This short video perfectly encapsulates what I’ve tried to say in different posts and different perspectives. The Quran speaks of His ayat – meaning miracles – “in the heavens and in the earth and in yourselves” – yet people keep looking for “signs” in what are, in comparison, more like cheap tricks, something anomalous, never-before-seen, something >NEW!< to brag about. So we need to recalibrate what we think of as miracles and how we approach our lives. We need to look around us and see the beauty and astounding and amazing sky, earth, wind, people, children, animals, birds, insects, fish, water, plants, trees, everything! But I literally walk outside dumbfounded by the cloud formations and the birds, the trees, etc., and notice people coming home from work, NEVER LOOKING RIGHT OR LEFT, UP OR DOWN, just STARING AT THEIR PHONES, or sometimes just walking like zombies to their front doors and entering. There was this unbelievable sunset visible in the clouds, or birds soaring overhead, or an amazing flower they passed by, and none of it was even noticed, let alone appreciated.
Don’t forget the word aya (“ayah” is an alternate spelling, I tend to prefer to drop the “h” but this is a more recent thing) in the Quran also refers to Quranic verses. That too is an apt description of “miracle.” One only needs to read, study, or even listen to the Quran, even without understanding the Arabic, even just for the sound, to get a sense of what these ayat are all about. All we need is to look, listen, breathe, notice. Just be here/there.
114 Chambers 