Francis Gonsalves

World Wrestling Entertainment offers crazy entertainment, especially when the giant Indian, the “Great Khali” aka Dalip Singh Rana, decimates opponent after opponent with enviable ease. When Khali visited India sometime ago, thousands of fans flocked to meet this desi wrestler who looms large at seven-feet three-inches and 190 kilos!

It’s unlikely that these fans will fancy wrestling with Khali. If there’s worry about wrestling with Khali, wouldn’t wrestling with God be a weightier matter?
Religious stories describe human beings grappling with God. In a popular Biblical passage, Jacob is portrayed as wrestling with a divine being. The setting of the story is significant. Jacob has deceived his elder brother Esau by robbing him of the special blessing, given by their father, meant for the eldest son. Years later, Jacob repents and returns to his homeland, although he fears that his brother will seek vengeance.
As Jacob is going towards Esau’s house, he’s told that his brother is advancing towards him with many men. Frightened, Jacob prays to God: “Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, Esau, for I’m afraid of him; he may come and kill us all”. Jacob then spends the night in a camp and that night “a man wrestled with Jacob until daybreak”. The Bible says nothing about the mysterious wrestler. That he came at night suggests suddenness and that he wanted to leave before daylight touches the earth shows that he didn’t want to be recognised. The result of this unexpected “wrestling bout”, so to say, is four-fold: first, the man wrenches Jacob’s hip at the sciatic muscle; second, Jacob refuses to let the man go until he blesses him; third, the wrestler changes Jacob’s name to “Israel”; and, fourth, Jacob calls the place Peni-el (Face of God) saying, “I’ve seen God face-to-face”.
When God changes the name of a person, s/he is given a new identity and fresh purpose in life. The name Israel — from the Hebrew sarah, which means struggle — indicates that God is pleased with Jacob’s struggle. Yet, Jacob does not escape unscathed, for now. Although he receives God’s blessings, he walks with a limp! The story of Jacob and Esau ends unexpectedly since Esau not only forgives his brother but also showers wonderful gifts on him.
Similar to this narrative, the Hindu tradition has an ancient Sanskrit poem entitled Kiratarjuniya by Bharavi, which describes an episode of the Mahabharata wherein Arjuna combats Lord Shiva disguised as a kiraata or a tribal hunter. So pleased was Lord Shiva with Arjuna’s bravery that he gave him the powerful weapon Pashupatastra, which aids Arjuna against the Kauravas during the Kurukshetra war. Jacob and Arjuna’s struggles with God have some elements in common: first, it is God who takes the initiative to encounter them; second, both do not recognise the Divine in their struggles; third, their grappling with God seems to bring benefits and blessings; fourth, it is the Divine One who makes the struggle successful and a new awareness of God is achieved.
Like Jacob and Arjuna, do you and I not wrestle with God? There is always an inner struggle in trying to fathom “who” or “what” God is. Mystics like Mother Teresa and Mira Bai experienced heartbreak when they were away from the presence of their beloved: God. This has been called “the dark night of the soul”.
We also wrestle with God when we ask questions of Ultimate meaning. We all yearn for truth and can never be content with lies. Jacob was forced to face his deception, and after grappling with God, he made peace with his brother whom he had wronged.
It’s not only the onus of believers to grapple with God. Genuine seekers, atheists and agnostics must also grapple with God — rather, without God — for scepticism and science haven’t provided satisfactory answers about our origin and destiny.
Sitting back and viewing the kushti of the Great Khali is absorbing. However, grappling with God is far more elevating. So, like Jacob and Arjuna, arise and enter the fray! Apostle Paul praises one who “wrestles with God in prayer”. But, should you dislike prayer, then wrestle with whatever you call “Ultimate”. You, I can bet, will be the winner!

— Francis Gonsalves is the principal of the Vidyajyoti College of Theology, Delhi. He is involved in interfaith dialogue and peoples’ initiatives for fostering justice, harmony and peace. He can be
contacted at fragons@gmail.com