First week done!

Okay, so it's been a rocky first week of Ramadan.  I even dropped an entire day of fasting so that I could honor a volunteer commitment without affecting the event. 

But the first week for me is all about figuring out how to live with the physical restrictions.  Can I do it?  Yes.  I'm still on Medical Leave until Tuesday, recovering from some fairly major surgery I had on July 21.  So work hasn't been an issue.  I've also been drinking a little water throughout the day for the same medical reason.  We'll see about dropping that once my body is working as it should. 

On the day I skipped, I missed it.  I missed the slowness and emptiness, the sense of floating a bit through the world. The heightened awareness of suffering.  The physiologically induced compassion.  It works, really.

The next week will be more about the spiritual disciplines of Ramadan.  What else are we to surrender?

2 Ramadan 1432... in which we learn how not to lick our fingers.

I've appreciated Ramadan's gift of time, but it can be torture.  You see, as I write, my dinner is waiting for me on the stove.  But it's still about 15 minutes to Maghrib.  Then a few dates and water, then prayer, then dinner.  Waiting might be less torturous, perhaps, than cooking was.  The peanut sauce slopped alluringly all over my fingers and the side of the bottle.  But no licking.  No licking.

Dinner tastes better when all the pots and pan are already washed.  It must, surely.

The Longest Day. 1 Ramadan 1432

This year (and of course often!) the first day of Ramadan was the longest, with the fast scheduled from 4:10am to 8:15pm.   My first alarm was set for 3:50 so that I could take Sahoor, the pre-dawn meal.  Stumbled to the kitchen, ate leftovers, and stumbled back to bed without praying.  Shame on me.

The day was a wash for praying.

But the hunger through the day made my mind soft and pliable, and that's not a bad thing.  In practicing the banjo before this evening's lesson, I had sufficient patience to review tricky measures over and over.  I wasn't antsy, frustrated, or annoyed.    And the lesson went well.   But it ran from 8-8:30pm, 15 minutes past the prescribed time to break the fast.  I tossed back a few dates and drove home to make dinner.

It was said to Imam Ahmad: Does a man find any softness and humility in his heart when he is full? 

He said, I do not think so.

Tomorrow, there will be four fewer minutes to fast.  And I will try to pray.

T'is the night before Ramadan

And up in my flat
The alarms are all programmed.
There's even a mat!

A schedule of fast times,
so I won't be late
to welcome the sunset
with water and date.

Not sure what I'll pray for
(or whom I'll beseech),
but let's do this, Ramadan!
What you got to teach?

In case you're wondering, the mice are stirring.  But Stray Kitty and I are on the case.