FROM THE SPIRITUAL TREE

routinely and out of familiar duty for years. The moment of realization, if it comes, is different for each individual. But once it comes, life has changed forever for that individual. It is not only the overwhelming realization that there really is a God, an Almighty and Supreme Being, but that the power and ‘heart’ of this Being created and now maintains all that exists, encompasses the entire vastness of all the universes, and yet at the same time is aware not only of each person as an individual, but of each ant, and of each microbe that may live within the body of that ant. When believers pray using the physical movements of their bodies, they are acknowledging certain things. Firstly, as they stand quietly before God, shutting out ‘the world’ they are realizing their absolute helplessness and insignificance in the light of their Creator’s presence, and they are overwhelmed with the need to ask forgiveness for their shortcomings that took place in those moments when they were not aware. Then, in humility, they bow as they draw closer to consciousness of that Great Being’s almightiness and power. Then as they feel the divine love and compassion flood their souls, they kneel with their faces on the earth, and love Him in response. Prayer is an acknowledgment of our absolute dependence on God on one hand, in contrast to God’s absolute power on the other. The act of prayer puts us in our true place, and also acknowledges God’s rightful station. Prayer, then, is not the wishful thinking or illusions of the pious but is actually acceptance of things as they are; in prayer, consciousness is the ultimate degree of realism; and the apprehension of reality, in turn, is the most excellent of all actions. For, in this world, where we have been given a choice between belief and disbelief, there is nothing greater than acceptance of the true nature of things which lies beyond the consciousness of those who are merely living on the animal level. Although He is the Great Almighty Lord of all that is, God declares of Himself in the Quran that He is One Who hears all prayers and is so close to us that He uses the image of running in our own bloodstream, closer to us than our own jugular vein. He urges us over and over again to pray to Him, to place our trust in Him, to turn over the motivation of our lives to Him, that we may prosper both in this world and in the life to come. o Prayer is an acknowledgment of our absolute dependence on God on one hand, in contrast to God's absolute power on the other.