Theos-Talk Archives (December 2001 Message tt00262)

A writer on Islamic issues wrote lately;
(((((((((()))))))))
During this period, the most sacred month in the Islamic calendar, most 
Muslims feel a close affinity with God. We believe it is a period wherein the 
door of God's grace is especially widened. Not entirely unrelated to this is 
the fact that our hearts and pockets are also expanded towards those less 
fortunate than some of us. Our own abstinence from food and drink enables us 
to identify with the hungry in some small measure. It is also the month 
wherein, customarily, we pay the annual religious tax, the zakah.

What's the big deal about this period? "Why can't you folks be like this all 
the time?" one may ask.

Quite simply, the human condition. We are unable to sustain the level of 
heightened God consciousness throughout the year. If we were able to do so, 
then Ramadan would no longer be Ramadan. If summer existed without winter 
then it would just have been known as "time" and not as summer. Let us not 
ask why it can't be summer all the time. Rather ask, "What do I need to do in 
the summer to thoroughly enjoy it, yet always keep an eye on preparing for 
the winter?"

Boats are safe in the harbour, and it's tempting to want to hang around there 
permanently, but that's not exactly what boats are made for. The month of 
Ramadan is the period wherein we return to our harbours, to repair our 
weather-beaten souls and to prepare for the next lap of our struggle to reach 
closer union with God, with our higher selves, with nature, and with other 
human beings.