SENTINEL WATCH February 21, 2005 Issue

LOVED FOR WHO WE ARE

KARIM AJANIA

AT THE BEGINNING OF 2004, I WAS IN Zimbabwe. At the end of 2004, I was in India. It could be said that both these experiences expanded my cultural awareness and understanding. That is certainly true, but only up to a point—the concept of "culture" is at best still a limited human concept, as opposed to a limitless metaphysical idea.

Metaphysically, my experiences in Zimbabwe and India have provided astounding insights. The most perpetual and constant of these relate to my increasingly better understanding of the Bible, and to a clearer awareness in particular of the healing works of Jesus and the apostles.

In many comfy, cozy American cities, and somewhat sanitized suburbs, such as Marin County, California, and outside of Boston—places where I have lived recently—it was difficult for me to grasp many of the needs for healing mentioned in the Bible. Words and phrases such as "the multitudes," "the poor," "the destitute," and references to the blind, the crippled, tthe lepers, the brokenhearted, and those with "divers diseases" describe many of the conditions that needed to be healed in Biblical times. For me, these references had always seemed safely disconnected from the more sophisticated, modern world in which I live.

About the author

Karim Ajania was working with schoolchildren in Zimbabwe and India as executive director of the Brick Project, an educational technology project based in Boston.

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