91Èȱ¬

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Salma El-Wardany

Good morning.

A few months ago, I was on the last train home, the day smeared all over me, my shoulders beginning to fold. The carriage was full of tired faces, the week leaving us all a little broken, a little bruised. No one said anything. It was a quiet place, gliding away from the city in silence, in hidden glances.

I remember looking over and seeing a little girl with a flower crown on her head, chin tilted high and as she caught my eye, I mouthed; I love your crown. She mouthed, ‘thank you’, her shoulder straightening with happiness.

The entire exchange was only seconds long but it lights up at least 6 people around me. The man behind the small girl smiles at her, where once before his face was slumped into his chest. The woman opposite me catches my eye and we smile at one another. The couple next to me turn to each other and exchange a loving glance, dreaming of when they have their own children. Faces light up like the dawn. Full of hope. Possibility. A reminder.

The last few months have been full of moments like these. Shopping for a neighbour. Clapping at 8pm. A song on a balcony. A harp at the end of a road. We have been full of small acts of kindness lately, and I think perhaps this really is the answer to life. This tiny love. This small giving. The everyday reaching for one another.

They are not big gestures and no mountains have been moved. Just like me telling a small girl how much I love her flower crown, they are not remarkable or extraordinary. But they carry so much weight. Say so much. And we are changed because of it.

The Prophet Mohammed reminds us that God is kind, and he loves kindness in all matters. May we always show one another the kindness and gentleness that beautifies our everyday lives.

Ameen.

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