Oh Allah,
Here it is, my 50th birthday. 18,263 days on Earth. Wow!! While I’m not having a full-blown mid-life crisis, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this birthday. It’s reminding me how short life is, and how little I have accomplished. When I look at all the youthful dreams I had of what I wanted to do for You, I wonder if I ever will do anything really significant in the time I have left on this earth. Why does all this matter? Well, I guess I just want, somehow, to pay you back in some small way for all you’ve done for me. Love needs a response, and I’m so aware of how much You have loved me. I want to love You back, and I don’t know how to do that except to love Your people and do good things in this world. Yet, my love for You is so small, my expressions so inadequate,
