Listening

Ten to five am.

The call to prayer amplified from the temples fills the dawn air.

Beautiful to some.

Disliked by most Westerner’s I speak to, mainly Aussies.  Barely noticed, it seems, tho’, by most of their children who go to school here.

The call is music in the dark to me, very primitive, some mornings achingly beautiful.  Other mornings, just a plea to be ok by folks reaching for the light.  (Count me in.)

Mirrors, then, for how each of us start the day by reflecting from inside what’s outside.  In this way, if we might hear and see that reflection, the early morning prayer is both our wake up call and a gauge of how we, personally, have woken in that moment.

If it’s pity we feel then – oops, that’s a reflection of us inside.  Shows a certain – low? – start to the day, perhaps, or just an awareness then of our own mortality.

If, say, Western anger at the call is uppermost within us at that moment, then, surely, we have yet to ‘arrive’ in this place?  The question consequent upon that anger might be, “What did I expect?”.  Or, “What will I pray to today if not this?”

Really, a call to prayer is just that:  it invites us to ask, “How do I honour the things I don’t understand, the mystery of waking today in a place that defies comprehension, Earth?”

And, Westerners what do you want?  Sirens and cities denied the dark of dawn by streetlights that really don’t light the way?

Oh; and, yes, the Hindu and Muslim temples seek to outcompete each other with the volume and start time of their amplified call to prayer.  But if that makes you laugh, as it does me in the dawn light, there’s your gift to start the day with.

And that can be enough.

Leave A Comment

  • Michael Mobbs

    Michael is a former Environmental Lawyer who is uniquely placed to consult in four main areas:

    • Sustainability Coach and Speaker,
    • Sustainable Urban Farm Design greening, watering and cooling the cityscape, roads, parks, suburbs,
    • Major Projects Consultant Commercial and Industrial,
    • Residential Sustainability Consultant.
    For permission to re-print any articles or to book Michael for a speaking engagement go to Contacts. Please ensure all quotes from Michael's blog include a reference to sustainablehouse.com....au.