a sense of wonder
did you know albatrosses can glide for up to 100 miles without flapping a wing?
one of yesterday's "diane rehm" shows talked about the earth's oceans, and one of her guests was a scientist studying albatrosses out on midway atoll... they were in the midst of breeding season, he said, and he was surrounded by almost half a million of them.
i think i fell in love with the sea again while listening to this show.
anyway... i was stir-crazy wednesday and took musa to the library, and checked out carson's "the sense of wonder" so i could finally read the whole thing. it's nothing earth-shattering (that would be defeating the purpose, i suppose :) ) but i do feel strongly about teaching my child(ren) to be keenly aware of Allah's creation as His creation, and as a reflection of His majesty and love and graciousness.
"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature - the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter," carson says. reminded me irresistibly of more than one ayah in the qur'an... here's one example...
Allah is He Who raised the heavens without any pillars that you see, and He is firm in power and He made the sun and the moon subservient (to you); each one pursues its course to an appointed time; He regulates the affair, making clear the signs that you may be certain of meeting your Lord.
And He it is Who spread the earth and made in it firm mountains and rivers, and of all fruits He has made in it two kinds; He makes the night cover the day; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect.
And in the earth there are tracts side by side and gardens of grapes and corn and palm trees having one root and (others) having distinct roots-- they are watered with one water, and We make some of them excel others in fruit; most surely there are signs in this for a people who understand. (Ar-Rad, Ayahs 2-4)
it is not enough to reflect, but also to understand... more of carson: "It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring [fitrah?], is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood."
later, she says, "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts." is it because, perhaps, even those who don't "believe" in anything beyond this earth can sense there is something about that beauty more enduring than they can imagine?
yesterday after a wonderfully uplifting visit with one of my best, lifelong friends, i had some time before i had to be somewhere so i took musa on a little walk at brookside gardens (where last i went with cousin on a wery rainy day). showed him pansies and orchids and petunias, and maybe he could smell the thyme and lavender, and then there were quiet geese and algae and stones, and sunlight reflected in quivering ponds.
found something unexpected there... i didn't know it was there. we took a turn onto a stone path with a plaque stating some commemorative terrace up ahead. by the water a wide, low stone bore an inscription begging visitors to remember those lost to violence and hope or pray for peace... i thought maybe it was done by some family who lost a soldier in war, or something like that. but i turned, and there saw a tall stone inscribed with the names and hometowns of the ten men and women killed by the sniper back in 2002. that was when i had lived not 10 minutes from this park, up in aspen hill, very near where the whole tragedy first began and down the street from where it ended. when the last victim, conrad johnson, was shot on oct. 22, they shut down the street i lived on so we couldn't get out to work... so my editor at the time asked me, if i felt safe enough, to interview my neighbors and write an article which i did, with my roommate's help (yes, sadly, it was fox news that picked up the story from my wire service...). anyway... it pierced my heart, to see those names again, so out of the blue. i didn't know any of them, but it was so close to home, and i was so angry at the time with this sniper, so disappointed that he had the name "muhammad"... i like the memorial, though. it is appropriately located, and the combination of water and greenery and stone is just sad enough...
on that note, i am going to try to get some laundry done while musa is still sleeping (on his tummy i might add!)
one of yesterday's "diane rehm" shows talked about the earth's oceans, and one of her guests was a scientist studying albatrosses out on midway atoll... they were in the midst of breeding season, he said, and he was surrounded by almost half a million of them.
i think i fell in love with the sea again while listening to this show.
anyway... i was stir-crazy wednesday and took musa to the library, and checked out carson's "the sense of wonder" so i could finally read the whole thing. it's nothing earth-shattering (that would be defeating the purpose, i suppose :) ) but i do feel strongly about teaching my child(ren) to be keenly aware of Allah's creation as His creation, and as a reflection of His majesty and love and graciousness.
"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature - the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter," carson says. reminded me irresistibly of more than one ayah in the qur'an... here's one example...
Allah is He Who raised the heavens without any pillars that you see, and He is firm in power and He made the sun and the moon subservient (to you); each one pursues its course to an appointed time; He regulates the affair, making clear the signs that you may be certain of meeting your Lord.
And He it is Who spread the earth and made in it firm mountains and rivers, and of all fruits He has made in it two kinds; He makes the night cover the day; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect.
And in the earth there are tracts side by side and gardens of grapes and corn and palm trees having one root and (others) having distinct roots-- they are watered with one water, and We make some of them excel others in fruit; most surely there are signs in this for a people who understand. (Ar-Rad, Ayahs 2-4)
it is not enough to reflect, but also to understand... more of carson: "It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring [fitrah?], is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood."
later, she says, "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts." is it because, perhaps, even those who don't "believe" in anything beyond this earth can sense there is something about that beauty more enduring than they can imagine?
yesterday after a wonderfully uplifting visit with one of my best, lifelong friends, i had some time before i had to be somewhere so i took musa on a little walk at brookside gardens (where last i went with cousin on a wery rainy day). showed him pansies and orchids and petunias, and maybe he could smell the thyme and lavender, and then there were quiet geese and algae and stones, and sunlight reflected in quivering ponds.
found something unexpected there... i didn't know it was there. we took a turn onto a stone path with a plaque stating some commemorative terrace up ahead. by the water a wide, low stone bore an inscription begging visitors to remember those lost to violence and hope or pray for peace... i thought maybe it was done by some family who lost a soldier in war, or something like that. but i turned, and there saw a tall stone inscribed with the names and hometowns of the ten men and women killed by the sniper back in 2002. that was when i had lived not 10 minutes from this park, up in aspen hill, very near where the whole tragedy first began and down the street from where it ended. when the last victim, conrad johnson, was shot on oct. 22, they shut down the street i lived on so we couldn't get out to work... so my editor at the time asked me, if i felt safe enough, to interview my neighbors and write an article which i did, with my roommate's help (yes, sadly, it was fox news that picked up the story from my wire service...). anyway... it pierced my heart, to see those names again, so out of the blue. i didn't know any of them, but it was so close to home, and i was so angry at the time with this sniper, so disappointed that he had the name "muhammad"... i like the memorial, though. it is appropriately located, and the combination of water and greenery and stone is just sad enough...
on that note, i am going to try to get some laundry done while musa is still sleeping (on his tummy i might add!)
posted by Ayesha | 12:58 PM
1 Comments:
it's great about the 100 mile gliding. albatrosses have to fly at least 100 miles from Havanna to Key West during their yearly migration
(no i did not look it up. i knew it from my geography class. yes i am a dork.)
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