India, Take Two (part 4): The Gospel or Worshiping at a Cobra Snake Shrine?

This is probably gonna be the last of the India posts. There are some other thoughts I would like to talk about soon!

That was a shrine on the way to a local Indian village. We stopped to see it.

Sadly,

India, Take Two (part 3): Coke, Arranged Marriage, or Pepsi?

Clearly,Pepsi is the choice of champions. I am not sure about you, but Pepsi is more smooth going down. Also, there are definitely less cocaine connotations, so I feel more comfortable about not supporting drugs and terrorism or something. Also, I worked with a lady named Marie that lived on 4-5 Pepsi cans a day and she is probably in her late 60s. She hates water. She was always healthy. I honestly suggest that Pepsi has healing/life-giving qualities. What up.

All right, so here is the story:

We’re sitting around the table, having a great big, home-cooked, Southern meal… Southern Indian, not fried chicken or sweet tea… but there was WATERMELON and chai TEA (NOT sweet tea)…

It was great to eat some homemade South Indian chicken curry. The women that cooked were excellent cooks. A 2.5L Pepsi bottle was being passed around the table, just being demolished. Heather was especially glad to see Pepsi, not Coke. I shared her sentiment, but more maturely kept the excitement to myself.

Then one of my fellow American teammates asked our host, Mrs. P, this question:

“Mrs. P,

India, Take Two (part 2): A Little Man Kissed My Hand

Okay. I am back on my sleep schedule. I slept for like 15 hours on Tuesday and 10 on Wednesday.

Here’s a quote from the end of my last post:

So what is “Christianity”? That was the issue, I think. No one really knows what it is except what they hear from sound-bites, comedians, or sitting though a confusing Easter Sunday morning thing where they say/sing odd things from old books and drink out of one goblet (or tiny cups if you go to a Protestant Easter Service).

But before I get back to that line of thought… here’s the thing:

I got kissed on the hand by a little Indian man while walking the streets of Chennai.

“How did that happen?“

You know…I don’t really know.

He was trying to talk to me in Tamil, a southern  Indian language. I had no idea what he is saying. He had no idea what I was replying. I was having fun pretending that

India, Take Two (part 1): “So, are you becoming a priest?”

 

I went to Chennai, India last week. Got back to LU Sunday night. It’s 6:00 AM, Tuesday. I can’t sleep, because I’m jetlagging right now… not sure if this will all make sense.

A few days ago, I stood inside that temple complex. The above image that I found on Google really only captures the entrance. It’s kind of an open air type of structure. Elaborate columns and ceilings with some enclosed sections, but no outside walls. Pretty huge place.

Inside, there were dozens of god-statues enclosed in glass cases within small, dimly lit, decorated rooms. The Hindu priests stood out in front of these statues, blocking