I’d like to say I’m grateful all the time because I am an avid studier of profoundly enriching Sufi spiritual tools – the deepest I have EVER studied! But the truth is, I get angry, upset, hurt and sad as much as I’m grateful.
The key, I’ve learned, is to keep things honest between me and God.
I love God with all my heart and that love is strong enough to hold upset and honesty. The irony is once the upset passes, I do feel my deep love for God, and then I am incredibly grateful for who God is and what He’s giving to me – the good and the bad – ALL of it!
I spent so many years feeling dry, almost like I was living in a desert. I was spiritually malnourished. Having make a decision to dedicate myself to walking deeply with God, my feelings of emptiness don’t last. Now, even when things get hard, I can feel God’s loving presence right beside me, and for that I am eternally grateful.
Much love,
Jeff Rahim Bronner
Jeff Rahim Bronner is faculty at UOS. Rahim and his beloved are building a spiritual retreat center in western New York where students can study the teachings of Sidi al-Jamal and walk through the Sufi stations of love. The Chautauqua Sufi Center and Sweet Freedom Farm will be open in the summer of 2012, God willing.
