Salman Khan is synonymous with formulaic Bollywood blockbusters, and one doesn’t expect too sophisticated a plot or performance when one goes to see him at the movies. And yet, this has to be one of Mr. Khan’s most thoughtful performances, notwithstanding the song-and-dance parts sprinkled liberally throughout.
Because this is a story of a once-decorated wrestler from Haryana, whose glory days have come to a sudden halt when personal tragedy strikes and strips his will to fight, and yet at the age of forty, he is determined to shape up and get back into the ring because he knows that in doing so is left his only chance at redemption. This is a story of a winner – and who doesn’t love a winner who has risen up from the ashes, not just to stand up, but to stand up and stand tall, and in fact, tower over his opponents in the face of all the odds.
I personally did not think that it was too far-fetched of Mr. Khan to have played a role ten years junior to his real age, and it is evident that he must have had to practically whip himself into shape to do just that. As a side bar, it is indeed unfortunate that his comments to the press on just this aspect of his preparation for the role were a poor choice of analogy, perhaps even grossly inappropriate, and yet, one has to witness the great will and effort it must have taken to have rendered so stunning a performance that one can’t help but feel sorry for him, all things considered. And I may be gullible, but not so very much as to not have noticed any glaring discrepancies, if there were any. On various counts of acting, directing, and a simple yet powerful story line, I was moved to give it high marks.
Because in the final analysis, not only does the package tug at your heart strings for the themes of love, loyalty, loss, heartbreak, courage, perseverance, relentless optimism, and best of all, a story of reconciliation, it has powerful undertones and themes of social justice and gender equality at its very core. Especially in a land where the girl-child is considered an apology for an offspring, this is a story that celebrates the girl-child, and in doing so, I will wager that it will have a most lasting impact on the hearts and minds of people across the land. Just for this, Mr. Khan and company deserve high accolades.
And while Mr. Khan cannot be deprived of the accolades he has rightfully earned for his performance – and this goes beyond the grueling wrestling and boxing sequences – it must also be noted that Anushka Sharma holds her own with much charm and aplomb.
And last but not least, may I remind my gentle reader that this is a commentary on the merits of the movie and the performances of an entertaining story – and must not be construed to be condoning any other situations of reality that Mr. Khan has been negotiating for more than a decade.
We enter the second book of Chronicles today, and having learned that Solomon has been appointed as David’s successor, we are now going to examine the life and times of King Solomon. The account of Solomon’s dialogue with God concerning his one request is a fascinating one.
Solomon says, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, LORD God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
And God answers, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”
Next, Solomon begins the work of building the Temple. As per the detailed instructions that he has received from his father, Solomon goes about the business of acquiring all the right materials, builders, craftsmen and artisans, and enters into this endeavor with the humblest of spirits.
He says this, 5 “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. 6 But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?
Turning now to our reading in the book of Romans, we find Paul continuing in his most persuasive way to argue for the value of this new concept of grace over the Law.
Paul says, 1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
Let it not be said that Paul ever trivialized this concept of grace. He points out that to those for whom it may appear that the advent of grace is a mere license to continue in sin, it is a travesty indeed because the true meaning of grace must not have been comprehended at all.
Because how can it be that one would wish to continue in sin when one is convicted of one’s sin by this extraordinary gift of grace, viz. unmerited favor. Why would you look a gift horse in the mouth? You wouldn’t! Rather, you would accept it and be overwhelmed at the fact that one was even presented to you for no apparent merit of your own.
But how can it be? Well, that is why it is called grace.
Paul cannot say enough about how great a concept this is: It may seem paradoxical, this business of allowances couched in the form of grace, and yet the exhortations to not abuse so great a gift remain unabated.
Paul says, 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Paul goes on to encourage his readers to become “slaves to righteousness.”
He says, 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. And therefore, this would be true: 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Turning now to our psalm of the day, we find a most sublime one in which David, the psalmist, appears at complete ease and rest as he makes this claim:
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Finally, two verses from the book of Proverbs packed with profundity:
20 Listen to advice and accept discipline,
and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
We continue with our reading of David’s life and times, and in this passage, there is particular reference to the handing over of the reins of the kingdom from father to son. David is now old and wishes to put things into order before his time is up, and so, he summons the leaders and officials of his kingdom and informs them of his choice of Solomon to succeed him as king.
Furthermore, he has specific instructions which are somewhat reminiscent of the kind of parting instructions that Moses gave to the children of Israel before they crossed the river Jordan into the promised land.
At this time, David says this to the people: 8 “So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever.”
And to his son, he says this: 9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”
Furthermore, David offers up a prayer of praise. It is one that is timeless, and regardless of one’s circumstances would be good for anyone at all to repeat, just as David composed it as follows:
“Praise be to you, LORD,
the God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting. 11 Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all. 12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
Turning now to our reading in the book of Romans, we find Paul making a case for the new order of salvation and reconciliation with God through faith in the miraculous life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Speaking of Jesus’ death on the cross, he says, 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
And then, he goes on to explain how great a sacrifice this is—it is the way that we might be spared the wrath of God.
Paul says, 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
The next few verses continue in this vein, and so profound is each word and sentence that I cannot help but reproduce these in their entirety. Just as the early Christians in Rome to whom this letter was addressed, must have read and reread Paul’s words, it would behoove us to do the same.
Paul says, speaking of the gift of God’s salvation through faith in the work of Jesus: 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Turning now to our psalm for the day, we find Psalm 15, another psalm that I have had committed to memory as a young child, all thanks to my mother. I reproduce the psalm in its entirety in the King James version that I learned it in:
1Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
2He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
3He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
4In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.
5He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.
Finally, a verse from the book of Proverbs, penned by Solomon, son of David, and wise king of Israel. If there was ever any doubt about whether it is appropriate to discipline one’s children, here is admonition in support of it:
18 Discipline your children, for in that there is hope;
do not be a willing party to their death.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
The chronicling of David’s officials continues: these are the priests, the gatekeepers, the treasury keepers, and various other sundry officials.
One point of observation: the reason the Lord was displeased with David’s desire for taking a census was due to the fact that in the original covenant that had been made between Abraham and renewed many a generation following that, God had clearly promised that the people of Israel would one day be as numerous as the stars in the sky.
That meant that they couldn’t be numbered. Why then would David wish to disbelieve that promise and begin to count the uncountable? It is for his lack of faith that David displeased God in this undertaking of counting up the citizens of his kingdom.
Turning now to our reading in the book of Romans, we find Paul, the master theologian, teacher, preacher, and letter-writer, writing in earnest to the early believers in Rome, many of them Jewish by birth who appear to be in conflict on many points concerning the Law received from Moses and in its application thereof.
Paul takes this matter even one step further backward to trace their ancestry to Abraham to whom the very first covenant or promise was made by God. A promise that Abraham accepted at face-value, and one that was as remarkable as Abraham’s own faith in it.
Paul has a beautiful way of offering a summary of these facts, and ties it all up very neatly when he speaks of what it all means in terms of faith vs. works, the Law vs. grace.
Paul says, 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Paul goes on to speak clearly and boldly about this great justification through faith that produces an eternal peace between our sinful selves and God Almighty.
He says, 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Turning next to our reading of the psalms, we find David speak with confidence about the great deliverance that is available through the Lord, but available only for the asking. To those who ask and to those who believe, the Lord is their refuge and there is great rejoicing. David surmises that the Lord does this:
2 The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,any who seek God.
Finally, one verse from the book of Proverbs that is crystal-clear in its meaning:
17 Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD,
and he will reward them for what they have done.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
