On the Ground of Patience
Crops spring from the soil of the land and not from ingots of gold and bars of silver. This truism does not just pertain to agriculture but is illustrative rather of a universal law. God has laid down a particular system for the existence of all things. Things come into existence only when in accordance with that particular system. We cannot bring anything into existence by any other method.
The same is true of human beings. Life is a test which has to be passed on the issue of patience. Life is a crop which flourishes on importance being given to patience. God has destined life to be grounded on this issue and now this pattern will be followed for all eternity. We cannot create any other fundamentals on which it will thrive. Patience is not a negative thing: it is a form of positive behaviour. Patience means carrying out duties with deeper thinking rather than doing so superficially. It means doing things as a result of conscious decision-making rather than as the outcome of an emotional reaction. It means not losing hope after temporary failures and instead reassessing one’s position under the pressure of present circumstances. It means rising above the situation and then deciding upon one’s course of action.
If you place a seed on a gold plate, it will never grow. It will remain lifeless in this universe which is full of life’s resources. Though it possesses all the power to grow, it is deprived of growth. The same is true of the human individual. If he is always impatient, he will be like a dead thing—all its plentiful resources unutilized. But when he exercises patience, he will all of a sudden be able to put down his roots in the land of his Creator and will gradually be transformed into a fine powerful form of creation, like a tree.
When a person gives sincere proof of patience, he starts living on a divine plane rather than at the level of human beings. From a limited world he reaches up to a limitless world. From a meaningless life he enters into a meaningful life. A person who shows patience makes himself deserving of the eternal reward of Paradise.
