Groundwork for healing – a short piece exploring our response to a pandemic (subjectively current, objectively timeless).
Written at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, where the language of fear noosed into play verbatim, a subtle and gentle peaceful energy of love continued to flow into the heart of all of creation. Why is it then, that the reaction of many, was welcoming and propagating variants of psychological and emotional distress? It almost seems like suffering, at its core, is optional, not inevitable. See adversity through the eyes of the Beloved, who continues to call us back to wholeness, and to the potentiality to experience every experience through the peaceful lens of Love.
As groundwork for healing, it invites you to take an active role in embodying the Light within to reflect the peace and the love. Whose side do you choose, love, or fear? At a subtle level, which role do you play, victim-to-circumstance or game-changer?
Virtuous names, awaiting your invocation
I open this conversation honoring the Names of Divine Beauty and Majesty reflecting on The Corrector, the Balancer, the Distressor. It is not the first time in history crisis strikes. With Allah SWT’s permission, vast spaciousness has been created to allow the environment to breathe and the human to reflect. We must not forget that. A virus, by definition, is not alive, technically that is. The gross manifestation and infiltration into our systems: ecological, physiological, financial etc. is very alive.
Humbled before He Who Gives Life, and He Who Takes Life, as He pleases; ever-so-mindful and hopeful of the Ever-Living, Al-Hayy and The Sustainer of All-Life, the Self-Subsisting, Al-Qayyum. Trusting in Al-Wakil, Al-Wali, Al-Muhaymin, Al-Qadir. We are not alone in this.
May we open our hearts and cease to be indifferent. We are not alone. Our united hearts, the uniting hearts of all believers, is critical for our time. I imagine if there was one universal message transmitted by COVID-19 it would be: All is One. Trust in Allah SWT — the governor of all our affairs.
Endurance, beautiful patience
The world as we know it will not be the same. We must come to terms with that. The impact hits hard: economical, social, political. For many of us, its taxing: mentally, emotionally, psychologically and, spiritually. We must come to terms with that. The outbreak, infectious and widespread, is not within the parameters of our own control. Times are most likely to get worse, before anything gets better, soon. We must come to terms with that. The emergence of this global crisis is no coincidence. We must not be foolish enough to think that. And yet, in the midst of the storm, our anchor remains revelation: be patient and put your trust in a Merciful Lord who constantly, without flinch, pours grace over you, and “He bringeth them out of darkness unto light by His decree” (Holy Qur’an, 5:16).
As we relive what COVID-19 means to us, may we take note. Perhaps, ever so subtle, a slight discomfort arises in the mentioning of its name, the implications of its effect, the re-emergence of memories related to the reality you experience, take note. And then, handover all affairs to the Governor of All Affairs.
Affirming, life
I imagine, the COVID-19 pandemic, is both a trial and an opportunity, at the individual and the collective level. In its’ awakening, humanity is forced to look at where we got it all wrong. We are all responsible, at some level, and it is up to each one of us to allow the shadows within us to be brought up into the light. Now faced to acknowledge and accept what is, will we fully awaken in the process? Will we fully awaken? The changes that need to manifest in the outer world must start within.
We are responsible for the quality of our thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Show gratitude through Al-Shakur, we’ve taken so much and given back so little. Remember Al-Nur, He who is the Light of the Heavens and Earth. Trust in Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum, forces of darkness and destruction are balanced when we affirm life. Be conscious of Ar-Razzaq, He always provides. Open up to give through the hands of Al-Ghaniyy, Al-Karim, there are many in need. And be confident in Al-Qadir, His Might transcends time, space, and dimension and He only needs to say for it to ‘Be’, and it ‘Is’.
Each of us is encouraged to discover a very personal relationship with the resonance of each Divine Name. To co-create reality is to breathe life into the manifestation of Divine Attributes through meditation and prayer. Help spread harmony back into a chaotic field cracked from the imbalance and darkness within our own hearts.
Powerful forces of change, prayer and meditation
There is deep solace in prayer. The cards have been dealt. The pandemic is, real. Junction points, however, are pregnant with potential. Our power to heal, sprout, rebuild, and shift, in parallel to the events of our time, is paramount. Our tradition reminds us that prayer, dua, is the ‘weapon’ of a believer.
Prayer, emphasizes: is this not but an opportunity to draw closer, bring forward positive change? Choice, reasons again: how will you respond?
Social distancing and the enforced ‘separative’ regulations that have become almost the new mainstream normal, need not, and cannot, distance the power Love. We must access the latent power that resides within. The power of our souls. A birthright, instinctive, knowing, and impactful. It levels trust: trust in the unseen.
We can consciously set the intention to do this. To unite our hearts and allow the breathe to move the invisible creative force of Love to create the change needed in the world. When we intend to meditate or pray in synchronization, we honor the Truth that All is One. Darkness dissolves in light. Healing can be instantaneous. Surrender brings in relief.
We do not just pray to God, or, for God. We pray in, with, and through God.
Prayer is alignment to the Beauty and Majesty of All that Is. We humble our own will, the desires of the ego, to align to the will of the Divine, and allow submission to be the means of that which transforms us.
Pray, peace. Pray, love. Pray, union. Pray the feeling, the emotion, the thought alive in action. Pray in the realm of the imaginable world ‘as if’ — seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, sensing with thought feeling and emotion that the prayer was already answered. In one reality, it is.
Surrender, allow for deepenings and openings
Surrender is humility and humility is in surrender.
We are here to heal, ourselves, and in healing ourselves, we heal humanity. Let us not forget, in parallel, the outbreak traversed the months of Rajab, Shaban, and Ramadan. These are very sacred months. Instill habits of cultivation and then firmly plant them into soil ground. Particularly in times of darkness, there needs to be unwavering conviction to serving the light. Trust in Divine intervention. Pray, as One. Be the difference you want to see in the world — our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual bodies mirrored as health in our world.
May we witness the peace, strength, life and vitality that emerges through our unified efforts. We hold the most powerful gift to create change — and it is the gift of prayer. May we be of those who invoke Him in our every step. Is this not but an opportunity to draw closer?
As the Ocean merges as One with the shore-line, through the Beauty of Remembrance, can we turn our homes into a Light-house during this period of trial and hardship, and serve all of His creation?
.
