WHERE DID I COME FROM? A SUFI SEEKS THE ANSWER

Rumi was an Islamic scholar, poet, theologian, and Sufi mystic.  He was of Persian lineage and was born in Afghanistan in the 13th Century. He is considered to be profound and has been read and studied by people of all faiths and cultures. I think he asks a universal question.

Although he was a Muslim, his sect, the Sufis, differed from traditional Islam in their view on the Quran.  In traditional Islam, the focus is on living the Laws of Islam.  Sufis believed the Allah was greater than the Law and that a believer must seek an intimate and divine relationship with him. The sect was one of mysticism and they relied on certain rituals to bring them closer to God.  

The most familiar rite is the zikr. This is a ritual of spinning, sometimes for hours, with meditation and chanting the attributes of God until they become saturated with God. The ritual supposedly shatters and transforms them.  As they spin and whirl...they reach a state of ecstasy and purity where the heart is only conscious of God. The seek surrender his or herself to total abandonment - a total emptying of self. (quoted from https://www.allaboutreligion.org/sufism.htm) 

This is why they are sometimes referred to as a whirling dervish.

Keeping that in mind, I am fascinated by the above quote. Where did I come from?  What am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea.  He states that he asks himself that all of the time, day or night.  He doesn't know where he is going, but he knows he is not from here and that when he dies he wants to return
to wherever there is. It seems as if his understanding of God and the universe was esoteric as well as mystical.

Many people have asked those same questions for hundreds of years. Many of them have arrived at the same conclusion: I have no idea. I am so grateful for the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ which inspires us to know where we came from, why we are here and what are we to be doing.  The question of where am I going when I leave this life is a consequence of, not only what we have been doing, but whom we have become.  It also relates to the personal relationship each of us develops with our Savior.  As one of the Brethren said that the infinite nature of Christ's atonement does not preclude its intimacy. I can draw an analogy to the higher law of Jesus Christ as compared to the lower Law of Moses. Moses brought the Law down from the mountain.  Christ invited the people to come up on the mount to receive His law.

I am grateful to know that I came from the presence of God.  I want to return to His presence when I die.  What I do here and who I become while I'm doing it are important.  If you have ever asked yourself those three questions: where did I come from? why am I here? and where am I going? I invite you to begin your search by watching the Sunday sessions of General Conference tomorrow at 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM online. Come listen to a prophet's voice and hear the voice of the Lord.  

(Bonus: you don't have to make yourself dizzy to do it!)

Come Hear the Word of God

© April 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson