Sunday, August 28, 2011

Endings

28 Ramadhan 1432

One day left, said someone as we were breaking the fast today, and I was childishly pleased to note that I wasn't the only one counting down the days. But even as this month of fasting draws to its inevitable close I'm aware, given God's mercy, we'll have this all to do again in the not-so-distant future, and repeating it will lead to rediscovering what will have been easily forgotten by that time - and needful of remembering.

We are forgetful as a species. Sometimes this is a blessing. And sometimes you read something like Tolstoy's Resurrection which alerts you to the catastrophic dangers of being forgetful of others. Being born again sometimes requires only a mindfulness of others' suffering, which changes everything.

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