A Covenant with God and the Promised Land of Eelam
Ruben Nagesparan Chandrakumar, BS
Within the Judeo-Christian tradition, it is widely understood that Abraham, considered the father of nations, was able to fulfill his destiny due to his decision to make a covenant with God. God had called upon Abraham and offered him and his descendants an opportunity to be blessed with land and protection in return for willingly accepting the path, the conscience, and the judgment of God. This covenant played a significant role in the way the interpretation of reality shifted toward an appreciation for the dual hands of God’s justice and mercy. This narrative was further continued by the life of Moses.
Moses, who had been saved from near-certain death as a baby, was adopted by the royal family of Egypt and raised as a prince. However, as he grew older, Moses became aware of his identity as a Hebrew and received a call from God to be the liberator and leader of his people. Through a miraculous escape from the tyranny and enslavement of Egypt, Moses was able to part the Red Sea and begin to lead his people to the Promised Land of Canaan. This journey entailed the greatest adversity and suffering recorded in the historical accounts of humanity. In spite of this, Moses remained steadfast in his duty—his dharma—and led his people through the desert for forty years. He renewed the covenant that Abraham had made with God and was given the Ten Commandments as a moral code and law that served as the fundamental guide to instructing one’s behavior in life. Through his sacrifice and struggling commitment to honor his covenant with God, Moses was able to lead his people into the Promised Land, despite being unable to cross into the land due to his punishment by the Lord for his sins.
This archetypal narrative reveals an eternal truth about the journey humans take to free themselves from the tyranny of the state, trek through the merciless chaos of the desert for years, and form a new era of peace and prosperity, despite the potential for never witnessing the manifestation of the dream. There is perhaps no better story that describes the situation of Eelam than Exodus. After escaping the tyranny of the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British, Eelam found itself in a lost place marked by Sinhala oppression. This gradually worsened, particularly after the death of Chelvanayakam and the loss of other key political leaders. From this state of chaos, the LTTE originated and seized power. The tyranny of the LTTE cannot be understated, posing a similar challenge to those faced by previous generations—how do the people remain attentive and faithful to God while fighting tyranny? The loss of the war and the fractured nature of the nation have left us in the desert—lost, hopeless, and wandering aimlessly in the dream of the Promised Land.
By embodying the rich wisdom encapsulated within the Exodus narrative, Eelam can begin to formulate a vision and adapt its philosophical orientation to become more aligned with God and offer a legitimate pathway to a free, just, and prosperous nation. However, if the individuals that comprise Eelam seek to ignore their conscience, blind themselves to their sins and the sins they inherit, and manipulate the structure of reality to serve their narrow interests, the country will continue to be mired by itself. The stark reality of displacement serves a substantial role within this potential; by integrating a common narrative that acknowledges the multiplicity of individual perspectives and journeys that have occurred, the pathway toward acting in the most ethical behavior—with the peace and prosperity of the individual, the family unit, the broader community, the country, and ultimately the world—all within alignment and perceived as the greatest good.
While this is not in any way detracting or trivializing the practical steps that must be taken to reach the Promised Land, it is to declare that there is no direction nor morality without such beliefs. By becoming more conscious of these patterns of behavior and the way they affect our perception of potential, the actions of evil will be condemned and those of righteousness will be rewarded. By returning to and developing the religiosity of the nation, the people are given a revival of their hope and their belief in a more meaningful life—despite the many tragedies, atrocities, and malevolence which will be encountered.