Love Never Faileth by Eknath Easwaran. Penguin Books, New Delhi. Page 288. Rs 250.
Literature on Christianity is probably the most voluminous in the world. This should not be surprising as, in the past 2000 years, Christianity has been evolving at an awesome pace — from persecutions by the Jews, the Dark Ages, the Crusades and finally the transformation into world religion thanks as much to the British empire as to the missionary zeal of the clergy.
St Francis preached self-reform in order to set an example for others. It is not necessary for others to come in direct contact with the messiah to attain salvation or to shed evil. All one has to do is to mould one’s actions and thoughts in such a manner as to reach the ideal. Perfection will come in due course, if one remains consistent. Thus one should pray, "Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console."
St Paul believed in the purest form of love sans selfishness. To quote him, "I may have all the knowledge in the world, I may be able to speak 14 languages, including one or two that are spoken only by angels. I may have crossed the Atlantic in a canoe with only a cat for company. What does it matter? If I haven’t learnt to love, I am nothing."
St Augustine had to resolve the dilemma of finding happiness. As he states in his "Confessions", the first spiritual autobiography in the western world, "But where did they know (happiness), that they should desire it so? Where have they seen it that they should love it? Obviously we have it in some way, but I do not know how. Unless we knew the thing with certain knowledge, we could not will it with so certain a will .... May it be that one gets joy from this, one from that? One man may get it one way, another another, yet all alike are striving to attain this one thing, namely, that they may be joyful."
Mother Teresa was an embodiment of love in its sublime form. To bring succour to the suffering and neglected humanity requires an attitude that only a saint can possess. She was truly an incarnation of love. She also believed in relentlessly waging peace in order to avert war. She had the capacity to make even the greatest of sceptics believe in her life’s mission.
Love, compassion and serving the suffering humanity have always been the salient features of Christianity. The author has tried to emphasise these aspects by highlighting the life and times of St Francis, St Paul, St Augustine and Mother Teresa. This volume will be of interest to both the believers and non-believers.
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