Yesterday as I was trying to open a can of dog food as my dog was anxiously doing his “feed me” dance my can opener would barely get the can opened. So after work I went to buy a replacement so I would not have to endure not being able to feed him quickly when I arrived at home.

The product I selected operates differently than can openers I have used previously. The previous can openers cut through the top of the can. You know you are done when the lid is totally separated from the sides of the can. The new can opener, pictured above, attaches to the top of the can, and cuts from the side. There is a small plier tool built in that you have to use to lift the lid of the can off when you are done.

Imagine me in my 50’s having to read the instructions to use a can opener. Imagine my dog wondering why I am reading instead of opening his food. The evening was roughly as stressful as the morning.

Enter today, having mastered the skills of the new can opener I was able to quickly open his food and get it in his food bowl. He scarfed the food down, which is typical for him, and then we launched into “cuddle time”.

Even simple things can be a crisis when someone (human or animal) is exerting pressure on you to hurry when you are already working at top speed. I kept my cool, used logic, and took action as soon as I could to get a new product. I wish every problem I faced in life was as easy as learning how to work a new can opener.

This image is powerful for me. I am afraid of heights and can’t even imagine myself climbing on the rock formation that is pictured. If I were to climb, my climbing partner would have to be someone with whom I had TOTAL trust. I would literally be placing my life in their hands.

This has prompted me to consider which people in my life I trust so much that I would allow myself to be as vulnerable as the climber is in the picture above. My list of people that I trust that much is a short list.

• One of the common qualities each name on this list shares is that I have never seen any of these people fail to follow through on something they have promised.
  
• Another quality they share is that the react without having to be asked when they see that something needs to be done.
  
• A third quality they share in common is that they are all people of faith who practice praying on a regular basis.
  

I hope that you have people in your life that you can place on this “Trust List”. It is a blessing to be able to trust. I hope that some people have my name on their “Trust List”.

One of the perks of maintaining the web page for the church I attend is that I see the worship bulletin before I arrive. Today one hymn we will sing is “We Three Kings”. The moment I saw the title I started humming the tune in my mind.

The graphic above summarizes one of the benefits of attending church. For me it is the “reset button” where I can wipe away all the junk of the prior week and start the new week fresh and unburdened.

No matter the name of your faith community, I do hope you take advantage of the benefits of worship and attend services this week.

Email is something that many people receive every day. It can be solicited or unsolicited. Much of my unsolicited email makes it into the “trash” folder fairly quickly. That allows me to focus on the mail that is sent by people or companies that I engage with either frequently or infrequently.

• Sometimes the message is exactly what I want to read.
  
• Sometimes the message is not exactly what I want to ready, but the content is acceptable.
  
• Sometimes the message is upsetting either due to the content or the way the content is shared.
  

The choice I have when read emails and experience my emotional reaction to them is how I respond to the message. When a message makes me angry I never respond immediately! I re-read the message to make sure I have read it correctly and then I ask myself the question, “When I reply how would I feel if my reply were posted in page one of the newspaper?”

Asking that one question and using the answer to frame my reply helps me greatly. It prevents me from responding solely out of anger. It helps me choose terminology that is non-threatening. It helps me be the person I want to be! I like to behave with the standards I learned when I was a Boy Scout, which were:

Scout Oath (or Promise)

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

Scout Law

A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly,
courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,
brave, clean, and reverent.

Through the sending and receiving of Christmas cards I have been able to re-connect with people I had not communicated with for many months.  This experience has shown me the value of staying in touch with friends.  It takes: Time, Effort & Discipline!  The reward you ask???  For me the reward is being able to know what is happening in their lives and being able to share what is happening in your life.  I wish you success as you embark on the road of “staying connected”.

I conducted a funeral service on Monday.  The deceased died peacefully on December 25, 2015.  At first you might be tempted to say Christmas Day is a horrible day for anyone to die.  In most cases I might agree, but not in this case.  The person who died had declined in health status to the point where she had no quality of life.  At the funeral service I said, “This year Jamie received the ultimate Christmas gift, the gift of eternal peace.”  What better gift is there no matter what day we receive eternal life?

If Trump Was Elected President?

If Trump were elected and imposed his “vision” of America, would we cease to be America altogether?  Would the land of the free and home of the brave, become the land of the angry, violent and racially insensitive?

I am turning this space over today to a Physician I know who does an excellent job explaining the truth behind the Islamic religion.

Human Life Is Sacred To Islam

There has been a recent surge in the negative sentiments towards Islam and

Muslims and even physical attacks and property destruction.  There are constant attempts to depict Islam as violent religion due to the actions of a few extremist and radicalized individuals. Religion commands love, mercy and peace; terrorism on the other hand is cruel, merciless and murderous.

Then what is causing the emergence of the criminals who call themselves

Muslims but their acts are totally against what the religion I know teaches the opposite?  We find that political conflicts, brutal dictatorships, long warfare and political vacuum involving Muslim countries have helped breeding extremist groups like ISIL, who justify violence in the name of Islam. They will raise whatever banner draws support for their cause; be it ethnic, religious or cultural identity, nationalism, or a particular ideology.

Virtually every single American Muslim organization and organization of

Islamic cooperation, the largest body of 57 Muslim countries, has publicly rejected the ideology and practice of ISIL and condemned the terrorist attacks.  There is a lot of misinformation in the media about Islam. The terrorists are as murderers and criminals in the eyes of the law as they are in the eyes of Islamic faith. But the blame is being labelled on Islam. This has also resulted in absurd accusations against the Quran.

To understand Islam’s stance on terrorism, one must refer to its original sources, the Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, (PBUH) which explicitly prohibit any form of injustice including terrorism which seeks to instill fear, injury or death to civilians.  The Quran turns our attention to the high value of human life, whether it is Muslim or Non-Muslim and makes it absolutely forbidden to take an innocent life unjustly. The gravity of such a crime is equated, in the Quran, with the killing of all humanity. (5:32)

The Quran instructs Muslims to show goodness to those who do evil (41:31), to speak words of peace to those who are hostile (25:63), to call to the way of God with wisdom and beautiful preaching (16:125), to treat non-Muslim with the utmost kindness and justice (60:8), to be the best of people  towards other people (3:110) and to respect freedom of religion (2:256, 10:99)  Not only is human life sacred in Islam but the property, wealth, family and dignity of all individuals in society are to be respected and protected.  “And seek not corruption in the earth; lo! God loves not corrupters “(28:77)  Certain verses of the Quran have been tossed around by radical and Islamphobes alike, alleging some Quranic support for violence by deleting the surrounding context.  “Kill them where you find them” is by far the most frequent phrase misquoted by Islamphobes and extremists. But this battlefield exhortation comes right after the verse which states, “Fight against those who fight you” and it comes right before the part which states “but if they cease fighting, then let there be no hostility except against oppressors.”

There are Muslim terrorists, Muslim extremists and Muslim radicals, like in any other religion, but they are not the Islamic terrorists. The message of

Quran is that of Mercy, compassion and peace. It has never been and never will be anything else.

In the wake of the recent attacks against Muslims in America we have received several phone calls, letters and emails from peoples of Christian faith showing their concern and solidarity.  We appreciate it tremendously. We are all together in the fight against terrorism.

Our community will do everything and cooperate with the authorities to help root out any such individuals who have bad intentions. Terrorists cannot separate us using religion.

Riaz A. Janjua, M.D

Islamic Society of Cumberland

[This Letter to the Editor was published in the Times-News, Cumberland, MD on Sunday, December 27, 2015.]

Last night my son, Erik, called me to tell me he has a letter from his university, Harris Stowe State University in St. Louis, MO.  The letter confirms that he has met all the requirements for his Bachelor’s degree and will be allowed to participate in Commencement Services in May, 2016.  Graduation has been a long journey for him as he started his college courses in September 2001.  After attending 2 schools, taking several breaks from enrollment and changing majors – he has completed his goal, and I am proud of him!!

Today I was attempting to find a specific family in the Same Day Surgery Waiting Room.  While I did not locate that family, two other families stopped me and asked me if I had time to help them.  Of course my answer was “Yes”.  Walking away from those two encounters was a reminder to me that opportunities for ministry come in both expected and unexpected situations.  I am glad I was ready to see and respond to the unexpected.

Question for the day: How are you experiencing unexpected opportunities to serve others?  I hope you like the answers you find!