How to make lockdown beautiful?
Many people will be finding spending time at home is much more difficult than they ever imagined. This is because we find we are locked in the same house, sometimes even the same room for hours on end with our worst enemy. Not the spouse, not the relative, not the nasty colleague at work, not the lying politician, not the oppressive dictator, not the corrupt banker, nor even the devil. Our worst enemy is… ourself, or “our self”, AKA our ego.
Usually our routines and schedules are too busy to notice our own weaknesses, shortcomings, bad manners and character traits, but on lockdown we get to observe the parts of us we wish didn’t exist over and over again.
It’s not all bleak though, it’s said to be from the greatest gifts a person could ever receive from God is the ability to recognise a single flaw in oneself. Because that is the start of the process to rectify it. If you never knew you had a spiritual illness, then how were you ever supposed to be able to cure it? The people around us usually only ever tend to praise us and the things we do (at least to our faces), because many of us find genuine criticism difficult to take. But now here we are, noticing these points for improvements on our own, without the usual distractions from the outside world. It can be difficult though. We all know that the battle to improve ourselves can be much greater than fighting other people on the battlefield with armour, swords and shields.
All of a sudden, some of us find ourselves in the middle of huge war. A wise person will teach you that “the best way to defeat an enemy is to make him your friend”. And this is the beautiful thing, you can change for the better and your heart can be transformed. There does not exist a single vice, except that it can be moulded into a virtue, and we have endless examples of people in the past who have done just that and become illuminated beings.
At the end of the day Perfection is only for God, but God is Beautiful and He loves that which is beautiful. Try your best during these coming days, possibly weeks, to make the small changes you want to see. Improve your character, work on yourself and achieve those goals you’ve been putting off for so many years. So when you come back out into the world – probably a world which will be wounded and in severe pain – your beauty will shine with splendour, just like the butterfly out of the cocoon.
It will also allow us to be a little more prepared for the day our Maker promised us:
“A day when wealth and children will not be of benefit, except for those who come to God with a sound heart.”
– Qur’an, 26:88
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How to make lockdown beautiful?Many people will be finding spending time at home is much more difficult than they ever…
Posted by Adam Kelwick on Tuesday, 31 March 2020
