Out of this Darkness and Into the Light: Through the Path of Humility

“Out of this Darkness and Into the Light: Through the Path of Humility” by Rev. Summer Albayati

(UU Mystics Winter Newsletter, 2017)

One of my favorite books is Out of Darkness Into Light by Rahman, Elias and Redding.  This book blends, beautifully, various spiritual teachings from Islam, Judaism and Christianity.  One such teaching to help us find the light comes from the Sufi teacher, Saadi of Shiraz.  The story goes something like this:

“As a child, Saadi of Shiraz sometimes took part when his father, a revered teacher, spent the night in prayer with his devoted students.  One night all the disciples fell asleep during the vigil, but not the young Saadi.  Feeling quite proud of himself, he said to his father, ‘Look at them!  You might think they were all dead!’  To which his father replied, ‘Beloved son, I wish you also were asleep like them, rather than slandering them.” (p.128)

This beautiful story taught Saadi that the path of humility was best.  As Unitarian Universalists, sometimes we can be self-righteous and think we know the right way to be in the world.  Yet we find ourselves at a difficult time in our nation’s history.  It is a dark and confusing time for liberal faith traditions.  We now find that our values are being challenged and are at risk of being lost forever.  This may scare us as we embark on a new journey -- one that feels as though the light is disappearing -- leaving us completely in the darkness.  

It may help us to remember that to be humble is considered one of the paths out of the darkness and into the light for mystics.  Certainly for Sufi mystics, one must have humility to truly become one with the beloved -- a unity immersed in love.

Now is the time to ask ourselves this:  How do we cultivate a humble way of being when we may believe that we hold the only truth? How does humbling ourselves -- a type of surrendering -- give us strength at such a difficult time in our country’s history?  Can we let go and let God -- allowing ourselves to have a deep faith that love will prevail?  

Let us challenge ourselves in the months to come.  Prayer, surrender, self-reflection are all tools we can use to humble ourselves and perhaps find the light that will draw us out of this darkness.  May it be so.  Ameen.

What we are called to do

I come to this entry after experiencing a lot of death. How? I have been serving as a chaplain in my local hospital. The past month has been so transformational for me. I have been blessed to sit with families who must make the heart-wrenching decision to disconnect life support. I have held the hand of people before they entered surgery, as I prayed for healing. I have witnessed a daughter almost faint because her father "coded" and needed to be revived. I have swelled with tears in my eyes as I watched family members look up and say, "Why, God?"

What do I now know from all of this?

At times of crisis, we may cling to a more certain theological doctrine in which we view the illness as God's will. We may get angry at God for bringing all of this pain into our lives. But, for the most part, we are thankful for the hospital staff. I have been amazed to see how much compassion the hospital staff still has after seeing so much death. I am amazed at my own ability to well up with tears at any given moment. I have seen death - yes - but I have not lost a sense of the divine presence.

My sense that there is "something" out there has strengthened. Why, you may ask? It is because I see how much love is out there. Perhaps, for you, it is just that - love. Perhaps, for you, it is community that explains your theology. For others, it is an energy that we feel. Yet others describe it as God, Divine Presence, Spirit, Universe...

But, what I have witnessed is that this Divine Presence, Love, Energy or God has made me available to answer the code blue call after another patient I was visiting had fallen asleep -- leading me to be present for the family who needed me at that exact moment. I have been available to pray for patients moments before they entered surgery to remove a cancerous tumor or would welcome their new baby into the world -- via c-section -- many weeks too early. I have been able to hold hands with 50 people who needed prayers to help heal their wounded hearts - because a friend and loved one has died 5x that day, and now was on life support. I was the one available -- on call -- present to witness their pain and tears and need for hope.

This love I have found -- the one that calls me to be present -- whether it is a scriptural passage, a community of faith, or a feeling -- or whether it is an energy or one whom we call God...This love I have found renews my faith in humanity on a daily basis. I see hope in the eyes of a loved one. I find grace in the smiles of my own family who has had to take this journey with me, and love me when I am sad and angry because I struggle with what I have witnessed. This love I find in the smiles and warm embraces from my community of faith. More than ever, we humans, need our communities -- whether we find that in a faith community, a social group, or within our own families. We need one another. We need love. This is what we are called to do: Experience more love. "Faith, hope, and love...And the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13: 13)