An actual letter written to a suffering friend in Arabic around 1970….
Dear…….
Love is more expansive than many miles… It is farther and deeper than the Horizon. Love, is the truth that supersedes all fabulous legends. Because Love is not three-dimensional… it has no dimensions at all. It is beyond any measurable reality. It is above the boundaries of time. It calls forever home. As the days run by, with all its joy and misery into what we call the past, love endures in all its glory, splendor and power … for it never grows old.
Some people like to fall back on some of the pages buried in the wastebasket of time… they call it memories. They try to extract out of it a few smiles, or even a few tears. We can only look at those folks and wonder, why should they regurgitate stale and musty moments as if there is no present or future. Indeed, if the past was sweet, then the future can be made sweeter. And if the past was bitter, then we must be able to make the future different. It all depends on our ability to condition that future in the direction of our hopes and ambitions. One thing is certain, that is, we may lose the whole future all together, if we sit down lamenting the past, running our fingers into the wastebasket of time searching for something to grieve over. People who do that, it is fair to assume, are those who lost all self confidence and have no faith in the omnipotent power ready to support whoever asks for help. They seem to have convinced themselves that the future is already lost before it comes to be in the present. They only expect every new day to come with additional forms of pain. Those wretches lose their gifts and talents even before they receive them, because they make themselves unworthy of it. In their folly, they don’t understand the power of love surrounding them and filling the world around them so as to deny them any chance to ignore it or refute its existence.
We may need a lot of time to ponder how a little seedling grows in the middle of a far away jungle. There, among the giant trees, heavy thickets and wild animals… sometimes an abundance of rainfall will drown everything, and seasons of drought will suffocate life out of the strongest. The sun may bake the jungle with hellish heat, and the cold nights turn it into a merciless frigid world. Yet, the brave little seedling fights its way through it all, until one day, it will find its rightful place among the giant trees and extend its branches majestically in all directions. It laughs at the wind, embraces the rain and shelters many other creatures from the searing heat of the sun. Some humans are like a little seedling. Nevertheless, not all seedlings grow in the same way. Many are quick to hide into the ground at the slightest approach of trouble. Such weaklings and cowards will bury themselves, never to surface again. Only the few brave sprouts will rise and grow in the midst of tears and pain.
Mind you, this may be a boring repetition of age-old concepts, or mere analysis of what happens every day. It may be meaningless to some, or significant to others. Nevertheless, it is true. The truth sometimes does not seem to be attractive. Yet it is overpowering at all times. Therefore, it needs to be approached with confidence and steadfastness. That is the only way we can peal off its harsh appearance and uncover its real beauty and sweetness with hope and optimism. Without hope, we lose the only reason to live and the drive to survive. Hope in turn can only be built on a solid foundation of faith in the omnipotent power that braces us providentially and lovingly. We have to believe not only that that power has no use for the word impossible, but also that we are endowed with love beyond the limitations of any human expression.
If we believe that God is love, then we must believe that the power of love will certainly come in due time and in its own incomprehensible manner because it wants and because it can. It comes to create for us a new day so divinely crafted that it feels like an enchanting reverie as our hearts become immersed fully into a non-ending melody of gratitude and happiness beyond the conceited largesse of human imagination. You may understand that, if you take a look at the different types of people around. There are those who fully enjoy every moment of life given to them, and there are those who pretend that they do with varying degrees of success. Yet, there are some who have already got tired of pretending and began to curse the day they were “forcibly” pulled into life.
Sometimes, Love gives us some clues to understand the mysteries of life around us, to strengthen our faith, bandage our wounds or ignite our hopes. In other words, it teaches us that patience – which is not a human trait – is the slow cooker of the best delicacies of life. You see, the most beautiful rose is at the top of a thorny stem. In order to reach its invigorating velvety petals, you have to climb up some prickly nasty path. Mind you, some fools try to snatch the rose away from its stem, thereby; will never enjoy it for long. The rose of their lives will wither soon in their hands…and no plethora of tears can bring it back to life. Tears, as we know, will only help the rose grow to its splendid glory when it is on its stem and in its own ground. That is what makes life – like a rose – so beautiful and sweet. It is an unbreakable unique blend of sugar and salt, chocolate cake and horse radish …ice cream and jalapeño peppers. Try to spend a few days eating nothing but honey. Pretty soon, you are going to crave a pickle. Believe me, it is the pickle, which makes you appreciate the sweetness of honey.
My friend, we all hate the annoying laws of gravity. We long to fly and be weightless, so that we can soar up high and be above everything and everyone…! Yet, if you ask the astronauts who spent time in space, fascinated by the sights and captivated by the overwhelming experience. You shall be surprised to learn how each one of them eventually yearned for the moment he would be back home with loved ones and friends where he really belongs. As if the laws of gravity, we hate so much, are actually meant to steady our footing and give us the balance essential to maintain our sanity, our sense of security and above all…the wonderful reality that we are all closely tied together by the great power of…love.