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As In Little Things - Inner Growth Through Daily Experience

Fakira’s Mirror

“Does she see herself, how can she leave her house wearing those tight shorts,” Fakira said to her friend Sodiq after seeing their fellow classmate, Aisha who is only 5 feet tall but is easily over 220 pounds. “You would think that losing some weight would be a priority but she is not even bothered. Does she not realize how easier her life would be if she freed herself from some of that weight?” She added.

“We all have our lives to live. Let her be,” Sodiq nonchalantly responded.

As with Aisha, imagine all the unnecessary weight we carry around in the form of excessive anxieties and worries. We carry this heavy burden around and are oblivious to our spiritual obesity because no time is taken in the middle of the haste for reflection. Could we but throw off this excess weight, how much easier life would then become.

With the right perception, Fakira could have gained much from her encounter with Aisha for she was being shown a picture of her inner state in the form of Aisha. She could not see this and thereby missed the opportunity presented for spiritual growth. Not for nothing do we encounter various experiences in the course of the day; we just need to make the effort to draw the right lessons from each experience.

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What Next?

Car on Highway
What Next?

Service is Joy

“What next?” These words escaped from Sandra Wilson on her drive back from the University of Wisconsin. Suddenly overcome by sadness and heaviness of heart, she parked on the side of the road to regain her composure.

Her last child, Nathan, was now off to college and although she had been preparing for this day for months, only now had it become a reality. Since her divorce a decade earlier, all she did revolved around the care of her three children. She loved them and was happy with their progress into adulthood, but she also felt an overwhelming sense of loss and abandonment, a loneliness that was eating her up. As she watched the cars zoom past, with tears dripping slowly down her face, she entertained the thought of joining her beloved mother in the afterlife. “What next? What do I have to look forward to?” It was not that long ago that she graduated from college with great hopes of a future with a loving family and a fulfilling career. All that was behind her now. How quickly the years go by, she mused.

Suddenly, her brooding was interrupted by the sight of an old, green Isuzu pickup truck that barely made it off the road and parked right in front of her car. Something was obviously wrong, so she wiped away her tears and got out of her car to go ask whether the stranded man needed help. His truck had run out of gas. She cheerfully offered to help the stranger. He was extremely grateful for her help in driving him to a gas station to buy gas and bringing him back to his vehicle. As she helped the stranger fill up his gas tank, so did he unknowingly fill up her joy tank.

Sandra’s service to the stranger erased her previous anxiety about living alone without her children. She had found the answer to her question “What’s next?” Every single human being is given the opportunity, each and every day, to find true joy through service. This simple realization was helpful to her because what she had feared with Nathan’s departure was the loss of joy. Now she knew that joy was abundantly available through genuine service.

Every charm of life passes, only love remains because it is the very essence of life. Where love is absent there is no life, just mere existence. Where love is present, however, there is also service and thus joy.

“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” 

~Rabindranath Tagore

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Tell me what you want

Help Cannot Approach A Complainer

Many centuries ago in the Middle East, a man in simple garb walked the streets as the shining light and staff for all those who yearned to be true human beings.

One day a woman condemned by the society as a harlot and thus treated with the utmost disrespect came to the end of her road. She could no longer go on living as a pariah and saw in this great man, whom they called “Master,” her only hope for a better existence.

She stood for hours struggling through the crowd without success to get closer to the Master as He addressed the multitude, so she waited until the crowd dispersed. As He turned to leave, she ran towards His direction and  called out to Him. She was speechless when she stood before Him and bowed her head.

“You wish to speak to me? Tell me what you want, the Master said.”

She lost her shyness and said in a weary voice: “See how they all despise me, Master! I cannot speak in their presence. Indeed they make it impossible for me to lead a different life again. They always remind me of my sin, and shun me wherever they see me. They take their children away when I walk in the street, and threaten to stone me.”

The Master said nothing, He walked quietly on, and the woman remained by His side without any objection from Him. He left the town, and still the woman walked by the side of the Master. And hours went by.

Then the Master halted. “What do you hope for from me, that you do not go home?”

“A word of advice, Sir.”

“When I asked what you wanted you made accusations! You had nothing but complaints and lamentations. That is why I could not help you. Now I will give you advice. Go to another country and begin the new life for which you long. Work from morning till night in order to forget the past. You are young, and can still make up for all that you have neglected.”

…….

Daily, hourly, creation says the same to us, “Tell me what you want.” We respond by the nature of our innermost thoughts, words, and deeds. Help cannot reach the man who whines and complains, it simply finds no connection. It however unfailingly reaches him who makes the effort to seek humbly and live honorably, often times coming when least expected.

 

*Inspired from an Account of The Life of Christ

 

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Zainab’s Mother

Love… It was because of her Love

Meryem was abandoned by her family for marrying below her status only to later discover that the man she gave up her family for would himself abandon her. His ever growing frustration with the high levels of unemployment in early 1980s Turkey led to his affair with alcoholism, which subsequently derailed their marriage.

As the sole provider for her two girls, Meryem had to leave the only place she called home in order to put food on the table and send her daughters to school. She worked as a janitor in West Germany for ten years, indifferent to the cold-heartedness of her German neighbors who were threatened by the flood of Turkish workers inhabiting their city. She slept on the street with her daughters on few occasions when she was unable to gather enough money to pay for their accommodation.

Despite the difficulties, Meryem made every sacrifice to ensure Zainab and her sister Zehru did not lack the essentials for their education. Many years later Zainab, who became a successful author, asked her mother about one particular incident. This event was so clear in Zainab’s memory; it had such an impact on her because it was the only time she ever saw her invincible mother cry.

It was a cold February evening in their second year in West Germany, Zainab was seven years old. Meryem paced around a popular street corner with her girls asking for spare change from passers-by when a  young German woman with compassionate green eyes approached them. She took off her coat and wrapped it around the shivering Meryem. Seeing the hungry faces of the little girls, she emptied her purse of all the cash in her possession. She embraced Meryem warmly, waved to the girls and continued on towards her destination.

“Mother”, Zainab asked, “you have been through so much hardship without once outwardly showing any sign of defeat, why did you break down in tears after that kind woman embraced you and placed her coat around you?”

“Love, my dear. It was because of her love,” responded Meryem.

“You can steel your heart against any type of trouble, any kind of horror. But a simple act of kindness from a complete stranger will unstitch you.” 

~ Chris Abani

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In the little everyday things lie a reflection of the greatest happenings in Creation

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