#everything that happens every trial that is afflicted upon us has meaning

[stpaullutheranchurch]

May 15th 2022

Easter 5 May 15 2022

First Reading: Acts 11:1-18

Psalm: Psalm 148

Epistle: Revelation 21:1-7

Gospel: John 16:12-22

Sermon Text: John 16:12-22

Sermon Title: “In a Little While”

Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Last week, we heard in the Twenty Third Psalm, a reading that is quite commonly used in the funeral liturgy; “yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me … I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”. (Psalm 23:4a, 6b) The reading from the book of Revelation last week also spoke of heaven saying “the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd … and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes”. (Revelation 7:17)

We heard too Jesus’ promise, “My sheep hear My voice … I give them eternal life; and they will never perish”. (John 10:27-28a) Today again from the book of Revelation we heard these comforting words, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away”. (Revelation 21:4) All of these are common texts for funerals because they speak of the hope and promise of eternal life; received through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

As Christians, we have great comfort (and confidence), that our loved ones who have died believing in Jesus; often after suffering great trials and tribulations before they died; are safely with Him even now and that we will see them again on the last day. As Job also wrote in the midst of great affliction, after all of his children had been killed, his property destroyed and his health gone; “I know that my redeemer lives and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed (in death), yet in my flesh I shall see God … my heart faints within me”. (Job 19:25-27)

In today’s Gospel, which takes place on Maundy Thursday; Jesus speaks to His disciples, teaching them about what will happen to them in the very short term (a few days or “a little while”) as they witness Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion; but also, words of comfort and peace and joy they will experience at His bodily resurrection. He said to them, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now”. (John 16:12a) There was still much they did not understand.

(But) “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you in to all the truth, (meaning the truth of Christs atoning death and bodily resurrection for the forgiveness of sins and all that He taught them, “for everything Christ spoke to them was the truth”. (Luther) For He (the Spirit) will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak. He will declare to you the things that are to come”. (John 16:12b-13)

Luther wrote, “Here Christ makes the Holy Spirit a preacher”; a preacher of nothing but Christ and His Word/Gospel. The Holy Spirit “will glorify Me, because He will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has, is mine; therefore, I said that He will take what is mine and declare it to you”. (John 16:14-15) The Holy Spirit did this for the Apostles; so that they could write the Scriptures and boldly proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus after Pentecost. As we heard in the reading from Acts, the people “glorified God (because He) “has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18b) even to the Gentiles.

Luther wrote, “They would never have had the courage to begin such preaching and to persist in it, if the Holy Spirit Himself, had not come to guide and preserve them in the truth”. (Luther commentary, p. 357) The Holy Spirit still works in this way, calling people to faith in Christ and preserving them in faith; by the Gospel; the preaching of the Word, and the sacraments.

Jesus then said, “A little while and you will see Me no longer, and again a little while and you will see Me. So, some of His disciples said to one another, what is this that He says to us … in a little while … because I go to the Father? … We do not know what He is talking about”. (John 16:16-18a) It is clear in hindsight, that Jesus was speaking to them of His crucifixion and resurrection; which would take place in a few hours; something He had talked to them about many times before; but to be fair, we probably would have said or thought something similar.

“Jesus knew that they wanted to ask Him” (John 16:19a) about these things. He repeats their questions and then adds “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy”. (John 16:20) This is indeed what happened as the disciples grieved and were devastated at the death of Jesus, and His enemies certainly gloated over Him; but when Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection, “showing them His hands and His side … then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord”. (John 20:20b)

Jesus again said to them, “You will have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will be able to take your joy away from you”. (John 16:22) The disciples will have joy at the bodily resurrection of Christ, because through His death, Jesus has won the victory over sin, death, and devil. The entire church of Christ also has joy, even in the midst of the suffering and sorrows of this life. For Jesus has risen from the dead, never to die again. In another “little while”, Jesus will ascend to the Father. In another “little while”, the Holy Spirit will come upon the disciples on the Day of Pentecost; each hearing the mighty works of Christ Jesus for the redemption of the world, in their own language.

Christ Himself is our joy, for He who is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity, is the same One who atoned for all of our sins by His shed blood on the cross. We have received from Him the forgiveness of sins; by the washing of water and the Word in Holy Baptism. He feeds us with His very body and blood every time we receive the Lord’s Supper. He pronounces the word of absolution/forgiveness upon those who confess their sins to God and through the preaching of the Gospel, promises eternal life to all who believe in Him. Again, we have this joy in the midst of pain and heartache and suffering and persecution because “no one will be able to take your joy from you”. (John 16:22b)

The rejoicing of the devil and the unbelieving world will be short lived; for the phrase, “in a little while”, (John 16:16a) also looks ahead to the day of our death and the Day of Judgment; and we know not the hour or the day of either. The Psalmist describes our lives as being “like a breath … like a passing shadow”. (Psalm 144:4) The prophet Isaiah wrote, “All flesh is grass”. (Isaiah 40:6b) The Apostle James asks “What is your life? You are like a mist that appears for a short time and then vanished”. (James 4:14)

The psalmist also declared, “for all our days pass away under Your wrath, we bring our years to n end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy or perhaps by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away … so teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom”. (Psalm 90:9-10, 12)

Also, the Apostle Paul describes our lives as a “light momentary affliction … preparing us for an eternal weight of glory, beyond all comparison”. (2nd Corinthians 4:17) In the midst of intense suffering and trials, it often doesn’t seem/feel like “a little while”, but rather a like a long, drawn-out ordeal that may never come to an end, but in light of eternity, it surely is “momentary”. “For the things that are seen are transient (temporary), but the things that are unseen are eternal”. (2nd Corinthians 4:18)

The better days are coming; an eternity to be spent in the presence of our Lord; for “in a little while”, Jesus is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead; to take His people home to be with Him forever. John described it as “a new heaven and a new earth … I saw the holy city of Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”. (Revelation 21:1-2a) John also wrote, “We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”. (1st John 3:2b)

Whichever “little while” comes first, the end of our lives, or Christ’s return in glory at the end of time, when all the dead will be raised bodily; as His people, His sheep, we need not fear the future. For Jesus knows those who are His and He has promised, “I give them eternal life and they will never perish”. (John 16:28a) For as we heard last week, “even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for You are with us; Your rod and Your staff comfort us … Your goodness and mercy shall follow us, all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever”. (Psalm 23:4, 6) Amen.

The peace of God …

[flowersofjannah]

What do I do? I find myself becoming angrier and angrier at my fate, and Astagfirullah, at Allah(Swt) as well, for where I am. It seems like none of my duaas are being answered, even the tahajjud ones, and I am surrounded by other people achieving their dreams while I struggle to keep it together and struggle to give up sins aswell. I really don't know what to do anymore, I've just ended up resenting my religion, something I never thought would happen to me. please give me your duaas and advice. How do I overcome this anger? JazakAllahi khair

Assalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Common deceiving from shaytaan. It is a FACT that Allah سبحانه و تعالى wants good for you, and all that He does is good for you. Once we truly understand and accept this fact, such feelings shall go away.

Those who are made to wait, receive more. In the Quran, Allah says:

"..Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account." (39:10)

Woah! That is MASSIVE. No accountability whatsoever on the Day of account! For who? The patient! If this is not the love of Allah, wanting to make you a patient person so you can attain this reward, then what is it?

Abu Hurayra رضي الله عنه reported that Allah's Messenger ﷺ said:

"The supplication of every one of you is granted if he does not grow impatient and says: I supplicated but it was not granted."

[Sahih Muslim]

Thus, the delay in your duas is a test and building of your patience.

Not only is it a test of patience, but how you react will be a testimony of your imaan:

"Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe" and they will not be tried?" (29:2)

And you know what else? This is a way to reward:

Abu Sa'id رضي الله عنه and Abu Hurayra رضي الله عنه reported that they heard Allah's Messenger ﷺ as saying:

"Never a believer is stricken with discomfort, hardship or illness, grief or even with mental worry that his sins are not expiated for him."

[Sahih Muslim]

Lastly, it's a way of increasing your ranks with Allah سبحانه و تعالى:

Narrated Muhammad ibn Khalid as-Sulami on his father's authority said his grandfather reported, he was a Companion of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say:

“When Allah has previously decreed for a servant a rank which he has not attained by his action, He afflicts him in his body, or his property or his children.”

Abu Dawud said: Ibn Nufail added in his version: "He then enables him to endure that." The agreed version goes: "So that He may bring him to the rank previously decreed from him by Allah."

[Sunan Abi Dawud]

The meaning of the above hadith is that when Allah wants you to reach a higher rank that has been decreed by Him and you have not done enough good to achieve that rank, Allah puts trials in your life so that through those trials, you may achieve the destined higher rank. How beautiful.

So you see, everything is out of His love, mercy, care, and kindness. We human beings are very limited in knowledge, remember that. He knows what He is doing, and what He does is best. We only see what is in front of us and think that we are losing but perhaps you are winning in the unseen world.

Abu Yahya Suhaib bin Sinan رضي الله عنه reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

"How wonderful is the case of a believer; there is good for him in everything and this applies only to a believer. If prosperity attends him, he expresses gratitude to Allah and that is good for him; and if adversity befalls him, he endures it patiently and that is better for him." [Muslim]

Make tawbah and seek refuge in Allah from shaytaan, these are his insinuations. Remember Allah is Wise and Merciful. Ponder upon the Quran and upon the names and attributes of Allah سبحانه و تعالى. He will give you what is best for you, at the right time. Continue making dua and do not be hasty. Look at those below you and not those above you.

The akhirah is for us and it is the better home.

Know that there is a light in your heart which is telling you what you are thinking is false. Allah is Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem, Al-Ghafoor. Don't despair of His mercy.

May Allah grant you ease and increase you in imaan and tawakkul, grow the light in your heart, protect you from the shayateen, and grant you all that is good for you, allahumma ameen.

[akhaziz]

**Do not reblog: reposting for anon only**

As-salāmu ʿalaykum anon. Thank you for your message. I’ll try to respond to each point ʾin shāʾallāh though you did have a lot to say:

I understand how frustrating it can be being home under the roof of your parents with semi-adult responsibilities at the same time trying to keep your mother and father happy while balancing familial harmony (siblings, extended family, etc.) alḥamdulillāh. I come from an ethnic European family with cultures and customs that don’t always align with Western norms. I also understand, personally, what it’s like to have people at home who don’t always wish what’s best for you alḥamdulillāh despite trying everything to improve the situation and gain their love, affection, trust and confidence. I know that it wears you down alḥamdulillāh and eventually makes you doubt yourself, lowers your confidence and sometimes can even cause bad thoughts or waswas.

May Allāh ﷻ increase you in goodness, ʾīmān and reward your sacrifice and make this easier to endure. Ameen.

Here are a few thoughts to consider ʾin shāʾallāh:

1.) You aren’t alone. Many young people feel this way alḥamdulillāh. This happens to more people then perhaps you realise and even if you dont have an outlet to express yourself and this person is very near, and the problem persists, know that you aren’t alone for even the blinking of an eye with Our Lord Most Merciful ﷻ as you said in your message.

Everyone in this world has problems and suffers; they feel the worries, anxiety and depression that come along with dunyā. Right now you are facing a test from Allāh ﷻ and what you wrote, though beautiful, doesn’t seem to establish the possibility that this is a massive test and this test requires you to do some things so that you may learn from it and emerge from this with benefits and blessings that inevitably come from strife and struggle.

By blessings and lessons I mean: 

1.) Think positively of Allah ﷻ, for He has only decreed this for you for a reason that is known only to Him. In time, the meaning may be revealed to you.

Ibn al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah said:

“Every time the slave has good thoughts about Allah, perfects his hope in him, and is truthful in his trust in Him, then indeed Allah will never ever disappoint him nor let him down, for He سبحانه does not break the hope of the hoper, nor will He waste the deeds of the doer.” [Al-Fawaaid]

Allāh ﷻ wants good for you so long as you adhere to His guidance and avoid transgressing His limits and falling into that which He has forbidden. Perhaps what has befallen you has happened so that Allah ﷻ might defend you from something worse alḥamdulillāh; or, perhaps, this is to expiate your sins or ward off tragedy. We simply do not know. However, when we think positively of Allāh ﷻ and live within His boundaries, there are blessings that come that we do not realise and cannot always comprehend. This may be the case with you and those blessings may manifest themselves tomorrow or in the future and so you must think positively of your Lord ﷻ and believe that He will bring you forth from this in a manner that elevates you.

2.) Trials require ṣabr and intentions to be rewarded. Allāh ﷻ has praised those who are patient in the Qur’ān and has prepared for them a great reward and He ﷻ says: 

Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account (39:10). The Prophet ﷺ also praised patience and those who have ṣabr when He ﷺ said (narrated by Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri رضي الله عنه)‎‎: “whoever is patient Allāh ﷻ will bestow patience upon him, and no one is ever given anything better and more generous than patience.” (al-Bukhārī 548).

To make this easier to understand, being patient allows Allāh ﷻ to provide you with patience and it’s a circle; you are patient and remain patient and you are given patience and become more patient. A blessing from Allāh ﷻ.

3.) Despite the goings-on at home and with this particular person, this sounds a lot like persistent waswas that is affecting you in such a way that keeps you from sleeping properly, feeling loveable, desired, connected to those around you and more importantly from taking an important step in your dīn which is marriage; if you are a brother, your wife will be half of your dīn. If you are a sister, you will complete the second half of his dīn. This is enormous!

Waswas is serious and it’s why we say: Audhu billahi minash shaytanir rajim. Before you panic, remember that the waswas has nothing to do with matters of ʿaqīdah or ‘ibādah and the salah and ḏikr you perform, rather this has to do with your fear, hesitation and the bad thoughts o the situation/about the person involved in the situation. This is what makes the shayṭān all that much more effective. Also know that this is relatively small compared to what some Muslims experience (waswas affecting their salah, their wuḍūʾ, their ʿaqīdah, etc) and this in itself is a blessing from Allāh ﷻ as you’ve been spared.

Here is the Naṣīḥa you asked for:

—Allāh ﷻ calls the shayṭān the waswas in sūrah al-Nas. You must, at every opportunity, rise above his trickery. Continue the pleasing actions, the loving adoration, the service to and appreciation of this person. Continue to smile, be cheerful, rush to salah, work to perfect your ibādah, read the sunnah, Qur’ān and Tafsīr. Any missteps and you open yourself up to further injury. You can do this ʾin shāʾallāh.

Allāh ﷻ says: “..and hold fast to Allah. He is your protector; and excellent is the protector, and excellent is the helper (22:78).

— You should read Sūrah Baqarah and complete it every 3 nights (couple with Qiyam al-Layl for added benefits and blessings). Our Prophet ﷺ said: “Read the Qur’ān, for it will come on the Day of Resurrection interceding for its companions. Read the two bright ones, al-Baqarah and Al ‘Imran, for they will come on the Day of Resurrection like two clouds or shadows, or like two flocks of birds in ranks, pleading on behalf of their companions. Read sūrah al-Baqarah, for reciting it regularly is a blessing and forsaking it is a loss, and the magicians cannot withstand it.” (Narrated by Muslim Mishkat al-Masabih 2121) The devils cannot bear to hear sūrah al-Baqarah; they flee from it and weaken before the one who recites it, and they are afraid of it. Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه‎‎ narrates The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Do not make your houses into graves, for the shayṭān flees from a house in which sūrah al-Baqarah is recited,’ (Muslim 780). 

—Continue to recite the various ḏikrs and don’t skip them (morning, evening, going to sleep, entering home/masjid/washroom as well as for drinking, eating, putting on clothes/hijab/thobe, etc.) as there is a great benefit for you and they will prevent the shayṭān from reaching and impacting you ʾin shāʾallāh.

 

—Make copious duʿāʾ. Supplicating To Allāh Subḥānahu wa ta’alā will bring you relief and deliver you from this test ʾin shāʾallāh. Know the specific times in your area where ʾadʿiyah are accepted and ensure you do not leave off duʿāʾ.

—Pray the supererogatory prayers in addition to the prescribed prayers. Pray for everyone who is afflicted with calamity, tragedy and mishap as the angels say ameen to your duʿāʾ and say “May you have likewise.” Make tawbah with reckless abandon: Allāh ﷻ says:  

“Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Indeed, He is ever a Perpetual Forgiver. He will send rain from the sky upon you in continuing showers and give you increase in wealth and children and provide for you gardens and provide for you rivers (71:10-12).”

That said, you must think highly of yourself and your situation and have Tawakkul that this will end and ease will come.

 —Finally; begin the search for a spouse when the time presents itself. There are many avenues for finding a spouse but consult those you trust and have your best interest at heart. Allāh ﷻ commands us to marry and though you may not yet be ready, the time will come ʾin shāʾallāh and you should pursue this as you pursue salah, the happiness of those nearest you (as you described) and know that this is temporary. If you feel your mental health has been impacted in such a way where you cannot perform basic self-care or the bad thoughts turn to self-harm, please seek help. If you are a brother, DM and I can assist you as best I’m able ʾin shāʾallāh and if you’re a sister, DM and I can find someone to assist you ʾin shāʾallāh.

I ask Allāh Subḥānahu wa ta’alā to heal you post haste and rectify your affairs while simultaneously bringing you happiness and your grief to an end. He is All-Hearing and Ever-Near and I entrust you to His care for nothing is lost in His Care. Ameen.

Yours faithfully,

Aziz

[seb-owns-these-tatas]

The Shrill (1/?) (Sci-fi)

Characters: Henry Cavill x small! innocent female reader (AU)

Summary: Something was haunting the whole world. A trial to test everybody's will power to live that an unspecified sound could make humanity turn into a death zone with four factors to describe them once they've feel the attacks. You've thought everyone was considered safe in the black mansion you were living in because nobody has reacted to the Shrill for a long time. Until now...

Warnings: Murder. Blood. Angst. Choking. (Not in a sexual way, bb's. *wink wink nudge nudge* The sexual part will be on the next) Aggressive Henry but also sweet. 

Words: 2,500+

A/N: This kept me up all night. It's all in my head and I tried to sleep it off until it reached to a smut and I was like..Ooooh. OOOOooooOOOH. I NEED TO WRITE IT OUT! Hehehe. Here you have it! 💕💕 You'll have your mad Cavill smut on part 2! Btw, I’ve written a body type, If it isn’t your body type then feel free to imagine yours instead. I couldn’t put “*your body type*” because I didn’t like the look of it in the overall imagine. Also, a certain scene was inspired by Divergent! Thank you! 

REBLOG, COMMENT OR GIVE IT A LIKE, IF YOU’RE LIKING THIS SHORT SERIES! THANK YOU! TAGLIST IS OPENED IF YA WANNA BE TAGGED BY THE SMUT PART--I MEAN NEXT PART. OKAY? 😍😘

Taglist: @vikingsbifrost @sofiebstar​

Disclaimer: PNG's used in edits are not mine even the GIF's too. However, the edits and oneshots/fics are definitely from moi.

MY WORKS ARE NOT TO BE POSTED ON ANY OTHER WEBSITES. My official username in Wattpad is “TATATHEPOTATO” and that’s the only other site I have aside from Tumblr. Thank you, Tater tots!

Fifteen different people in one huge mansion. A black mansion to be specific. The world has created and experienced chaos and madness as the entirety of humanity was now suffering from a wide unearthly signal that could get certain people to act berserk.

Nobody knew why. Nobody understands the reason and where does it come from, but the people who were living in the huge Mediterranean mansion that you were in were completely free from the violent reactions that may cause.

With violent reactions that can be considered brutal for a kill.

Everyone was laughing in joy, some even had alcohol wrapped around their fingers as they try to blur out all what was happening around the world.

You and Henry were sure that everyone was safe; until one person who had reacted on the sound.

There it was. That certain sound; a high pitched signal. Everyone looked at each other, sensing who were reacting towards the shrill. The effects were truly indistinguishable, you wouldn't know who and what will hit them when the signal can be heard. But, there were contingencies you've felt and heard while everyone was quarantined in the mansion.

There were four factors as to how you would react towards the sound. You've witnessed the most horrifying reaction which was Brute. Your own father has managed to terminate every single one of your family except for you. He was also included in the brutal murder as he aimed the gun to his head. You didn't know if it was intentional or not but he neglected you from the massacre and you didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

You've had hypothetical presentiments as to why they've reacted that way. Facts which are considered sixty-five percent accurate based on how you've been observing everyone's actions. The reason why they've began to violently react to the signal was because they never had committed any wicked sin and actually had a good heart.

Second was altruism. Some people have reacted towards the signal with goodwill and compassion. However, those people were thoroughly godawful in their lives. Committing such abysmal sins which can be considered unlawful to the law and especially to the eyes of God. They suddenly become all incorruptible and law-abiding after the shrill that they don't remember what happened nor do they remember who they were and have been.

Third was The Hushed. Humanity has given these people lemons and not bread. These people were the ill-tormented. They were given the affliction of never having to get to speak what their heart says no matter what happens.  All their lives they have lived in agony and now they were receiving such curse into not having to talk nor having the fate on reacting towards their environment. They were completely the epitome of a coma. Their souls and mind were still living on earth but they were forbidden to move nor react towards their environment.

Last, but not the least as your current observations weren't fully factful; was the Unbalanced. They were the combination of every factors that has been said. They all have their days, it's either you react with brute, altruism or become the Hushed in every other day. They were the unstable ones, the people who you couldn't read when they are attacked by the shrill. To know that they are considered the Unbalance start from acting like a demented person until they were acting normal one day then not on some.

The one that you couldn't get the bottom of is why specific people weren't being attacked by the chime and you couldn't comprehend why you haven't been passively reacting towards the problem at hand and nobody could answer that question for you.

Thus, this ill-fated moment was the most terrifying memory you can ever decipher as the love of your life have caused you a busted lip and a frightening gun in between your forehead.

"Listen to me and I hope you take this into consideration, Nugget." Henry skeptically started; voice all calm and soothing, standing completely tall and jacked before you. Your height differences thoroughly sweeping to the eyes of everyone maybe even cute to some as you stood five foot one before him with big bones; wide hips and small chest. Technically, a bottom hourglass with those stomach flab hidden behind the hoodie of your boyfriend that reached your thighs. An imperfect interpretation of how humanly you were, unlike your love who seemed to be utter perfection.

The latter crossed his burly arms across his prominent chest, combing a hand through his curly locks and sighing deeply to himself like he was trying to understand what his thoughts has been telling him, he licked his lips before peering down at you, giving you that worried gaze he would give whenever his thoughts get the best of him.

You gave him a reassuring smile after he pulled you away from the group of people who were bonding all together. At first, you were questioning why he'd held your wrist, pulling you away from them. But, now you understood his actions.

Despite of sounding confident all the time, today the walls began to break as you've seen your powerful looking man so scared for what he could do to the people around him if he was attacked by the Shrill.

He'd languidly taken the gun latched in between his belt. A frown etched upon his features as his stubble was growing longer. Henry checked the black pistol in his hand, clicking the chambers open to see how many rounds it could take before shutting the clip back and handling the grip to you with a small, glum smile.

You've stared back at him with incredulity. The gun on your palm without knowing what to do with it. Your lower lips wanting to pop out because of what the message actually sounded like. A shake of your head was the only reply you could muster as you felt your heart being grabbed by a claw at a rickety future that was bound to happen because nobody knows how this trial would take.

"If...If I somehow react to it and be a part of the Brute," he trailed off, stepping closer to you and reaching out for the side of your jaw; his rough, calloused fingers dancing across the nape of your neck as he subtly gave a smooth caress. Beautiful ocean blue eyes with tiny specks of brown on his left eye, gazing down at you with a look you've seen since the moment you've manage to develop feelings with each other when the nightmare happened; utter love and respect, "---and if you must shoot me before I cause chaos to everyone, do it. Understand?"

Another shallow shake of your head, repeatedly doing so with a begrudging heart, "Henry," you pleaded, not wanting to do it as the action will fall on your hands. The responsibility of shooting him would be your nightmare forever. "N-No, I--I don't even know how to shoot a gun. I--I won't ever forgive myself if that ever happens. Ask me anything, but that!" the tremble of your voice was evident. You shook your head once more, objecting at his wishes and never submitting.

"Panic will consume you and once it does, you're surprised you've already shot me to death, Y/N."  Henry tried to lighten the mood as he managed to get out a toothy grin. Though, you knew his heart was shaking at the painful truth he could decipher, "I'd rather accept that you shoot me. I'd rather see your face before I die,"

You could feel your eyebrows in a tight knot, your heart beat ceasing at the responsibility on your hands. The soft cookie in you coming out with tears forming around your eyes. Henry stared you down with a tender beam, entirely leaning down to plant a kiss on the side of your eyes to stop you from weeping out.

"Love can be a bloody brute, and I mean that literally, Nugget." the latter whispered, finally pecking your temples before the ones in between your eyebrows.

You've felt his warm breath that you wished not for it to turn cold. He was the only who you could depend. The shoulder whom you cry on and a person who you've loved to the fullest and killing him won't ever be the best idea for you.

Once the soft pillows of his lips left your forehead, he had lean his forehead with yours. Eyes fluttering closed as he took in everything. Your warmth, scent and soul like he wouldn't get to reach for them ever again. "Don't hesitate, okay? Just shoot."

The shiny metal barrel was now aimed between your head. A bloody lip and a wound on the end of your eyebrow have been given to you by your own boyfriend as he'd reacted very different with you. From the moment he was tightly closing his eyes as the shrill went on and on. You knew he was next.

At that, you've managed to speak your heart and tried getting his attention before he could even hurt the people around you who eventually became your friends.

You've rather let him hurt you than see him hurt others or even himself.

The mere image of you being violently hurt by a huge, brawny man wasn't completely pleasing to the eye. Everybody were scattered in the large living room where tables and chairs were ruined with troubled gazes in their eyes. They were stuck to their feet as they watched the scene unfold.

Irith, a police woman who lived in the same mansion as you do; snatched her gun out of her holster, quickly aiming the firearm at Henry who'd grabbed onto you, tackling you down the floor and in between you with his hand gripping your neck in a choke hold. The gun he'd given was taken away from you; maybe because you've technically given him the opportunity to do so and it was now in his palms.

"He's going to kill you, Y/N! You’re gonna die!"

Irith clicked the safety off her pistol and you've heard it. Your boyfriend's fingers wrapped around your neck as tight as he could with an apathetic gaze like your Henry wasn't even there at all. "No-No-No! He’s not! Please! Don't do a-a-anything! Don't hurt him! Move away!"

You croaked out and pleaded with a cough; forcibly clawing out to get his fingers away from you. To no avail, Henry was very much stronger than you and getting out of his hold was like asking the heavens to show you the pot of gold on the end of the rainbow.

"H-Henry," another croak before he tightened his hold around your neck. The air seeming to be cut off better than before. You've stared into his eyes, trying to find him in there but all you could see was a person whom you didn't know. A complete utter murderer who just wanted you dead.

You've stopped struggling against his hold, tasting the blood in your mouth as he breathed deep above you, his thick thighs on either side of you as he pinned you down. Irith didn't know what to do and dropped her aim. Panic settling her nerves as she watched you get choked by your boyfriend who'd been anything but violent to you before it even happened.

Your fingers left his, mind flying at the thought to fight him off. Shaky fingers reaching out to touch the side of his face which ignited a feral growl out of him once he'd felt your cold, trembling fingers. The other hand of yours nervously gripping onto the barrel, aiming it better between your forehead as Henry's face morphed into a painful wince.

You can't let him go that yet. No. Deep inside, you know he was still in there.

"Shoot...me," you whispered in between gasps and heaving breaths. The air soon cutting your lungs shut. "I-It's okay, lo-love. Y-You can shoot...shoot me,"

All the response he has ever did was a loud groan, his finger on the trigger but never flicking. He stared you down with that wavering gaze, like he has been struck by lightning. Your thumb reaching out for his lip, soothingly caressing with a firm will as you spoke out loud with a slowing heart, "It's...It's okay...I love you...Always..will,"

Something was shutting off inside him. All he could see was that you were a target he should eliminate because you were part of the humanity who tries to ruin the world because of their irresponsible actions. Yet, your voice. It was echoing inside his head, like a soothing one which could calm that certain switch and the nerves sending inside his brain for the kill.

The veins on the side of his head were popping out and you could see him struggling with something. His lips shaking as you felt it on your thumb. He tightly shut his eyes closed, hardly breathing out of his nose as he was whimpering like something was hurting him.

It was. His head was hurting because he was fighting it off.

You've caught his attention again, slowly caressing your fingers across the apples of his cheeks like a touch to reassure him to just do it and end his pain instead. You stared into his tightly shut eyes and gave a solemn smile, "Y-You're...the best I've ever had...D-Don't...worry, I-It's okay,"

Your pleading was like an ambulance being sent to rescue him. He snapped his head away from you, breath completely labored as he was wrestling with those small voices whispering inside his head; telling him to just pull the trigger and end his misery. But, the other echo screaming at him that pulling the trigger will just add more misery and probably even guilt and utter madness for himself.

"F-Fuck!" He lividly cussed out loud. Snapping his eyes open and you've seen the most grief-stricken picture. His eyes rheumy and dewy like he was on the verge of crying.

Then, you've heard the safety click back. His fingers shaking a lot more as he does so before falling on the floor, rolling away from you with a maddened groan.

He was in luck and also for you because you were close to having your breath taken away from you before he even managed to stop himself. You breathed in deep, like you were trying to catch your breath again and mewling at how free it was to feel your air back in your lungs.

Yet, you were about to reach out for him in the midst that you were still in a haze from being choked out. You've blinked your eyes open to see him scurrying away, feeling as if your heart was ceasing again. He stood on his feet, avoiding the terrified looks on everybody's faces. Though, the most painful part of everything that happened was not his aggressive action towards you. But, from how he bypassed your hold on his hand and thoroughly shunned away like you were disgusting.

Hence, you knew he was mad at himself and probably for you because you let it happen. The guilt beginning to eat him alive just before you even knew it.

MARSHALL LOOKS SO SO CUDDLY. I WANT PAPA BEAR TO JUST HUG ME ALL NIGHT. 😪😣😍😍

[hobbitsetal]

a theology of suffering

The idea for this post occurred to me a while ago when my dad taught on suffering as part of his Sunday school class, in which we’ve been going through the questions for the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors’ exam. And given life lately (and also the fact I’m at home!), this seems like an excellent time to write out what I’ve been taught.

Let me begin by saying that it is critical for Christians to have a theology of suffering--an understanding of what pain and misfortune can mean to Christians and an answer to the age-old question “why do bad things happen to good people?” 

This is critical for several reasons: 1. it enables us to glorify God properly when bad things happen--the “trials and tribulations” Scripture refers to. 2. it enables us to witness to nonbelievers more effectively. If my God isn’t big enough to handle pain, then He’s no God worth following. 3. it gives us a framework for strengthening and deepening our faith. 4. when bad things happen, we’re better prepared emotionally, mentally, and spiritually to place ourselves in the Lord’s loving care.

This will get long, so I’ll put the rest under a cut, because I personally don’t care to scroll past huge blocks of text.

As with every good endeavor in Christianity, we must start with God. If we don’t understand God’s perfect love, kindness, and sovereignty, then we will never understand how suffering can be turned to our good and His glory. Each of these attributes could be a blog post in themselves (and indeed, multiple excellent theology books have been written about the attributes of God, both singly and collectively), but I’ll pull out only a few Scripture verses to illustrate them.

The Psalms contain paeans to many of God’s attributes; I think the 23rd Psalm encapsulates His care for us most famously. He gives us peace of soul, He provides for our physical needs, He offers protection. Just skimming the Psalms means reading the most gorgeous descriptions of the Almighty:  “The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.” (sovereignty over creation)

“Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!” (okay, i’m belaboring the point a little to say “His mercy and love”)

“I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted,and will execute justice for the needy.” (This illustrates not merely His justice, but also David’s confidence in the Lord’s ability to bring justice--i.e., His power and arguably His sovereignty. He does not promise something He may not be able to give.)

1st John 4 speaks exquisitely to the love of God: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

I could very much pull out verses all day, or even better, spend weeks going through a book to give each verse its proper context, but that is not the purpose of this post. This post is to talk about suffering.

James 1 begins by telling us to “count it all joy” when we meet “trials of various kinds.” I’ll be explicit to the point of inanity in this post because I don’t want anybody to discount what they’re going through or assume God must be talking about “real” problems. 

Trials may be trouble finding a good job; chronic illness; brief illness; injury; mean coworkers; false friends, mental illness (anxiety, bipolar, schizophrenia, dysmorphia--you name it); anguish of body, soul, or mind; painful relationships, particularly family. If something is marred by sin, if something brings us pain instead of joy, I would argue that it can be placed under the umbrella of atrial.

What’s the purpose of trials? I spoke briefly of God’s sovereignty. I mean that He is in total control of everything happens to us in our lives. No bad thing happens to us without the Lord allowing it. So why would He allow it?

Romans 8:28-29 is perhaps the most famous go-to verse for this: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

All things. The bad things we deal with (like corona virus and the loss of our jobs) are used by God to conform us to the image of His Son--to make us like Christ.

And what is Christ like? Ephesians speaks of Him as bringing peace, John rhapsodizes about His love, 1 Peter declares Him holy, Philippians says He was obedient to God even to the point of death.

1 Peter speaks of Christ’s suffering and His subsequent glories, but Peter also spoke of our suffering: “for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Suffering to test our faith--not to demonstrate to God whether we have it or not, for He knows all things and He knows the deepest corners of our hearts better than we do--but to refine and improve and prove to us that God is able to care for everything we bring to Him.

And suffering also, sometimes, to correct us and bring us back to the Lord, according to Proverbs and to Hebrews and to other passages I’m not chasing down today: “My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights,” and also 

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

Not all suffering is punishment, but all suffering is purposeful. And the Lord’s purposes, according to Romans 8, are always for our good, to make us more like Christ. If God truly is the Perfect Being, if He truly is wise, good, gentle, loving, merciful, just, and holy, then the best possible thing that could ever happen to us is to become like Him.

So then, the purposes of suffering:

1. to make us more like Christ, Who suffered on our behalf. 2. to deepen our faith and bring us closer to God, since in our humanity we tend to rely on ourselves and on earthly things. 3. to demonstrate to outsiders the Lord’s provision and grace in facing the same sorts of pain that all humans deal with. 4. to correct sin and to train us in righteousness.

which of these is God’s purpose in each situation? I have no idea. But He has a purpose and He chooses those purposes out of love. And these purposes are individual: I may face the same problem someone else does, but God is using that problem to sanctify me uniquely.

[islamicrays]

What should you do if you really can’t see Allah in a positive light at all, despite what lectures you watch, what Hadiths/ ayas you read etc. What if because of the trials he puts you through it’s pushed you away from him and no matter how much you try you really can’t see him in a positive light at all.

Assalamu Alaikum,

No matter what trial you are facing be grateful because when we are grateful. He will increase our blessing. The other thing that we mostly do is to compare our lives with others when we do that we don't appreciate our blessings and become more bitter. We need to be grateful and patient with our trials.They both work hand-in-hand.

If you want to be happy and content with your life then look at those who are given less than you and you will appreciate your life. As narrated in hadith

Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: When one of you looks at one who stands at a higher level than you in regard to wealth and physical structure he should also see one who stands at a lower level than you in regard to these things (in which he stands) at a hi-her level (as compared to him).

Sahih Muslim Chapter 1, Book 042, Number 7068

When we are grateful Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala increase our blessings.

“If ye are grateful, I will add more (favours) unto you; But if ye show ingratitude, truly My punishment is terrible indeed.” (Quran 14:7)

“Praise Allah, for by his praise His blessings multiply” Umar ibn Al-khattab(may Allah be pleased with Him)

“Indeed blessings are attained through gratitude and gratitude is related to increase and these two are linked so that increase from Allah does not diminish until gratitude from the servant diminishes”.

Ali b. Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with Him)

Sheikh abdul Qadir Jilani said “ Do not turn away from the Creator because of some misfortune, because he may be testing you with it.”.

Always remember this life is our test and we will be tested through different trial and we won’t get everything we want or every thing will happen according to our convenience and we have to work for the akhirah. A beautiful saying again of Sheikh abdul Qadir Jilani I will quote:

“Do not try to run away from trials and tribulations, but endure them with patience. They cannot be avoided, and there is nothing for it but to endure them with patience. How can you expect the whole of this world, and all that has been created therein, to undergo change and transformation just to suit your convenience? The Prophets are the best of all creatures, yet they have always had to suffer afflictions and so it is for their followers, those who tread in their footsteps as they walk along their highway, emulating their example.”

"Every test we go through is a form of mercy. It is meant to improve us and make us more empathetic, humble and insightful. If at every test we whine and complain instead of searching for the wisdom and lesson, then we will not flourish the way we were mean to flourish. Allow yourself to be polished through the tests so you can shine brightly! "

-Haleh Banani

So in every trial turn to Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala. Make dua in front of him like you are totally dependent on Him and only He can help you.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make things easier for you.

Allahumma Ameen

[rucbarthatbowtiesarecooldw]

Sunday Afternoon Session

President Henry B. Eyring

- I’m praying for you to feel and have lasting happiness

- Lasting Happiness: That is what our Heavenly Father, His beloved son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost have offered every child - to you and me. That offer is sometimes called the plan of happiness.

- Increasing in holiness is the only path to happiness

- Greater holiness is made possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ, cleansing and perfecting us

- How to gain holiness

- Humility

- Meekness

- Patience

- Keeping the commandments

- Temple attendance

- Sacrifice

- Making and keeping sacred covenants

- You have never been here before - you are remembering a moment before you were born. You have been in a place a sacred place like this. You could feel the Savior was going to be in the place you stood.

- When there is spiritual peace in my heart I can feel an assurance of that happiness

- 7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. 9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands. 10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job. - D&C 121:7-10

- 7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. 8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he? 9 Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever. D&C 122:7-9 ——My Kindness Shall not Depart from Thee

- greater holiness will not come simply by asking for it; it will come by doing what is needed for God to change us

- Daily repentance is the pathway to purity

- When we choose to repent, we choose to change. We choose to allow Jesus to transform us into the best version of ourselves.

- 1. More holiness give me, More strivings within, More patience in suff’ring, More sorrow for sin, More faith in my Savior, More sense of his care, More joy in his service, More purpose in prayer. 2. More gratitude give me, More trust in the Lord, More pride in his glory, More hope in his word, More tears for his sorrows, More pain at his grief, More meekness in trial, More praise for relief. 3. More purity give me, More strength to o’ercome, More freedom from earth-stains, More longing for home. More fit for the kingdom, More used would I be, More blessed and holy— More, Savior, like thee. - Hymn 131

Elder Hans T. Boom

- Your sound is making all the difference!

- The gong may play only a few ties but it changes the whole song

- We are all needed to bring color and meaning to this world

- We all know where we can do better. There is no need to continually remind each other. But there is a need to love and minister to each other and in doing so, provide a climate of willingness to change.

- Heavenly Father will never leave us, he will help us get up again.

- We have been taught His gospel. We know it and God knows it - so we cannot deny it.

- He did not send us here to fail, but to return gloriously to Him.

Elder M. Russell Ballard

- Please do not it’s an opportunity to look at your family members with love (and appreciation).

- Everything we are taught during conference is taught through the Love of Christ

- He turns 91 in two days and is still wondering if he is ready

- living right can be a pretty confusing concept

- Especially with social media, where any voice can share beliefs about God

- We have eternally true gospel principles so we may be better prepared

- Our greatest battle is between our spiritual and carnal natures.

- Spiritual Beings having a human experience: https://youtu.be/PXw_5r5ZHpM

- This is who you really are and who you have always been. A son or daughter of Heavenly Father.

- Learning to choose the things of the spirit over the things of the flesh is one of the reasons we have this earthly experience as part of His plan.

- You are first and foremost and always a spiritual being.

Elder Peter M. Johnson

- Deception, Distraction, discouragement: what satan uses

- We are created in His image and have a work to do

- If we are not careful they can distract us from fulfilling our potential

- AKA carful not casual in living the gospel

- Are you so focused on everything you have to do that you forget who you are?

- If we do not understand who we are, then it is difficult to recognize who we can become

- 1 remember the first and great commandment is to Love God with all our heart might mind and strength

- As we do that our capacity to love will increase

- 2 pray in the name of Christ everyday, everyday, everyday

- 3 Read and study the Book of Mormon everyday, everyday, everyday

- Studying with a question prompts revelation

- 4 Prayerfully partake of the sacrament every week, every week, every week

- My dear friends, please do not let anyone steal your happiness, do not compare yourself to others, and please remember the loving words of the Savior: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” - John 14:27

Elder Ulisses Soares

- Focus on spiritual not earthly

- to those with same-sex attraction there is always hope in the love of God and in the Atonement of Jesus Christ

- There was a distinction made by him between those who identify as LGBTQ+ saints and those people who have committed serious sins

- You are not incapable - please do not give up

- Don’t hold on to negative feelings and emotions

- We cannot repent for other people, but we can forgive them.

- Trust in His promises and endure to the end

- Taking upon us his cross and trying to become like him require us to follow his example

- 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22 Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. - Psalm 33

Elder Neil L. Andersen

- This precious fruit represents the incomprehensible blessings we receive because of the Saviors Atonement

- This fruit is the most precious to the soul

- Heed not those who insult and despise

- If He loves you why would ________ happen?

- He would have healed you

- He would help others to understand your situation better

- There is eternal joy that comes only from Him

- Because He did this He knows how I feel right now.

- When the focus of our lives is on Gods plan of salvation and Jesus Christ and his gospel we can feel joy no matter what is going on in our lives

- Russell M. Nelson is blessed with revelation from God. Like Lehi of old he is the prophet of God. He wants all of Gods family to partake of the fruit of the tree.

President Russell M. Nelson

- As new temples are dedicated, people not of our faith will come to the open houses. Many of those people will have questions.

- It is up to us to help them receive the answers they seek

- Temple questions have been edited for clarity

- He shared but I can’t type that fast

- In some respects it is easier to build a temple than it is to build a people prepared for the temple

- Spring 2020 will be exactly 200 years since First Vision

- Designated as a bicentennial year

- Prepare for a unique conference commemorating the restoration

- how would my life be different without that knowledge I’ve received from the Book of Mormon?

- How have these events of the restoration made a difference in my and my families lives

- revelation continues and will under the Lord’s direction until the work has been accomplished

—don’t know what he means by any of this but I’m excited for next conference. :)

[wisdomrays]

Adoration for One’s Children

QUETION: What are the lessons to be drawn from the verse meaning: “…Then when He grants the couple a sound child, they begin to associate partners with God in respect of what He has granted them. Infinitely is He exalted above their association of partners with Him and whatever they associate with Him as partners” (al-A’raf 7:190).

ANSWER: In the previous verse, God Almighty states that He created humanity from a single human self, and then made from it its mate so that he (inclining with love towards his mate) may find rest in her. Then the Divine Word lets us know that she conceives a light burden, and then when she grows heavy (with child), both (feel the need to) turn to God, their Lord, with prayer:

“If You indeed grant us a sound child, we will most certainly be among the thankful” (al-A’raf 7:189).

The original word “salih” (sound, righteous) refers to both physically healthy ones and those who are deep in faith, careful at their devotions and who are immense persons in consciousness of ihsan: perfect goodness or full awareness of God’s omnipresence.

Actually praying for the expected child to be both healthy and pious is a necessity of faith in God and the Hereafter. A believer expecting a child opens his hands in supplication as, “My God! Grant us a sound child! Let the child’s hands, feet, eyes, ears, tongue, lips, and all organs be sound! Make him sound in faith, religion, and sincerity as well! Let his deeds, heart, and spiritual life also be sound and perfect!”

However, as a factor of a worldly trial, the child might sometimes be disabled. What needs to be done in such a situation is to show patience and deal with the troubles as we cannot know the wisdom behind the birth of a disabled child. With such a happening, God Almighty may will the parents to be purified from different sins and wrongs, and it may also elevate their spiritual rank by means of caring for that child.

In the person of the blessed Prophet, the address is to his followers

As there is a reference to the creation of the human in the previous verse, one may initially think that the people concerned here are Adam and Eve. However, although they did ask for a righteous child from God, when the Prophets’ attribute of innocence is taken into consideration, it will then be understood that those who begin to associate partners with God are not them but some other children of Adam. Considering their high horizons of self-criticism, the Prophets can surely take these addresses as if they were directed to their own person and benefit from them, but this is another thing. As you know, it is a style we see in different parts of the Qur’an that with respect to the Prophets, the real warning is to their followers and their certain characteristics are expressed.

For example, the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, is addressed as,

“Should you associate partners with God, your labor will most certainly come to nothing...” (az-Zumar 39:65).

Given that the blessed Prophet has absolutely nothing to do with associating partners with God, then the address is made to all of humanity, and “your” actually needs to be taken as a plural address. The Prophet was already blessed with Divine protection, support, and guardianship. He is protected and innocent. Even in the early period of his life when people were deeply immersed in sins of the Era of Ignorance, the Pride of Humanity had absolutely nothing to do with associating partners with God. Let alone such great sins, even in terms of manners, he did not hurt anyone in the slightest degree.

For this reason, no matter from what aspect we take of the issue, it is first necessary to accept the fact that the Prophets are innocent and pure. It should then be understood that the judgments of such verses seemingly addressed to the Prophets are rather for their followers. By taking this essential principle into consideration, it will be more correct to understand the address as follows: “Take care! Given that such a warning is coming about such a protected and innocent person, then those who are not under such guarantee of innocence, decency, and protection must be very careful in this respect.”

So this should be the perspective on the share of Prophet Adam, peace be upon him, in this verse. Otherwise—may God forbid—you will hold improper considerations about a person whom God Almighty chose and preferred over all people and nations (see Al Imran 3:33). On the other hand, what falls to us is to always cherish pure thoughts about all of the blessed Prophets. In this respect, let me reiterate once more that although the demand for a sound child belongs to the Prophet Adam, the warning about associating partners with God because of children is not related to him but to us.

Adoration for one’s children that causes “shirk”

The danger of not maintaining the balance after having a sound child and straying to associating partners with God is always possible for the children of Adam. This feeling is so strong in some people that they keep mentioning their child all of the time. For example, if someone is to say a word beginning with the first syllable of their child’s name, they take the opportunity and begin to talk about their child. Let us say that the name of their child is Moses. As soon as someone begins to say something as “Mo...” they begin as “Moses’ achievements are making us so happy that... he is such a brilliant child that...” and begin to start singing his praises. This weakness is so strong in some people that they try to bring the subject to their own son or daughter from every happening, word, or statement. It is possible to define them as “child-adorers.”

Love for children must be a means for their eternal happiness

We know that as a little model of “the best pattern of creation,” children are entrusted to us by God. If we are to love them and cuddle them, this must be on account of their Owner and Creator. More importantly, we must use our love and compassion to edify our children who are potentially endowed with the best pattern of creation, so that they gain Islamic cultivation. In other words, our love must be a means to raise them as upright individuals, live uprightly, and become a representative of uprightness. Parents should always whisper into the ears of their children when they love them and lovingly stroke their hair, so that they do not rebel against God, nor be afflicted with irreligiousness and commit rebellion and transgressions to make them suffer an eternal loss. Parents are responsible for providing everything required to help their children who came to this world so purely walk to their Lord so purely again and for preparing suitable grounds for such cultivation. Fulfilling all of these is a different manifestation of loving them, and there is nothing wrong in that.

However, if a person has none of these in his agenda and has become attached to that child solely because of the child being his offspring, if he relates all considerations to his child and wants to talk about his child all the time, then it means that this person who declares faith in God and His Messenger has begun to associate partners with God unawares. A person who makes the proclamation of faith as “There is no deity but God, and Muhammad is His Messenger” is not a polytheist after all. But it means that this person bears an attribute of polytheism owing to his attitude about his child. In one of his sayings drawing attention to this point, the blessed Prophet said, “The sin I fear about you most is shirku’l-asghar (associating partners with God in the minor sense).” And when the Companions asked what this meant, he answered, “Showing off.” A person might show a weakness as letting others know about himself by means of his child. Just as a person might fall into showing off, which is the minor form of associating partners with God by means of his own appearance, good looks, wealth, and fortune, he might satisfy his desire for recognition via his children as well.

To give concrete examples of this issue, a person’s boastfully expressing himself with his gestures is a form of seeking recognition. While worshiping near others, showing further scrupulousness in comparison to one’s worshiping alone is a form of seeking recognition. A person’s trying to let others know about his good works at writing or speech is a form of seeking recognition. And if that person sugarcoats his wish for recognition with words of pretense humbleness referring to his acts such as “humbly, poorly...” then this is a much more horrible form of showing off. Actually, a person’s seeking recognition by means of his children is no different than these. No matter whether he has a daughter or son, it means that he is adulterating the parental love with an attribute of associating partners with God. In my opinion, at the issue of preserving the characteristics of believers, one must show scrupulousness no less than what he shows at protecting his decency and honor. Let it be a show off in the form of letting others see, hear, or boasting about one’s merits, a believer must always keep his thoughts free from any blemish of associating partners with God because each of these is a characteristic of polytheists. Bearing a certain characteristic of polytheism is like a healthy person being inflicted with a virus. Viruses cause different diseases from influenza to AIDS. In this respect, a person should not underestimate any attributes of unbelief and polytheism, never letting these attributes germinate in his heart and spirit.

Although a person who shows excessive love to his children and home bears an attribute of polytheism, surely this does not mean that he has become a polytheist. If such a person dies with faith, he will go to Paradise in the end. And God Almighty—He knows the truth of the matter—will not treat that person as a polytheist. However, as this attribute of polytheism is like a virus, it needs to be treated and one must be cautious in this respect. Because an influenza virus that is not dealt with can bring down or kill a person. Thus, no one should let any virus contrasting with his essential nature and the endowment with the best pattern of creation inhabit within. When viruses knock at the door, one must slam the door to their face and then say, “Do not waste your energy in vain; the door has been bolted tight.”

Why must a person be vigilant against polytheism in this degree? Sometimes polytheism is so covert or minute that the person either fails to notice it or does not pay attention to it. However, it should not be forgotten that minor sins underestimated and continually repeated might be much worse than major sins and become more dangerous than major sins. For example, if a person is aware of his major sins and is seriously concerned about them, then he kneels before God remorsefully with repentance, penitence, and contrition. This triggers in that person the feeling of struggling against sins, so they may lead a more watchful and cautious life against sins.

Although immoderate parental love begins at a minor level at the beginning, it might grow worse into a very serious problem in time. In order to let this issue be understood better, we can give as an example the mistake of the ancestors of the people Prophet Noah, peace be upon him, was responsible to guide. As it is known, eminent personages such as Wadd, Yaghus, Ya’uk and Nasr had lived in that society. Some individuals followed these legendary figures with their attitude and behaviors. The people that came after these men put their portraits in their homes in order to remember their virtuous conduct and to guide them to right conduct. This seemingly innocent thought at the beginning caused sanctifying them in time, and eventually these men were perceived as deities. A narrow angle at the beginning became a very wide one later on. In this respect, one should not go to excess or transgress, neither about his children nor about other people whom he loves.

Balance at loving one’s children

Some people have remarked that families of our time have become child-centered. Actually it is difficult to decide what is in the center: children, fancies and desires, carnal soul, or arrogance. However, there is one thing we know for sure: When people opt for a lifestyle out of the plain commandments of religion, they become multi-centered, which then opens the door to different types of polytheism.

In addition, building marriages and families upon children, then being happy on having children or being unhappy on not having children, may lead to conflict and divorce and is absolutely wrong in terms of a believer’s morality. Such an attitude—may God forbid—is an expression of not resigning to God’s decree, criticizing Divine destiny, and rebelling against God. Such problems experienced out of inability to have children as a judgment of Divine destiny are acts God Almighty does not love. Therefore, it should not be forgotten that as having children is a trial, having no children is similarly a trial.

Another harm of showing excessive love to children by seeing them as everything and putting them in the center of the family occurs in the form of being too tolerant to some of the child’s negative behaviors and not seeking ways to address them. This type of behavior means raising problematic children in the long run. However, the real target at this issue is their becoming virtuous individuals of complete integrity. Parents must try to fulfill whatever is necessary to realize this target. However, it is a bitter reality in our time that concerning a great majority, homes are devoid of knowledge; streets are devoid of mercy; mosques are devoid of excitement, and schools are devoid of effectiveness. Children who grow up in such an atmosphere are being wasted.

Parental education for a good child

The primary thing to do in this respect is to educate parents first. At the very beginning it is necessary to teach parents how to be perfect parents and how to treat their child. Couples should even take some courses before marriage, and those who successfully receive their certificates should be allowed to marry. Along this process of education, subjects such as the purpose of marriage, how should a sound relation between couples be established, how they should handle one another, and how to educate their child need to be placed on a sound basis. If married couples are well educated in this respect, the holy establishment they will make together will become a heavenly home. Undoubtedly, children raised in such a family will be exemplary ones. However, if the parents are not capable of good parenting or do not know how to do so, then the situation of the children will be uncertain. Unfortunately, so many people of today’s generation are being raised in this uncertainty. Although some of them join virtuous friends in a certain current, find their essence, and have sound morality and character, most people do not obtain such an opportunity.

No matter to whom or to what, most of the time those who attach their hearts to the wrong things receive a blow from the same direction to the contrary of their intentions. In this respect, if parents do not see their children as a trust from God but love them selfishly solely on account of being their offspring and adore them worshipfully, they will undergo a trial through their children, and receive insult, derision, and hatred from them, as every extreme is a potential cause for the opposite extreme. This holds true not only for parent-child relationship but for other kinds of love as well. No matter who, if you elevate a person to a position beyond his deserts and go to excess in your love, you receive a blow in the opposite direction of your purpose. A day will come when you will hear the most negative words from the person whom you love like crazy, and you will respond with the most negative statements in return.

[iturbide]

Also please publish a list of your aus to whip up the rest of your fans into a frenzy 😉

pfffff okay to try and keep this at least marginally reasonable I’m going to limit descriptions to one/two lines

Crown of Shadows/Shrouded Throne: A split-path narrative where, to stop the civil war raging in Plegia, Robin comes to Ylisse to beg aid from Exalt Emmeryn.    After getting drafted by accident into the Shepherds, the Plegian and the Ylissean prince become fast friends – and very soon, something more.

Cursed Fate: Following Robin’s death, Chrom takes his body back to Plegia for burial; when a disembodied whisper confirms that there may be a chance to restore Robin’s life, Chrom goes on a quest through the Grimleal nation to bring together Grima’s remains.

Affectionately Yours: Accepting Plegia’s invitation to visit in his sister’s stead, Chrom rapidly comes to realize that everything he thought he knew about the halidom’s neighbor is at best a wild exaggeration thanks to the guidance of Plegia’s sovereign, Robin.

Accursed Divine: Robin is trapped in a curse that transforms her by day into a fell beast.  Once the curse is broken, the ensuing political drama follows Robin and Chrom uniting their countries after Robin’s ascension to the Plegian throne. 

Sigh No More: Arranged marriage AU where Chrom is married to Robin, who due to Validar’s ritual in her early life bears several Grima-esque features (including wings, tail, horns, etc). 

The Future Built Upon the Past: A look at the events of the doomed timeline and how it led to the course of events that eventually led Lucina to alter the course of fate. 

Butterfly: A split-path narrative where, after ascending to the Plegian throne, Robin reaches out to Emmeryn in an attempt to forge diplomatic ties that have long been neglected.  Initially distrustful of the Plegian emissary, Chrom is forced to come to terms with his own prejudices (and eventually his deeper feelings). 

Beyond Twilight’s Veil: When Risen begin appearing in Ylisse, Chrom ventures into Plegia on Emmeryn’s behalf to try to find a joint solution, meeting and readily befriending Robin along the way.  When things go wrong, leaving Robin half-transformed and Validar dead, the Shepherds are forced to flee Gangrel’s pursuit; two years later, Robin claims the Plegian throne and reaches out to Ylisse in an attempt to rebuild lost friendships. 

Pride and Joy: Raised in Plegia under Mustafa’s care, Robin is drafted into Validar’s assassination attempt on Emmeryn – but decides that the orders should not be fulfilled and defects, saving the Exalt’s life.  In the trials to follow, Robin tries to keep the Ylisseans safe from Gangrel’s forces without exposing her own wavering loyalties. 

Speaker for the Dead: Raised under Validar’s cruel abuse, Robin exists as little more than a hollow shell, surviving each day on the battlefield.  When Chrom reaches out to him on the battlefield and offers a glimpse of something better than the threat of death, Robin cautiously accepts and gradually begins to recover from the traumas of Validar’s upbringing. 

Prisoner of War: The Exalt’s war has left Plegia in ruins, its citizens scattered and the remnants of the army using guerrilla tactics to oppose the crusade.  When his father calls him to the front, Chrom is captured by the Plegian resistance, and rapidly discovers that everything he thought he knew about Plegia (and the Heart of Grima who took him captive) is wrong. 

Twist of Fate: A role reversal AU where Chrom awakens in Plegia with no memory and Robin finds him.  With the Exalt mounting a new push in his crusade, Chrom struggles with the questions about who he might have been before – and with his growing feelings for the Plegian who took him in. 

Manwearer: After becoming separated from his mother, Robin is raised by the taguel of Panne’s warren.  On hearing about a threat to the Exalt’s life, the warren mobilizes to her aid, and Robin and Panne ally with the Shepherds to uncover the deeper mystery behind the attack. 

As You Are: Robin comes to Ylisse on a diplomatic mission, hoping to warn the Exalt of a potential threat.  When an attack leaves the Plegian blind, Chrom confesses his feelings – only to be rebuffed as Robin believes that the feelings are born of guilt, leaving Chrom to grapple with what he fears are unrequited feelings.

Hard Reset: A bad-end Heroes AU where Muspell invades Askr and wipes out the Order of Heroes – but before Surtr can kill Kiran, they fire Breidablik, which somehow transports them to another Zenith.  Taken in by the Emblians, Kiran sets about trying to prevent the ruin that befell the world they were first summoned to. 

Kintsugi: A Golden Deer-based Three Houses fix-it AU, where Claude decides from the outset of his reunion with Byleth they’re going to save as many lives as possible.  

BONUS

Smoke and Mirrors: Pokemon AU where Robin and her Zoroark Reflet (who prefers a human guise that passes for her brother) join with Chrom, a Pokemon Ranger branching out into competitive training; and his sister Lissa, an aspiring pokemon medic.   This brings them into conflict with the Grimleal who are hunting for the Legendary Pokemon Giratina – a pokemon that Robin and Reflet have a very curious connection to. 

Design Defect: A modern AU where Robin is the son of the head of the Grimleal mafia who enters Ylisstol University and meets Chrom, son of Exalt Corp’s CEO and the heir to the family company.  While Robin might have some ulterior motives for getting close to Chrom at first, he quickly gets in over his head. 

Second Chances: After Chrom is summoned to Askr and finds the tactician he lost in the conflict with Grima, the two are finally free to have the relationship they were so long denied during their life in Ylisse. 

A House Divided: A speculative AU exploring what might have been had Alm and Celica not attacked Grima in the Thabes Labyrinth and instead took the dragon in.  He eventually befriends Tiki, and the two eventually come into conflict with Naga, who wants to destroy the abomination she fears is corrupting her daughter (and in so doing destroys her relationship with Tiki).

Heroes Canon: The constantly evolving situation in Zenith, which includes the dragon creche and the curious cases of villains truly going Hero. 

Pre-Timeskip Fix-It: A Black Eagles-based Three Houses fix-it AU where Byleth gets to shut down Edelgard’s alarming rhetoric every time she opens her mouth, and the Imperial princess stumbles her way through the process of becoming a better person. 

Spire Project: A Three Houses canon-divergent AU where the question of “what would have happened if Edelgard had hired Miklan to kill Claude and Dimitri at the start of the year?” snowballs into madness (when the summary is 17.5k words and 30 pages long, you know it’s gonna be a monster). 

Daycare AU (collab with AcquaSole): When single father Chrom switches his young daughter into Robin’s daycare center, he quickly finds himself getting close to the soft-spoken Plegian that Lucina has gotten so attached to. 

Feles Regem Aspeciat (collab with citadelity): Naga has possessed Chrom and taken over rule in the halidom.  Robin volunteers to become the inside man for the resistance in the hopes of finding a means to free Chrom from the divine’s control.

War Crimes (collab with anankos): The Exalt of Ylisse becomes willing host to Naga’s power in a bid to wipe Plegia off the map, but the Fell Dragon’s return puts the war in a deadlock.  Chrom is kidnapped and brought to Plegia in a desperate bid to open diplomatic channels, but when that fails he ends up as as a guest and becomes unlikely friends with Robin, the son of a Plegian tactician (who has more than a few secrets).

Assassin’s Creed: Awakening: The result of me playing too much Assassin’s Creed.  When Emmeryn is kidnapped and slated to become a Grimleal sacrifice, Chrom and the Shepherds rush to save her – only her rescue comes at Plegian hands, instead.  Defying his crusading father, Chrom chooses to stand by Robin and ends up embroiled in a millennia-old conflict between secret forces. 

Sibling AU: Grima as Robin’s protective older sibling.  When Emmeryn invites the recently-crowned king of Plegia to Ylisse for diplomatic discussions, Grima sneaks his younger brother along to show him the world he’s been missing, and both unexpectedly find new friends in what they long believed were enemy lands.  (Also woe betide poor Chrom when it comes to dating.)

Promare AU: I saw Promare.  It was great!  So much so that my brain folded Awakening’s setting and characters up all nice and neat and shoved them into Promare’s narrative arc.  And also it’s Chrobin because that’s who I am as a person.

Cardcaptor Lissa: Rewatching Cardcaptor Sakura blindsided me with the realization that Lissa would make a perfect Cardcaptor and things spiraled from there.

Vampire AU: Robin is a charming young man hired on to be Chrom’s manservant and bodyguard; unbeknownst to anyone, he hides a secret (vampiric) affliction. 

Mermaid AU: Everyone’s mermaids what else do you want from me

Life Goes On: My friend wrote a thing and it made me want to write things for the thing it’s all anankos’ fault i’m writing promare stuff now

[are-you-still-writing-that]

An Open Letter

My longest companion,

I write to you now, that I fear I can no longer just sit back quietly, and let you wander through my life, unattended and ignored, like your company means nothing to you or me. I admit, that for the longest time, I was not even aware of you or your attendance to me. Only the observations of a good friend of mine have shaken me out of my unknowing, that I have wandered through now for the longest time. Though, there had still been suspicions coming from my side towards your company, I never knew anything concrete, that could lead me towards you. But I am as much at a fault for that, as you are, and we both know it.

You truly like to stay in the shadows, do you not? Always out of my sight, so that I can never quite catch an image of you. Haunting me, with a faceless figure so vague, that I always thought it to be a lacking construct of my dreams, of my tired mind unable to finish the entire image. You deliberately came to me only, when you knew, that I would not, rather could not, remember you clearly in the aftermath. For so long, you left me in the belief, that you were a construct of my own treacherous mind. A nightmare more persistent and fastened towards reality than others, and not an actual being of your own. But there was so much more, and worse things, that you did, no?

It is you after all, is it not? The one, who sends the shadows after me, that still haunt me everywhere I go, at any moment and every opportunity, in my life. Even in my worst nightmares, your faithful and loyal servants will follow me without a fault, so that I can never get rid of them, so that I am never able to catch my breath and gather my thoughts. Sometimes, I am sure, that they even are the reason of my worst nightmares in the first place. Those horrible little shadows, that will follow my every step, are positively driving me insane.

They did, from the very first moment, that I ever got aware of them. It is amusing, no? That I was aware of your servants earlier than of you?

Anyway, they drove me away from every safe haven, and chase me easily across the land, like a relentless predator, and I, the fool that I am, play the part of the prey far too easily. I never seem to be able to catch my breath, and I will always look over my shoulder, just to find your shadows once again. They eroded over time, any sanity, that was left in my bones, and left me as an unsure mess. I can, on some days, barely discern what is real and what is just my insanity rearing its ugly maw to swallow me whole in fantastical images. Was that your plan since the beginning? To drive me slowly insane, and with no way left for me, to return myself back to sanity?

Be aware, that I fault you for that more, than for anything else that has happened to me, over my plenty years on this plane of existence. Countless years indeed. I long ago have lost count, how long I am ghosting, never quite with purpose, and my attachments as steadfast, as the wind is on any given day, over this place now. Well, not quite like that. I have not lost the count of my many days, my own infallible memory will not allow that, but I wish to not remind myself again, how painfully long this life of mine came to be already. The amount of years brings me nothing, but sorrow.

I am not immortal, at least I sincerely hope, that I am not. My experience with my cursed longevity, as already showed me far too well, that I could not deal, with the trials, that would come to me, if I was truly unable to part from this world. I still feel the pain of my injuries, how some of my bones have been worn thin through excessive use, and I still bleed in a bright red. What my hope is for the moment, that till now, I just have not found a way to depart. Immortality or an unnatural long life-span, are truly not, what dreamers make it out to be. It is not a fate, that I would wish on anyone, but it is still not the worst thing, that I was cursed with. Rather it is a little side effect, that can not be avoided, that tears my heart apart in the cruellest way possible.

No, the worst thing about my little condition of my stubborn survival, without any end in sight, is a torture I truly cannot wish onto anyone. I saw so many of my friends, already pass away. Some peacefully, some taken away by violence. I do not think you know, how much has already been taken from me, that I can never get back, no matter which way I go. It fuels my anxiety, of moving on, of keeping up the fight. My memories of my dearest friends, slowly get buried under the sheer mass of memories that I accumulated, simply by still being here. It takes so long nowadays to find a memory of the dearly departed. It is a cruel fate, to live so long, without an end in sight.

Alas, I can thank you for that too, no? Are you not the one, that has cursed me to this? That has given me this cruel affliction, that I can never recover from? Why do people think that dying is the worst thing that can happen to someone? I know now, and maybe I have always known, that it is not. There are worse things, that can happen to someone, than simply taking a last breath, or closing their eyes, while listening to the last beat of their heart. At my point in life, with my experience, death would be truly a mercy upon myself. But thanks to you, the end is still not near.

I do not know what you had been thinking, if it truly is your fault, but I can attest, that either you have been wrong, and need to revise how to bestow a gift upon someone, or you were right, and truly have figured out how to inflict the cruellest pain on a person imaginable. I almost fear, what your intentions were. Why? Well, your intentions would undoubtedly reveal, what kind of being, had stayed so close to my side, has surely copied alone through sharing the same space, some of my mannerism, while I unconsciously copied some of yours. What kind of person, would make me this? The answer, would be unavoidable, with the reveal of your intentions, and the following reveal of you.

Another question though, this time, truly my own, plagues me though. Why it had to be me? It is a question I would like to have answered. It plagues me deeply and relentlessly, for I cannot find any answers on my own for it. Was my youth not enough, for my fragile heart? Did you need to make life worse, than I already was, simply by being there? Did you try to get my favour, in a way that would only get you my scorn? Or did you try to play a benign hero, only to fail miserably at every and any opportunity?

Forgive me, that last sentence, was uncalled-for. While it still puts a lot of what I feel into words, I may have worded it nicer, than I did now. But I also have to admit to you now truthfully, that whenever I look back onto everything that has happened to me, my anger gets the worst of me. This is the first time, I truly seem to be able to fault someone else for all the short-comings in my life, without any guilt for myself. It makes me the most poisonous to my surroundings, with my anger, so that everything, that comes into contact with me, might suffer, the same way I did. It makes me irrational, and my words hurtful.

Even though, I still do not quite know who or rather what you are, and my conscience and survival instinct are telling me to play this safe and smart, I cannot help myself, but to antagonize you. It seems, that I cannot convince myself, to soften the blows of my words, and dull the pain I want to inflict on you. How, after all, can I be pleasant to you, when you have ruined so many of my peaceful years already. I am faced for the first time, with the culprit of, not only, many tear, but also many hours of anguish, that I had to suffer through.

And if you truly followed me around, since I was nothing but a small whelp, you should recognize my empty platitudes anyway. At least, that is what I would expect of you. To be frank, I also do not care, at the moment at least, if I insult or hurt your feelings, while I still recognize, when I crossed a line, that I maybe should not have. It feels, almost revitalizing now, in this small letter to you, to air out, what has been bothering me for quite a while. It is refreshing, to throw empty platitudes to the side, and just let go of my strict manner.

Though I have to admit again, it confuses me greatly, that apparently you have tried to be my friend for so long, while I just never took direct notice of you, only of your shadows. My longest companion, I truly do not know if I should see you as my friend or my enemy. I am nowadays aware, that you have played both roles now, with great care, and my mind tears itself over that apart. I just can not figure out how to place you into my life. I am aware, that you have caused me great anguish, but also have saved my life on several occasions. At least you did, if I have placed your action in retrospect, right? Though, correct me if I am wrong. After all, I am trying to get an accurate image of you now.

Am I correct in assuming, that you posed as the call to adventure, that I simply could not resist, so many years ago? At first, I simply thought it to be my own desire to leave, and never return, that I had finally finished with the place, and the people occupying it. Alas, the longer I think of that day, the longer I think of the call, that I followed, the more sure I get, that the call came from someone else, and not from me. Like a friend calling me away? Or an enemy hounding me into a trap? Which one is it? Can you answer me that, because I know you were there, that day? After all, the shadows, that your so well-known for, were my cover on that fateful night.

Those black gloved hands, that I remember for so long ago, giving me comfort, when good dreams and good days were hard to come by, they belong to you too, no? In those memories, you feel nothing like my enemy. It is more, a silent guard, letting me know, that I am safe now, and have nothing more to fear. Not here. Not now. You posed as a silent comfort, whenever my nights grew worse and horrendous, no?

I only remember little of your actual appearance, but I do not think you can fault me for that, when it was your intention, that I would forget you. Though some things, just stood out to me, so that even my mind, heavy and slow, with the drag of exhaustion and sleep could remember those things.

You have a pale face, no? But not in any usual way. Otherwise, I am sure I would have forgotten your face a long time ago. But your lips, were always so pale, almost looking blue. The heavy and deep set bruises around your eyes, that seemed to come and go, like they were not even real, always threw me off too. Maybe, that was part of the reason I thought you as a figment of my imagination, your ever-changing appearance? I always thought you looked like you had been frozen to death, with your pale lashes and black bruises. Other times, I was sure you drowned a long time ago, because of the peculiar way, that your face was covered in splotches, marking you as a victim of suffocation, with your pale hair still dripping with water.

Sometimes, something from the deepest pits of my mind, tells me, that I would look like this, if no one had intervened so long ago. Frozen to death, before I even could achieve anything in my life, helpless to stave off the cold a bit longer, and unable to get to safety. Alas, drowning. If your attendance of me, has been even the least bit watchful, you know of my tendency, to get plunged into the ice-cold water. I fear the depths of a lake the most, I think. Often, I have already experienced how it feels, to slowly lose all air, as the water surface, gets further out of sight. Almost unreachable. I was so often pulled under, that it truly is wondrous that I am not yet, at the bottom of some lake. I even drowned in my own blood. So why do you look like this? Like deaths, I evaded?

Oh, that must truly be ridiculous for you to watch, which I am assuming you are. Your shadows, once one takes note of them, are rather hard to forget again. I am trying to figure out who you are, in a way that consists of piecing bits of interaction, that are still clear in my mind together, without any sense behind it. It is almost like figuring out a puzzle, only I know, that even if I had all the pieces, which I do not, it would still not give me a clear image of who you are, or rather of what you are. It is frustrating to know, that no matter what I do, I will not get closer to my goal. But I still hope, that this letter will at least entice you, to reveal more of yourself to me.

I spoke of it fleetingly, but there is another incident, that I still remember clearly. Can you remember it as well? I think around, that time I first became aware of you, just a thought in the back of mind as of yet, nothing concrete. But at that point, I can still feel your presence there. Maybe I was aware of your first interaction with me after all? I truly think so, because after this incident, something changed. Maybe it, was you? Because at first, I thought, it was just my childish excitement, about having discovered new hope for myself, and yet it was not quite that, no?

Not only your shadows have followed me all my life, there has been something else as well. Now you should know what I am talking about, no? It is the blue tulip, that I am talking about. The one, I am often carrying with me nowadays, courtesy of another friend of mine. I saw it as a child, and by all means, the circumstances were dire, and I should have died, that night. Still, I awoke the next morning, as if nothing had happened at all. Evading the cold in the end, and waking up in my own room again, buried under blankets. Being warm, and in no danger any more to fall victim to the harsh winter.

It was you, who saved me. I am sure of this. It was also your presence, that I could feel, as soon as I returned to the blue tulip again, with nervous energy cursing through me, and curiosity burning away in me. I have to admit at first it had frightened me greatly. The more I became aware of you, the colder it seemed to get, and in the end I had always been chased by you. But I think, I got used towards your presence over time, so much, that it rarely bothers me any more.

I do not know, any more, what I wanted to achieve with this letter. Or even if I have ever had a clear goal in mind, when I started to write. Maybe it was to vent at you? Maybe it simply was to acknowledge your existence? To admit, that you have been there for most of my life, and like I said, it could not go unspoken any more?

No matter my intentions, I think a lot, that needed to be said between us, finally got spoke out aloud. Alas, I hope to hear directly from you once. Not now, maybe not even in the next years, or decades. I do know, how much you love to stay in the shadows, but I still would like to hear from you as well.

Sincerely your charge turned friend

[graciousheaven]

WHAT EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW

The world hatred against the truth, the word of God, for generations remains the same – those who feel offended by this truth not only do they reject it, but they also try to deter others from obeying it.

Knowing the hostility of the world, because He was a victim of it the highest degree, our Lord says to us in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, just remember that it has hated Me first.”

The strategies the ruler of this world and his disciples are using nowadays to deter people from following Christ the Saviour and Lord of the whole human race are basically the same they have been using for generations.

The most common of those strategies are seduction and discouragement – each being carried out in various ways.

The ruler of this world knows how to seduce people, and he uses different methods to do this. One of these is sweet talk – we all know about the false prophets, the prosperity preachers who serve him. They have replaced God’s word with lies in order to attract people. Another way the Devil uses to seduce people is earthly wealth – he presents people with things that glitter on the outside but which, indeed, are deadly traps.

That is exactly what he did to our Lord Jesus in the desert, in the hope to deceive Him – “The Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness.” And he said to our Lord, “All this I will give you, if you kneel down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8-9)

The Devil has been using this same strategy for generations to draw more people into worshipping him. His false prophets are out there to deceive people with lies; they stuff people’s minds with all kinds of dreams and ambitions and fill their hearts with the love for possessions or material wealth, physical comfort and all kinds of filthiness.

They prey on the weak souls, those who are either desperate or who are driven by their carnal desires.

Those who follow their teachings only long to possess the world, to gather more riches on earth, because they have been told that their best life is now and here on earth. They give themselves to filthiness and lustfulness. And so, not surprisingly, many portray Heaven as a place of boredom.

The consequence is that those who give in to such foolishness are completely driven away from Christ; they have nothing to do with God.

They are held captives by the dream of becoming someone important, someone famous and wealthy because of the trend brought about by the world.

We are to be very careful not to fall into temptation, for as the Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to Timothy, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:9-10)

The other strategy used by the world is discouragement. Just like it has many ways to seduce hearts, the world also uses various techniques to deter people from following Christ. One of these techniques is normalization – in order to create fear. The biggest example we have today is the normalization of sexual immorality: the world encourages it and has made it legal, something people are forbidden to speak against. And of course those who do are considered homophobic. This constraint drives many people into a psychological weakening and impairs their will to embrace the truth, to speak the word of God loud, to proclaim it with boldness.

By forbidding people to condemn its evil practices, the world stirs up fear: a way to discourage people from spreading the truth about the Kingdom of God and a way to deter people from preaching Christ. Because the world is not happy with the truth – its children are offended by the word of God.

But as Christians, we have to keep in mind that here is no reason for us to become weak, for Christ our Lord and Saviour is our victor. As our Lord’s Apostle, John, wrote, “Every child of God is able to defeat the world. And we win the victory over the world by means of our faith.” (1 John 5:4)

The other means used by the world to discourage people from turning to Christ is persecution – the world persecutes those who refuse to conform themselves to its standards.

During his ministry our Lord announced the coming persecutions, to prepare us so that we should not be surprised, but know that as his followers we are to share in his suffering. He also spoke of the glory that will be ours if we hold out to the end. And so being aware of everything that was going to happen to us after his journey on earth, Christ our Lord has blessed us with the powerful strength of his Spirit; we have his protection and love both in times of sorrow and suffering and in times of joy and happiness. He is always by our side.

The Lord says in Matthew 10:16-18, “Listen! I am sending you out just like sheep to a pack of wolves. You must be as cautious as snakes and as gentle as doves. Watch out, for there will be those who will arrest you and take you to court, and they will whip you in the synagogues. For my sake, you will be brought to trial before rulers and kings, to tell the Good News to them and to the Gentiles.” Then in verse 19-20, He reassures us of his constant protection and presence in our lives. He says, “When they bring you to trial, do not worry about what you are going to say or how you will say it; when the time comes, you will be given what you will say. For the words you will speak will not be yours; they will come from the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

The Lord continues in verse 21-22, “Men will hand over their own brothers to be put to death, and fathers will do the same for theirs children; children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of Me. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved.”

Over generations many Christians have been persecuted, many have lost their lives, many have been physically assaulted, and some imprisoned. Persecution has always been a serious threat against Christians. Now with the current crisis, a new form of persecution has emerged. Apart from the ongoing traditional physical persecution, we also have to deal with psychological persecution – in many places around the world Christians are forbidden to assemble for the worship of God; there are rules that prevent us from gathering – churches are not allowed to open or are ordered to reduce the number of attendees per service down to as low as ten people in certain places.

Still others ways to deter people from following Christ are rejection and hatred – because of their faith in Christ some people are rejected and hated by their families or friends; there is division because of those who feel offended by our Lord’s teaching. There is a general hatred of Christians by the antichrists.

During his ministry on earth, the Lord told us: “I came to set the earth on fire…” (Luke 12:49.) And then He continued in verse 53, “Fathers will be against their sons, and sons against their fathers; mothers will be against their daughters, and daughters against their mothers; mothers-in-law will be against their daughters-in-law, and daughters-in-law will be against their mothers-in-law.”

The message about Christ is the cause of a great division among families whose members do not share the same faith – those who reject Christ are against those who believe in the Son of God who gave his own life so that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Such division is commonly observed in families whose parents have developed a very strict conformism to beliefs or traditions other than Christianity. And often time the new converts to Christianity can be tempted to renounce their faith in Christ because they fear rebuke from their families.

These are some of the strategies the world uses to prevent us from following our Lord Jesus.

But what the world does should never cause us to renounce our faith in Christ.

No matter what the Devil plans against us, God’s light will continue to shine upon us, and we will continue to receive our Lord’s grace and love. Our safety and life are is in Christ alone.

For as Paul, the Apostle of our Lord says in his second epistle to the Corinthians, “The knowledge about Christ, ‘for those who are being lost, is a deadly stench that kills; but for those who are being saved, it is a fragrance that brings life.” (2 Corinthians 2:16)

We should always trust in God’s goodness and sovereignty – He has promised He will never leave us nor abandon us.

He is a faithful God, faithful to his promises and good in all He does. Power belongs to the Lord our God: He alone has the power to plant and the power to pull up, the power to build up and the power to tear down, the power to kill the body and also the soul in hell.

And so, our God tells us not to be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

We are to always remember, as the Scripture says, that “Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12)

Even if we are to lose our life for Christ, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus who raised Him from death will also raise us to glory.

Therefore we are to patiently endure, with rejoicement and without losing faith in Christ, all the sufferings the world afflicts upon us for Christ’s sake.

We must continue to study his word and to spread it across the world for the glory of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

In faith, we should constantly pray and be concerned only for things that belong to the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have to remember what our Lord went through when He lived among us on earth. No human being has ever and will never experience the type of affliction He experienced. The Devil tried to seduce Him when He was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert; he tempted our Lord many times throughout his journey on earth.

As Christians, we are to continue to do what is right, which is to obey the Lord our God. We should not let our sufferings drive us away from the right path.

As Peter, the Apostle of our Lord Jesus in his first letter says, “Even if you should suffer for doing what is right, how happy you are! Do not be afraid of anyone, do not worry. But have reverence for Christ in your hearts, and honour Him as Lord. Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you, but do it with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:14-16)

“Those who suffer because it is God’s will for them, should by their good actions trust themselves to their Creator, who always keeps his promise.” (1 Peter 4:19)

https://www.faithintheoneaboveall.com/post/what-every-christian-should-know

[akhaziz]

**Do not reblog: for anon only**

As-salāmu ʿalaykum anon. Thank you for your message. I’ll try to respond to each point ʾin shāʾallāh though you did have a lot to say:

I understand how frustrating it can be being home under the roof of your parents with semi-adult responsibilities at the same time trying to keep your mother and father happy while balancing familial harmony (siblings, extended family, etc.) alḥamdulillāh. I come from an ethnic European family with cultures and customs that don’t always align with Western norms. I also understand, personally, what it’s like to have people at home who don’t always wish what’s best for you alḥamdulillāh despite trying everything to improve the situation and gain their love, affection, trust and confidence. I know that it wears you down alḥamdulillāh and eventually makes you doubt yourself, lowers your confidence and sometimes can even cause bad thoughts or waswas.

May Allāh ﷻ increase you in goodness, ʾīmān and reward your sacrifice and make this easier to endure. Ameen.

Here are a few thoughts to consider ʾin shāʾallāh:

1.) You aren’t alone. Many young people feel this way alḥamdulillāh. This happens to more people then perhaps you realise and even if you dont have an outlet to express yourself and this person is very near, and the problem persists, know that you aren’t alone for even the blinking of an eye with Our Lord Most Merciful ﷻ as you said in your message.

Everyone in this world has problems and suffers; they feel the worries, anxiety and depression that come along with dunyā. Right now you are facing a test from Allāh ﷻ and what you wrote, though beautiful, doesn’t seem to establish the possibility that this is a massive test and this test requires you to do some things so that you may learn from it and emerge from this with benefits and blessings that inevitably come from strife and struggle.

By blessings and lessons I mean: 

1.) Think positively of Allah ﷻ, for He has only decreed this for you for a reason that is known only to Him. In time, the meaning may be revealed to you.

Ibn al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah said:

“Every time the slave has good thoughts about Allah, perfects his hope in him, and is truthful in his trust in Him, then indeed Allah will never ever disappoint him nor let him down, for He سبحانه does not break the hope of the hoper, nor will He waste the deeds of the doer.” [Al-Fawaaid]

Allāh ﷻ wants good for you so long as you adhere to His guidance and avoid transgressing His limits and falling into that which He has forbidden. Perhaps what has befallen you has happened so that Allah ﷻ might defend you from something worse alḥamdulillāh; or, perhaps, this is to expiate your sins or ward off tragedy. We simply do not know. However, when we think positively of Allāh ﷻ and live within His boundaries, there are blessings that come that we do not realise and cannot always comprehend. This may be the case with you and those blessings may manifest themselves tomorrow or in the future and so you must think positively of your Lord ﷻ and believe that He will bring you forth from this in a manner that elevates you.

2.) Trials require ṣabr and intentions to be rewarded. Allāh ﷻ has praised those who are patient in the Qur’ān and has prepared for them a great reward and He ﷻ says: 

Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account (39:10). The Prophet ﷺ also praised patience and those who have ṣabr when He ﷺ said (narrated by Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri رضي الله عنه)‎‎: “whoever is patient Allāh ﷻ will bestow patience upon him, and no one is ever given anything better and more generous than patience.” (al-Bukhārī 548).

To make this easier to understand, being patient allows Allāh ﷻ to provide you with patience and it’s a circle; you are patient and remain patient and you are given patience and become more patient. A blessing from Allāh ﷻ.

3.) Despite the goings-on at home and with this particular person, this sounds a lot like persistent waswas that is affecting you in such a way that keeps you from sleeping properly, feeling loveable, desired, connected to those around you and more importantly from taking an important step in your dīn which is marriage; if you are a brother, your wife will be half of your dīn. If you are a sister, you will complete the second half of his dīn. This is enormous!

Waswas is serious and it’s why we say: Audhu billahi minash shaytanir rajim. Before you panic, remember that the waswas has nothing to do with matters of ʿaqīdah or ‘ibādah and the salah and ḏikr you perform, rather this has to do with your fear, hesitation and the bad thoughts o the situation/about the person involved in the situation. This is what makes the shayṭān all that much more effective. Also know that this is relatively small compared to what some Muslims experience (waswas affecting their salah, their wuḍūʾ, their ʿaqīdah, etc) and this in itself is a blessing from Allāh ﷻ as you’ve been spared.

Here is the Naṣīḥa you asked for:

—Allāh ﷻ calls the shayṭān the waswas in sūrah al-Nas. You must, at every opportunity, rise above his trickery. Continue the pleasing actions, the loving adoration, the service to and appreciation of this person. Continue to smile, be cheerful, rush to salah, work to perfect your ibādah, read the sunnah, Qur’ān and Tafsīr. Any missteps and you open yourself up to further injury. You can do this ʾin shāʾallāh.

Allāh ﷻ says: “..and hold fast to Allah. He is your protector; and excellent is the protector, and excellent is the helper (22:78).

— You should read Sūrah Baqarah and complete it every 3 nights (couple with Qiyam al-Layl for added benefits and blessings). Our Prophet ﷺ said: “Read the Qur’ān, for it will come on the Day of Resurrection interceding for its companions. Read the two bright ones, al-Baqarah and Al ‘Imran, for they will come on the Day of Resurrection like two clouds or shadows, or like two flocks of birds in ranks, pleading on behalf of their companions. Read sūrah al-Baqarah, for reciting it regularly is a blessing and forsaking it is a loss, and the magicians cannot withstand it.” (Narrated by Muslim Mishkat al-Masabih 2121) The devils cannot bear to hear sūrah al-Baqarah; they flee from it and weaken before the one who recites it, and they are afraid of it. Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه‎‎ narrates The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Do not make your houses into graves, for the shayṭān flees from a house in which sūrah al-Baqarah is recited,’ (Muslim 780). 

—Continue to recite the various ḏikrs and don’t skip them (morning, evening, going to sleep, entering home/masjid/washroom as well as for drinking, eating, putting on clothes/hijab/thobe, etc.) as there is a great benefit for you and they will prevent the shayṭān from reaching and impacting you ʾin shāʾallāh.

 

—Make copious duʿāʾ. Supplicating To Allāh Subḥānahu wa ta’alā will bring you relief and deliver you from this test ʾin shāʾallāh. Know the specific times in your area where ʾadʿiyah are accepted and ensure you do not leave off duʿāʾ.

—Pray the supererogatory prayers in addition to the prescribed prayers. Pray for everyone who is afflicted with calamity, tragedy and mishap as the angels say ameen to your duʿāʾ and say “May you have likewise.” Make tawbah with reckless abandon: Allāh ﷻ says:  

“Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Indeed, He is ever a Perpetual Forgiver. He will send rain from the sky upon you in continuing showers and give you increase in wealth and children and provide for you gardens and provide for you rivers (71:10-12).”

That said, you must think highly of yourself and your situation and have Tawakkul that this will end and ease will come.

 —Finally, begin the search for a spouse when the time presents itself. There are many avenues for finding a spouse but consult those you trust and have your best interest at heart. Allāh ﷻ commands us to marry and though you may not yet be ready, the time will come ʾin shāʾallāh and you should pursue this as you pursue salah, the happiness of those nearest you (as you described) and know that this is temporary. If you feel your mental health has been impacted in such a way where you cannot perform basic self-care or the bad thoughts turn to self-harm, please seek help. If you are a brother, DM and I can assist you as best I’m able ʾin shāʾallāh and if you’re a sister, DM and I can find someone to assist you ʾin shāʾallāh.

I ask Allāh Subḥānahu wa ta’alā to heal you post haste and rectify your affairs while simultaneously bringing you happiness and your grief to an end. He is All-Hearing and Ever-Near and I entrust you to His care for nothing is lost in His Care. Ameen.

Yours faithfully,

Aziz

[ianrichards]

Bacterial Vaginosis Not Going Away With Treatment Stupendous Cool Ideas

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Can Bacterial Vaginosis Cause An Std

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Does Bacterial Vaginosis Go Away On Its Own

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[khutbahs]

Feeling hopeless and depressed? Here's the Islamic way to cure it

Sadness is a part of what makes us human. No living soul is unfamiliar with it.

ou might often come across a conversation pertaining to things like "sadness is shaytan’s doing" or that "a believer never gets sad" or even that “sadness is an indication of weak or incomplete faith”. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could be further from the truth. Statements like these only escalate the process of drowning for individuals who suffer from depression, anxiety or hopelessness.

It is of the utmost importance that people know the difference between sadness and depression; sadness is a typical human emotion and depression is a much more damaging and longer lasting condition of hopelessness, despair, and dejection.

Sadness is a part of what makes us human. No living soul is unfamiliar with it; even our Prophets faced multiple episodes of sadness. For example, Yaqub (AS) wept until he lost his vision and even our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) experienced bouts of sadness upon the loss of his wife and uncle. Hence, sadness is not a sign of weakness in any form. To experience sadness is to be human. Having strong faith, or Imaan, does not render a believer to be an exception to the emotion of sadness.

Imaan does, however, equip us with the tools to combat depression and hopelessness. There is nothing wrong with accepting and acknowledging your grief. The strength of a believer is not that he remains strong by dwelling in denial or drowning in numbness, it is that he never loses hope despite all the pain and grief. That in essence is what true faith is.

If you feel yourself being chained down by your trials, or you feel stuck in your depressive thoughts and endless bouts of hopelessness, here are a few truths that can help you through your darkest days and rekindle that light at the end of that tunnel, inshaAllah.

No soul is burdened with more than it can bear

Don’t ever forget that Allah (SWT) will never burden you with something that is beyond your capacity to deal with. Even on days when you feel as if you cannot take it anymore, know that you can survive it- for Allah (SWT) knows us better than we know ourselves and whatever trial you’re facing in your life, know that He also gives you the strength to handle that trial.

With hardship comes ease

Allah (SWT) promises His believer that “For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease” (Quran 94:5). Trust His word. Even if the suffering feels endless and you feel yourself getting exhausted from the weight of it all, do not lose hope- for there is ease and something even better waiting for you right around the corner. Nothing remains forever, not even hardships. And those believers who hold on to hope and faith in Allah (SWT) and adopt patience amidst their difficult times are then rewarded in ways human beings cannot even imagine. So remember, this too, shall pass.

Allah (SWT) is in control, you are not

Depression is majorly defined by a sense of hopelessness- in yourself and in the world around you. It is rooted in a sense of sheer helplessness where you feel like nothing is in your control. But that is the truth; nothing IS in your control. It is in Allah’s (SWT) control. Take a moment, embrace your lack of control over your circumstances, and know that the one in control is the best of planners and loves you more than you can imagine. Surrender your attempts to control your life, leave it up to Allah (SWT), and trust His plan for you. Sometimes, the human mind is unable to understand Allah’s (SWT) ultimate wisdom behind every single thing that happens to us. However, by accepting that Allah (SWT) is in control and welcoming His plans for us ultimately leads to the enrichment of our mind, body and soul.

Do the best you can and leave the rest to Allah (SWT)

Remind yourself that human responsibility is restricted within certain boundaries. All Allah (SWT) asks of us is that we fulfill our duties and do the best we can in our circumstances and leave the outcomes to Allah (SWT). We can only control our actions and duties, not the outcomes. Even Allah’s (SWT) prophets did not have control over their outcomes. A believer is rewarded based on the effort, not the result. Do not dwell on what is beyond your control and embrace Allah’s (SWT) magnificence. Do not make yourself anxious over the unknown outcomes. Play your role the best you can and leave the rest to Him.

Be grateful for the blessings Allah (SWT) has bestowed you with

During the hard times, we tend to forget the blessings we have around us and instead, we focus more on the things that are going wrong for us. It is human nature. We tend to get lost in circumstantial sources of grief and pain and forget to notice our source of blessings. Whenever you feel yourself being sucked into a dark phase of hopelessness and depression- remind yourself that you have a lot to be grateful for at the same time- whether it is a loving family, supportive friends, food in your belly every night before you sleep, a roof over your head and countless other things. Remind yourself that you are better off than so many other people who do not share our fortune in these domains. Keep a “count your blessings” journal if you want, where you can jot down a couple of things you are grateful for on a daily basis. It really does help in looking at the bright side of things!

Dua for when you feel depressed and hopeless

The Holy Prophet (PBUH) is known to have said:

"Whoever was afflicted with grief and distress and says (see the following Dua), Allah, the Exalted and Ever-Majestic, will remove his grief and will change his sorrow into happiness." It was said, "O Messenger of Allah! (Do) we have to learn these words?" He said, "Yes, whoever hears them should learn them:

“O Allah, I am your slave, the son of your slave. My forelock is in Your Hand. Your judgment of me is inescapable. Your trial of me is just. I am invoking You by all the names that You call Yourself, that You have taught to anyone in Your creation, that You have mentioned in Your Book, or that You have kept unknown. Let the Qur’an be delight of my heart, the light of my chest, the remover of my sadness and the pacifier of my worries” (Musnad Ahmad, 3704).

The Prophet also recommended the following Dua for a believer feeling grief and hopeless:

“O Allah, I hope for Your mercy. Do not leave me to myself even for the blinking of an eye (i.e. a moment). Correct all of my affairs for me. There is none worthy of worship but You.” (Abu Dawud 4/324, Ahmad 5/42)

Conclusion: Combating depression and anxiety is not an easy ordeal but Islam gives us hope for healing ourselves and dictates a path leading to its cure. Everything is possible for the Almighty- including the healing of His creation. He helps those who ask it of Him. Put your trust in Him and His plans, and you will feel a certain sense of contentment and comfort, knowing that the best planner is in control of your life and your circumstances.