received.
From Scotland, an Enneagram course was ably led by an Oblate from Leith for a smaller number of participants. In Advent 2020, there was a very successful Zoom Christmas carols led by lay Partners in Mission and a Friend of St. Eugene where musicians and singers, lay and ordained Oblate people joined us from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, UAE, India, and Australia as one Oblate family!
Using digital technologies, new avenues have been created through which we all can connect with the Oblates. This aspect of the Province can only grow as we seek to find new ways to use our online presence to communicate the Word of God with friends Province wide and even worldwide.
THANK YOU!

14/03/2022

Faith matters while we try to grasp and deal with the nature of deadly conflict in Ukraine

The current invasion of Russia on Ukrainian territory on the 24th February 2022 is the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II. Just when we thought life couldn’t get any worse with post covid, we find this painful chapter of war continually invading our television. I recall someone once asked me, if you could be ‘god’ for one day what would you do? I would stop intolerance and promote humanity.

So, how do we begin to grasp what is going on in the heads of World leaders power games between Vladimir Putin’s Russia trying to expand its influence and regain territories from its former Soviet Union countries like Ukraine, Byelorussia and many others while equally, at the same time, the NATO Alliance of America and the West also expanding its own reign into Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia as part of the former Soviet Union block. Do we have to think of the situation like a ‘chess board’ and constantly mind reading as to who is making the next move or pre-emptive strike of ‘check mate’ to cause the end game, whatever that may be!

The crux of the matter is that Russia entering Ukrainian territory was it felt its neighbours were arming themselves with deadly military weapons and Ukraine’s desire to join NATO was a step too far and too close for comfort with Russia’s borders. Inevitably, Putin and his military advisors decided to embark on a full scale invasion of Ukraine by air, land and sea with collaboration from Byelorussia and de-militarise the whole country and not just the Eastern parts of Donetsk and Luhansk as it originally intended. They perceived this red line from NATO as a serious threat and even went so far as to calling the need for “Denazification” of the Ukrainian political establishment. The irony is the current president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, is Jewish and comes from a theatrical background!

The daily onslaught and huge loss of life to the Ukrainian citizens has resulted in Zelensky pleading for Ukrainian air space to be closed off to avoid the possibility of Ukraine being wiped off the world map and neither Europe nor America are willing to that as they feel doing so
could possibly trigger World War III.

‘Often times, war and violence are between people, not only at the interstate level, but at home, at work, and at university. Violence or extreme aggression is related to, for example, killing unborn children. Mother Teresa said that the cause of the Third World War was precisely this aggression, this r**e. There is also violence in families. This aggressor or foe is not only far to the east and getting closer – but he can be very close. In the same apartment, office’
We could say in terms of blood lines that Russians and Ukrainians are like first cousins.

Pope Francis addressed this firm stance against war last autumn at the St. Egidio community in their two-day Peace Meeting in Rome. He prayed that “God would "demilitarize the human heart," The Holy Father's talk reflected the ambivalence of the Catholic moral tradition when it comes to war. Just recently, Pope Francis pleaded with the Russian Ambassador in Rome to stop the bloodshed emanating from the devastating effects of this conflict.

Recently, ‘a group of Russian Orthodox priests launched an open petition calling for an immediate ceasefire to the war with Ukraine and criticized the suppression of non-violent protests demanding peace. In the petition, which already has nearly 300 signatures after being launched earlier this week, the priests and archpriests said they are each appealing personally “to everyone on whom the cessation of the fratricidal war in Ukraine depends, with a call for reconciliation and an immediate ceasefire.” The appeal is considered unusual because the Russian Orthodox Church, especially at the leadership level, has long been considered a reliable ally of the Kremlin. Notably, there are no metropolitans among the signatories to the petition, the most senior figures in the Russian Orthodox hierarchy’.

There have also been mass protests in cities across the world and including some in cities across Russia which have lead to many arrests. Sanctions have been placed on not just Russian Oligarchs, bank accounts being frozen out, SWIFT bank access being stopped and now Russia’s key resources of Gas and Oil being blocked by the West and America. Russia in turn have blocked media channels from the West and also, flights entering its own air space as well as increasing the prices of oil and gas in a tit-for-tat reaction.

Some questions for us to consider in a civil democratic society:

* Are the voices of the poor civilian and vulnerable persons with limited mobility being ignored and sacrificed as pawns to the weapons intention of their political leaders?

* Are talks on both sides of the divide just a mere window dressing to appease their own agendas in the current conflict?

Are protests failing to serve their intended purpose?

* Whose voices are being picked up by media on both sides and which ones are being suppressed which must never be known or told?

How many more deaths need to be at the receiving end of a cruise missile, illegal cluster bombs, fighter jets and heavy artillery machinery? What does that say about the sacredness of human life?

Is the clash of civilisations and ideologies under Communist rule and democratic rule inevitably leads to a power battle where the strongest always wins?

The threats of Nuclear warfare, though the actual use of nuclear missiles would be much more devastation as its radiation would wipe out whole countries never mind its own. The comparison would be nothing like what we have seen in Nagasaki and Hiroshima with the atomic bombs used by the Americans on the Japanese. So, the recent fires at the Nuclear plant in Ukraine would be a real source of concern.

A point of interest for us is that historically, the Communist regime in Russia had suppressed the Orthodox Russian hierarchy so the Orthodox hierarchy are seen more as puppet spokespersons for the Putin regime. Looking closely at the Ecumenical Patriarch Primate of the Orthodox Churches hails from a Greek Orthodox tradition. He is seen more as a spiritual figurehead and not a political spokesperson who is based in Constantinople, Turkey and is hardly likely to make any pronouncements politically.

Looking closely at our Christian belief systems: Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians share a lot of common ground in terms of understanding of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist in our sacramental beliefs, though in a political conflict in Ukraine we seem to be unable to reach common ground.

Let us consider exploring how our Scriptures help us in this conversation in order to understand our motivating values and belief base. We will notice that Jesus’ power base is distinct from our current political power weapons base operated in the world context. Focusing on the temptations that Jesus had in the desert, we look closely at the second temptation in Luke 4:5-8 as present in the encounter between Satan, the Adversary offering Jesus all the Power he can have over the dominions and kingdoms of the world. It reads: “Then leading Jesus to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time ALL the kingdoms of the world and said to Jesus: ‘I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, for it has been committed to me and I give it to anyone I choose. Worship me, then, and it shall all be yours! But Jesus answered Satan. Scripture says: ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve him alone’.

Jesus clearly recognised the dangers of that three letter word EGO and he didn’t need to be worshipped by the culture or authorities of his time and he could stay in obscurity and hiddenness for most of his adult life.
On the contrary, the danger with feeding the super inflated ego is that it becomes so self-seeking as an individual and as a nation, and if unchecked and monitored, it can turn into power-hungry monstrous desires to hold on to power at all cost, even it involves use of bullying tactics. This can manifest itself in the powerful weapons to blast out and wipe out civilisations of cultural, social, religious heritage built by its peoples. Nevertheless, the victim’s sacred identity can never be erased as its inner freedom and resilience are so deeply rooted in the God of Creation and it can never be taken away from them even if it means a‘fight to the end’ for it. So, faith does really matter especially in our darkest hour when all seems lost and courage has dried up for the weakest and vulnerable in our societies.

As Christians, be it Orthodox, Catholic and other Christian traditions, we are reminded of an alternative role model to that of the EGO! We find it in Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1: 51-53.
It states that ‘God has shown the power of His arm, He has routed the proud of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. The hungry he as filled with good things, the rich sent empty away’. The question is do we dare to really believe in these words being true and real for the people of Ukraine who are hiding in underground shelters in fear of their lives as this article is being written?

To draw this short article to a close, I would invite us to use our faith as a power for good to continue to build God’s Kingdom here on earth. We need to recognise that the ‘weapons of mass destruction’ are not just out there in the minds of Dictators equally we could be carrying that same destructive patterns deep within our own hearts.

I would like to finish with a quote and a prayer:

The quote from Pope Francis. He urgently appealed for all those “with political responsibility to examine their consciences seriously before God, who is the God of peace and not of war, who is the Father of all, not just of some, who wants us to be brothers and not enemies.”

A Prayer for Peace from the late Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa:

‘Goodness is stronger than evil.
Love is stronger than hate.
Light is stronger than darkness.
Life is stronger than death.
Victory is ours through Him who loves us.’

Kirk Louis Jacob - Article 16 during covid times
12th March 2022

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17/10/2021

“Kirk is a great coach who has excellent listening skills and also gentle in his approach. He is also very encouraging. His ability to tease out sometimes feelings/thoughts and ideas which were inside me was fantastic through the exercises he had me doing. His way of reflecting back to me was always spot on with what I felt when sometimes I felt very jumbled/confused. Coaching has opened up many possibilities for me in terms of self belief and confidence also giving me the ability to reflect realistically on what path I intend to take on in my life. I would highly recommend Kirk to anyone seeking to do some coaching.” Many thanks Olga Slater

22/06/2020

Hugs, Touch, Intimacy and impact of social distancing in our human relationships

In these unusual and unprecedented times since the corona virus has impacted our lives in the area of human relationships as one of the key rules to help keep the virus at bay seems to be the need for social distancing, be it 2 meters or 1.5 meters in various countries.

I would like to share a little bit of my story and personal development. Growing up in an Anglo-Indian culture and raised in a large family of 8 kids, 4 boys and 4 girls with my late parents in Madras (now called Chennai), India, I recall from a young age of being a tactile person. My late parents had plenty of warmth and affection and always gave me hugs and kisses on various occasions. With regards to my siblings and late parents, we kissed each other on the cheeks and blessed each other on the foreheads after morning or night prayer and also on occasions, after a squabble over something petty both parties wanted, we would kiss each other on the cheek and make up!

However, much more poignantly, I have fond memories of my late grandmother (Mum’s side) whom we affectionately called “Bomey Nana” since our cousin Bomey stayed with her all the time in a lovely big spacious family home. I recall some evenings after school, I would find an excuse to quietly slip down to Nana’s home from our home, and be spoilt a bit, to get cups of tea which was sitting under the Tea pot with a tea cosy covering it. Nana would also have butter biscuits, buns or some fried bananas at hand, and then, I would just tell her something of my day and she would share her worries and concerns of her day, we would just relax a while on the par**et as I would wrap my arms around her, hugging her tightly from time to time and feeling the privilege of her warmth and safe-keeping. It felt like all eternity as the evening sunset went down! Then, it would be time for me to go back home and do my bit of the house work and school home work until the next time an opportunity arose to visit her again.

My Grandfather (Dad’s side) affectionally known as Allen Papa, a practical joker would on several occasions used to make all the numerous grandchildren stand in a straight line and each of us needed to do an “Allepey salam” (a salute to the head!) in order to get a special peppermint! My Papa used to be in the Army abroad and his way of showing affection was a rather different approach to my late Dad as Dad was much more gushing and outpouring with his emotions. Dad’s behaviour was so much in contrast to that Victorian acronym: “Men don’t cry!” Which was normal behaviour expected from Anglo-Indian men of his time. I wonder what was the pretence being hidden behind that catchphrase!

Now years on from being a child, adolescent and growing up into adulthood partly in India and then in England, I have been reflecting on the impact of how much I currently miss receiving hugs from close family and friends, and especially from cuddly little babies and children whom I got to know over the years. Thanks to the sacred trust of the parents and children who felt safe and comforted in my arms. Yes, there is something magical in being able to receive and give a deep-hearted hug. Each hug has its own charisma and blessing for the giver and the receiver and it brings an aliveness, freshness and expansiveness of the heart, mind and well being of the persons concerned. Some hugs are quick and rapid, while other hugs are slow and gradual. It all depends on the context of the person giving and receiving the hug at that particular moment in time.

Holding a baby involves such a deep level of trust from the parents, especially the Mother’s relationship of trust to me. I have really enjoyed holding and ‘cooing’ babies to sleep when I am given the opportunity. I recall the bond I formed a few years ago with a little baby boy of a friend. Initially, the little baby boy would hardly come to me, he would cling to his parents constantly. Suddenly one day it shifted, he was tired and sleepy and the parents gave him to me and the moment he came into my arms and he fell asleep. The next time he saw me, he would just run to me and want to be held tightly to know that he is deeply loved and feeling safe. It’s such a privilege to build the bonds of love, trust and deep rooted friendships with little kids. This experience helped me to reawaken the time of my own birth. I understand my late parents were on their way to a New Year’s eve Dance. However, yours truly was determined to come out before they could even get a chance to bring their dancing feet onto the dance floor! Before you know it, I arrived within approximately half an hour from when my Mum was in hospital! Unbelievably quick! No wasting time with this fellow! My story goes on to relate that the time of being a baby, just a few weeks after my birth, my poor late Mum needed to get back to work to help feed us 5 kids now, so she trusted and handed me over to my wonderful late Aunty Doreen (my Dad’s cousin) who lived a few doors away. She ensured that I was nurtured, cared for and cradled just like my Dearest Mum would have done.

Word on the street has it that I enjoyed being held by the loving gaze and the generous attention of people passing me by in the pram. It was as a result of being held in a loving, safe container that helped me as a child to grow and mature with confidence in my latter years. The first stirrings of being comfortable in my skin and development of my physical, mental and emotional well being took place like that of a normal, healthy child into adolescence and then further into adulthood. Obviously, the adolescent years are always disturbing for every teenager, let alone parent!

I believe we all have the ‘child’ within us who yearns and longs to be held, nurtured and protected in unconditional love just like what’s mentioned in the words of a hymn based on Psalm 139: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you came to birth, I consecrated you.’ In other words, before you and I left our Mother’s side, God was always held our hand with unforgettable, tender, loving care.
Yes, forward wind to the time when I was an adult and I was at my late Mum’s bedside for her last few hours on this earth when she was in an unconscious state and in a coma. I recall how I just instinctively held her body close to mine tightly and firmly for a few hours, saying quietly to her heart: “I love you” on behalf of myself and my whole family.

A hug is something very different to a handshake. Some people feel that a hug can be overbearing and too much to handle, so it is sensitive for a hugger to restrain and compromise their own needs to be hugged. To give you an example of handshake practice: in the context of western Catholic Churches (pre-corona virus times), we notice that at a point in the service when the priest asks us to exchange a sign of peace, the practice is to stretch out a hand to the people near us and around us. I think another article is needed to explore the feelings and energy drawn from mutual handshakes.

I have worked for many years in the social care profession with physical and learning disabilities; a setting in which I found that there was a lot of human contact and interaction needed. With Autism, it is slightly different as some individuals are hypo-sensitive and need a lot of human touch to get in touch with any emotion, while other individuals are hyper-sensitive, so the need is for lesser human touch in their interaction. Sensory rooms that have varied coloured psychedelic lights within them do help to calm the anxieties and need for touch of the autistic person. It must be a huge area of struggle with onset of corona virus for the vulnerable group of individuals who are hypo-sensitive by nature.

Come the onset of the corona virus and we are informed that under no circumstances, that close contact is allowed. We must stay 2 meters apart or risk facing the consequence of receiving the corona virus from a hidden carrier. Much stress and strain has been placed on the human being in terms of surviving their natural human nature and needs.
My second nature has been to reach out to the other either with a firm handshake, or once I get to know them, a peck on both cheeks and also a warm embrace once I know them even more. There is a level of trust, bond of intimacy created by human touch. Now, with corona virus, the impact has been very difficult, challenging and even painful and lonely at times in my search and hunger for human touch.

The loss of Services in the Church since my Catholic Christian faith has signs and symbols involving human touch. eg. At a baptism, the baby is anointed on its forehead and ears with chrism (blessed) oil. Our Christian Gospels are filled with numerous powerful stories of human touch. An example: ‘The woman who was haemorrhaging, reaches out and touches the cloak of Jesus’ garment. Jesus responds: ‘who touched me’? The disciples respond: “Lord, there is such a huge crowd!. So many people could be touching you.. However, the woman comes forward and shares her story of faith and healing.
There is the story of healing of the Blind, the lame, the Deaf where Jesus uses his hands to reach out and touch the person requesting the healing from a standpoint of Faith. Imagine introducing the 2 metre distancing to the healing ministries of Jesus! Imagine what kind of strains would have been placed on those situations?

My good friends know how much pain there is in not being able to have a close conversation. The new normal to be 2 meters apart creates mental anguish and pain not felt like anything before. Imagine the message being planted in a child’s mind by its parents/ grandparents to not run and hug them, even though it may be coming from a place of love and concern to not receive the corona virus. This is certainly not normal behaviour and development for a little child to understand.

Imagine the scenario of when a little baby holds out and offers its open arms to the grandparent who might taking care of them due to the absence of the parent being unexpectedly treated in the local hospital. Yes, the baby doesn’t understand the 2 metre social distancing rule! It judges if it is loved if you take it up, otherwise, he / she is bound to cry until you physically pick them up. So, a huge burden of care and responsibility placed on the care-taker grandparent demanding an immediate response.

The grandparent who longs to hug their grandchild without concern of transmitting the corona virus to the dismay and anger of the parent. Lovers who need the reassurance of a look or a hug and deeper intimacy needs to know they are loved and loveable. Yes, no doubt, there is a level of safe vulnerability, insecurities yet a safe container of trust that helps the bond of human relationships develop and grow.

How comfortable or uncomfortable does it feel having social distancing interfering with our basic needs for the human touch. As a hugger, I feel the only place safe just now is to ‘hug or touch the barks of trees!’ - great as that maybe, nevertheless, it does not replace the touch of human skin! I notice that there is a different level of self-intimacy caused by the sensation of holding and playing a musical instrument like a guitar, drums, bongos, playdough, water colours on paper.

At social gatherings like parties, we were so used to dancing like jiving, cross steps, any ballroom dances like waltz etc.. now the physical contact and closeness feels like an alien thing and a ‘no go area’ due to fears of contracting the corona virus.

At the point of death, the need for human touch is great and immense. A spouse needs the touch of their beloved, when all they get is possibly the voice across the phone and the touch from a nurse, carer.

When a person dies, our culture has been to kiss the person goodbye so that they can be rest assured of our eternal love and vice versa, their love for us mortal beings. With the onset of corona virus, it is so difficult to witness such unimaginable feelings at being able to say goodbye and kiss the person on their forehead, lips or cheeks or for that matter, to even hug and condole the person who has just lost their spouse or partner. A popular Christian hymn comes to mind: “I will never forget you my people, I have carved you on the palm of my hand. I will never forget you. I will not leave you orphaned. I will never forget my own”. “Does a mother forsake her baby? Or a woman the child within her womb. Yet even if these forget, Yes, even if these forget, I will never forget my own!”

To conclude, I encourage to keep valuing and recognising the importance that human touch is a precious gift in our lives, not to be taken for granted. Thanks to the corona virus, it has helped us bring the lens closer to see and evaluate what is really deepest within our human relationships that needs to be cradled, nurtured in order to fulfill its potential.

Finally, I want to personally give gratitude to my Lord Jesus Christ for all those living and dead who have hugged me in life - all my family and friends. In particular, I would like to celebrate the outstanding, amazing and awesome huggers who have come into my life - be it my friend’s son and his grandparents, my godfather, some siblings, an aunt and cousin in Canada, deceased folk like my parents, Aunty Doreen, friends Teddy, Tony,
Sr. Margaret, Bomey Nana. Thank you for the special gift of the human hug given and received on so many different occasions as it has certainly enriched and encompassed me with deep inner peace and joy in my life.

Kirk Louis Jacob (otherwise affectionately known as Kirkie)