Blessed Return

“Eid Mubarak!” The greeting for the end of the holy month, Islam’s global spiritual retreat, the great commemoration of God’s care for humanity. It’s a door now closing behind us. Most who have fasted feel at this moment both relief and loss. Farewell, rare beauty, rare opportunity! Hello again, dear morning coffee, ordinary life. “Eid Mubarak” means blessed return. May our return be blessed.

It goes so quickly, the time we have to reorient our lives, our time out of time. And then the old habits close over us again. Have we made a change? Will it make a difference? Ramadan is designed to remind us of mortality, weakness and strength at once. That is its sweetness. Should we savor it fully, we may be moved to recommit ourselves to justice, to kindness, to waiting upon the pregnant unknown, heavy with revelation. She is always ready to deliver. May we always be ready to assist her.

[Editor's note: This entry was written last week as was to have been posted on Friday to mark the final day of Ramadan. The delay is due to human error on the part of the blog editor.]