In 1995, the summer before my first trip to India with my university, I drove across America by myself. I was driving my grandmother's six cylinder Buick, pulling a six-foot trailer packed with my “life,” as I was planning on living in North Carolina, USA, forever. I love my country, the land, the people. They are truly unique. The idea of permanently living in North Carolina, however, shortly changed a few months later, when I traversed Indian soils. “You know, Susan, they say th...

Today I was cooking in God's kitchen. I cook every day. This is no ordinary kitchen, it's God's kitchen.  Everything in it belongs to God, and humans have the job to apprentice with God. This kitchen is like a laboratory. It is here that we create the sweet sauce of life. In this creation we are offered free will to make whatever we please, and that includes quite a menu. With God as lead Chef in this kitchen and guardian angels as assistants, we have all kinds of tools to create at wil...

Tomorrow is Onam, a holiday celebrated worldwide exclusively by the people of Kerala. Onam includes all religions, and is a state holiday. This is my favorite holiday, because it reminds me of Christmas and Thanksgiving at the same time. Onam is a harvest festival that celebrates the abundance that God has given us. We give clothing or money to our family members and employees, or to people who perform services for us—such as our fisher woman, our trash collectors, and our coconut harvester...