Just Needed a Tomato

While having a meaningful discussion with a few friends, one of them said the following: “In a way, everything in the universe is serving us.”  What in the world?!…was my silent reaction at that time.  But I have been thinking about it throughout the evening.  I do not recall how I fell asleep, but I was still thinking about “Wow!  Everything is serving me!  How can I be so oblivious all these years?  The air has been serving me, water has been serving me, the sun has been serving me and all the delicious food that are prepared and enjoy eating, they all are at my service and serving my needs… just to name a few items.  More so, my parents have been serving me, my siblings have been serving me, and all the good people and friends have served to some capacity, including childhood pets….” Interesting, don’t you think so!?  More interesting is when I woke up the next morning…

From the moment I stepped into the bathroom and touched water, I felt guilt within me and I silently said: “Thank you water!”  After reflecting on what I said, I felt the need to correct myself: “Water cannot prepare itself to help me.  The water itself lifeless has no power or choice to mean to help me.  It is prepared for me and given life”.  Then I went on to do my regular morning routine until I heard a gentle voice in my stomach: “knock! knock! Here is hunger”.  Then I made a move into the kitchen thinking “time for fuel, let me fix up something yum for I am given hunger.”  While washing stuff, I was still thinking about how these fruits and vegetables are serving my needs.  These fruits and vegetables have been serving my needs all these years.  They are so kind and subservient, doing their thing by serving hungry people like me so we may satisfy our gross appetites.

It was a quiet Sunday morning and unlike usual, I was not hearing much of the hustle and bustle of the city life and I felt calm and thus, decided to look closely at the things in my hands and displayed on the kitchen counter.  I was holding a knife and was thinking about its purpose.  How it is used purposefully to cut fruits and vegetables?  Then, I placed a medium sized tomato on the chopping board.  I was staring at it for a long time that now I am thinking if that tomato had a tongue and could speak in human language, it would tell me: “You are creepy.  Stop staring at me!”  Jokes aside, I sincerely expressed my interest to the tomato: “You are created to serve me and now I am going to eat you in the name of your Creator who happens to be my Creator as well.”  These words brought a big smile and laugh to my being that I could not stop thinking about the time (a while back) when I told my 4-year-old nephew while playing with him that: “You are so cute, I am going to eat you.”  And the little kid back then replied: “I am not food.”  Anyhow, this time, I was interacting with the tomato and I thought: “This is such a perfect set up.  I am given hunger and you are created for me to satisfy my need.  I say thank you to our Creator.”  Actually, I want to multiply this expression of thanking our Creator (alhamdulillah in Arabic) a million times. (if you are a Math enthusiast, let us take the limit of this expression when the need to express “alhamdulillah” goes to infinity?)

Also, there was a feeling of connectedness with the tomato which was long forgotten.  While staring at the eye of the tomato (the green dot where the fruit meets the stem), a deep connection with the creation of the tomato was felt, which points to its Creator.  Hence, the need to scream on top of my lungs: “Thank you, I love You!”

Finally, I slaughtered the tomato in the Name of the Creator, the One who is the Owner of our genuine thank you and this “thank you” is directed to express our thankfulness and appreciation to Him as the Source of our Existence.  This is nothing more than worship i.e. acknowledgement of the Ever-Living One, the Creator of the whole universe (including you and I living in this meaningful universe).