‘tis the season to look up for an answer
As I write, I am going through a career situation. It feels like I’ve been derailed from tracks leading to my career goals but I know it’s only a track-switch. As the new year draws closer, I’m quite clueless where these new sets of tracks are leading to.
I am still thankful that I have a roof over my head, am able to have three meals a day, a dad and a mom - no matter how far they are and many many other blessings. I have my faith in God, and I am sure that the next station is not too far off. (I love playing trains).
This morning I came across a post on TechCrunch that GodTube, a YouTube clone for Christians, has recently launched a virtual “Prayer Wall“. Reading some of the touching prayers left there, took me back six years, when I volunteered every Saturday, for a Mosque in Toronto, taking calls from people all over the country.
I talked to people from all walks of life - Muslims wanting problems to be solved, non-Muslims wanting information and a small number of callers, who took time off their busy lives and made the effort to call and insult us and call names (9/11 had recently happened). I always remembered to be polite and thank everyone for their call and made sure that they hung up before I did.
However, the best part of my Saturday was taking calls from those in the middle - people who were looking for answers, people who needed strength and people who thought they had lost everything.
“Is there a God ?”, they asked, “Will He help me ?”, “I haven’t been to church in years, will He still listen ?”, “How do I know if He’s there ?”.
Under these circumstances, I was under strict instructions not to “sell” my religion. At this point my mission was only bring them closer to God. I’d tell them that all they needed to do was to close their eyes and ask. “Do I need to kneel ?”, “Only if it makes you feel better” …
What I felt at that moment - that someone I never knew was on the phone hoping and praying, while putting their trust in (or believing) me, that there is a God and He’s there to listen - drove me back to take such calls every Saturday. I never realized then that there’d come a time when I’d miss those days - terribly.
If you were a Job-Hunter or at some point yearned for a Career-change, then there is a chance that you might have come across “What Color is your Parachute“, a job-hunting manual written by Richard Nelson Bolles. Throughout this classic book, Bolles emphasizes on a single message: to have faith in God and not loose hope. Being a former clergyman and still a strong Christian he has no problem putting this point forward. “God and one’s vocation” is the epilogue of his book, and it is dedicated to helping find one’s mission in life.
Bolles approach has critics (no surprise there) saying, “Why buy the book when I can just read the Bible”. Now, how many of you “really” do that ! I was always told to put my faith in God when I faced difficulties, but most of the time I instead put forward my “abilities” to steer into the clear. And when I realized that, I became totally dependent and instead “expected” help from God and thus I never got any work done !
Cardinal Francis Spellman was famous for once saying: “Pray as if everything depended on God. Work as if everything depended on you”.
This time of the year is supposedly considered to be the happiest but the truth is, that there is more depression in the air (due to various unrelated reasons), than at any other time. Sometimes I suspect “’tis the season to be jolly” was invented just for this !
And if you or a friend is going through a rough time, there could be no better time than now to change one’s perspective and help them enter a new year with optimism, and knowing that God is by their side.
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Hang in there, Jaffer, good things are just around the corner.
I think the helpline instructions were very wise, because if you gave (or tried to sell) someone the answers, they would be justified in being skeptical. The only answers that are believable at a time of crisis, come from when the person in crisis draws his own conclusions.
You did those callers a great favor to listen and allow them to come to their own place of faith. You walked with them, as they stumbled on their own two feet. If you had tried to carry them, they wouldn’t have been able to get there.
In the Jewish tradition, there is much said about balancing “btachon” (faith-in-Gd) with “hishtaldut” (similar to legal concept of due diligence).
My favorite pithy summary of this tension is: “Trust in Gd, but row away from the rocks.”
I hope the new secular calendar year brings you success in all your endeavors.
All the best,
CLKL
Thank You so much CLKL !
My problem is that I love to take up challenges and here, I took up a difficult task I was unable to handle.
In the end, I was praying for safety while rowing “towards” rocks !
The good part - I am getting a new boat - i.e. a fresh start !
Jesus said to not put the Lord thy God to foolish test. Meaning: trust God—but don’t put yourself into harm’s way either.
Christmas is probably that hardest on singles and/or those who are without children. For kids it’s all about getting the presents. But as an adult parent it’s all about me giving and seeing the joy on my daughter’s face, just as God the Father and Christ gave of Himself for all of us.
Funny, but as I get older I find more satisfaction in the giving than receiving. Life is full of (seemingly) contradictions like that.
God bless you Jaffer and I’m thankful that he has placed you and I onto the same zig-zag track of life.
Merry Christmas!
This is the first post I’ve read on your blog…. I’m sure to keep coming back…. you’re a very inspirational person…. thanx for sharing!
@ UmmeAaiman: Welcome to the community ! Subscribe to the RSS feed and keep commenting !
You are also going to find some wonderful people from whom I get inspiration and motivation !
@ Bloke: At this moment, all I can help but doing is
We all get sidetracked from time to time.
Hang in there, your career goals will find you.
Happy Holidays
callie
Jaffer, this is an excellent post. You have touched on so many good points about what faith is all about. I’m discovering at this point in my lie that there is a big difference between spirituality and religion. I’m discovering that religion is man-made, but true spirituality is God-made.
This is a role for organized religion in helping believers understand tenets of their faith. But those artificial, or incomplete explanations of God don’t take the place of developing a close, personal relationship with God. I think you are well on your way to such a relationship.
Thanks for giving me much to think about on this first day of the New Year. You’ve got a great blog here, and I’ll be back often.