Does it ever feel like just too much?  Family hits the skids, students acting nuts, job teetering on a coast line, slipping on ice, congested nose?

 Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. “Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people.” (2:286)

Well apparently, it ain’t no thang.

Yesterday on my drive into Michigan it was a cold and freezing night.  Luckily, there was no snow to mess up the roads.  The sky was cloudless and the stars were out.  I glanced out of the window and there above me was Orion, my favorite constellation.

I started thinking about how wonderful the stars were and how beautiful they are.  I know it isn’t a new thought, but the way they twinkle and sparkle in the night sky is magnificent.  They were glowing bright and making it easier for us to see the road.  I find it rather pathetic, though, that I only appreciate the stars as a thing of beauty.  I think if I was a little more removed from the hubba-ballu of “the big city” and “city life” I’d appreciate the blessing of stars in their entirety.

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I ran out of checks and went to the bank to order some new ones.  I went to the customer service counter to ask to speak with one of the bankers and they led to a man’s desk.  He got up from his seat but didn’t reach in to shake my hand.  He asked me my name and what I needed and he got right into loading up my account.  He saw on the screen that I had a lot of money in my checking account and was prompted (by his computer) to ask me about opening a savings account to go along with it.

I just told him, “Oh, I don’t use interest,” and he was so pleased with my answer.  He said he truly admired that at my age I cared to follow my conscious and my religion.  He even said he would remove the prompt from my account so that the next banker I would visit in the future wouldn’t ask me to open a savings account anymore.

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