Sunday, May 29, 2005
Holdin' On
By the glorious morning light, and by the night when it is still, thy guardian-Lord has not forsaken thee, nor is he displeased. And verily, the hereafter will be better for thee than the present. And soon thy Guardian-Lord give thee (that wherewith) thou shalt be well-pleased. AD-DHUHA 1-5
I sat here for about half of an hour pleading with God to calm my temper. I had just learned that Karim had been in a tiff with his somewhat tyrannical boss, which in no way was Karim's fault at all, and which in our situation can be a tad scary. I was livid over what had been said to him, and my blood was boiling. Words were coming out of my mouth that had no business being in my brain at all. My prayer, naturally started out with, "God, please let lightening hit the boss's car", and then, as an afterthought, from experiencing God's interesting sense of humor, I added, "but don't let it damage our car in any way. " Upon further thought, however, I had to retract my request and ask for forgiveness. What an awful thing to say. What if something really DID happen to the boss's car, with him in it? I would feel really sheepish, then, wouldn't I? Instead, I asked God to calm my nerves and give me a bit of scripture to back it up. The above scripture is what he gave me. It comes from Qu'ran. (Interesting how people who have never read it can flush it down a toilet without once thinking about what might actually be in it. That's another issue altogether.) The ayat (verses) are a promise to me that even though things may go badly in life, (such as being under the thumb of thoughtless humans who think usury and slave labor is a positive step toward self-fulfillment), there is hope for happiness if only after this life, in Jennah (Heaven/Paradise). God tells me here that he is pleased with me and he isn't turning away from me simply because I fall to humanness now and again.
When we first came to Texas a few months ago, we expected a lot more than we have experienced. Living in P-- made us dislike Texas very much. However, many people here have told us that P-- is not how we should judge Texas, Texans, or America. This particular place is an awful place with an awful reputation, and does not represent the majority of this great country. Likewise, living in this human body with these human issues does not represent eternity. God promises me that in Heaven We will be well-pleased. In ENGLISH, "pleased" means "happy", "satisfied" and "content". Heaven will be a place of happiness and contentment where we will be satisfied with our surroundings. We will not have evil bosses flinging their weight around like drool from a mad bull. We will have no worries, nor financial losses. We will have a home and everything we need. God will fulfill us, if not in this life, then in the next. That's a promise.
I sat here for about half of an hour pleading with God to calm my temper. I had just learned that Karim had been in a tiff with his somewhat tyrannical boss, which in no way was Karim's fault at all, and which in our situation can be a tad scary. I was livid over what had been said to him, and my blood was boiling. Words were coming out of my mouth that had no business being in my brain at all. My prayer, naturally started out with, "God, please let lightening hit the boss's car", and then, as an afterthought, from experiencing God's interesting sense of humor, I added, "but don't let it damage our car in any way. " Upon further thought, however, I had to retract my request and ask for forgiveness. What an awful thing to say. What if something really DID happen to the boss's car, with him in it? I would feel really sheepish, then, wouldn't I? Instead, I asked God to calm my nerves and give me a bit of scripture to back it up. The above scripture is what he gave me. It comes from Qu'ran. (Interesting how people who have never read it can flush it down a toilet without once thinking about what might actually be in it. That's another issue altogether.) The ayat (verses) are a promise to me that even though things may go badly in life, (such as being under the thumb of thoughtless humans who think usury and slave labor is a positive step toward self-fulfillment), there is hope for happiness if only after this life, in Jennah (Heaven/Paradise). God tells me here that he is pleased with me and he isn't turning away from me simply because I fall to humanness now and again.
When we first came to Texas a few months ago, we expected a lot more than we have experienced. Living in P-- made us dislike Texas very much. However, many people here have told us that P-- is not how we should judge Texas, Texans, or America. This particular place is an awful place with an awful reputation, and does not represent the majority of this great country. Likewise, living in this human body with these human issues does not represent eternity. God promises me that in Heaven We will be well-pleased. In ENGLISH, "pleased" means "happy", "satisfied" and "content". Heaven will be a place of happiness and contentment where we will be satisfied with our surroundings. We will not have evil bosses flinging their weight around like drool from a mad bull. We will have no worries, nor financial losses. We will have a home and everything we need. God will fulfill us, if not in this life, then in the next. That's a promise.
