Recently I was at a dinner for a pre-Ramadan food and music fest. It was fabulous and fun, and reassuring to be in a large crowd without masking or distancing. And while I was expecting a birthday cake for the lady of the house, we were totally surprised by what the host had put on the cake “Endemic Congratulations”! We celebrated in a tentative fashion wondering if indeed the only global pandemic was truly behind us. Even at that party, one person was shivering and left early, sending us all into a panic!
Within my own family, each member is going through cold or sore throat or fatigue or combination thereof. The tests did not show COVID, except in a few cases where travel and meeting other international folks was involved. So, I suppose that is what an endemic looks like: even normal things like flu or cold send us back into anxiety and fear states!
We can all agree that things will never be normal again, and even if there is such a thing as normal. We all have been transformed by this global event, whether we acknowledge it or not. Hopefully we are more sober, moderate, aware and compassionate beings. Hopefully us boomers will leave behind childish behaviors and become agents of wisdom and peace, among many other changes, and hopefully the younger generation will overcome this extended trauma.
As we welcome the Endemic, and welcome Ramadan tomorrow, I wish all my family and friends a very peaceful and reflective Ramadan. May you deepen your faith – Iman, and increase your Ihsan- beautiful behaviors, because that is what Islam is all about, contrary to what is promoted by haters. May we all see the chaos and evil in today’s world as just another stage of development of human society, and while we grieve, we accept it as the price of change.
I am looking forward to challenging myself, to discovering the sweetness of restraint and patience, to increase the joy of giving and generosity, to always aim for beautiful behaviors, even when stressed. I look forward to increased prayers and zikr(remembrance) and to lose myself in the beauty of existence on this Planet, as temporal as it is, and releasing from unnecessary and unhealthy attachments. May this be a month of patience and gratitude and forgiveness for all of us, may our deepest prayers be answered, may this be a month of spiritual openings and may we come out as sweeter spiritual beings Inshallah. Ramadan Mubarak to all.
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