Time Travel

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I took a walk today. Though my destination was futile, I savoured every moment of the stroll and thought to myself, "It's like walking through a postcard." Last night I wrote a potential blog post that I expect will not be published here. It built on the idea of experiencing beauty and knowing that I must leave it.

Perhaps life is a succession of postcards. The wise from among us know that postcards are snapshots of beautiful experiences that serve only as a reminder and perhaps a meager testimony of those times.

It seems we spend a great deal of energy trying to record moments. With cameras and recording devices at our fingertips, moments are constantly captured. For what purpose though? To relive them? To enjoy them? I certainly do. I watch a couple of video clips of my kids repeatedly, smiling no less the fifth time than the first. I miss them - the children and the moments. And while I am unable to witness and share in the newest moments of their lives, it's a comfort having a few seconds from times long past.

Do you ever re-read old letters or e-mails? I do, and again I smile no less the fifth time than I did the first, though sometimes with sadness. 

And this is life. Live and love and keep living and loving, the old and the new, but let it not be in vain. Let reminders of the past be invitations to ponder and reflect and to thank the One who bestowed them on us and continues to favour us with His graces. Let moments worth recording, words worth re-reading, smiles worth adorning, and tears worth shedding have a greater purpose. To thank, praise, and glorify our Lord. To ponder, discover, and appreciate our relationships, endeavours, and purpose.

May every postcard have a story that feeds the heart and nurtures the soul, and may every departure be followed by a gracious arrival. May we never imprison our futures with experiences of the past. May Allah guide us to Him and His good pleasure and to submit to that which He wants for us. Truly, we want not except what He wills, inshaAllah wa ameen.