There once was a family that lived in a small village. The family owned a goat, a rooster, and a dog. One day the family awoke to find that the goat had died.
"How will we drink milk now?" the husband asked his wife.
The wife had a firm faith in God and so she answered, "We will drink milk when we are supposed to drink milk."
The next day, the family awoke to find that the rooster had died.
"How will we wake up early for prayer?" asked the husband.
The wife answered: "We will wake up when we are supposed to wake up."
The day after that, the family woke up to find that their dog had died.
"Who will alarm us when strangers approach our home?" asked the husband.
The wife answered, "We will be alarmed when we are supposed to be alarmed."
The husband was completely unconvinced, but he loved his wife too much to respond.
When the family awoke the next day, there was a big shock awaiting them. A gang of violent thieves had attacked the village during the night. All the men were killed and the women and children were taken prisoners. Their home was the only one that was left unharmed.
The husband sat next to his wife unable to understand why the thieves chose not to attack them. The wife held his hand and said, "The thieves didn’t choose not to attack us. They simply were not aware of our existence. You see, we didn’t have a dog to bark, a rooster to crow or a goat to bleat – all of the sounds that directed the thieves to homes in the midst of the night. As we were losing our precious animals, we were, in fact, being prepared for an event that we were not aware of. Have faith my dear husband!"
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The above story is excerpted from a book, Metaphors of Islamic Humanism, by my friend, Dr. Omar Imady, copyright 2005. Two other stories from this book have appeared on my main blog, Blest Atheist.
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About Me
- Elizabeth Mahlou
- I am the mother of 4 birth children (plus 3 others who lived with us) and grandmother of 2, all of them exceptional children. Married for 42 years, I grew up in Maine, live in California, and work in many places in education, linguistics, and program management. In my spare time, I rescue and tame feral cats and have the scars to prove it. A long-time ignorantly blissful atheist converted by a theophanic experience to Catholicism, I am now a joyful catechist. Oh, I also authored a dozen books, two under my pen name of Mahlou (Blest Atheist and A Believer-in-Waiting's First Encounters with God).
Recommended Reading List
Because I am blog inept, I don't quite know how to get a reading list to stay at the end of the page and not disappear from sight. Therefore, I entered it as my first post. I suppose that is not all that bad because readers started commenting about the books, even suggesting additional readings. So, you can participate with others in my reading list by clicking here.I do post additional books as I read them and find them to be meaningful to me, and therefore, hopefully, meaningful to you. One advantage of all the plane traveling I do is that I acquire reading time that I might not otherwise take.
That is a great story~
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that I would come to your blogs and choose to read this one. I am at a cross road in my life. Things are very rough and and I am fighting inside myself to keep faith that it will all work out.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this piece.
Soft love,
T
Now THAT is Faith! Sort of like "all is as it should be".
ReplyDeleteGotta go to the "Main Blog" and see what I find. This is my first visit here. Thank you for being at the place where I clicked.
Faith can move mountains.
ReplyDeleteFaith and love always,
Susan