Ramadan Openings

Learning the Cures for Sadness

Dear Reader,

There’s a big tree that sits outside my apartment. It’s branches cover a few of my windows and scratch at the wire screen leaving holes in them. Sometimes when the wind is strong, the branches scratch so much that it sounds like someone is trying to get into the house. Other times it’s a faint scratching that sounds like the squeaks from a mouse.

I’ve lived in this apartment for almost two years now and mostly found that tree to be a nuisance. However, just a few days ago, I discovered the flowers that grow from it. Maybe they didn’t bloom last year, or maybe I didn’t pay enough attention to them. But now, in this blessed month of Ramadan, I see it’s growth. I see it blooming. And the scent that radiates from it when I exit my front door is strong, fragrant, and incites a calm within me.

Just like the flowers on the tree in Spring, I believe the month of Ramadan allows us to bloom as humans if we take the time to learn. Ramadan gives us the opportunity to dedicate ourselv…