If I don't get time to myself to sit quietly, reflect and feel close to God, then I become truly ugly! I'm ashamed to say that formal prayer is not always the vessel that helps me achieve this. More often than not, my children are climbing on top of my head or else they are attacking each other.Salat for me is sometimes just survival, can we get through it without a major injury occurring?
When I saw this image of a man praying in the Sahara, my first thought, aside from appreciating it's beauty, was to think how wonderful to be alone with Allah in such a vast space. Have you noticed how when you can see for kilometers without anything blocking your view, the immensity of the landscape can overwhelm you spiritually? It is a very primal feeling, as if something in your being is responding to it's origin. I have never visited the desert but I imagine being next to the sea is vaguely similiar, in the sense of being able to view the same landscape until it meets the horizon.
Is it looking towards the edge that is so evocative of Allah swt? Is it the combination of supreme beauty, vastness and the unknown that makes your heart swell in longing and appreciation?
In brief moments of quiet, I remind myself to step outside of my small life, beyond even ideas and issues of "vital" importance and into that space that defies description. And I feel truly blessed to be able to and I pray that it is never taken away from me.
