My Autumn
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Imam and Inter Faith Practitioner from Leicester.
Good morning!
I was telling a friend about a holiday in Wales where we enjoyed the beautiful mountains, valleys, and the seaside - in between the rain of course. I also told her about our summer holiday in the Lake District. She recommended that we go there during autumn. She described the vivid and breathtaking colours of the trees and their reflections on the lakes - a mosaic of colours, she said. I look forward to taking my wife there soon.
I’ve since thought a lot more about trees. It’s fascinating that leaves bring us such joy and delight even as they are dying. Once dry and dead they fall off. Only then can trees have a fresh life with the arrival of spring. Trees that don’t shed their leaves don’t get a makeover.
It’s got me thinking about us and how we compare. How many take joy and delight from frail and old grandparents? I think it’s only the fortunate ones who can appreciate their beauty - I mean their real inner beauty.
And as for the shedding of the leaves I wonder how much fresher, healthier and happier I would be if I could learn to shed off some of the rot that has set in my mind, body and soul, to make room for good deeds, good habits and positive thoughts just like these trees make room for fresh leaves. Like the trees in spring, I too can adorn myself with the fresh leaves of good morals, kindness, generosity and many other virtues - but first I must undergo an autumn.
I pray God helps us shed our faults and gives us a makeover, amin.