The khutbah for today's Friday Prayers was in English and had quite an impact on me. It wasn't that the sermon dealt with anything particularly new or unusual. I'm well aware of the Islamic teaching on the need for steadfastness and perseverance in trying situations, which was today's theme. And, let's face it, the notion is hardly exclusive to Islam. So why the impact?
In the course of the morning I'd needed to deal with three distinctly irritating situations and I'd done so pretty well, but not well enough to be able to genuinely rise above the irritations involved. I'd score myself at 60%, with distinct room for improvement, and could well be over-generous in my estimate. The simple but deep wisdom of the khutbah helped reassure me I'd done reasonably well but left me in no doubt that doing well on just one morning wasn't enough.
The Imam's emphasis on the everyday nature of the challenges being referenced also hit home. I'd been discombobulated by the trivial throughout the morning, proof of my own smallness. But now was offered a chance to grow. Slowly.
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