ramdan, counterculture and soul

Islam, Counterculture and Soul by Ibrahim N. Abusharif is just a really good piece on the meaning of Ramadan. Many articles on Ramadan point to the obvious themes like how fasting is an exercise in discipline and that the hunger helps sharpen our concern for the less fortunate. But I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone describe the function of Ramadan in quite this way before. Abusharif concludes:

I remember a conversation with a zoology professor of mine during my undergraduate days. He said that it is unlikely that creatures deep in the sea have any kind of awareness of what it means to be wet, not even an awareness commensurate to primitive brains. But the irony is not restricted to fish: the greater the immersion the less aware we become of it. There is an observation generally agreed upon among religious folk, that there is indeed an immersion in the fleeting realm, and it's nearly impossible to escape it without help. It is before our senses, from billboards to broadcasts. And after a while, we're disabled from even noticing. Ramadan is help, a knock on a door, an invitation to walk out of the cave.

So we are fish and Ramadan helps us to see the wetness of the water we swim in. Beautiful.