I love rain...
I was once on a plane to Minneapolis, on my way to a wedding, when a valuable lesson was taught to me by a very unlikely person.
You see, it was right after September 11th and everyone's nerves were seriously affected by the horror that had taken place.
Flying was a tense activity, even more so when there were Muslims on the plane.
And lucky as I always am, I sat next to one.
I immediately started feeling anxious.
Prayer was the first thing on my mind.
I tried hard not to move, or stare at him, but, after 15 minutes I just had to take a peek.
He was quiet and had a peaceful look on his face - happy, I should say.
He held a beautiful red and gold book on his hands and I couldn't help but stare at it.
I love books too, you see.
The book was so gorgeous I kept on looking at it, curious to know what it was.
Five minutes later, I just couldn't HELP starting a conversation with him about the whimsical book: "Your book is just about the most beautiful I have ever seen," I remarked.
"It's the Qur'an," he said. "Have you heard of it?"
"Yes I have," said I.
"Don't you just love rain?" he asked, looking out the wet window.
"Not really," I replied.
"This very book says rain is life - that Allah opens the doors of heaven and pours it down to give life. We should never complain about the rain, " he said.
"We send down pure water from the sky. That with it We may give life to a dead land, and slake the thirst of things We have created,- cattle and men in great numbers," he quoted Surat al-Furqan, 48- 49, and winked smilingly at me.
"True," I said, thinking deeply about the beauty and truth of what he had said.
As much as I don't believe the same as he does, being a Christian, that conversation touched me in so many levels.
It made me think about how ungreatful a person I am, and of how I take things for granted.
It made me think of his love and dedication to his faith, and made me feel embarassed about not following mine so fervently.
That man made me see one of God's creation's in a different way, and be thankful for it.
It showed me that the God I believe blesses me in so many little ways, everyday, showing me love, and I am too blind to see it.
To that day, I wasn't so keen on rain, but now I love it, really.
It makes me feel happy and blessed.
I counter-quote my friend with a passage from the book I believe in:
Ezekiel 34:26-27 "And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them."
Praise God for rain!
Keep it coming, Lord!
I was once on a plane to Minneapolis, on my way to a wedding, when a valuable lesson was taught to me by a very unlikely person.
You see, it was right after September 11th and everyone's nerves were seriously affected by the horror that had taken place.
Flying was a tense activity, even more so when there were Muslims on the plane.
And lucky as I always am, I sat next to one.
I immediately started feeling anxious.
Prayer was the first thing on my mind.
I tried hard not to move, or stare at him, but, after 15 minutes I just had to take a peek.
He was quiet and had a peaceful look on his face - happy, I should say.
He held a beautiful red and gold book on his hands and I couldn't help but stare at it.
I love books too, you see.
The book was so gorgeous I kept on looking at it, curious to know what it was.
Five minutes later, I just couldn't HELP starting a conversation with him about the whimsical book: "Your book is just about the most beautiful I have ever seen," I remarked.
"It's the Qur'an," he said. "Have you heard of it?"
"Yes I have," said I.
"Don't you just love rain?" he asked, looking out the wet window.
"Not really," I replied.
"This very book says rain is life - that Allah opens the doors of heaven and pours it down to give life. We should never complain about the rain, " he said.
"We send down pure water from the sky. That with it We may give life to a dead land, and slake the thirst of things We have created,- cattle and men in great numbers," he quoted Surat al-Furqan, 48- 49, and winked smilingly at me.
"True," I said, thinking deeply about the beauty and truth of what he had said.
As much as I don't believe the same as he does, being a Christian, that conversation touched me in so many levels.
It made me think about how ungreatful a person I am, and of how I take things for granted.
It made me think of his love and dedication to his faith, and made me feel embarassed about not following mine so fervently.
That man made me see one of God's creation's in a different way, and be thankful for it.
It showed me that the God I believe blesses me in so many little ways, everyday, showing me love, and I am too blind to see it.
To that day, I wasn't so keen on rain, but now I love it, really.
It makes me feel happy and blessed.
I counter-quote my friend with a passage from the book I believe in:
Ezekiel 34:26-27 "And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them."
Praise God for rain!
Keep it coming, Lord!
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