I am reading Martin Lings "What is Sufism" and "The Secret Teaching of Plants" by Buhner. Both books answer to a need I have to reorient myself to Islam and my religious belief. I just want to note this, to remind myself that my heart can open. As I walked to work, I felt a looseness and observant quality not present every day. The coil of a hose on the sidewalk, the ripening blackberries, the clarity of the sky. I am trying to find the presence of god in my heart and life, to have my practice of Islam come from my heart and to probe the meanings more deeply. This is something Lings does so exquisitely well and I can feel something dormant come alive in me as I read.