Measuring your sons by whether they can support their family, enjoy life, and smile at themselves makes deep sense to me.

grand design would be my reason for being

To sum everything up, for me it comes down to three core principles:

• Fear of God

• Love of God

• Gratitude to God

Those who internalize these three principles, as believers, have understood the essence of the universe.

Consider Pakistani culture as an example. A mother-in-law worries about whether her daughter-in-law will care for her; a husband expects a nurturing wife; and a wife hopes her new family will understand her and support her passions. These are heavy expectations placed on people who do not share the same blood. Even within biological relationships, parents in Pakistan worry whether their sons will care for them in their old age, especially when poor diet and routine leave many elderly individuals unable to even fetch a glass of water for themselves.

All these social and moral anxieties fade when people truly fear God. When we realize that we are ultimately answerable to the Divine, caring for others becomes a spiritual duty rather than a transactional burden, eliminating these endless societal worries.

When it comes to the Love of God, many people become consumed by negativity, past traumas, and heartbreak, feeling as though their world has ended. In my work offering verbal therapy, I regularly meet individuals carrying profound grief. One of my current patients has two sons living abroad, one in America and one in Dubai, while his third son tragically drowned right before his eyes at the beach. Despite years of medication and conventional therapy, nothing has truly healed him; clinical treatments often just numb his emotions rather than help him process his pain.

His suffering is not unique. I have treated someone who lost his wife to cancer just eight months after their wedding, and we see vast human tragedy worldwide: families destroyed in Palestine, airstrikes hitting hospitals in Afghanistan, and violence against Kashmiris where families are left searching for missing loved ones. How do you offer hope to someone who has lost everything? The answer lies in a deep dive into the Love of God, understanding that temporal loss is reframed through divine wisdom, mercy, and the promise of ultimate justice and reunion.

Regarding Gratitude to God, I recently faced a repair bill of over $170 for my power backup system and had to endure weeks of load-shedding, living without electricity for nearly 12 hours a day across four daily blackouts. While many view air conditioning as a necessity, how often do we pause to consider those who cannot even afford a basic battery backup during power outages? Are we so blinded by comfort that we only notice those living in luxury? True gratitude to God forces us to look at those with less rather than those with more, anchoring our perspective regardless of circumstance.

Ultimately, how do we understand human suffering and offer genuine hope? God is the answer to it all. While atheists and agnostics may hold different perspectives, my own journey from darkness into light proved that divine connection is the true key to healing and meaning.