Live Life, Love. Sincerely.

"When I want sincerity,
tell me where else can I turn?"

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. 

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried, No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry. 

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold.  He knew how she felt. It was those chills which only fear can put in you. 

He said, 'I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.' 

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt. 

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid. 

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, 'And think of me.' 

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight. 

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home.It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan....

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: 'You don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.' 

Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the Money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard....

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, 'Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.' 

There is an old saying, 'What goes around comes around.' Today I sent you this story and I'm asking you to pass it on. Let this light shine. God works in mysterious ways and sometimes puts people in our lives for a reason.

Don't delete it, don't return it. Simply, pass this on to a friend.

***

Best email I had in, well, ever.

Because sincerity is a rare commodity, in a materialistic and individualistic society...

Sense of Direction

God is ever wise. God preordains, and yet He blesses us with free will and reasoning. All that's left on our behalf is effort and faith.

Because my future is my decision... and God knows...

Racism 2

My faith does not have any space for racism. That is what is ordained in the book of God.

***

"O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for Allah, witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is acquainted with what you do."

5:8

***

This is what is instructed. This is what is ordained. This is the path of wisdom and righteousness. I can't simply dislike a people (a race) just because of some negative sentiments that are stuck on any particular race or skin colour. That is the most unjust thing in the world.

The greatest thing about being human is the ability to think and tell between what's right and what's wrong. We can choose to be better or worse. Rules, traditions, cultures... they're just guidelines, for the sake of betterment, not for shutting down our thinking capacities; not for rendering progress obsolete.

I simply have no room for hating a people, for the sake of hatred itself... no, not even Jews. Jesus was a Jew, Moses was a Jew. And they are God's messengers, spreading light and truth upon the world. Negatively stigmatizing a race without giving it a single thought whatsoever is just lazy, irresponsible, and most heavily unjust. We are better than that.

Sadly, the world in which we strut on and earn our daily bread is not a perfect world. Where there is good, there is bound to be evil. Evil is the lack of good, and our world has had been lacking in good for quite some time. War. Greed. Oppression. Injustice. Sloth. 

I strongly detest evil. But being racist does not help rid the world of evil. It just makes things worse. Evil is everywhere, and evil does not recognize race. Slapping a particular race with the evil tag is really not helping. 

It's actually a "pointing a finger at another person, without realising that three other fingers are pointed back at you" thing, being racist.  

God does not simply make us many peoples and nations for the purpose of conflict. No.

I don't hate this guy because of his race.

Nor do I hate Joe who lives in Israel, simply because of his race.

Nor do I hate Saravanan in Mumbai, simply beacuse he's a tad bit on the dark side.

Nor do I hate Chong in Shanghai because he's too kiasu.

But I really detest what the immoral soldiers are doing in Palestine and to the Palestinian people. 

Am I a racist?

No.

Not because I believe in justice, no.

Because justice is nearer to righteousness;

Racism

Scene: a TAM Airlines flight-boarding.

Story:

A 50-something year old white woman arrived at her seat and saw that the passenger next to her was a black man.

Visibly furious, she called the air hostess.

"What's the problem, ma'am?" the hostess asked her

"Can't you see?" the lady said - "I was given a seat next to a black man. I can't sit here next to him. You have to change my seat"

"Please, calm down, ma'am" - said the hostess.

"Unfortunately, all the seats are occupied, but I'm still going to check if we have any."

The hostess left and returned some minutes later.

"Madam, as I told you, there isn't any empty seat in this class- economy class.

I spoke to the captain and he confirmed that we only have seats in the first class."

And before the woman said anything, the hostess continued

"Look, it is unusual for our company to allow a passenger from the economy class change to the first class.

However, given the circumstances, the commandant thinks that it would be a scandal to make a passenger travel sat next to an unpleasant person."

And turning to the black man, the hostess said:

"Which means, Sir, if you would be so nice to pack your handbag, we have reserved you a seat in the first class..."

And all the passengers nearby, who were shocked to see the scene started applauding, some standing on their feet."

***

If I were in that flight, I'd smile too.

Because racism is a cheap and tasteless form of prejudice;

... and That Pretty Much Sums Up the Sermon

Unconditional love of God's wisdom and the prophet's (peace be upon him) teachings builds and seals faith.

Because faith should be clear, simple, pure, and faultless... and I haven't heard Uztaz Dawi talk for quite a while...

Here's to Inner Strength

I would like to dedicate this new semester to inner strength.

Not so much this...

But more like this...

Because American poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson said "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

... and That Pretty Much Sums Up the Sermon

The book of God, is a book of wisdom. It is a clear path to inner peace, yet this is often overlooked. It is adored, but sadly ignored.

Because sometimes, we tend to look right though what has always been right in front of us;