A Token of Hope

I received a very special gift today, and I felt inspired to write a bit about what it meant to me.

My faith in other human beings has recently been pretty much decimated and hope feels very hard to come by.  I have become very thankful for the small things and have been trying my best to cling to anything good and/or positive.  I sit here thinking about the last little while and I realize that as bad as things can get in any situation, (admittedly for me, things could be much worse); there always seems to be small shimmers of humanity and kindness that shine through to keep you moving forward. The trick however, is being able to see through the darkness and appreciate these shimmers for what they are. They are the very foundations of hope.

Eleanor Roosevelt said “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness,” a quote you see used a lot, however, what happens to those who are unable to light a candle? Generally speaking, darkness can overtake even the strongest person and they find themselves unable to make their own way out. It is at this time that I feel other people can make all the difference. Not one person in particular, but any person, family, friends, strangers… anyone; small acts of basic humanity can make a huge difference to someone who is struggling.

“Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.” – Desiderius Erasmus

Today’s shimmer of hope was in the form of a gift. A beautiful necklace by Aflame Creations that I have had my eye on for quite some time. Each time I passed by the artists table at the market, I would look at all of her beautiful jewelry and I could never quite justify spending the money on myself when I need to pay bills, buy groceries, gas, etc. Which is so dumb since I waste money on silly things all the time, but I just couldn’t do this for myself, for whatever reason. Last week, I had a brief chat about Aflame Creations, I spoke of my love of the jewelry, the pieces I liked best, and how I was determined to get a piece soon. 

Today the necklace I had mentioned was left for me, and I cried. I cried because it is beautiful, I cried because it was so thoughtful, far too generous and more than I deserved. I cried because the thought of someone thinking of me and remembering a random conversation that I myself had long forgotten. I cried because this token came at a time when hope is something I am struggling to hang on to. 

I must say, I was not surprised by the generosity of the gift giver, this person is, in my opinion, simply amazing, hands down one of the greatest people I have the pleasure of knowing. I was surprised, however, that the small four letter word engraved upon this necklace is exactly the gift that was being given, knowingly or not.

Thank You

http://www.aflamecreations.ca

https://www.facebook.com/AflameCreations

The World needs more men like Imam Ajmal Masoor

Watch this video:

I have no idea what it is like to be a Muslim today, but I know that if the rest of the world judged me on the actions of the loonies from Westboro Baptist Church… well.. yeah… I’d want to scream from the rooftops and fight that stereotype.

Fanatics and radicals are everywhere, in every religion and fringe group, the world cannot continue to paint everyone with the same brush and expect people not to fight back. Instead of good decent people fighting with one another, we need to join together in the name of peace and stomp these terrorist radicals into the ground. (all of them, not just the Muslim ones!)

Visit The Imam’s website here: http://www.ajmalmasroor.com/