1. This Blessed House is a compelling story that represents more than just a newly married couple and their struggles to work through the first few months of their marriage. But more so, it represents a lifestyle that is commendable to follow. Twinkle and Sanjeev are a young Hindu couple that have just married and moved into their first house. This particular house seems to be previously owned by a Christian family, because there a numerous amount of Christian objects that have been left. These objects are hidden throughout the house and consist of a figure of Christ, a key chain with a wooden cross, a three wise men painting, a miniature Nativity scene, a tile trivet of sermon-delivering Jesus, a 3-D past card of St. Francis, plus many more. The two have totally different views on the objects and what to do with them. Sanjeev sticks true to his Hindu roots and gets annoyed with the entire Christian reminders. Not only does he stand firm, he also does what he can to remind Twinkle of their Hindu roots. Twinkle, on the other hand, is intrigued by all of the objects and sees it as a treasure hunt. Although she is a Hindu, she is obviously not satisfied with her religion since she is so interested in Christian symbols. She relates finding all the objects to a treasure hunt and is intrigued to find more. After the two get settled, they have a house warming party and invite all of Sanjeev’s friends and co workers over to show off their new place. Sanjeev is worried what his coworkers might think about the objects being displayed and tries to convince Twinkle to put them away. She gets extremely upset and they eventually compromise on what is going to be displayed. Although there is a compromise, the objects are not completely removed. During the party, Twinkle informs the guests of their treasure hunt and they are fascinated. Sanjeev is not pleased with the way the party is going since Twinkle is ¬ socializing with the guest, telling them about all the objects, and not helping him run the party. He is also displeased with the fact that everyone is so interested in the objects and doesn’t join them when they go into the attic. They even go on a treasure hunt themselves to find more treasures. They take an adventure to the attic and discover a large sized Jesus Christ. When Twinkle brings it down, Sanjeev initially doesn’t like it but then eventually “pressed the massive silver to his ribs, careful not to let the feather hat slip, and followed her.” This represents that he is starting to accept Twinkle’s interest in the objects and willing to be open minded about them.
This short story, in my opinion, has many different interpretations that the reader can receive, but the one that I received is from the character Twinkle. She is an incredible example of the faith that God wants us to have. Sanjeev on the other hand, has the complete opposite, he does not represent faith, but instead fear, which brings nothing but limitations to the life that God intends for us to enjoy.
2. This concept of faith represented through Twinkle needs to be interpreted because it can easily be received but easily overlooked at the same time. Since this story is lengthy, and represents quite a few different themes, one could easily be focused on just one theme and overlook the others. Sometimes a reader will get caught up in a theme according to what they are personally going through. For instance, a girl that just recently got married might focus on the relationship aspect and relate the troubles that Sanjeev and Twinkle struggle with to her own troubles. Or, if the reader is a Hindu, they might focus on the differences between Christianity and Hinduism.
I on the other hand, am currently in a state of my life where my faith is being tested in different areas. Although I long for the spontaneity that Twinkle and the ability to trust and have faith in the things that are unknown, I tend to be held back by fear similar to Sanjeev. The most impressive thing about Twinkle’s attitude is she doesn’t even realize that her actions display what faith should look like. My hope for this post would be for people to be inspired by the faith that is displayed through the life of Twinkle and not to be restrained by fear in their life, like Sanjeev did.
3. The central theme of most plays and short stories are typically displayed in the events or the story line, but in This Blessed House, the theme is represented through the characters. Twinkle has such a free, child like spirit from the beginning of the story and never changes throughout. She is also very cheerful and friendly, definitely someone that you would want to surround yourself with. Sanjeev on the other hand, is not as cheerful and optimistic. Instead, he is stuck in his Hindu religious traditions and does not care about anything else, especially Christianity. Not only is he close minded, he is negative and doesn’t accept his wife for who she is, and instead gets annoyed with her personality.
Although it does not inform us on Twinkle’s personal Christianity views, her actions display a faith that represents her desire to know more about Christ as well as a value for the sacraments that are represented. She has an optimistic mindset that is not affected by outside sources. Sanjeev on the other hand, is so consumed about what his coworkers would think that he cannot even appreciate the sacraments. The central message in the story displays the type of faith that we need to incorporate into our spiritual life and the ability to accept the unknown with open arms. Not only to accept it, but embrace it with a spirit of excitement and joy.
4. There are many pieces of evidence throughout the story that displays the faith that Twinkle exemplifies. The opening paragraphs display the first example when Twinkle replies to Sanjeev’e comment to throw away the white porcelain effigy of Christ. She responded with “But it could be worth something. Who knows?” Right off the bat, she represents that although she is not sure what it represents, she has hope that it is something worthwhile. Most, modern day Christians don’t view the unknown with this attitude, but more so with the attitude of disregard.
Her curiosity to know more about God is the next representation of good faith. She was so fascinated with the religious pieces, that she kept asking Sanjeev tons of questions about Christianity and what the other people must have been like. Many Christ followers today do not have curiosity or the desire to know more about God. They are completely content with what they may have learned as a child, or what other people say, and have not done much to decipher any meaning from their personal view points and interpretations of the word as well as the many things God is doing in the world today.
“They didn’t bother her, these scattered, unsettled matters,” Sanjeev stated as he referred Twinkle. Wow, what a powerful statement. Are we easily bothered by unsettled matters? Yes, many people are bombarded by these issues and forget to let them go and let God step in and take over. It takes a lot of faith to not worry about issues that we cannot figure out and trust God to make things happen. It is inspiring to see this attribute displayed in someone’s life. This is why Twinkle is so cheerful all the time, because she doesn’t focus on the things that she knows she can’t control. Isn’t that what God wants us to do? Isn’t that the faith that we are suppose to display for Christ?
“Each day is a treasure hunt, I’m serious,” Twinkle exclaimed to her friend about the sacraments. Treasure hunts are fun, exciting and represent the desire to search for something of value. She is exclaiming to her friends that these journeys to find things that have to do with the Christian religion are fascinating. Shouldn’t that be how we view our relationship with God? What if we compared our relationship with God to a treasure hunt and woke up every day trying to find more about him and the things he has for us, the unknown?
Another example that represents a good characteristic of Twinkles good faith, is when Sanjeev threatens to throw away a sacrament that Twinkle displayed in the yard. She immediately was outraged and claimed that she was displeased with Sanjeev. She threatened to leave, proclaimed that he could never do such a thing and even cried. Sometimes, people in this world, try to remove our “sacraments,” from our lives and take away the closest things we have to Christ. Do we get outraged and upset like Twinkle did, or do we just become silent and let our faith get taken away from us? Wouldn’t you think God wants us to kick and scream and do whatever it takes in order to keep the things in our lives that keep us close to him?
Lastly, Twinkle displays the faith we should have while she was at the party. She presents herself well and is admirable to the guests. She is also very welcoming and offers to give them a tour. On the tour she tells the guests about all her discoveries and the excitement they bring her. They too become intrigued and want to join in on the treasure hunt. She grants their request and takes them to the attic, which is a place she’s never been. This is where they find the bust of Jesus Christ, ultimately the most important. Isn’t this exactly what were suppose to do, tell people about the things God is revealing to us and share our excitement? Doesn’t this excitement typically lead them to Christ and open their eyes to a whole new world?
5. Why does this interpretation matter and why is it important to have a faith like Twinkles? Well, it simply depends on the life that you wish to live, do you want one full of joy, happiness and peace,or would you rather one full of worry, disappointment, misery and pain? Do you want to live a life that is pleasing to God, or displeasing to him? Tough choice, right? Hopefully not, hopefully you’re smart to realize that the life that God intended for us to live only comes through the kind of faith presented by Twinkle; one that brings true joy, and happiness like she experienced. Surely you don’t want to live a life of fear full of worry and wonder like Sanjeev did . As Usman B. Asif states, “Fear is a darkroom where negatives develop.” Is that the life you think God intended for you to live? I don’t think so. Fear got in the way for Sanjeev and deprived him from experiencing the joy that Twinkle did. It wasn’t till the end where he seemed to accept the sacraments when he held the piece close to his chest. Who knows if that really means he’s open to it, or he just wants to make Twinkle happy. He could never let go of his control and experience faith. As Mary Morrissey claims, “You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.” What are you going to do, allow fear to control your destiny, or control your destiny by letting faith guide your path?
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