MORTAR AND PESTLE

I was pounding rock sugar (called Mishri in India) yesterday, and a wonderful learning emerged from the mortar and pestle I was using. I was trying to hit the hard pieces right on their heads and it was taking plenty of effort to break even a single piece. I failed to see that the strategy to hit a nail on the head was not working on rock sugar. I then recalled how the people trying to smash a rock manually with a crowbar or a sledgehammer hit the rock...

I tried hitting the rock sugar at its edges and sure enough it broke faster! Thereafter my task became easier, I started attacking each rock at its edges and completed my task sooner than earlier. The lesson I could take away for a lifetime which came from the mortar and pestle was amazingly simple. It showed me how hard it is to break away from your bad habits or your sinful acts, when you first try to get rid of the more stubborn habits or those sinful acts that are considered to be major sins. But, it becomes easier if you start working on the edges, the less stubborn habits, the small vices or those sinful acts which are considered minor sins.

Here, I also recalled an age-old saying - "United we stand, divided we fall". When the crystals solidify together as one mass of a rock sugar, they become a "hard nut to crack" but when you chip away at their edges and divide their reinforcement, thereby diminishing their strength, they collapse easily.

"Don't let your sins turn into bad habits".

~ Saint Teresa of Avila

Remember that even those who wish to break you, damage your business or hurt you emotionally, will aim at your vulnerabilities, your very edges!

~ Mazher H. Syed

December 11, 2023.