SUNNY THOMAS

I THINK, I WRITE, I TEACH; THEREFORE I AM

Born in a small village in Kerala, I spent my formative years in the idyllic setting of the land of rivers and hillocks and a culture that is so distinct. But all that is beautiful has disappeared without a trace in modern affluence! The nostalgia of that beautiful human relationship I grew up in always inspires me to create something beautiful wherever I go.

I launched my journalistic career in Bombay, a city of Professional Paradise with an enchanting ambience of cosmopolitan culture that is today defaced by the political culture. After short tenures with The Indian Express and Free Press Journal, I came to New Delhi, the political wildlife sanctuary of India. There I spent nearly two decades with The Economic Times, reading voraciously and writing books. The transition from The Economic Times to The Times of India was smooth because it was a transit within the Times empire.

To make life meaningful, I started teaching. Initially, I started enjoying it more than my students. But of course, as time went by, they too started enjoying it as I could read it on their faces. Today when I switch on my television, I see my former students everywhere: I see Rahul Shivshankar and Sanket Upadhyaya on Times Now; Saira Jacob, Swati Maheshwari and Sweta Rajpal Kholi on NDTV; Gaurav Kalra and Mugdha Kalra on CNN-IBN; Rahul Kanwal and Hindol Sengupta with Headlines Today; and Sakkal Bhatt with Door-Darshan.

At the moment, I am with Times School of Journalism, which trains young journalists for The Times Group. A job that I have been doing for the past seven years and a job that I enjoy to the hilt.

Join me! Together let us build this blog. Let us build something beautiful to honour our Creator.

Visit: www.globalmediaschool.com

4 THINGS YOU MUST KNOW

• God is Holy
• God is Love
• God is Wisdom
• God talks silently

The fool does not believe in God because he is a fool. There are intellectual fools, celebrity fools, millionaire fools, and genuine fools.
Today the world is on the brink of a disaster. There never was a time like this when hundreds of fools are willing to die for no cause at all – but just to kill innocent people. When the rich nations are trapped into their own illusions and comfort, leaving the poor to languish in poverty and illiteracy, this is bound to happen. Nuclear weapons are powerless against these subterranean creatures coming out straight from hell.
In such uncertain times, the only certainty is God and God’s word. It’s so comforting and reassuring. Imagine a man lives for 60 years but has not known God, the source of all life and the meaning. It is indeed monumental folly. Such people are driven to depression and even to suicide. In the absence of God, they trust in transient things that are today and are not tomorrow. No wonder they cave in when their hopes flounder.
God is truth, because He alone is unchanging. And hence real. Trusting God makes good sense like building an edifice on a strong foundation. This foundation is metaphorically called the Rock, or the Rock of Ages, who is Jesus Christ, the central theme of scripture. You will stand like Mount Zion when you trust in God.

GOD IS HOLY
God is invisible and therefore we don’t see Him. But we can feel and experience Him. We can worship and adore Him. We can know Him only when He chooses to reveal Himself. But His Word speaks to us and His Spirit communes with us. God is the purest of being, and we call God Holy. Isaiah the Prophet was overwhelmed when he saw in a vision the glory of God. And he sang, `Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts…’

GOD IS LOVE
God’s love is an extension of His Holiness. We are created in His image and likeness, which means man has a spark of godliness in him that he can develop to his great advantage. To live life to the full, he should have godliness in him. The downfall of all human civilizations is due to the repetitive mistake of man turning away from God and doing things exactly the opposite for which he is designed. Like His Maker, man is designed to love, love his fellow human beings. Societies that have loved have flourished, setting up educational institutions, hospitals, charity homes, instead of siphoning off all the money for arms and armaments. Families built on sacrifices have stronger bond than families built on property. Men and women who have made great sacrifices are long remembered in the annals of history than those who made others sacrifice.

GOD IS WISDOM
God is the fountainhead of all wisdom. And the reverence of God is the beginning of all wisdom. Wisdom apart from God is folly however wise that may look to human perception. The human mind is trapped in the present unable to look beyond. Limited by time and space, the rational mind cannot fathom the cosmic forces. Let alone the eternal truths. To understand God and His Wisdom, you need the seventh sense which is spiritual intelligence.

GOD IS TALKING SILENTLY
When God talks, only the purest can hear. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a small still voice (I Kings 19: 12-13).

That’s the voice of God. `Come unto me, and I will teach you great and unsearchable things you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3). God is not talking to Christians alone but to the entire humanity. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus is the voice of God, God in human flesh, offering forgiveness and love to all – the only way we can build a better civilization in a hate-filled world.

(This website is an attempt to make this small still voice heard in every part of our planet).

THE WORD-POWER

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
As the rain and the snow
Come down from heaven,
And do not return to it
Without watering the earth
And make it bud and flourish,
So that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
But will accomplish what I desire
And achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55: 8-11