ts. Think Responsibly

Undeserved Punishment: A Religious Motif

Sadhika Pant

March 17 2025 at 12:18 pm

The world has little patience for justice, and perhaps even less for fairness. The righteous and the innocent often bear the burdens laid upon them by the weak and the selfish. It is a story told in every corner of the earth, in every language, under every sky. And it is a story told twice—once in the story of Rama from The Ramayana, and again in the story of Job from the Book of Job. Rama’s Banishment from Ayodhya Rama was a prince, born to rule, raised in the golden light of Ayodhya’s palaces. He was not just good; he was righteous, steady as the rivers that carve the land, sure as the sun that climbs the sky. But the world does not always move for righteousness. One word from a mother who was not his own, one promise a father could not break, and the kingdom slipped through his fingers. He left Ayodhya not as a king but as an exile, his feet treading the dust of the forest instead of the marble of the palace. There was no crime, no failure, no fault, only the cold hand of fate pressing down. Yet, Rama did not rage. He did not weep. He bore the weight of his punishment because that is what a man of dharma does. Even in the wilderness, stripped of his crown and his home, he carried his duty like an unshaken flame. Job's Downfall Somewhere else, in another time, there is a man who owns much and loves much. Job is a man of faith, one who rises before dawn to offer prayers, one who watches over his house with the careful hands of a shepherd. He does right by God, and for a long time, God does right by him. But there is a wager in the heavens, a question asked: Is goodness still goodness when it is met with ruin? In other words, is morality relative to circumstance? His children die first. His livestock disappears. His land turns to dust. His body is next, ravaged by sores, his skin breaking under the weight of unseen judgment. The world tells him he must be guilty of something. A man does not suffer like this unless he has sinned. Job sits in his ruin, scraping at his wounds with broken pottery, and asks a question that has lived in the hearts of all who suffer: Why? Job did not receive the answer he sought. God did not sit him down and explain the grand design, did not trace the lines of fate with a patient hand. Instead, God spoke of the vastness of creation, of things beyond the grasp of man. And in that vastness, Job found peace. His fortunes were restored, his life made whole again—not because he had demanded it, not because God was obligated to justify his ways, but because his faith had endured even in the dark. The Message Somewhere in the heart of these tales lies a truth too deep to be simple. If God were only just, then the righteous would never suffer. If God were only merciful, then suffering would never be. But the world is made of both justice and mercy, and they do not always run in a straight line. It is a hard thing, reconciling suffering with the notion of a just and merciful God. The world teaches us early that good should be met with good and wickedness with ruin, but the world is not always kind to its own lessons. The stories of Rama and Job also fly in the face of the idea of moral relativism by asserting that righteousness and virtue exist independently of circumstance or personal perspective. Rama’s exile and Job’s torment do not bend to the whims of men who weigh morality like merchants, bargaining virtue against suffering. Rama does not rage against his fate because he understands that dharma is larger than him, that justice is not a thing that bends to personal suffering. Job does rage, but in the end, he learns that understanding is not a requirement of faith. Both suffer, both endure, and both are restored—not because they demanded it, but because their trials shaped them into something greater than they were before. Suffering is never meaningless, though it feels that way when a man is in the thick of it. It stretches the soul, forces it to look beyond the immediate, beyond the mortal. In the end, Rama returns to Ayodhya, crowned in the love of his people. Job’s wealth is restored, his house made whole. But the truest reward is something deeper, something that cannot be taken away, something won only through fire. The world will never stop handing down punishments undeserved. That is the nature of things. But in the hands of the righteous, suffering becomes something else entirely—not an end, but a beginning.

Messages From Matthew

videosfromtheunderground

March 03 2025 at 05:35 pm

March 3, 2025 With loving greetings from all souls at this station, this is Matthew. After several years in an acceleration mode that increased steadily but slowly, now your world is practically dashing out of low vibrations and racing toward higher illumination, luminescence. In concert with action in your solar system, your galaxy and on into the universe, a great deal is taking place behind the global curtain, but the most important action is within souls. The reduction in low vibrations raised Earth’s frequencies and they are “downloading” codes—doorways to the mind of Creator—to elevate conscious contact with soul-level knowingness. You will rejoice in the Aha! moments of self-discovery and the sensation of being connected with everything around you. You will marvel as your intuition provides answers you need if you ask within. You will stop wondering how it is possible to be and start wholly believing that you are, in fact, embodied light, an eternal multidimensional divine sovereign soul with unlimited powers who is enjoying a physical lifetime as a human. Assimilating the higher frequencies’ exciting new level of awareness is a thrust forward in evolution, but in adjusting to the energy, your dense bodies may experience natural and short-lived reactions such as exhaustion, flu-like symptoms, moodiness, muddled thinking, forgetfulness, anxiety and sadness. As often as possible be in Nature or with companion animals—the plant and animal kingdoms, except for humankind, emit high vibrations that relieve stress. Get sufficient rest, stay hydrated, eat lightly, exercise mildly, enjoy lighthearted entertainment and, as you breathe rhythmically, remember that only efforts with light as their foundation can be lasting. The new, higher frequencies cannot help you make sense of the sea of speculations, opinions, misinterpretations, misleading reports, outright lies and actual facts, which are only the tips of icebergs. Please do not give any energy to the publicized worrisome spread of bird flu, measles outbreak or bats in Wuhan could have a new strain of corona virus foolishness. Until the dark ones draw their last breath, they will keep trying to kill you with vaccines, make money from selling vaccines, and create fear about a new pandemic before new vaccines are ready. Dear ones, ignore that old programming—divest yourselves of all programming! Its intention is to keep you feeling helpless and behaving in accordance with what “authorities” tell you. That long dark era is over. It will become a dismal chapter in Earth’s section of the universal history book. Read more. Please send all questions and comments to suzy@matthewbooks.com. Subscribe. All messages from December 2003 to date are archived on www.matthewbooks.com. Please share them. Matthew Books YouTube channel.

New report shows anti-Christian persecution is...

angelobottone

March 05 2025 at 08:15 pm

Persecution of Christians around the world has increased further over the past two years from already high levels, according to a new report from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). The problem has worsened not only in individual countries but across continents and is one of the most under-reported forms of persecution in the world today despite being so vast in scope. The “Persecuted and Forgotten? Report 2024” provides an extensive overview of the persecution of Christians globally, analysing conditions in 18 countries from August 2022 to June 2024. More than 60pc of the countries surveyed have witnessed deteriorating conditions for Christians, with significant threats identified in parts of Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. The report notes that the epicentre of Islamist militant aggression has moved from the Middle East to Africa. Countries like Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and Nigeria have faced severe attacks on Christians, including mass killings, abductions, and forced displacement. “Over a hundred thousand Christians were among the many who fled for their lives 10 years ago when ISIS seized vast swathes of Iraq’s Nineveh Plains. For years since they have lived like refugees in their own country, helped only by their fellow believers around the world – including substantial help from Aid to the Church in Need”, says the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil in Iraq, Bashar Warda, in the foreword to the report. He adds: “Christians in other countries are today facing jihadist extremism, whether in Burkina Faso or Mozambique – and equally bitter is the oppression of believers by authoritarian regimes like China or Nicaragua”. In Burkina Faso, jihadist groups control 40pc of the territory, targeting Christian women with sexual violence. Similar patterns were noted in Mozambique and Nigeria, where Boko Haram and Fulani militants orchestrated massacres during Christian holidays. Totalitarian regimes such as China, Iran, and North Korea have intensified crackdowns on religious practices. China enforces “sinicisation”, compelling Christian leaders to align with Communist ideology, while Iran has escalated arrests and harassment of Christian converts. In North Korea, Christians face brutal punishments, including imprisonment and torture. The report highlights Nicaragua as an alarming example of rising authoritarianism attacking religious freedom in Latin America. The Ortega-Murillo leftist regime has targeted the Catholic Church with severe measures, including the expulsion of clergy; the closure of Church-run institutions, such as schools and charities; the confiscation of Church property and the restrictions on religious activities, including public celebrations like processions during Holy Week. The government has increased surveillance of Catholic parishes, harassing and intimidating clergy and laypeople. It has also closed the Vatican’s embassy and suspended diplomatic ties with the Holy See. In India and Pakistan, the report reports heightened attacks under the guise of anti-conversion laws and blasphemy accusations. Hindu nationalism in India has led to over 700 attacks on Christians in 2023 alone, with churches destroyed and believers forcibly displaced. In Pakistan, abductions and forced conversions of Christian women remain prevalent. Archbishop Warda emphasises the urgency of global intervention to prevent further attacks on Christians. “Our prayer is that those reading this report, whether governments or others with influence, will do more than just pay lip service to reports of Christian persecution; they must match their words with action – clear and decisive policy commitment – to help those whose only crime is the Faith they profess”, he says. Here is a link to an interview with Michael Kelly from ACN about the report.

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