The Word of God, we read or hear are taken to our hearts persistently and each word is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit of God, to grasp its inner meaning to a new horizon . Even a word secreted, may be the one by which the Spirit of God touches our heart and transform our entire life. Even though, mortal human beings are being used for the proclamation of the Word of God, they all are literally borne along by the Holy Spirit and the human wills of the speakers are not the originators or carriers of God's message. Our thoughts for today is chosen of two different walls described in the Holy Bible. The first wall is the one we see in the sixth Chapter of the Book of Joshua.

"On the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times...So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. " (Joshua 6:20)

This scripture portion recount about the wall of Jericho. The Wall of Jericho could not have been broken by the strength of the people of Israel or by the superiority of their military arsenals, as it was made thick and strong. In order to fulfill and receive the promised deliverances from God to Israelites, Jericho wall had to be destroyed. The strength of God came upon them and hence they could break the the wall of Jericho and enter to the land of Canaan. The shout of faith as their spiritual effort and the might of God could put down the strong wall. Thus by faith, not by force, the walls of Jericho fell down.

The word of God demands us to tear down the walls in our own life to receive the great and precious promises from God. The walls to be fallen in our life are many. Inquire about the strong walls in our life and investigate our inner heart, in order to find where transformations are needed in our life. Our pursuit, for the exploration to detect the walls to be destroyed and the candid efforts for its devastation, should become the theme and culmination of our spiritual life. The walls to be destroyed in our life are the sins. The sin is the factor which alienate us from the presence of God. It may be our proud, deficit in our spiritual life, attractions to the world or any disposition which keeps us away from our God. The impulse to delve into the walls in us should be originated in our own self with the help of Holy Spirit of God. Through our earnest prayers He exposes the sin of our heart which is build up as big walls in our life. Sin may not be external, it may be the one which man do to himself. "...Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body." (1 Corithians 6:18 )

Eskimos who live in Arctic Poles of earth use a special technique for hunting Wapusk (White Bear) for their skin. If they kill them by the spear the costly black skin will be distorted. So they pierce a double edged spear in the ice with its sharp edge upward and its tips tainted with blood. The carnivorous white polar bears, reliant on ice for their hunting, lick the spearhead for the blood. It goes on cutting their tongue and keep on drinking their own blood from the spear with out the knowledge that it is the blood of their own body and eventually they die. The bear does not know that their blood is oozed out while they are enjoying the taste of the blood. In the same way the sin which is against our own body is oozing out the blood of our spiritual life and alienate us from God. Many a times Sin keeps us in the bondage. So far we are not willing to peer into our internal, we try to denunciate others for our debacle.

Apostle St. Paul exhorts us that our life is a big race and a big battlefield. In this battle we become victorious only by the great Grace of God. We should attain strength to tumble these walls in our life. The battle that is typified here is the battle with the sin. In the circumstance we live in, where the western thoughts are prevalent, the psychological answers are being choked out for every questions. These deliberation firmly believe that any conflicts in life can be resolved with advancement of the scientific growth and psychological evaluation. That is the reason for the intensifying the counseling programs in the western culture. It is a big limitations in our country that we lack the facilities for the good counseling. We can notify its bad feedback also. We see that suicidal cases are maximum in Kerala. Especially the rate is seen very high in some weird locations. Man is trying to find solutions for his problems with his own worldly wisdom, knowledge, scientific advancement and popular psychology.

Amidst of these, man deliberately forget about the soul and its salvation. In his race to find his own solutions with his own codified principles and skill sets configured out his expertise, the man deprive of the nourishment or the explorations for the salvation of the soul. However as per our traditions, we find that our forefathers assimilated the energy to sustain the spiritual tenets and destroyed the walls which are to be destroyed by the communion with the God. They never confined their problems as problems of their self body or mind. In this world what we need is the reconciliation and communion with God for the nourishment, fulfillment, enlightening and rejuvenation of our soul.

As per the scripture; "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Even though we are sick, our soul is healthy. Even though we have bodily affliction, our soul is rejoicing. Even though we are killed, we live in our soul. This is the effects of spirituality. In the lives of the saints, inspite of that there were obstacle in their life to destroy their spiritual life, it did not have any effect in them. Notwithstanding we live in this world, our soul should not seek for worldly matters. That should be the real Christian life.

In order to open the walls between God and the man we have to break first the walls between man and man. In the Epistle to Ephesians, St. Paul talks about a wall. "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; " (Eph. 2:14)

Apostle here demonstrates that those who were in a state of enmity are reconciled and peace and fraternity is established. Between the Jews and the Gentiles there had been a great wall of enmity. There are walls between God and every unregenerate man. Jesus Christ is our peace. He made peace by the sacrifice of himself with his blood and came to reconcile and hence the middle wall between Jews and Gentiles are broken. In our community there are people who rejoice when they are not in the neighborhood of our own community people. Modern man desire for a life away from the society. Now Jesus had made all one, by reconciling between divisions so that we should not malign, hate or reproach each other.

The life cycle of the silkworm is fascinating in this aspect. When the larva is fully mature, it begin the metamorphosis to spin its cocoon with continuous and reelable thread which it secrets, moving its head around in regular order continuously. On completion of the cocoon, the chrysalis must be killed without damage to the cocoon. As worm spins the cocoon with one continuous thread, it should not be damaged. So Cocoons are boiled in vats. Workers remove the boiled cocoons from the vat and find the end of each strand of silk. In a similar way we are entangled in our own actions and get alienated from the society.

Western countries have taken as a virtual axiom to keep up an individuality culture. It is an attitude of those persons who refuse to subscribe for shared values and common welfare. This is a tendency to magnify individual liberty, as against external authority and individual activity, as against associated activity. Individualism which runs the note of emphasis upon the importance of self: ‘my comfort, my pleasure’; these ideologies can never be justified in Christianity. Modern philosophers started vouching for the dichotomy to establish a socializing community, which are talked in its fundamental terms as collectivism. In our community life and in the social atmosphere, we should establish the intimacy in our relations. The Bible words "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) should prevail in basics of our Christianity.

In our family life, quite often we notice that although we live together, we lack love, compassion and real concern in its root for our father, mother, brother or sister. Unless we are ready for the sacrifice of our own pleasure, we can not have the culmination of love. Man looking at his co-being with suspecian expose the paucity of real love in all sectors of life.

How the Jericho was broken? Joshua formulated a strict methodology. It was not an individual effort, but it was joint effort, a corporate endeavor. As per the Book of Joshua 6:4-22, we learn of three elements involved in this great effort. 1. The Ark of Covenant 2. Priest 3. Disciplined community. This joint effort gets simulated to the act of the Holy Church. "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." (1 Cor. 12:27) Worship together and share the Grace of God together. We share the Grace of God so that others become partakers of it with us. When we minister, or pray, we draw others into a communion with us of the grace we have received. The strength of falling the wall should be attained through our fellowship and spiritual ways. Our ability and talents are to be made use for others. Joshua orders them that you should keep silent till I order you. This refers to a disciplined community.

The second wall we perceive is in the book of Nehemiah, Chapter 2. "...Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?" (Nehemiah 2:3) When the King asks Nehemiah "Why is your face sad though you are not sick?”; he replies him these words. Now the holy walls of the city of God were fallen and Nehemiah was lamenting about it. During the public mission of Jesus Christ we see the Lord lamented about the city of Jerusalem. When some people spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, Jesus laments about Jerusalem: "As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." (Luk 21:6) "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matt. 23:37)

Nehemiah was concerned that the wall of the city of God is to be rebuild. He assigns the miseries and ruins of Jerusalem as the true cause of his grief. Once the Community is broken, family is broken, society is broken or Church is broken we have to extend prayers for it seconded with our serious endeavors as Nehemiah had done. Any of our small effort to create a good atmosphere, let it be even environmental, it may help for a peaceful return. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. The Prophet beacon the multitude to rebuild the fallen walls of God's city. This attitude we should maintain in our family, church and community. We should be self subscribing for the group rebuilding of the social and moral infrastructure of our neighborhoods.

At the time of Napoleon, portrait of a Royal Lute (Veena) was exhibited on his Palace walls with its strings broken and parts disjointed. It depicted the fall of Napoleon. When the family threads were broken, his Empire also was broken. In the society wherever we are, when it pass through storms and difficulties, we should evaluate ourself whether the plummet is caused by our individual slip. In the society we live, at our professional places, in the Churches, we should not be the cause for its delinquency. The walls are to be build for two reasons. First need is Security. As per Scripture portion Eph 2: 23, we are the stones of God's temple and each stone has its own message. We are the safe guards for others. We are the living stones. As Nehemiah build the walls, we should be able to comprehend each other and build up our relations.

There are mainly three points of view to skulk away from the glitches of our society:

1. I do not have to do any thing in the current situations. 2 All commonly are with evils, but I am different. 3. Individually I cannot do much. As World belong to God, it can not be fully evil. If there is evil, we are also responsible for it. For the problems in our family, for the problems in our church, for the problems in our society, we are also equally responsible.

Second need for the wall is to secure our boundaries. We are living in a marginal society and also we opt to live a margin free life i.e. with no boundary. We are loosing many of our boundaries. As a father, children expect many things. As a wife husband expects something. As Children parents expect something. As a teacher student expects many thing. As a priest the people expects many things. Many of our social taboos are gone beyond its limits. We have to start building the walls to keep our boundaries. The freedom that we should enjoy should be the freedom we get through Jesus Christ. This is the freedom created out of sincere relationships and communion with God.

[ JOINT ORTHODOX CONVENTION - 2003 PHILADELPHIA ]

Original Vocal in Malayalam : Translated by Dr.Rajan Mathew