God is a great power. Allah is a great power. In order to understand the nature of our existence and our place within the nature of existence, we must have some comprehension of the nature of this great power. We must have some idea of what it is that this great power does and what it is. It’s only if we attune to this nature can we truly find the status of our own nature. If you are looking for God and you are looking in the wrong places, you will find things that are other than God. In your fervor to find what you are looking for, you will mistake whatever you find for what you think you want. That’s why it is essential that we get a handle on what this nature of God is.
God is a power that is different from our usual conceptions of power. We think of power as a force that pushes things, as a force that can destroy things. We think of power when we think of armies. We think of power when we think of bombs. We think of destructive power. But, there are powers that are not destructive.
The power of the rebirth of spring that comes every year is a nourishing power, an uplifting power, a power that gives birth, a power that is other than destructive.
When we think about Allah, when we think about God, we have to understand power in this way: a power that nurtures; a power that gives. Not a power that takes life, but a power that gives life. Not a power that takes away from, but a power that gives to. Not a power that tries to gain and through its own gain makes its power felt, but a power that gives on behalf of and through this giving asserts its stamp.
To understand in this way, we have to become this way because we can only understand what we are. If we are a hoarder, a taker, a needer, someone who has to have, we can never understand the power of giving. We can never understand the power of nurturing. We can never understand the immense strength that exists in the love of giving and in the love of supporting.
In the dervish communities of the past, in the communities where people considered each other companions and people treated each other with utmost respect and utmost devotion without any pre-conditions, they were trying to imitate the power that God has and the power that is given by God into this world. When we can become that way, when our encounters are encounters wherein our sole purpose is to assist the other and to help the other and to nourish the other, then we can begin to align with that great power that is Allah.
