Money

I often get asked, "Why does God need the money?"

It's a pretty good question. I mean, an all-merciful, all-powerful, all-knowing, infinite entity... requests money from those who are believers?

Call it tithe, call it zakat, call it dasond, or maal-e-wajibaat... at the end of the day, the result is the same. We are told that we need to give, to our fellow human beings, to the upkeep of our places of worship, to a specific individual or organization, or whatever the specific religious denomination may designate. So, why does God care? Why would not just ask for us to be charitable, why ask for a specific amount / percentage of our earnings as is the case in many religions?

I personally do not see it as a matter of charity. Charity is expected of believers, as an aspect of their faith, however specific money that is asked for such as tithe, zakat, dasond, etc... these are all not meant as acts of charity in my perspective.

Yes, charity is an eventual outcome of these specific ways of giving, but, these specific, required acts of giving are different. These specific acts of giving are specifically requested by God, and when I think of God, I think of Love.

Love is expressed in many ways, but the most poignant way in which one can express love... is to sacrifice. To give something of value.

What is the one thing that each of us has that is most valuable?

Our time.

So, how does one go about sacrificing one's time to God? Volunteering is one way, working within and for one's community or faith is another, but yet another extremely effective way is to give money.

When I think of money, I don't see what I can / could purchase with that money, when I think of money and amounts, I think of how much of my time it takes to earn that money. Before I buy an expensive, luxury item (okay, you've got me there, I don't buy many, if any expensive, luxury items... but just play along for a bit) I think of the hours of work I have to put into making enough to pay off the cost of said item.

Money = time. No matter who you are, it takes at least that one variable for you to make money... time.
When we are asked to give a portion of our earnings to God, or in the name of God, we are sacrificing the time it takes to earn that percentage of our income. If we give 10% of our income, 10% of the time that we spend working every single day of our lives is actually spent in service to God. The time becomes sacred, that time becomes prayer.

Only God can give us time, and when we sacrifice this precious gift back to Him, we are sharing in the essence of love that is the Divine.

Charity

Giving is a great thing, when we give we feel amazing!

A big part of this is rooted in our motivation for giving. Most of us willingly give to causes or individuals that we feel "deserve" it, or those who truly, "need" it. I put the above in quotation marks because my personal definitions of "deserve" and "need" will no doubt differ from yours, some would say that that new Louis Vuitton bag is a need, others would say drinking water is a need... you get the picture.

As I was saying, the motivation for giving... We are motivated by our perception of requirement. If we believe someone needs something, we are likely to give and to help them. Most of us want to help others, we just differ in our definitions of how best to help and when help is truly needed or desired.

However, there are a few problems with the above. If we don't see that an individual or a group needs help, they often get overlooked. Look at the poorest members of our societies in North America, they are often completely overlooked. We have beggars in the streets, we have children who must skip meals. Even more poignantly, look at those in other countries... Oftentimes, we fail to see need and requirement in our own streets... how could we possibly see it on the other side of the world?

The Persian poet Saadi once wrote,

The children of Adam are limbs of each other

Having been created of one essence.

When the calamity of time afflicts one limb

The other limbs cannot remain at rest.

If you have no sympathy for the troubles of others

You are not worthy to be called by the name of "man".

Charity is a way that we have to express humanity, it is a way in which we can share what we have with other parts of our whole... we are not truly individuals, we are a collective. When one part of the collective feels pain, the entire body should... but it doesn't. Our ability to communicate with each other, to share our pain seems diminished. Nowadays, we have the ability to communicate with almost anyone, anywhere, anytime... however our ABILITY to communicate seems to have vanished. We are able to hold meaningful monologues, we can even dialogue with others... but expressing emotion? Expressing love? These things aren't the same.

Expressing emotions in our society today has become very commercialized... Do you love her? Then buy her a ring or flowers! That's the best way to show it. Are you happy for another? Get them a spa package. Appreciate your mother? Buy her this set of knives.

Charity is becoming the same... I met a woman today who asked for food... but if you truly looked into her eyes, she needed hope.

Don't let charity be a simple handout to make yourself feel better. Don't let the opportunity to give be overshadowed by the benefit you receive. Each of us is a part of a whole, so give and give freely and happily. It is food for the soul.

Anger

A wise person once told me that all anger finds its roots in fear... (I may have also heard this from Star Wars - Yoda - but that is another story).

The more I think about this, the more I agree with it. Fear is an irrational emotion, much like anger. Fear debilitates an individual, much like anger. Fear is based in love... much like anger.

Love?

When I think of fear, I think of what causes my fear... A person can be afraid of many things, spiders, heights, other people, death, clowns and many more. All of these fears are intrinsically rooted in a few basic fears, fearing loss of life, fearing loss of control, fearing pain and harm and fearing loss of love.

These basic fears (and I am sure there are others I cannot think of right now) are the roots of all specific fears. One fears spiders and snakes because evolutionarily speaking these creatures posed a threat to human life due to their potentially venomous nature. One fears heights, the unknown and other people because these pose situations where control is no longer within the grasp of the one experiencing the fear. People fear coming to the Dentist because they fear the pain that they mentally believe they will experience during their visits. People fear harm to those they love because they don't wish to lose the bonds that they have created with others.

All of these basic fears tie back to love. We fear the loss of life because we have come to love living. Life has become important to us because it is all we know (in this way, this fear falls into the category of control). While we are alive, we have control over our destinies, after death... who knows?

Fear of losing control ties into our love for our intellect. We are all vain to some extent, because we can be. We have the ability to chose any path we wish over the course of our lives. Our ability to manipulate our surroundings is unparalleled... however, when we are shown the limits of our intellect, this great gift that is ours... we become uncomfortable, we become defensive, we become afraid.

Fear of pain and harm once again ties back to our concept of control, but harm is something that truly terrifies many people. Most people if asked would rather die a quick painless death then live in pain for a prolonged period of time. This fear of pain is a dramatic one for us because it links to two things we love. Our intellects and our lives. Pain debilitates a person, it drives a person crazy, it is a subjective feeling that each of us experiences differently, because our minds are the source of pain. Another source of pain, emotional pain is even more obviously linked to love. We feel pain because we love, we love because we feel pain.

Fear of losing love is perhaps the most obvious fear to link to love. When a mother refuses to let her child out of her sight for a moment... it is because she is scared of harm befalling the one she loves. When a child insists on sleeping with their blanket every night, a part of the reason is because they are frightened that when they wake up, the blanket will no longer be there.

These basic fears are closely tied to anger. When a person gets angry, it is almost always a direct response to a fear being realized. When a couple argues, it is often because one feels threatened by something the other said. When a father yells at his child for arriving home late, it is usually because he was worried that they would not get home safely. When a child yells at their parents, it is often because the child wishes to have more autonomy, more control over their lives and their affairs.

At the end of the day, anger, fear - these negative emotions... are all rooted in a positive emotion, in love.

We would not feel angry or afraid if we did not love, if we did not cherish our lives, the people within our lives, the material possessions we have, our intellects and our souls.

Maybe that's how the universe works? Maybe there exists a God who is completely good (positive), however, when looked at in a certain manner, it can be viewed as a negative.

Love, the strongest of emotions, leads to bad and good, yet, love itself is good.
God is good, yet God created a world and a universe with a great deal of bad within it... it's all in the angle with which one looks at it.
So, what's your angle?

Where is the love?

If you look at many legends and myths that speak of the End of Mankind - many of them state that near the end we lose many things that are what make us human.

It is a bit scary when you contrast these things to our world today...

What are things that make us human? These 'things' are traits, values, actions and characteristics which require a sense of "humanity" to exist. Love, generosity, forgiveness, mercy, faith, charity, justice, patience, honour, etc... These are amongst the things that we need to be human, as they are what give us our humanity.

It saddens me when I look at the world (and to be honest at myself and those around me) where I see these traits losing their relevance. There was a time not too long ago when honour and modesty were amongst the most important traits one could exhibit. They were coveted and given a place of importance in society as those who were seen as being honourable were also those who were the wise, venerable members of society. Nowadays, the wise, venerable members of society are oftentimes relegated to nursing homes or long-term care facilities even when they really don't need to be.

Love is another interesting feature of humanity. When I think of love, I think of the love that existed hundreds if not thousands of years ago. I think of Romeo and Juliet, of Laila and Majnun, of Heer and Ranjha, of Radha and Krishna. I sadly don't see a similar comparison today. It feels as though the more technologically capable we become as a society, the less important emotions such as love become. I worry that the reason why I don't see the classic love story in today's society is not because these stories were fictitious to begin with, but because that calibre of love is simply not possible today... that is a scary and sad thought. If the greatest emotion we can exhibit is love (and I truly believe that statement to be correct), and gradually the love we have for each other is changing into a less cohesive emotion, then the logic indicates that human emotions in general are likely being sublimated by the human intellect. I see a society with more gadgets but less happiness. I see a civilization that has infinite potential and vast amounts of information but less knowledge and wisdom. I see a world filled with lust and greed but losing it's love... or maybe substituting that love for something that is more... convenient.

But, even after looking at the importance of love, the one characteristic that I feel we cannot lose at any cost is patience.

Surprising isn't it? I would have expected myself to say faith, especially considering how essential faith is to my life. The relevance of patience is seen in the story of Pandora's box - an ancient Greek myth where a "perfect woman" is created and given a final gift - a box - she is told to never open it, but her curiosity overcomes her and she opens the box only to let out all the ills that inflict mankind - disease, famine, greed, etc... However Pandora manages to shut the box before the final demon can escape - the demon of despondency, of hopelessness.

Patience is essential to our humanity, for patience is hope. When we are patient, we live expecting better things in the future. We are able to overcome the trials and tribulations of today believing in tomorrow bringing us something better. Now, I am not saying that all of our troubles will be solved by simply being patient, but I do believe that patience plays a key role in our ability to hope - and this hope leads us onwards. There are so many difficulties that face us in our lives, death, heartbreak, disability, pain, etc... yet all of these things can be remedied by one thing alone - time. How to get this time? ... By being patient, by having hope.

I want to hope, I want to believe in our humanity. I want mankind to overcome the trials and tribulations facing us as a species and as individuals. I pray that this hope, magnified many times over by all of you will help us find our tomorrow.

Love

Love - it's one of the most abused words in the English language, but maybe not in the same way you'd think... I often hear people saying that the word love is tossed around today and that people often say it when they don't really mean it. Okay, maybe that is true, maybe many times when I hear someone say "I love you" to someone else, it doesn't hold the same weight that it may have meant in another time or another era, but think of it this way... what if we're not saying it enough?

To love is to be human, it's a pure emotion, but what truly is it? You can love people in different ways, depending on who it is and what they have done for you. :) However, where does love come from, and is there an underlying similarity between differing expressions of love? I would argue that there is, and if I may indulge in a moment of condensed storytelling...

The poet Hafiz was an ordinary young man once, who worked in a bakery. One day he was delivering bread to the wealthy district and saw the woman whom he would love for the rest of his life. Hafiz was unable to get her out of his head, and thought of her constantly and even tried composing poetry in her name, although her station in life was far above his, and she was slated to marry a prince. Hafiz heard a legend that a wise master had once decreed that whoever stayed awake near his graveside for 40 nights would be granted 3 gifts, immortality, poetry and his heart's desire. Hafiz chose to attempt this feat. Somehow, he was able to complete it, and on the 39th night near dawn, Hafiz was approached by the angel Gabriel. Gabriel gave Hafiz a cup to drink from, and declared that Hafiz had now been granted immortality and the gift of poetry. Hafiz was then asked what his heart's desire was. Upon seeing the face of Gabriel, all thoughts of Hafiz's beloved were gone, Hafiz realized that everything he loved in the world, was but a reflection of God's beauty. So what did Hafiz say???

He told the Angel Gabriel, "I want God."

I feel this is how we are. Every one of us, loves everyone else... because in each of us we see a minor "reflection" if you will, of God. So, why is it wrong to tell everyone that you love them? I feel that this is a way to increase enlightenment. Loving another is the greatest of acts, for in loving we are recognizing God. We remember God. We love God. By loving others; truly loving them - and ourselves - we bring ourselves up to a higher spiritual level.

So, I say to you,

I love you