It was a relaxing Saturday Night on 26th Jun’2022. That was the evening we had attended the Tamil mass, followed by potluck in St. Hubert Catholic Church in Hoffman Estates (Illinois-USA), coordinated by our CTC (Chicago Tamil Catholic) group.
During the 45-minute drive on the way back home in Grayslake, listening to old Kannadasan and MGR hits, my kids, Noah and Nijel, were in the back seat getting into a nap mode, My wife, Amali, and I started reminiscing about all the new people we had met and the wonderful conversations we had at the potluck.
We both felt like we had a short trip back to India and met our families and friends! We were truly amazed that we even have a “Tamil” Mass in the United States after moving here for the past 10 plus years. We felt grateful for being introduced to this great community.
I asked my wife about her thoughts attending the Tamil Mass and meeting with our people.
She responded in a clear throat (and reducing the volume of the loud music) that we should make an effort not to miss attending Tamil mass from now on.
I then asked her mockingly, “Is it because of the delicious potluck?”
She laughed and replied, “well, great, can’t miss that too, but food for our spirit/soul is even more delicious / greater”.
I then asked her what this “food for our soul” meant?
She said, “Food for our soul is simply an idea or a thought or a piece of information passed in a conversation that could trigger a person to take action in their life”.
I said I am more confused now; I asked her, what is the connection between the idea/thought/conversation AND gathering?
She said that most of the time, our simple interaction would be a life-changer in a person’s life without even we knowing the impacts!
I said, “Oh ho.”
She continues that these gatherings could help someone who could have been in a critical juncture of life.
These gatherings could help someone to pave their life with our elderly advice.
These gatherings could help recover someone who lost their loved ones.
Spirituality is exchanging positive thoughts between fellow members.
I realized that was so true and exclaimed, “I would have clapped had I not been driving,” I finally whistled using my one hand like “veeehuuu”.
I said, yes, it is very true for me based on my personal experience that meeting up with someone will change our lives to a different direction!
I told her I am completely convinced I had enough food for my soul..!!
After reaching home, I pondered the conversation that my wife and I had, and the Biblical verse that came into my mind was from Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
The thought blew my mind: God can’t be physically present everywhere to interact with you for life lessons and heal you from all the problems!
He can be in the form of our parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, relatives, friends, colleagues and CTC families!
I firmly believe that most of us have no or very limited opportunities to meet up with our families and friends from India to get the above-said life-changing moments. I don’t have to explain the joyful moments when we are together. I also read in the research journal that social support is one of the most significant determinants of our happiness. I strongly believe that the people we meet in the digital world may change our life, but it is in a bigger way when we meet them face to face.
Most importantly, It is our responsibility to showcase our good feelings/vibes of togetherness to our kids.
I am sure our kids will mimic our actions, and maybe they could put in twice as much of the efforts we put into our community!
That being said, our kids will continue and elevate the CTC gatherings to the next level!!
With all the great feelings, I got a WhatsApp notification from our favorite CTC WhatsApp group asking if someone was interested in writing an article on the CTC website.
I considered why can’t I just reiterate my simple conversation with my wife and my thought process in an article. I then responded to the gentleman who made an effort in designing and trying to publish the CTC website that I am eager to write up an article!!
This simple thought may be a game changer for someone!
And finally, you are reading and enjoying (I believe) the last line of my article! All the very best out of the best of whatever you do in your life!!
Let’s together make the REAL world with more and more positive human connections! Have a blessed time!