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Good morning. On Monday evening, I watched Emma Barnett’s interview of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Nazanin has been through an unimaginable ordeal being held in Iran since 2019; and I found her insights both profound and inspirational. The media focussed on the incident when, just as she was due to get on the plane back to Britain, the Iranian authorities demanded she first sign a confession. I’m probably not alone in wondering – what would I have done? Keep protesting my innocence? Or capitulate, not knowing how this document might be used. Nazanin had already been in captivity for six years. There and then, she faced a stark choice about her future – was it to be time to spend with her family – or time in the limbo of prolonged imprisonment? Very few of us thankfully will have to make such a choice between our principles and our freedom. The Vedic scriptures stress standing up for one’s truth and considering the ramifications of our actions. But, in extreme circumstances of immediate danger, they say, the priority should be for securing safety and freedom. Do the needful in the moment. But the Vedas also offer something profound how we might think about the time we have. Time is precious, says the texts: not a second can be bought back by any amount of wealth. This seems paradoxical for a faith that asserts the eternal nature of personal existence. The Bhagavad-gita explains that every being is an eternal soul passing through many lifetimes of reincarnation: “Never was there a time when we did not exist, nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.” So, if we’re eternal and go through many lives, why is time now...so precious? Because, it is our thoughts, words and actions in this moment that contribute to our future. And if we use those moments well to progress towards our deepest aspirations and purpose, we gain something sublime of lasting value. Particularly, says the Gita, the cultivation of devotion to God and sincere love of others transcends the passage of time. These gains become permanent assets of the soul to be added to as we journey through timelessness. I was moved when Nazanin explained how, despite having six years of her life stolen from her, she had found a deeper sense of her faith and love for her husband. This offers hope that, even when so much time might seem lost forever, there can also be gain that endures forever.