Mohammad, Be Safe

This is Mohammad. He is one of my regular readers. I received a note from one of his Facebook friends today. It said that Mohammad has been missing in Tehran for the past week. Mohammad, full of love and hope for life and for Iran, is missing. I am devastated. What can I do? How can I help him? I have been sitting here feeling helpless and so, so sad. All I can do is to gather all my might, and send thoughts of love and peace for Mohammad in Tehran. He is not alone. There are hundreds of other people like him who have been arrested over the past week. On this night, I pray for all young people in Iran. I pray that they are safe and strong. I say a special prayer for a good friend, who has so much love and thought to spread, and shouldn't be in a prison. He should be talking about all the wonderful things he knows about Iran. He should be with his family and friends. Prison is for criminals, not for the most beautiful people a nation has. I pray for his safe and speedy return to us. Join me in the prayer if you can. I pray for Iran tonight.

Solo Prayer

Pomegranate Harvest Festival in Gilan's Anbooh Village, near Roodbar. See more photos here.

Being a friend to many is a continuous stream of joy and happiness to me. I celebrate my friends' victories, enjoy their happiness, and rejoice in their celebrations of dreams realized. My friend Mani always teases me in how happy I am somedays because a friend of mine has had something good happen to him or her, as though that good thing happened to me! True friendship, however, means that sometimes I have to join in my friends' worries, fears, and frustrations. My friend nearby is agonizing over a difficult dilemma tonight. When I received the call, all I could do was to listen and to try and say reassuring things in a situation that looks and feels bleak and sad, making hot tears escape my eyes and my heart to ache with fear and worry. It was hard to say that we should stay optimistic and positive and to send good vibrations to the unfolding crisis. Later, I sat down to a prayer for him and for his loved one. I can do no more and no less for someone who thought to call me first in his moment of desparation. Pray I do.