Coming home after a faraway odyssey, just like a bird comes back to his nest, is a must, when it comes to Ied Fitri, with holy or unholy intentions. The day when Allah ask a mere man to forgive and ask forgiveness of others, and so, Allah will forgive humanly mistakes. How Allah is so merciful. A man mistakes can be easily forgiven by them asking and prying. And the merciful Allah loves the mere human, so does the man get the mercy. Indeed, not a single man, be so merciful. The seven deadly sin. Wrath, an anger which turns into a grudge, can make a man blinds and merciless to the end of his days. And so does the other Unforgiven.
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Every year, I come back to my hometown, watching and seeing tired faces, new faces, many and more, the long-distance families who I never meet except in the holy day. I don't know them, which one is the uncle, which one is the grandfather, I lost my count. After the morning prayer of the holy day, after asking forgiveness from the parents, all of the sons and the daughters, the grandsons and the grand-daughters, come to the main house, tabon, where our grandparents, or even out grand-grandparents lives. We line a long queue, seeking blessing and forgiveness from the elders, one by one, recite the same sentence. Some are even crying, some are bored. Everyone has their holy and unholy purpose that day.
While shaking the hand of my unknown long-distance relatives, I wonder, what am I seeking? What am I looking for? A mere forgiveness from a people I never know before? How strange then, this concept of gathering. We shall celebrate Allah's mercy by giving others mercy. But to who I never know or even converse? My mother and father are angry about my anti-social sudden syndrome they never understand.
Those days, I barely understand. But while I write this, something just comes to my mind. Perhaps, the reason I shall ask the forgiveness and giving my compassion is that I never try to know them, the blood of my blood.
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