Islam

Of Blessings, Christmas, and Du’a’s of Gratitude…

Today I read a guest post by Joy Kay, Holiday Relief in the Midst of Grief, at the blog Our Stories Gods Glory , describing the joy and challenge she is presently experiencing during this Holiday Season as the first since her mother died last spring.

As I read Kay’s moving essay it struck me how this is the first time in a long while that I am enjoying the Christmas Season.

In fact I have never experienced this type of peace and comfort as I am now.

As a child Christmastime brought a hustle and bustle, that though filled with excitement, I now, nearly 40 years later, realize

Of Blessings, Christmas, and Du’a’s of Gratitude… Read More »

Of Grinding Pepper, Banalities, and Seeking That Which We Yet Understand…

Working as both a wife of nearly 29 years, and mother of 3, has prepared me in various ways to accomplish the work of a fiction writer.

Working as a wife and mother requires a lot of what an Islamic Imam described as grinding pepper.

Grinding pepper, from the perspective of the imam encompasses those activities that we here in the west describe as comprising the bane of our existence–mindless tasks, that we view as disrespectful of our intelligence and that devalue our worth as a person.

The world banal implies a lack of uniqueness.

Something that is banal possesses no originality.

It is like the wheel that begs for no reinvention, rather more unique and original ways of bringing a deeper level of presence and attention to the task(s) at hand–tasks that when practiced with a presence of mind and heart sharpen our skills and artistry in all areas of life, yield an original creation, and transform us as individuals.

Of Grinding Pepper, Banalities, and Seeking That Which We Yet Understand… Read More »