A moment comes like a thunderbolt, in which a flash of the undisclosed rends our dark apathy asunder. It is full of overpowering brilliance, like a point in which all moments in life are focused, or a thought which outweighs all thoughts ever conceived of. There is so much light in our cage, in our world, it is as if we were suspended amidst the stars.

Apathy turns to splendor unawares. The ineffable has shuddered itself into the soul. It has entered our consciousness like a ray of light passing into a lake. Refraction of that penetrating ray brings about a turning in our mind: we are penetrated by God’s insight. We cannot think anymore as if God were there and we are here. God is both there and here. God is not a being, but Being in and beyond all beings.

A tremor seizes our limbs.

Our nerves are struck, quiver like strings.

Our whole being bursts into shudders, but then a cry wrested from our very core fills the world around us as if a mountain were suddenly about to place itself in front of us.

It is one word: “God.”

Not an emotion, a stir within us, but a power, a marvel beyond us, tearing the world apart. The word that means more than Universe, more than Eternity.

Holy!

Holy!

Holy!

We cannot comprehend it. We only know it means infinitely more than we are able to echo.

Staggered, embarrassed, we stammer and say, “God,” who is more than all there is, who speaks through the ineffable, whose question is more than our mind can answer; “God,” to whom our life can be the spelling of an answer.

- From Man is not Alone, by Abraham Joshua Heschel, a contemporary of Martin Luther King Jr., an ally of his in the civil rights movement, an anti-Vietnam war activist, and a profound religious thinker of the 20th Century.

"He says before this paragraph that in general we resist the knowledge that’s coming at us. We stay inside what he calls a cage and live on a “dainty diet” because we’re apprehensive about what is waiting for us outside. But then, at a certain moment…something happens to us."

This is the Truth.

- Reposted with thanks from the My Inner Adult blog

Ya Haqq!

(Now if only I could think of those things I was thinking while trapped in the elevator . . .)

This is a simple experiment. Go through one day of life without saying the word "I" or "my" or "mine."

It is related that one of Junaid's teachers, Al-Qalaneis, said: "I was accompanied by some people in Basra who were quite generous to me, but one morning when I said, 'where is my robe' I lost my favor in their eyes."

To say "my" or "mine" in the presence of those who maintain the status of Suhbat (Companionship) is a breach of the Adab (etiquette) of the Sufis. The robe would surely have been brought to him without the need to ask for it, but it was the claim of possession of anything in this world which caused Al-Qalaneis to lose favor in the eyes of the Companions of the Way.

Alhamdulillah! All that we have of earthly possessions, or of attained knowledge, even our children and our very lives, is but a loan to us, and surely the Rightful Owner can take back the loan as He wills.

So, can you gather the intention and frame of mind go through a single day feeling that all things are 'loaned' to you, including your life, and there is no "I" or "mine" or "my?" That all things are prepared for your use and what you owe to Allah, the Rightful Owner, is praise and gratitude and.... well, you can decide what else you owe for yourselves.

The Prophet (pbuh) entered the Ka'ba and destroyed 360 idols. We have an idol in the Ka'ba of our hearts. Its name is "I." - Dawoud Kringle.

- Source of Al-Qalaneis story: Brother Dara's Untired with Loving website. The experiment was also his idea, on TheSufiNotes Yahoo group.

Ya Haqq!

click this link to go straight there.

~hasta la vista, baby! 

I also want to talk about getting training and being prepared. There is always more we can do individually and as family and community groups to be better prepared. Prepared can mean several things. Being prepared for a natural disaster takes one set of skills while being prepared for the gangbanger on the corner takes a whole different set of skills.

I'd say that should give me a huge variaty of things to cover. Let's get started, shall we?

Mommy's Day. First, happy mother's day to all of my mom friends, mom blog-lurkers, and anyone else passing through. If you have been a mom, or just acted as a caregiver to a child - this day is for you.

Second, to all of the people out there who dream of being a mom and are struggling, I know how tough this day is for you. I'm sorry, and my thoughts and prayers are with all of you. Although we are blessed to have Little Dude in our lives now, I remember the tears and frustration prior to having him.

I found out I was pregnant a week after mother's day, two years ago. The week before that BFP ("big fat positive," for those of you who have never entered the baby-craving Web world), I silently cried all through church, with tears escaping down my cheeks at various times, as the message focused on moms. And when I got home, I sobbed my eyes out. My friend A, and I exchanged our frustration and depression, at our inabilities to become moms, on a regular basis, via email.

Happily, she and I have both been blessed with beautiful and healthy little boys. Me, last year. Her, earlier this year.

But back to that year, two years ago... When I was in church that day, one of the ladies who attends our church, Mrs. P, turned to me at one point, and mentioned that "maybe next year" I would be celebrating with the rest of the moms. Mrs. P had no idea the struggles we had been through and how hopeless that idea seemed to me.

I adore Mrs. P, and she was my parent's neighbor for years and years, while my sisters and I were growing up, but I was just a bit upset at the time, as to me, when people said things along the lines of, "so, when are you going to have a baby?" or, "hopefully, you will be a mom someday," it tended to rub salt in that wound. I had learned to just say, "we aren't having children," to most people, as it avoided the talk of getting pregnant and such.

However, like I've told Mrs. P, I now think of her as kind-of my angel - sent to me to maybe let me know that all of that was about to change. Just a day short of one week after mother's day, I took the test. And it was positive.

In fact, it turned positive before I had even had a chance to set it down to wait. I darn near fell off the toilet, to be blunt, when I saw it change!

The funny thing was, although things were off a bit, I didn't suspect I was pregnant at the time. I was taking the test for my own peace of mind, just to rule out the possibility that I was pregnant, as I was scheduled to begin taking a new medication, which I couldn't take if I was pregnant. And I just wanted to be safe.

I'm so glad I tested.

So, there is my mommy's day story. It has been a whirlwind two years since then, and I'm so happy to celebrate today as my second official year as a mommy. And overall, it has been a great day!

Once again, to all of you moms, grandmas or other caregivers, happy mother's day. Thank you for making the difference in the life of a child.

To all of you who struggle with this holiday, for whatever reason, I hope tomorrow brings a new day, new hopes and a sense of peace.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Now for the personal stuff --

To my mom - Thank you for all you do, have done, and will do. Thank you, especially, for not killing me during the teen years. Not that you would, as I was such a perfect child, but I'm just sayin'... I'm so thrilled Little Dude has you as a grandma, and that you are able to spend two days a week caring for him! You are building a bond with him that he will always remember.

To my mother-in-law - Thank you for raising the Hubby to be the man he is today (and teaching him how to cook, or we all might starve!!!!!), and for accepting me into your family with love and open arms. I am so thankful you are here and that you adore Little Dude. It warms my heart to see him with you! I wish we could all be up at the hospital with you on Tuesday, but will stay connected via phone. We hope and pray all goes well, and that you have a speedy recovery!

To my grandmother - Thank you for still seeing me as grandma's girl, for loving to talk with me, for always looking out for me and for being on the end of the phone, or there with a hug, when it felt like I didn't have a friend and was fighting disagreeing with my parents. (Rest of the world - you didn't see that part. I was a perfect child. Right mom?) Thank you for adoring Little Dude, and listening to me blather on about how perfect he truly is - just like me as a child, right? ;-)

To my Aunt Char - Thank you for taking me into your home as a nanny to your eldest child (who is about to graduate from high school, holy cow!), when mom and I needed a bit of a break from each other during those late teen years (again, I was perfect, so I don't know why that was...). Thank you for being there and letting me play mom to Maggie. Just remember, when she is being difficult - I didn't teach her that!

To my sisters - Happy mom's day to you both. To the older sister, Mrs V - Thanks for being there with years of advice, including some of those truly embarrassing questions you answered while you were in college, of which I will not share the details on here, for fear of ruining my fairly family-friendly blog. J - You are mom to your cats, and have played mom for some of the past boyfriends, so we'll let you share in it, too. ;-) **giggle**

And to my friend A - In the words of a very old ad campaign (for cigarettes, of all things not family-friendly, I believe), "We've come a long way, baby!" Happy 1st Mom's Day!

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you that are mothers (and are being pampered by your children), and to those of you that are pampering and taking your mothers out to dinner! :lol:

I woke up this morning to the chirping of birds that seemed merrier today and when I came downstairs from my bedroom to make coffee for my husband, I found a few greeting cards (one was handmade) from my children waiting for me at the kitchen countertop. Ah, they must have prepared them lovingly in secret and placed them there in the kitchen after I have called it a day and gone up to my room to sleep! So, when they woke up this morning, they were rewarded with a few endearing big hugs and kisses from me, and vice versa! Am I glad to be a stay-at-home mom and when I look at my children, I know I have made the right decision in quitting my job and dedicating all my time to my family .... and best is, they know it and they do appreciate what I do for them! :wink:

I especially love this card from my second daughter that says it all  .... the "F.O.C." on the card means "Free of Charge"!  :lol:

Happy Mother's Day!

Let us all let our mothers feel special on this special day!

~hasta la vista, baby!

Kimi 07

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Look down, not scroll down!

hehe!

Ya Haqq!

I have always been interested in space travel and what the worlds outside of our own have had to offer...
But after an almost two-hour marathon rampage through Wikipedia articles and external links to the most random places I've ever been on the Internet, I have discovered something anew
Though the world is shrinking and the space between us is smaller nowadays, I realize that there are now still many places on our very own planet that are not yet discovered, or well known about. I don't remember now how I started... OH! Yeah that's right! So follow this maddening train of thought, and you shall know how and why I now listen to a man reading the news from one of the most remote islands in the entire world on streaming online radio... And note that this is usually how my time on the Internet goes:
I was looking up the big movies expected to release this year in theatres... (NOTE: My spellcheck just underlined "theatres" as misspelled T_T) Among the many I've been excited about (See earlier posts), I notice that another frackin' Ice Age movie is coming out. My dissatisfaction with most shoveled CGI movies aside, I clicked on the link to the page, and then got curious as to why a T-Rex would be running around in the Ice Age; So I searched the Ice Age and then remembered that there have actually be four Ice Ages and then I just went from there. I clicked on pages leading to the different formations of the continents over time, the names and even theorized societies of past continents and proposed continents. I learned about the weird and fascinating names of the past super and mega continents and what the continents may look like in the future. Depending on which ways the plates move, California could become the new neighbor of China with Japan squished there in the middle. You've probably heard of Atlantis, Gondwanaland, and Pangea, but have you ever heard of Mu, Vaalbara or Ultima? It's fascinating stuff, at least to me anyway
Looking up all these ancient continents and such got me curious about the creatures that used to roam them; Unlike the usual path I take tho, I gave up dinosaurs to more discreet and lesser known animalia (I love dinosaurs and I figured I've neglected too many other nerd subjects in favor of the terrible lizards). I found so many other weird and wonderful animals that I never knew existed. I saw a bird as tall as a tree. Did you know that America used to have a lion species? Furry rhinoceri? Again, I was mesmerized...
This, of course, led to lists of endangered and modern extinct animals... Recently I've had a pretty harsh outlook on the environment and the animals that may or may not be suffering. I figured, the Earth has cleansed itself many times before, and will probably remain to do so until it blows up, or the sun blows up and ejects it into the rest of space. And we have missed so many species and animals and will probably continue to miss even more incredible animals and plants of this planet as time passes and we are dead and forgotten
(NOTE: At this time the author took a ten minute detour to learn about the life span of planets and the various celestial bodies discovered thus far by man... And also to get an apple)
But I also realized now that we should treasure the things we have here on Earth, the good and the bad, and hope that one day we will have some rightful place in someone's history... So of course I became sad for the animals and things I discovered extinct, but hopeful for those who have been saved and are recovering and focused about the ones who are at risk. But these aforementioned lists led me to an endangered earwig on St. Helena Island in the South Atlantic. So I read the Wiki pages and those attached, including the home page for the island and the paper for the island itself. St. Helena has a population of about 5000 and the smallest island in the Edinburgh territory is Tristan de Cunha, with a population of maybe 280 people. Tristan de Cunha has a population that have only eight different surnames! Anyway, recently St. Helena has begun broadcasting news and music through it's first radio station, Saint FM and it's also streamed on the St. Helena Independent website. So Now it's 7 or 8am over there, and 4am here, and I'm listening to a man with a strange African, English, and Dutch accent taking requests and doling out news and forecasts. Most of the music is dated and some of it is very religious but I would just like to let it be know that Chris Brown and Fergie have both been on the play list T_T So have Alan Jackson and White Lion (?!)
But that's my adventure for the evening... And I want to travel the world so many times over now...

When I was a little boy, I wanted to be an explorer/plaeontologist, NatGeo was my favorite magazine, and Star Wars and Indy were my favorite movies. I also loved monsters and any puppet thing. I still love drawing and video games

I think that I can tie all those words together with just one:
Exlporation

One day, World, I will!

Curious?

IUCN
St. Helena @ Wiki
Tristan de Cunha Official Site
List of Extinct Animals @ Wiki
Pictures Of Our Solar System
Planets @ Wiki
2008 In Film @ Wiki
Saint FM and The St. Helena Independent
Definition of Exploration

~Get outta my dreams...
Get into my car!
Get outta my mind...
And into my life!~

Paper gift basket 

Other Supplies:

Crate Paper; Prima flowers; The Paper Studio brads; SnS mauve grosgrain

Cards

1. Just choose any mother’s day graphics from zwani to greet the mommies you know.
2. Add your blog to the list. Feel free to add all your other blogs. )
3. Tag other mommies you know.

bloggerhappy | berryscrappy | A Sweet Taste of Life | Me,Myself+2 | Confessions of a Supermodel Wannabe | Fun.Fierce.Fabulous | When Silence Speaks | Everything About Deye | Etc Atbp | Life is what we make it | Dancing in Midlife Tune|

Am passing this tag to all mothers in my blog list. :)

Happy Mom's day to all of you!

Alhamdulillah!

Master of the Jinn: A Sufi Novel has been translated into Spanish :) So I am once again appealing to the gracious readers of this blog:

If you know any publishers or book editors of Spanish language books in the US or any Spanish speaking country, or Foreign Rights agents that work with Spanish speaking countries, please let me know in the comments, or by email at: Irvingk57 at aol dot com.

Inshallah, with your help, Master of the Jinn will soon be published in Spanish and many other languages.

Ya Haqq!

We are living our lives so quickly that we forget to just slow down and look around us, enjoy the moment, live in the moment, feel the moment.

Why does everyone seem to be in a hurry?
Do people feel that if they are not in a hurry then they are not productive or effecient? (So not true)

We are forgeting our human nature and how simple things can make a world of difference.

People go to order food, ask for what they want, pay and walk in a hurry to go eat, as if the world's existence depended on how quickly they go through that process.

The next time you go to order or buy something or just interact with someone. Slow down!

Smile, greet the person, a simple how are you doing today would be sufficient. Then order your meal or whatever. Thank the person with a smile, won't even take you a minute.

I guarantee you that you will feel better about yourself and the service you recieve will be exceptional.

Once i was in a trip to Dubai. I was buying some clothing and i could see the cashier was having a difficult time. The place was crowded and i could tell how stressed out she was.

I got to the cashier and said Al salam, how are you :) ? The look on her face was priceless. She smiled and said can you believe that you are the first person to greet me today?

If that is too much, let us all start with a simple little smile from the heart. It really makes a world of difference to the people around us.

I look forward to starting this different and new journey with all of my friends, family, people I don't know, and just everyone.

This blog is going to be a little different from my other blog. For my other blog, I have to write about specific things (hunting, fishing, outdoors). For this blog, I am opening myself up, and I will be talking about anything and everything. I am not going to have just one, two, or even three main topics. We are going to be all over the board.

Let's get started.