Sometimes
you experience miracles.
You might be so wowed by one, that you feel like doing somersaults. If you are exceptionally daring, you might click your heels in the street. Some people might raise their hands in the air, or touch their heads on the ground in prostration. If you are an exceptionally cool person of faith, you might proclaim in a moment of carefree spontaneity; ‘PRAISE THE LOOOORD!’.
Many people will brush the miracle off as an act of chance; which is a belief I am happy to accept, but still not justification for the absence of a miracle in my eyes. Some people might not react whatsoever, and I think that is quite upsetting.
- ‘Who asked for your opinion anyway?’
I
think there is beauty in expressing emotion. Happiness in times of calamity is
an extremely difficult state to reach, but it is the closest definition of
‘heaven-on-earth’ in my mind.
So I went to visit Bristol recently, as you do. Great city, here’s a shout out to all my Bristol-ites! Now those closest to me, namely people whom I share insane amounts of genetic material with, have described me using the rather unflattering term ‘irresponsible’. I will one day make the case that I am simply a being who is on the ‘chilled’ side, but until then, feel free to make up your own mind!
The
day I was leaving, I had already booked my coach ticket from Bristol to London.
I did not have a rail card at the time, and a pre-booked coach was a good bet
at getting to keep my arm and leg during any financial transactions. I woke up
nice and early, took my sweet time to do my last minute packing, took my
not-so-sweet time to complete my unfinished business (ask no questions, and get
no responses you will regret hearing),and sought to leave with a good half hour
to spare. I reached for the door knob, only to realize that my eye sight was
not spectacularly crystal clear
-
‘Gosh golly Batman, you forgot those glasses of
yours’
What
started as a 30 second ‘take my glasses and leave’ turned into a 30 minute
fiasco looking for a needle in a haystack. To make a long story somewhat less
long, I decided to sacrifice my dear glasses and break into a sprint for the
coach station. Needless to say, being 4 minutes late, I quickly came to the
realization that Justin Timberlake and Madonna are far more efficient with
their even multiples of time than I am.
I
immediately checked my phone for cheap tickets back to London, and caught wind
of an even cheaper ticket back, ninety minutes later. Not so fast, this is Mr.
Responsible we are talking about. I decided NOT to pay for the ticket
immediately since, in the off chance that I were to miss it again, I did not want
more money to go down the drain. So, I sat down in my spot to read a rather
interesting book, and decided to wait until I had reached the bus to buy a
physical ticket, or pay for the online version.
With a half hour to spare and no navigation, I realized the bus station for this cheaper bus was different to the one I was at. In a race for time, my animal instincts led me to the venue with a good 10 minutes to spare, and the angelic presence of the bus in front of me lead to a large gospel choir breaking into ‘Hallelujah’s. I am still not sure whether those were in my head or not.
-
‘One ticket, my good sir, and keep the change (you filthy animal)’
- ‘We do not sell physical tickets…and it is far too late to buy one online. We stop selling them 15 minutes before departure. Sorry’
-‘really? Are there no free seats? Could I not buy a ticket now, or even pay your company later?’
- ‘Very sorry, it is against policy’
- ‘No problem. This thing I’m seeing on my eyes, is this what it looks like when one’s life crumbles before ones eyes?’
Now I have made a resolution with myself. When I feel that things are not going the way I want them to, I take a deep breath and say ‘Alhamdulilah’. I felt quite good after managing not to get upset by missing another bus, and in my moment of high, I just stayed standing in my spot. I did not move. I felt peaceful. This was generally something I would not do…just standing in my place for a good 5 minutes, right in front of the bus, for no reason whatsoever. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a women walking towards me. She was dressed in loose, light blue, parachute pants (American use of the word) and a hippie looking tank top. She also had a red Indian Bindi dot on her forehead, and something about her screamed ‘spirituality’. She politely came up to me and asked,
‘Would you like to have my tea? I cannot take it on board, the bus leaves in a few minutes and I do not want to waste a perfectly good tea.’
Spirituality, and food conservationist in one? Who was this soul mate of mine? As averse as I am to accepting drinks from strangers, I might have considered taking it, were I not engaged in a dawn to dusk fast from food and drink. I politely declined, and explained that I was fasting. I might not have usually explained that I was fasting, but something about the woman told me that she would have no problem in understanding. She then went to the bus driver, and I remained in my spot, now increasingly unsure of why I was still standing where I was. It was as if I could not move. Before I knew it, I saw the driver slowly walking towards me again.
- ‘You’re fasting, are you?’
So
there I was, sitting on the bus, amazed by what had just happened. To me, it
was all a crazy chain of events, where I could have, and should have left, but
didn’t. A stranger offered me their tea for the first time ever, on the day I
happened to be fasting. This stranger somehow managed to mention it in a random
conversation with the driver for no apparent reason. I felt morally comfortable
on the bus considering I had already paid for a ticket, but I will keep in mind
that I owe MegaBus 7 quid at some point.
I was fasting because we just so happen to be in the 10 days of Dhul Hijjah, a month in the Islamic calendar where the first 10 days are described as the ‘best days of the entire year’. Muslims believe these days to have spiritual blessing in them, and so for me, small experiences like this, which may seem like a natural occurrence to some, or an interesting coincidence at the most to others, simply seeks to reignite my faith of positivity and spiritual well being. I felt like I was part of a chess board, with God showing me all the right moves before my very eyes. To me, it was like listening to a story where you feel like you learn a great lesson, except that the story was happening to me!
It
was a miracle. I felt happy. My happiness was a miracle. Happiness is miraculous
You might be so wowed by one, that you feel like doing somersaults. If you are exceptionally daring, you might click your heels in the street. Some people might raise their hands in the air, or touch their heads on the ground in prostration. If you are an exceptionally cool person of faith, you might proclaim in a moment of carefree spontaneity; ‘PRAISE THE LOOOORD!’.
Many people will brush the miracle off as an act of chance; which is a belief I am happy to accept, but still not justification for the absence of a miracle in my eyes. Some people might not react whatsoever, and I think that is quite upsetting.
- ‘Who asked for your opinion anyway?’
So I went to visit Bristol recently, as you do. Great city, here’s a shout out to all my Bristol-ites! Now those closest to me, namely people whom I share insane amounts of genetic material with, have described me using the rather unflattering term ‘irresponsible’. I will one day make the case that I am simply a being who is on the ‘chilled’ side, but until then, feel free to make up your own mind!
With a half hour to spare and no navigation, I realized the bus station for this cheaper bus was different to the one I was at. In a race for time, my animal instincts led me to the venue with a good 10 minutes to spare, and the angelic presence of the bus in front of me lead to a large gospel choir breaking into ‘Hallelujah’s. I am still not sure whether those were in my head or not.
- ‘We do not sell physical tickets…and it is far too late to buy one online. We stop selling them 15 minutes before departure. Sorry’
-‘really? Are there no free seats? Could I not buy a ticket now, or even pay your company later?’
- ‘Very sorry, it is against policy’
- ‘No problem. This thing I’m seeing on my eyes, is this what it looks like when one’s life crumbles before ones eyes?’
Now I have made a resolution with myself. When I feel that things are not going the way I want them to, I take a deep breath and say ‘Alhamdulilah’. I felt quite good after managing not to get upset by missing another bus, and in my moment of high, I just stayed standing in my spot. I did not move. I felt peaceful. This was generally something I would not do…just standing in my place for a good 5 minutes, right in front of the bus, for no reason whatsoever. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a women walking towards me. She was dressed in loose, light blue, parachute pants (American use of the word) and a hippie looking tank top. She also had a red Indian Bindi dot on her forehead, and something about her screamed ‘spirituality’. She politely came up to me and asked,
‘Would you like to have my tea? I cannot take it on board, the bus leaves in a few minutes and I do not want to waste a perfectly good tea.’
Spirituality, and food conservationist in one? Who was this soul mate of mine? As averse as I am to accepting drinks from strangers, I might have considered taking it, were I not engaged in a dawn to dusk fast from food and drink. I politely declined, and explained that I was fasting. I might not have usually explained that I was fasting, but something about the woman told me that she would have no problem in understanding. She then went to the bus driver, and I remained in my spot, now increasingly unsure of why I was still standing where I was. It was as if I could not move. Before I knew it, I saw the driver slowly walking towards me again.
- ‘You’re fasting, are you?’
I was fasting because we just so happen to be in the 10 days of Dhul Hijjah, a month in the Islamic calendar where the first 10 days are described as the ‘best days of the entire year’. Muslims believe these days to have spiritual blessing in them, and so for me, small experiences like this, which may seem like a natural occurrence to some, or an interesting coincidence at the most to others, simply seeks to reignite my faith of positivity and spiritual well being. I felt like I was part of a chess board, with God showing me all the right moves before my very eyes. To me, it was like listening to a story where you feel like you learn a great lesson, except that the story was happening to me!
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