Where's Your Umbrella?, by Nazeer Ahmed

Wo ist dein Regenschirm?
von Nazeer Ahmed

Wieder blieb der Regen aus in diesem Jahr. Es war das dritte Jahr in Folge ohne Regen. Es gab keine Ernten und das Land war ein brauner, staubiger Trümmerhaufen. Die Bäume hatten vor Jahren ihre Blätter verloren und ragten wie Kaktus-Silhouetten aus dem staubigen Horizont. Es gab einen Fluss, der das Dorf in den vergangenen Jahren umsäumt hatte. Jetzt war das Flussbett trocken.

Wo einst sauberes, frisches Wasser aus den nahen Bergen floss, war nun ein Bett aus Ton, das in einem Schachbrettmuster mit breiten Lücken zerklüftet war. Niemand wusste, was mit den Vögeln geschehen war, außer den Geiern, die die Stadt umkreisten und nach den letzten Tieren suchten, die im Sterben lagen.

Es gab eine Hungersnot im Land. Die Menschen liefen herum wie Stöcke, ohne Fleisch und überlebten mit der Ration, die ihnen von verschiedenen internationalen Wohltätigkeitsorganisationen gebracht wurde.

Verzweifelt nach Hilfe versammelten sich die Dorfbewohner unter einem großen Banyanbaum, der so alt war wie das Dorf selbst. "Lasst uns beten", sagte eine ältere Frau. "Nur Gott kann uns jetzt noch helfen."

Im Dorf lebten Menschen vieler Glaubensrichtungen und es gab eine große Debatte darüber, wo das gemeinsame Gebet stattfinden sollte - in einer Kirche, einer Moschee, einer Synagoge oder einem Tempel. Es gab keinen Konsens. Erschöpft beschlossen die Dorfbewohner, in der Nacht unter freiem Himmel fernab der Stadt zu beten. Es war eine Vollmondnacht und der Mond schien mit seiner leuchtenden Helligkeit vor dem Hintergrund glitzernder Sterne.

Zu den Menschen, die sich zum Gebet versammelt hatten, kam ein kleines Mädchen aus einem nahe gelegenen Dorf gelaufen, ihren Bruder an der Hand führend und hielt einen offenen Regenschirm über ihren Köpfen. Nach Luft ringend, standen sie da, schauten unter dem offenen Regenschirm auf . Die versammelte Menge konnte nicht anders, als sich umzudrehen und sich zu wundern. Einige waren neugierig, andere waren verärgert und andere sogar wütend, als sie von den Speichen des Regenschirms angestoßen wurden.

Schließlich fragte ein Zuschauer neugierig: "Warum hast du den Regenschirm mitgebracht? Siehst du nicht, dass es nicht regnet, und wir gekommen sind, um für Regen zu beten? Nur ein Dummkopf würde in einer klaren Nacht wie dieser einen Schirm aufspannen."

"Ja, in der Tat", antworteten die beiden jungen Geschwistern. "Wir sind auch gekommen, um zu beten. Wir sind aber sicher, dass unser Gebet erhört wird und es regnen wird. Deshalb haben wir diesen großen, bunten Regenschirm mitgebracht."

Kernfagen zum Nachdenken: Was hältst du von dem starken Engagement der Geschwister, dem Unbekannten oder auch ihrem Glauben gegenüber präsent zu sein? Kannst du ein persönliches Erlebnis von deinem Regenschirm erzählen - eine Handlung, die aus deinem starken Engagement entstanden ist, dem Unbekannten (oder dem Glauben) gehenüber präsent zu sein? Was hilft dir, ein so starkes Engagement (oder Glauben) zu entwickeln?

Adapted from The Child who Brought an Open Umbrella for Prayer by Nazeer Ahmed.

Seed Questions for Reflection

How do you relate to the siblings' strong commitment to being present to the unknown, or loosely, their faith? Can you share a personal story of your umbrella-- an action that emerged from your strong commitment to being present to the unknown (or faith)? What helps you develop such a strong commitment (or faith)?

Moved by this reading? Join a live Awakin Circle to discuss in community.

Join this week

More ways to connect

Join a Metta Circle

Practice loving-kindness meditation together

Explore peer-learning pods

Small groups diving deeper into shared themes

Start your own local circle

One living room, one intention — we'll help

Add Your Reflection

12 Past Reflections

Kristin Pedemonti

Jul 4, 2018

Oh I love this and deeply relate. It is all about sending out your prayer or intention, doing what you are able to connect the dots and then stepping back and trusting that God/Universe or however you name it has heard you and will answer. Perhaps not in the exact way you reequested on in the time frame requested, however if you trust, it does happen eventually. This has been true for me so many times I'm honestly not sure which experience to share with you. One of the more recent ones is that I now serve at the World Bank as a Storytelling Consultant helping staff to see the human story in their data, connect more fully to each other as human beings and honor the people they serve throughout the world. I had sent this intention/prayer out about 6 years ago and in Feburary 2015 I happened to attend a Wellness Retreat Networking event. The husband of the organizer happened to work at the World Bank and the department he worked in was hiring consultants in Storytelling. We struck ... View full comment

kunta

Jul 4, 2018

Faith of innoscent children is immeasurable. As a child grows, the brain takes over the heart. Logic contaminates beauty of the soul.

Aninda

Jul 3, 2018

Many a time children show us the way. Having faith. Believing. Living in hope.

deepti mirani

Jul 3, 2018

Faith is the ans to everything. Unwavering faith

Ambika

Jul 3, 2018

This is the un-questioned faith that each of us are endowed with as infants until parents and teachers and the 'caring' adults indoctrinate us into the faithless state. Sad but true. Then an entire adult life and life times are spent in seeking the same faith and truth that we are naturally blessed with. Well these stories set us thinking. Can I ge back to that same state?

Amy Jul 7, 2018

True!ðŸŒ·

david doane

Jun 30, 2018

I think the siblings' strong commitment was to their faith, not to the unknown. Being present to the unknown is being present to not knowing. The siblings were certain that their prayer would be answered and it would rain -- they were being present to their faith that it would rain. My commitment to being present to the unknown has grown over the years. We don't know. There is no certainty. An action that emerged from my commitment to being present to the unknown is simply speaking my truth, letting go of trying to make a certain outcome happen, and trusting the process. What helps me develop that commitment is experiencing the spontaneous, alive, creative good that comes from it.

Marcia Jul 4, 2018

I agree with your completely, David. Thank you for sharing hour thoughts.

Jagdish P Dave

Jun 29, 2018

Sadly this is the story of many poor countries affected by climate change and man-made devastations. It is an alrm for many countries to tackle this big human problem.The self -centric mindset needs to be changed to help those who desperately need help. We pray with faith, open our multicolor Human Umbrella and embrace all who are suffering with an open mind and open heart. As I was growing up, I was provided with many umbrellas of kindness, compassion, and affection to protect me, to feed me, grieve my losses, and wipe my tears. My mother was the first such umbrella who nurutured lovingly by making food for me and by waiting for me when I would come home late at night for earning my daily bread. My wife was a big umbrella who left her rich family to marry me and become a part of my poor family. She always stood beside me and worked hard for our family as I was working on my doctoral degree in a foreign country. And when she passed away seven years ago, my children, grand ... View full comment

SUSAN

Jun 28, 2018

Sad, real life story reflected in comments by Ranuath in 2017 here and still in many places in the world... water is such a precious resource. I can recall living in an area of Japan as a young girl where water was scarce. We would have to fill our bath tubs and large containers with water to bathe and flush toilets. We had to collect drinking water from natural sources and treat it for drinking. When it would rain, in celebration my family would run out in the rain without any umbrellas, and play in the downpours!

For me the story is also a metaphor for scarcity and expecting and visualizing abundance. I live in a foreign country and am a newcomer. My mantra for meeting new people and for doing and seeing new things, is to be open to new things an dpeople and to say 'yes' to all invitations and opportunities... I expect and hope them to pour in!

Ragunath

Nov 15, 2017

Oh, well... we are in the middle of facing a smaller degree of the same situation in our region. It is not a full famine yet but we have had very little rains in the last three years. Most farmers have already spent their yearly profit on digging new bore wells and/or deepening existing ones. Even this bold effort has failed some farmers as their new bore wells have dried up as well. We decided to wait it out. All our crops dried by June and we did not plant anything new after that. We lost many trees. We did some rain water harvesting arrangements as our version of the umbrella. A few storm rains happened in September and the remaining trees have perked up. We have good undergrowth now. But the rains were not enough to recharge the ground water, so we cannot plant anything new yet. The next monsoon is not until next July (our second monsoon in November is already a failure). We have not prayed though. Our scientific mind "knows" that the weather is not personal and an appeal to a God... View full comment

Shalini Sahai Jul 5, 2018

Ragu, It’s interesting how I read another daily good story before this one about the circles of time, then I read this story and noticed that your comment is from November 2017. Your past and my present are intersecting at this moment :). Did this monsoon bring rains for you?