Devotional poems on an ‘infinite marvel’

Reviewed by R. S. Karunaratne

“The Peace Thou Gives” is a collection of painstakingly written devotional poems. The 25 poems running into almost 23 pages are an exploration of how God touches all aspects of the poet’s life. The focus of the poems transcends the personal and extends to the public an account of the writer’s unwavering conviction that ‘God’s hand is in history’. This appears to be the central theme of his poems. For instance, the opening poem entitled “Maker and the Mould” substantiates this view:

“From pain comes plenty,

From these everyday crosses come bounty;

This is the human self

Learns in silent suffering,

As it staggers from crisis to crisis,

Weathering blow after blow,

From the providential hammer,

As its maker patiently teases out,

The divine from the human dross,

Turning Earth Man

into Spirit Man.”

Devotional poems or religious poetry do not appeal to the general reader unless the poet makes a concerted attempt to merge the temporal with the spirituality. Here, the poet gives his poems a substantial local socio-political dimension and topicality. For instance, in the following poem, he makes an attempt to make his poetry accessible to the general reader.

“The Miscarriage”

“The world comes crashing down on the powerless,

Because some trembling hands cannot weigh evenly,

And obey the Call of Conscience coming from Eternity,

but would prefer to heed

Hade’s cold prompting,

And choose safety of self,

position and pelf,

In a mockery of

The World Almighty”.

This poem, inter alia, confirms his conviction that his religious poetry will be understood in its context and will have its own identity.

Worship of God comprises glorification of Him, prayer to Him, and communion with Him. Glorification is of two types, namely positive and negative. You can glorify Him positively when you extol Him for possessing positive qualities. On the other hand, you can glorify God negatively by praising Him as free from undesirable qualities such as passion, and malice.

Most of the poems in the collection glorify God to reform the poet’s life.

Being a non-Christian, I consider Christianity a historical religion. That means it was founded not on abstract principles but in concrete events. “The Crown of Questions” has the following evocative lines:

“On Thy head Thou carried our evil,

Every piercing thorn, every crack of the whip,

Marked the times we blissfully strayed,

And every drop of Thy blood bore Thy sorrow,

For our cruel, unconcerned ways.”

After reading the book of devotional poems I was reminded of Dostoevsky’s memorable words: “There is in the world, only one figure of absolute beauty: Christ, that infinitely lovely figure is ...... an infinite marvel.”

Nostradamus :

The enigmatic prophet

by Padma EDIRISINGHE

The morning following the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers of New York, I was woken by a telephone call from a friend.

“Did you know that Nostradamus had foreseen yesterday’s terrible disaster?”

Dizzy with sleep I was about to blurt” Who........ is this Nostradamus? “but did not. Who wants expose ignorance even at such an early hour and erupt into an ugly outburst just in return for unasked information? And already a lingering memory of the man came to my mind.

My friend went on, “In Nostradamus’s drawings of the future, he had drawn two massive cylindrical buildings spewing red hot flames. One cylinder is shorter than the other”.

So as early as the 16th century a prophet had telescoped the terrible doings of the Al-Quaeda Movement of the 21st century. Subsequently, I read that he had bequeathed upon his son a set of prophetic drawings, which would have included his drawing of this major catastrophe that shook the world and destroyed the mich publicised myth of USA’s invincibility.

It is recorded that this seer foresaw many future events that encompassed major disasters such as plagues, earthquakes, wars, floods, invasions and droughts.

But, Nostradamus enthusiasts have related many a drawing and statement of his to specific events such as Muslim invasion of Europe, French Revolution, Two world wars, Great Fire of London, Rise of Napoleon 1 and Adolf Hitler, the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Man walking on the moon and even the Space Shuttle Disaster of 1988.

But people tend to become jealous of those who achieve fame and fortune and go on to develop various counter facts to depreciate them. It is not a tendency confined to our country. Critics of Nostradamus that the only thing he predicted correct was the time of his own death. A full record said of this goes as follows.

Found dead

“On the evening of July 1 (1566) he (Nostradamus) had told his Secretary Chavigny, “You will not fine me alive at sunrise”. True enough, the next morning he was found dead lying on the floor having fallen form the bed perhaps while fighting death pangs. Not a suicide. Critics also argue that his predictions are considered as having come true due to their vagueness.

In fact he never dated his predictions. So after the event actually occurred, his fans would retrospectively match what he said with the event and crow,” Did not Guru Nostradamus predict so?” Luck by chance? The professional team for this is supposed to be “Retroactive clairvoyance”. Perhaps the huge cylinders he drew amidst flames could be such a coincidence or a mystic sight spawned out of an occult - veered mind.

The only event he predicted with a specific year never came true. That was the end of the world in 1999 which he presented as the entry of a King of Terror from the sky.

This was how he foresaw the catastrophe. “The year 1999 - seven months from the sky there will come a great king of terror”. At least he foresaw that in the 20th century terror would erupt from the skies.

The Japanese, however, made sure that they alone would arm against this king of terror. They or their earlier generation who had already foreseen a heinous drama of this sort in 1945 were not taking any chances. Why the strong Japanese response? The prophet was not from Japan but from 16th Century France.

The influence a book can have over a country is evident here. Ben Goto; a journalist in Japan who reads a lot had read that Nostradamus had predicted that man would walk on the moon and then Goto came upon this weird sentence.

He elongated it into one whole book for 1999 Japanese readers and scared the whole populace of the land of Cherry Blossoms. Time Larimer, a correspondent of the Times wrote on this subject, in a magazine published in July 1999 (year and month of the end of the World according to the Prophet). “Fear (in Japan) about the end of the world aren’t fringe, they are mainstream.

They centre on the visions of Nostradamus who based his cryptic warnings on the Bible. No matter that Japan, a relatively non-religious country does not even follow the calendar based on Jesus birth.

In official Japan this isn’t 1999, It’s year 11! “The year 1999, seven months from the sky there will come a great king of terror”.

No one really knows what he meant (So vague was the prediction). But for believers the reference is disturbingly clear. This may be the last magazine you ever read” the magazine dated July 1, 1999”. Thus fizzled out the fear about the Doomsday scenario making Nostradamus another false prophet. Not even a major nuclear threat from the sky was orchestrated to save his reputation that year. But while he lived he garnered enough fame.

Early life

Born to a family of nine, he began his career dealing with the strange and the occult by researching herbal remedies.

Those wishing to glorify him ascribe to him the Jewish beginnings. According to them he was a descendent of the Israelite tribe of Issashar and was educated in his childhood by his grandparents who served in the Royal Court of France. Whatever, the antecedents, later as a youth he worked as an apothecary and had entered the university to pursue medicine from where he was expelled after discovering that he had been indulging in “manual trade”.

But he made his fame as a doctor riding on the plague spreading in full fury at this time in Europe.

He created the Rose Pill as a healer for plague. The plague, however, continued to plague him, his family - wife and children succumbing to it. Undaunted he married a rich widow and began to lead a prosperous life.

Soon he was veering more and more towards the occult. He began to write a series of Almanacs that grew very popular.

Soon all the great and the mighty were having their horoscopes ready by him. Like Russia’s Rasputin of a later age, he even became a popular figure in the French Court and was patronised by Catherine De Medici, the queen consort of Henri II of France.

He scared her enough by predicting threats to the family and got her to invite him to prepare horoscopes for her children. The queen ended up by making him Counsellor and Physician - in - Ordinary to her son, the young king Charles I of France.

With all this he published many a work that included the prophecies where he vaguely made certain prophecies that have hitherto matches with actual major dramatic events that have been staged since his life. Prohecies due to their constant reference to the Classics were recommended as texts in higher education institutes in France.

Though expelled from the University medical stream, he even wrote books on medical science and translated many books, all of which became popular.

He had even tried his hand at a medical cookbook which included “Cosmetics Preparation” and methods of how he treated the plague consisting of a “Bloodletting” method. However, those who tried it found that this method never worked and had even unwanted results like our Vadakaha Sudiya of 1955.

Nostradamus was never fastidious nor extra careful. He overlooked criticism by professional astrologers for assuming that “Comparative horoscopy” or the comparison of future planetary configurations with those accompanying past events could predict what would happen in the future.

He continually working at one thing and another in the field of the occult and medicine and finally succumbed to the Maraya or Demon of Death, who reigns supreme.

[New on the shelf]

Population of Sri Lanka

Title: Sri Lankawe Janagahanaya, Ihala Yana Sapalathawa saha Idiri Sanwardana Abhiyoga.

(Population of Sri Lanka, (increasing fertility and challenges for Development)

Author: Prof. Indralal De Silva

‘Sri Lankawe Janagahanaya’ by Prof. Indralal de Silva was launched recently in Colombo. Prof. De Silva is a senior lecturer in demography and the Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo.

Title: Hithaka Pipunu Suwanda Mal

Author: Rathna Lanka Abeywickrama

printed by Tharanji Printers

Title: Igenagannata

Iganaganna

Co-authors by: Shameera Suranga and Lahiru Samantha

[ Book launch]

Amathakavu Deshaya

Kumara Siriwardena’s latest book Amathakavu Deshaya will be launched at the Dayawansa Jayakody Book Exhibition Hall, Ven. S. Mahinda Mawatha, Colombo 10 on August 10 at 10 a.m.

Amathakavu Deshayas is the authentic Sinhala translation of Edgar Rice Burrow’s trilogy “The Land that Time Forgot, The People that Time Forgot and Out of Time’s Abyss”.It is a Dayawansa Jayakody publication.

Apuru Game Podi Aththo

Award-winning author Somaweera Senanayake’s latest adolescent novel in Sinhala entitled “Apuru Game Podi Aththo” will be launched at Dayawansa Jayakody Book Exhibition Hall, Ven. S. Mahinda Mawatha, Colombo 10 on August 3 at 10 a.m.

Somaweera Senanayake is the author of several other literary works such as “Raja Kale Punchi Lamai”, “Mavakage Geethaya”, “Yashoravaya”, “Menik Nadiya Gala Basi”, “Paramitha”, “Andurata Pahanak”, “Api Thavamath Sansare”, and “Sathun Athara Bosathvaru”.

“Apuru Game Podi Aththo” is a Dayawansa Jayakody publication.