Random quote of the day
In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion... --Albert Camus
That quote was at the end of my Dad’s most recent email. He doesn’t pick out the quotes himself, he has some sort of random generator that gives him a new quote daily. But… subhanallah (Glory to God) they are always appropriate.
God uses computers to talk to us, by the way. I’m sure of it. Did you ever write an email and said some things in it you really shouldn’t have said- and you go to click send and it gets deleted and you get that “page not found” page? That’s God, doing His thing. Sometimes, you might have the intention to go online and just waste time, when you know it’s just a form of procrastination and you have dishes to wash, things to study, kids to pay attention to… and God just prevents your computer from connecting. Every number you try- your computer just won’t connect. These are modern day miracles that people just overlook.
Anyway- I liked this quote, Dad. J I oftentimes feel like I live in a little bubble. In fact, whenever I tell people that, they confirm it, so it must be fact. But the problem is… I like my bubble. And my husband happily supports my bubble-life. Why should I venture out and DEAL with the world? I don’t even like dealing with my children’s SCHOOL. I don’t think I’m elitist, I just don’t like the general public. Argh, that sounds horrible! I’m not anti-social, either, I have enough friends. (Alhamdulilah)
But as much as I turn away from the world… I guess I still don’t really understand it. There are so many things I don’t understand (like how a cassette actually records music on it… still puzzles me). I do understand SOME things, though. And I think I know one thing for sure. I think that everyone is motivated in everything they do by wanting to be loved and accepted (see The Color Purple- amazing movie, and nice music, too ;-P “So let me tell ya something… Sistahhhh…” Only movie I ever saw my husband cry at the end of. ) Half of each of us is motivated by love- it wants to love and be loved. But then we have this other half of ourselves that is egotistical and lives a fearful existence. It’s afraid that there is not enough to go around, and it’s afraid to give because others won’t reciprocate. Everyone’s human. Everyone battles with doing the right thing and being selfish. I think that sums up a lot of the world’s problems right there. My Quraan teacher told us something interesting the other day. That it says in the Quraan that it is the NATURE of humans to always want more and more. Even if God gave us mountains and valleys full of gold, we’d ask Him for another. And there is nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with asking God for more. What’s wrong is the feeling of entitlement. Demanding more. Or stealing more, because you “deserve” it more than others.
Mahmoud and I were talking today again. (Funny how that happens when you live with someone under the same roof) I told him, sometimes I feel guilty because I see people all around me that work so hard and still have a really hard life, while I have a very comfortable life and basically do nothing to earn it. He didn’t try to tell me, no, Ruthie, you work hard. He just acknowledged that yes, that is true, but he said- whether he actually meant it or not, I’m not sure- that I deserve it. But I said- but those other people deserve it, too. What makes me different than anyone else? I think he agrees with me but has no other explanation. I guess when I think about it, the only way I can come to terms with it is to accept that my life is a test. God gave me this life, these resources, this body, these eyes, this mind, and my nationality to use them to worship Him in my own unique way. Just gotta keep figuring out what that is.
That quote was at the end of my Dad’s most recent email. He doesn’t pick out the quotes himself, he has some sort of random generator that gives him a new quote daily. But… subhanallah (Glory to God) they are always appropriate.
God uses computers to talk to us, by the way. I’m sure of it. Did you ever write an email and said some things in it you really shouldn’t have said- and you go to click send and it gets deleted and you get that “page not found” page? That’s God, doing His thing. Sometimes, you might have the intention to go online and just waste time, when you know it’s just a form of procrastination and you have dishes to wash, things to study, kids to pay attention to… and God just prevents your computer from connecting. Every number you try- your computer just won’t connect. These are modern day miracles that people just overlook.
Anyway- I liked this quote, Dad. J I oftentimes feel like I live in a little bubble. In fact, whenever I tell people that, they confirm it, so it must be fact. But the problem is… I like my bubble. And my husband happily supports my bubble-life. Why should I venture out and DEAL with the world? I don’t even like dealing with my children’s SCHOOL. I don’t think I’m elitist, I just don’t like the general public. Argh, that sounds horrible! I’m not anti-social, either, I have enough friends. (Alhamdulilah)
But as much as I turn away from the world… I guess I still don’t really understand it. There are so many things I don’t understand (like how a cassette actually records music on it… still puzzles me). I do understand SOME things, though. And I think I know one thing for sure. I think that everyone is motivated in everything they do by wanting to be loved and accepted (see The Color Purple- amazing movie, and nice music, too ;-P “So let me tell ya something… Sistahhhh…” Only movie I ever saw my husband cry at the end of. ) Half of each of us is motivated by love- it wants to love and be loved. But then we have this other half of ourselves that is egotistical and lives a fearful existence. It’s afraid that there is not enough to go around, and it’s afraid to give because others won’t reciprocate. Everyone’s human. Everyone battles with doing the right thing and being selfish. I think that sums up a lot of the world’s problems right there. My Quraan teacher told us something interesting the other day. That it says in the Quraan that it is the NATURE of humans to always want more and more. Even if God gave us mountains and valleys full of gold, we’d ask Him for another. And there is nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with asking God for more. What’s wrong is the feeling of entitlement. Demanding more. Or stealing more, because you “deserve” it more than others.
Mahmoud and I were talking today again. (Funny how that happens when you live with someone under the same roof) I told him, sometimes I feel guilty because I see people all around me that work so hard and still have a really hard life, while I have a very comfortable life and basically do nothing to earn it. He didn’t try to tell me, no, Ruthie, you work hard. He just acknowledged that yes, that is true, but he said- whether he actually meant it or not, I’m not sure- that I deserve it. But I said- but those other people deserve it, too. What makes me different than anyone else? I think he agrees with me but has no other explanation. I guess when I think about it, the only way I can come to terms with it is to accept that my life is a test. God gave me this life, these resources, this body, these eyes, this mind, and my nationality to use them to worship Him in my own unique way. Just gotta keep figuring out what that is.
posted by Just Ruthie at 7:09 AM
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