Ah, the virtue of weakness.  Rabi 'a was a Sufi mystic who lived in the first century CE. According to tradition, her birth in Basra, Iraq, was accompanied by a vision of the Mohammad to her father.  Rabi'a would be, the Prophet told her, a remarkable woman, a wonder, a miracle.  She would be a leader in the faith.

     Heady words for a woman of her time.  Yet as Rabi'a grew up and devoted more and more of her time to seeking solitude with Allah, finding insight in giving herself up to God, Mohammad's prophecy came true.  Rabi'a died a highly respected woman.

     One thing that we can learn from mystics, be they Muslim or Christian, is their ability to step into and learn from weakness. When a prominent sheik asked Rabi'a how she had achieved what he considered to be a state of "self-realization," she responded by saying, "You know of the how, but I know of the how-less."
     Rabi'a understood that we will not find wholeness unless we are willing to admit that, apart from divine movement, we cannot.  A broken pot cannot fix itself. Today, those of us in the West and, increasingly, those in the Global South, tend to think that, given sufficient technology, we can solve any problem.  We are loathe to admit we are weak. Yet if we wish to find meaningful wholeness, that is, spiritual oneness with ourselves and God, we must.
     As God told the apostle Paul, "My power is perfected in weakness."  Sometimes, we just don't know "how."
     By the way, I'll be traveling for the next couple of weeks, taking, with much gratitude, a foray into the mountains of the West.  Thanks for reading.  See you in August!