I love Islam and cream soda

So, I am studying and trying memorize the 57th surah/chapter of the Quran, called al Hadeed , or "Iron"... At the 25th verse, God states He "sent down" (arabic: anzalna ) iron, which man uses for its various benefits. It is interesting that He says this as opposed to other verbs - and while this could be read in a metaphorical sense, I have been chasing the literal meaning. So, I wondered: "sent down" from where...? Dipping into cosmology, I find that nothing in our solar system is h ot enough to create nearly all elements on/in our planet, and that they occur as the result of supernovas elsewhere (from a loooong time ago), its expelled matter streaking across the universe, eventually collecting into the cooling mass that became our solar system and planet. Now, the Quran is not a science manual, nor do I subscribe to the notion that science is supposed to confirm the veracity of the Quran, but I am impressed when there is a confluence of the tw...

The Universe always speaks and sometimes we are given a brief ability to listen. Tonight, I got a message… It was actually a 3-part message that culminated tonight. The first part was sent earlier today – I was in a meeting with a community-based organization and one of the ladies there shook my hand and remarked how soft my skin was. No biggie except that everyone in the office rolled with laughter as I stood there embarrassed – I mean, I’m a pretty manly dude (I think), heck, even a fighter, so I don’t imagine having soft hands, not the kind that get remarked on. Now let’s backtrack a bit to several months ago, while I was in prison. I got an online generated message from an old friend, “Rose” (not her real name), totally out of the blue.   Rose and I really don’t know each other but we have been friends for nearly 20 years. We have never met face to face or even had a direct conversation. We met originally on a couple religious message boards run by MSN, way back wh...

Relating the story of Jonah, the Quran has it that it was his anger at the people of Nineveh for refusing his message of salvation that led him to flee from them and eventually end up swallowed by a big fish/whale. I have an inkling of what that type of anger feels like, having been in the belly of the beast (prison) once as a teenager/young adult and inexplicably again recently (being in my 40s). I am sure that Jonah’s own belly burned white hot with righteous indignation that covered up feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. My own fire burned during my latest stint fueled by the fact that it came after nearly 2 decades of turning my life around from my first time down, as well as this latest conviction being the result of largely false accusations of domestic violence.