|
[30:50] You shall appreciate GOD’s continuous mercy, and how He revives the land that has been dead. He will just as certainly resurrect the dead. He is Omnipotent.
What hinders us from being appreciative? We know that one big barrier to appreciating God is the ego. And what is it about the ego that stops us from being appreciative?
To begin discussing this topic, I think everyone’s ego has its own unique characteristics that we each need to deal with. My ego may whisper to me, you need to worry about money (68:13), and your ego may not do that. My ego may whisper to me it’s ok to be a glutton with sweets, and yours may not do that. So, we each need to do a self-evaluation to determine what our ego is doing to us, so we can kill it, and be appreciative (2:51-54). God willing, I will attempt to share my self-evaluation, to show traits that make me unappreciative. And how killing my ego helps me to appreciate what God wants me to do, instead of what I want to do.
Mr. Know-It-All: now this part of my ego always seems to get me in trouble. I’m in the car driving with my wife, she suggests to me to take a certain route to get to our destination. Mr. Know-It-All decides his route is more efficient, I’m driving, therefore I’m going my way. That kind of thinking produces cold dinners and appointments to sleep on the couch. Another one, I’m in a discussion with someone and we get to a point of disagreement. Mr. Know-It-All thinks his points are right, precise, and nothing more needs to be said. So, I repeat myself using a louder voice, like that will make it clearer. That kind of action can sometimes result in a loss of friendship or create divisions. Yet another, I ask someone a question when I already have a response ready.
As they are explaining their answer to my question, Mr. Know-It-All is waiting for an opportunity to jump in and present how I can answer it. It usually creates an awkward silence and feelings of resentment from the one who is answering the question. They are probably thinking, “Why did you even ask me this question?”
Having an attitude of knowing everything closes the mind to learning and even hinders us from having better understandings of situations. I need to kill that part of my ego, stay open-minded, and increase my opportunity and ability to be appreciative.
When driving, I may not know the traffic report or road construction that’s going on in the driving route I plan to take. Going my wife’s suggested way, may in general, be faster. Even if the route were longer, I could use that time to enjoy spending time with her. Instead of letting my ego control me with the know-it-all attitude, I could appreciate my wife trying to help me (42:38), and go the way she proposes. Then, I would also be able to appreciate a hot meal and the comfort of sleeping in my bed.
Open-mindedness in a disagreement during a discussion would prevent me from repeating the same thing, only using a different tone. It would enable me to appreciate that I don’t know everything and present me with an opportunity to conduct research on a topic. Researching a topic increases your understanding and strengthens your belief foundation. I was once asked, if I follow the Quran alone and it is complete, where are the details of the Contact Prayers in the Quran? At first, I fumbled with the question, then by God’s grace, I researched the details of the Contact Prayer in the Quran. I was then able to intelligently, using the Quran alone, discuss the details of the Contact Prayers. It not only strengthened my faith by God’s grace, but also the faith of the other person who I was discussing it with, as well as someone else who was listening.
Sometimes in a conversation, I do know the answer to a question that’s being debated, but I’m just not making my point clear. If I appreciate that the other person doesn’t understand my point, it could increase my patience, and give me an opportunity to say it in another way or try to use a different analogy to make my point clear. After that, if we don’t come to an agreement, we need to just offer peace and move on (41:33-36).
I have often caught myself feeding my ego with the infamous pre-loaded question. I can’t think of many ways to be more closed-minded than asking someone a question and you’re not even trying to hear their understanding. The last time I witnessed this, God gave me a clear inspiration to consciously be more open-minded. I asked someone if they believed in God and how they understood their own existence. They began their explanation, and about one minute into it, they were cut off by someone else who started explaining their beliefs. The third party backed up their understanding using proof from the book they accepted as God’s word. I patiently waited for them to finish talking, which lasted about five minutes, and they asked me if I agreed. I did agree because they described God alone and used the Quran to justify their understanding. Then, I politely explained that the person I asked the question to did not accept the Quran as the word of God. Telling someone who doesn’t accept the Quran to look at a specific chapter and verse in the Quran to back up your understanding may not appeal to them. To attempt to invite them to the truth (16:125), we can instead ask how they understand God and their own existence and start from there. By being on the outside looking in, God showed me the ineffectiveness of a pre-loaded question. Staying open-minded allows us to appreciate the blessing God gave us to understand Him and our existence.
Cont'd on page 4