Inspiration

77.7

The opening book of the Qu’ran is a prayer through which you ask God to guide you on the straight path. God knows that you will frequently go off the path, since life is a process of figuring out the path anyway, and so five times a day you repeat this prayer, asking God to bring you back to the path intended for you. The Prophet Mohamed was asked, how many times will God bring me back to the path? That is, how much patience does God have for people straying off the path? Mohamed’s answer, 77 x 7, a phrase used in that culture to mean an eternity.

I find it immensely comforting that I have an eternity to figure out my path. I have endless opportunity to learn my purpose and align my life with it. Indeed, every person is afforded this opportunity. This knowledge inspires me to show patience to myself and to all others, feeling that, whatever I have done and whatever you have done, if God will always welcome us back to the path, I can have patience and love for us, too.