FROM THE SPIRITUAL TREE
There is a tree beside my house. I call it the 'Spiritual Tree'. I derive spiritual inspiration from it. A tree is an ever-growing being that was initially a seed possessing the potential of becoming a full-grown tree. A seed takes food from the universe around it and then grows into a tree. The same is true with spirituality, the desire for which is intrinsic to, and an integral part of, the very nature of, every human being. To realize this spirituality, Man must derive spiritual food from the universe around him. A tree converts carbon-dioxide into oxygen; a spiritual person is one who can take positive lessons from negative situations. From this perspective, a tree is an embodiment of a spiritual personality. —Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
THE PRICE OF A PRINCIPLED LIFE
A BELIEVER or a person of faith is a man or woman of principle. The price that a person of faith has to pay for leading a principled life is the test of one’s faith. In this regard, reflect on the following Quranic verses:
Do you think that you will enter Paradise without having suffered like those who passed away before you? Affliction and hardship befell them and so shaken were they that the Messenger and the believers with him would exclaim, ‘When will God’s help come?’ Surely the help of God is near. (2: 214)
Do people think that once they say, ‘We believe,’ they will be left alone and not be put to the test? We certainly tried those who have gone before them, so God will certainly distinguish between those who are truthful and those who are lying. (29: 2-3)
This test does not fall upon the believers like rain from the sky. Instead, it appears in their everyday lives, in general or ordinary conditions. People of faith must recognize these tests and face them with patience so that in God’s eyes they succeed.
The ancient age was an age of religious persecution. That is why the tests that the believers then faced took the form of violence directed against them. The present age is an age of religious freedom. And so the tests that the believers will face today would take a different form.
The price that a person of faith has to pay for leading a principled life is the test of one’s faith.
The tests that people of faith would face today would be mostly in the psychological sense— that is, conditions that threaten to provoke the ego, inflame feelings of hate, cause people to stray from the path of Truth, make people resentful, and many more such trying situations. In the face of such conditions what one should do is to save oneself from negative thinking and remain firmly established in positive thinking no matter what the circumstances may be.
