Sunday, March 16, 2008

Palm Sunday without palm!

On Palm Sunday children from Sunday schools taking the streets and shout together -

“Hosanna; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest” (Mark 11:9-10).

They raised the palm in their hands as high as they can. After taking the streets they gathered at their own local church to have a mass. A beautiful scene to announce the glory of the highest, a slogan shouted in the days of Jesus, by the crowd in Jerusalem when Jesus entered there as a king. Palm Sunday became one event that children do not miss. A special day for the children to announce Jesus is the King. In fact you can see beautiful pictures of children taking the street, posted by j (http://www.lawrkhawm.com/story.php?title=Palm_Sunday_2008)

A point I want to mention, by making a bold statement- ‘palm Sunday without palm’ is due to many environmental and economic concern. Let us consider the fact that this number of children across the state will require that amount of palm. The cost of a palm leaves for one morning, which will then turn into a waste. The amount of green tree we have to fell for one Sunday morning. The amount of oxygen they could have produced when alive. The amount of Carbon dioxide they would have consumed knowing the fact that our carbon dioxide level is the highest during february to march each year due to jhum burning. The matter of the fact is that we do not cultivate palm for this occasion and rely on the wild stock. How long will this stock last?

I googled fanatically to find out what type of palm tree we use for this occasion and find out that its scientific name is Caryota urens. They are commonly called solitary fishtail palm, toddy palm, wine palm or jaggery palm. They are found in many tropical countries.
( for more information on details and uses refer to- http://www.worldagroforestry.org/SEA/Products/AFDbases/AF/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=82 ).

So, considering the fact that global warming is an issue and the responsibility lies with every individual on this planet to safe the world by planting more trees. It is time to consider our ways of life so as to limit the damage to nature.

(Special thanks to Tluanga and BNA MZU for information on palm tree)

2 comments:

Calliopia said...

Guess you have a very good point here. Since the Synod is trying hard to be politically correct (all the Nilai Zan thupuis and environment awareness Sunday School lessons incorporated in the last decade), it might not be long before we have Palm Sunday marches without palms branches. Might seem a bit strange though.

vana said...

dear j, i think it will be a litle bit weird for 1-2 years, but then who knows. I really think we have to change our lifestyle in many ways. Ka saptawngin a daihlo deuh thin a..lolz. KTP leh YMA khawmpui ah te hian aww thutna turin thingtuai engzat kan suat ang maw..io