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Have you ever thought back to a time or experience and wished you could live through it again? Most of us have. Someone may have asked for our help but, in our minds, we were too busy. When we think back, we knew within the quiet recesses of our hearts that we should have behaved differently.

When we were teenagers, for example, we may have been so busy trying to impress our high school friends that we neglected to complete a task asked of us by our parents. We all know that what we wanted to do as teenagers was always more important than anything that our parents asked of us.

As we matured, we came to regret our earlier inconsiderate behavior. We wanted to change our selfish actions and decided to make amends and redirect our attitude.

If we want to repent, know that the Almighty forgives us for our shortcomings. He does not hold our thoughtlessness against us, provided we are mindful in the future. Ultimately, our balance of good deeds should out-weigh the bad.  

We find in scripture, “And We shall set up balances of justice on the Day of Resurrection, then none will be dealt with unjustly in anything.” (Qur’an 21:47).  We also find another reference in Job 31:6, “Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.” 

These verses remind us of the Almighty’s forgiveness. We too have an obligation. In addition to our individual concerns, we should be mindful of our responsibility to others. As we grow older, our sphere of influence increases and our actions affect others. This is why it is important to remember the necessity of establishing balance in our lives. 

When we attend our worship services, we make do-nations in support of our faith. In addition to financial sup-port, we also need to express a genuine concern for circumstances that others experience. Balancing our individual concerns, against the needs of others, opens a threshold to a new life.

Imagine a society in which each member provides for themselves and recognizes that they have a responsibility to others as well. Just as we willingly donate to our faith group for its growth and stability, we should consider balancing our philanthropy with other citizens. In this case, the thresh-old that we are entering may be the gateway to an awesome future for us all.

Qadir Abdus-Sabur, Ph.D. is an Imam at the Islamic Center of Prince Edward. His email address is qas1944@gmail.com.