Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Protestant Minister at the time of Hitler who opposed him and paid with his life. In his essay, ‘Costly Grace’ he says that Divine Grace (Fadhl of Allahﷻ) is something that we must pay for. We take it for granted, we feel we are entitled to it, we don’t even stop to express gratitude to the One who blessed us with it. That is why we don’t appreciate it and so we don’t benefit from it as much as we can do. How true are his words, that speak to us today.

I seek your indulgence to change the title to ‘Valuable Grace’, instead of ‘Costly Grace’. That is because for me, ‘cost’ is something you pay and see as a net loss. You paid the price, but you didn’t get the value you paid for. You are not happy with the deal. On the other hand, when you pay, say, $10 for a Chinese bowl in a thrift shop and then get it cleaned up and discover that it is original Ming pottery from the 5th century, and Sotheby offers you $100,000 for it, do you call what you paid, ‘costly’ or do you call it a ‘bargain’, and ‘valuable’? I define costly as something that is not worth the price. And valuable as something which is a bargain and worth far more than what you paid for it. Today you are here in the house of Allahﷻ. Is this a cost or a bargain? Your answer will depend on how you experience what you are getting out of it. If I offer you bumper stickers – I would rather be fishing, golfing, whatever – would you take them? Why or why not? I submit to you that one of the biggest and most costly casualties in our modern lives is the opportunity to reflect. Most of us don’t even know what that means or how to do it. We know that we must sit in silence, switch off our ‘babies’ and then what? We have lost our connection with our Creator and so we have lost ourselves. That is why the epidemic of our times is not Covid but mental illness, depression, despair, and suicide. When you are desperate and have nowhere to go, what do you do? I ask myself and you, ‘What is the Grace of Allahﷻ worth to us? What are we willing to pay for it?’

Recently I was privy to an email from the student body of an American university to their Chaplain about their Commencement, demanding that the Invocation and Benediction must be eliminated from the ceremony and that the name of God must not be mentioned in the Commencement address. Remember this is America with ‘In God we Trust’ on the dollar bill and the 1st Amendment. So, what happened while we were not looking? When I was growing up, we were warned never to use four-letter words. Looks like it is now down to three-letters. And then it will be down to two and one – Me and I. That is what we are seeing now. I still feel the pain when I think of that email. I remember thinking to myself, ‘What must Allahﷻ be saying about people to whom even his name is not acceptable?’ These are the people whose backs are breaking under the epidemic of mental illness, yet who refuse the only solution that works – remembrance of Allahﷻ. Allahﷻ said, ‘Verily in the remembrance of Allahﷻ is peace of the Qalb.’ Do we want a cure for our troubles? So why don’t we remember Allahﷻ?

We talk about searching for Allahﷻ. The great poet Allama Iqbal said:

Khizar Kyunkar Bataye, Kya Bataye, Agar Mahi Kahe Darya Kahan HaiWhy should Khizer say and what, if the fish were to ask, “Where is the water?”

Today we live in a world that is poised on the brink of the cliff of impending disaster. There are 5 matters that are of deep concern for me.

* The rise of religious fundamentalism (a pan religious phenomenon)

* The rise of populism (seems to be worldwide)

* The rise of narcissism (in our leaders and their electorate)

* The loss of values (much worse than the clash of values)