Aw Bethlehem!

Aizawl-ah Bethlehem veng a awm. Khawmawia Pu Tawndirthanga fanu chu Laledenbethlehemi a ni. South Africa leh Pennsylvania-ah te hian Bethlehem city a awm tlat. Bethlehem church te hi khawvel hmun tinah a awm emaw tih tur a ni hial mai. Connecticut-a khaw pakhat chu ‘Bethlehem, the Christmas Town’ an ti kher! Hmun, ram, in leh zirna hmun, Bethlehem hming chawi hi khawvelah a thahnem khawp mai. Krismas boruakin min han tuam tak tak hi chuan kan la hmuh ngai reng reng loh Bethlehem ngai hian kan kur thin a nih hi! Chutiang taka Kristiante thinlung luahtu, khaw namen lo tak mai chanchin sawi hi thil tihawm tak ni ve tlata hriatna ka nei a. Mizopa ngaihtuahna atangin, a vate khawthlirin Bethlehem leh a chheh vel i’n thlir thuak thuak teh ang.

Bethlehem Tlang
Bethlehem tlang tih kher hi chu kan Bible-ah kan hmu lo. Mizo thinlungah erawh ‘Bethlehem tlang’ a ni. Davida pianna leh lal atana hriak thih a nihna hmun, Jerusalem atanga mel nga leh a chanve a hla, ‘Davida Khawpui’ tia sawi thin hi a nep lo, a te ber tawp lo.

Hmanah, BC 700 vela zawlnei Mika’n he khuaa ‘Awptu’ a lo pian tur thu a hrilhlawk atang phei kha chuan Bethlehem hian mi ngaihven a hlawh leh zual a. A hrilh lawk ang ngeia Lal Isua a lo pian tak atang phei chuan khaw thianghlim, khaw ropui leh hmingthang, Krismas vuakvetah phei chuan ngai em em a kan kurpui thin khaw ngainatawm a lo ni ta. A khua te hmuin la tlawh ve lo mah i la, Mizo thinlungah chuan ‘Bethlehem tlangpui’ hi a inkham ruah reng mai a nih hi.

Bethlehem Khual Buk
Khualbuk zawng zawng zingah hian Khualbuk hmingthang chu a va ni em! Lal Isua thlenna pawh ni lo, a thlen tak lohna kha a ni chauh leh nghal a! Isua kha thleng ta phei se engtiang taka hmun pawimawh nge a nih zui ang aw…

Professor pakhat Todd Bolen chuan khualbuk tih hi lehlin dik lo a ni, a ti tlat mai. Greek tawnga kataluma tih hi man chawia thlenna khualbuk (inn) ni lo vin, mikhual pindan (guest room) sawina zawk a ni a, he thumal hi khualbuk sawi nan Luka’n a hmang ngai lo, a ti. Hming ziak tura mahni khua theuh va kal kha an ni a. Josefa pawh Bethlehem khaw chhuak a nih avanga he khua hi pan an ni.

An khaw hlui a ni bawk a, an chhungte chu an han pan ve ngei a, mahse an ‘mikhual pindan’ah hmun an chang tlat lo. Eng nge a chhan? Josefa te nupa kha Juda danah nupa tak (legitimate couple) an nih loh avangin an chhungte hian an lo pawm thei lo a ni, an ti. ‘Khualbuk vengtu’ tih Bible-a a inziak lo chunga “Khualbuk vengtu i ui lo’m ni…” tia kan tap per pur mai thin te hi kan lo ti dik ngut na nge maw? Engpawh ni se, chungnungberin thlen in a hnawng tih erawh kan chiang.

Bethlehem Bawng In
Kan Bible-in Isua thlenna kha bawng in a ni tih a sawi lo, bawng in a ni lo tih a sawi chuang bawk hek lo. ‘Ran chaw pekna thleng’ chauh sawi mah se, bawng hi an ranvulh pawimawh te zinga mi a nih ve avangin Bawng in a ni lo, kan ti ngawt thei chuang hek lo. Mahse, kan hla phuahtu leh letlingtute hian engtia Bawng in lo ti tlat mai nge maw an nih aw?

Mizovin ran in kan sak zinga mihring chen ve theihna mai tur chu Bawng in hi ni maiin a lang. ‘Bawng in’ tih tluka Mizo rilrua fiah tur ran in dang sawi tur a vang khawp mai. Chuvangin kan hlate pawh hi hemi rilru atanga an lo siam a nih ka’n ring ve ngawt a. Eng in pawh ni se, mihring chenna tura ngaih loh, ran in-a khawvel chhandamtu a piang tlat mai hi mak zawng a mak a ni!

Kan Lalpa pianna hi bawng in a lo ni chiah lo a nih pawhin he Mizo Kristian thinlungah hi chuan ‘a pianna Bethlehem bawng in tlawm,’ a ni reng fo vang. Hetah, kan thinlung bawng inah hian a piang tlat a lawm!

Bethlehem Arsi
Bethlehem hian ama pualin arsi a nei em ni? Khawvela arsi hmingthang ber hian Bethlehem hming a chawi tlat. Hmu ve hawt lo paw’n ‘Bethlehem arsi engmawi’ tiin kan han kur ngaih ngaih zel mai a nia! Mifingte khan an fin man an tel chiang khawp mai. Isua an hmuh bakah he Bethlehem arsi avang hian dai leh tawh ngai lo turin an hming an chher!

Bethlehem arsi hi engnge a nih chiah, tih chungchangah zirmite ngaihdan a thuhmun lo. German astronomer Johannes Keplera’n BC 6 vela Jupiter leh Saturn intawhna avanga arsi eng thut lo awm (nova) chungchang a sawi te, Korean leh Chinese arsi zirmite’n BC 5 vela nova emaw simeikhu emaw a lan ngei thu an sawi te, mithiam thenkhatin hun engemaw chen lo lang thin Uranus chu Bethlehem arsi nia an rin thu te hian beng a verh hle. Thil tak tak ni lo, Christian hmasa ten an chher chawp (myth) mai mai nia ngai pawl an awm bawk.

Engpawh ni rawh se, Bethlehem arsi hi kan thinlungah a fiah. Kan Lalpa pianna kawhhmuhtu arsi ropui a ni a, Lei leh van Lalber a piang a ni, tih min hrilh tu ‘Bethlehem arsi eng mawi ber’ a ni reng dawn!

Bethlehem Dai Reh
A hming atang ringawt pawh hian lung a leng nghal ruih thei nia! Hei pawh hi dai zawng zawnga dai hmingthang ber a ni chiang khawp ang. He daiah hian a ni, khawvela Krismas hmasa ber chu lawm a lo nih!

Vantlang mawngphaha awm, berampute thlasik dai fim hnuaia ngui tak leh khawhar taka an lo awm lai mek chuan kha Bethlehem dai rehah khan ‘the greatest Christmas celebration on earth’ chu a thleng! Chatuan khua a var ta! Berampute’n ropui an hmu! He naupiangin a rawn thlen chanchintha hi ‘mitin ta tur' a ni tlat. Chu chu mi’n a dawn tawh chuan he thinlung ‘Bethlehem dai khawharah’ hian Krismas ropui a thleng reng thin a lo ni.

Chutichuan…
J.F. Wadea’n “Hlimin leh lawm takin Bethlehem khaw lamah chuan lo haw rawh u’ tia ringtute min sawmna chu Patea’n, “Aw Bethlehem tlang ka thlen hma chuan chawl lovin ka kal ang,” tiin min lo chhan sak tawh a. Hei hi kan hla tur ni kumkhua se. La hmu miah lo pawhin inthlahrung miah lovin, “Aw nang Bethlehem ka va ngai tak che em” i ti ngawih ngawih mai ang u. Bethlehem hi zawng mita hmuha fiah a ni lo va, a hmuna kala chiang a ni hek lo. Thinlunga thleng fiah chi a ni.

We are Really, Really Sorry!

This is a picture of a starving little girl crawling towards the UN Food Camp, located kilometer away: she had collapsed in the bush, and a vulture nearby seemed to be waiting for her to die. This photograph won Kevin Carter the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. The story of this picture does not end here. It has a more touching and tragic story to tell.

In 1993, Kevin Carter went to Sudan to capture images of that nation's dismal and unending civil war. Immediately after they landed in the village of Ayod, Carter began snapping photos of famine victims. Seeking relief from the sight of masses of people starving to death, he wandered into the open bush. He heard a soft, high-pitched whimpering and saw a tiny girl trying to make her way to the feeding centre. As he crouched to photograph her, a vulture landed in view.

After he took his photographs, he chased the bird away and watched as the little girl resumed her struggle. Afterwards he sat under a tree for a long time, smoking cigarettes, talked to God, cried, and thought about his own daughter, Megan. He later confided to friends that he wished he had intervened and helped the child. Journalists at the time were supposedly warned never to touch famine victims for fear of disease.

The photograph first appeared in the New York Times on 26 March 1993. Hundreds of people wrote and called the Times asking what had happened to the child. The reaction to the picture was so strong that The New York Times published an unusual editor's note saying the girl had enough strength to walk away from the vulture, but that her ultimate fate was unknown. Papers around the world reproduced the photo, and Kevin had become internationally known for his Pulitzer prizewinning photo.

Meanwhile, others questioned his ethics. The St Petersburg Times remarked, "The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene." Even some of Carter's friends wondered aloud why he had not helped the girl.

Two months after receiving his Pulitzer, Carter was found dead of carbon-monoxide poisoning in Johannesburg, a suicide at 33. Portion of his suicide note reads: “I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain ... of starving and wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners..." “I'm really, really sorry," he explained, "The pain of life overrides the joy to the point that joy does not exist."

Think about this! About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the UN. The WHO estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed, one-third is starving! However, the world can produce enough food to feed its expanding population.

While millions of people are living in extreme poverty and hunger we can spend millions of dollars and pounds on weapons of mass destruction which are actually meant for the destruction of human life. Because of man’s greed, lust for power and money, and cruelty many children, like this sweet little innocent being, are starving to death! While we are enjoying a luxurious and comfortable life, people are struggling so hard for their survival. We let millions of poor beings suffer awfully daily and look the other way. Forgive us Lord. We are really, really sorry!

Mu Chiten Sa An Ei

Ka zir ve hman chiah lo va, Zirtirh Bu-ah em ni ta kha aw... "Mu chiten sa an ei," tih a awmna kha? Nungcha zinga Mu ang chi ho hian sa an ei thin tihna a nih hmel a. Mahse chung lama thlawk thin Mu chauh hian sa an lo ei lo. A hnuaia lo lang "mu chite" pawh hian sa an ei!

Chauh namenin a chau ta lo va...

Mut hian inngainat a va zual thin em!

Mut vek vek chuan ti tawp tur hi!

A thi lo, a muhil a ni zawk e!

Muthilh lai paw'n nuih sang tur!

Hawl mai a!

Hetia harsatna em em nei lo va kan han mu siai siai mai thei te hi zawng Pathian thilthlawnpek hlu tak chu a lo ni. Mahse, he Khuanu malsawmna ropui hi lawmna tur a ni tih hre lo vin sang tam tak an mu thin!