It’s weird…I think im under such a state of spiritual attack lately. The enemy will try to get at your vulnerable points and if it doesn’t work, he’ll try different things until he strikes a nerve. I’ve been able to withstand the attacks, but they are getting wearisome, so your prayers are still coveted. Lately, he has been targeting my loneliness. I so want to be in love…desperately so. That is a weak point…and the Enemy is ratcheting up the despair. When I don’t have work to distract me, im much more vulnerable. Im aware of this, so I have to prepare. I think when Guy the Canadian, comes out in a couple of weeks that will sure help. I know God’s plan…he has one…I just have to be patient.
I went into the office today (holiday) to meet Mo. We are finishing up his video project. Its always nice to work with him, he’s got so much energy. He asked me about the Romanian. I said…she just wants to be friends. He replied…ah that’s no good man…you need to hang out with me, I’ll introduce you to some women. It was all good hearted banter. We are going to be working a lot together in the future. Mo’s dad passed away a few weeks ago, so I’m sure it’s a difficult period for him. But he is always up and positive. He is one of the most faithful and dedicated Muslims that I met here on the island. Its cool because he knows im a Christian and he doesn’t try to convert me, and I don’t try to convert him. We let our lifestyle speak our words…and that is more powerful than any we might be able to say.
Right near my apartment, we have The Grand Mosque which is the biggest Mosque in Bahrain. They were doing an open house for the Eid Al adha holidays for non-Muslims. So I went over and took the tour. I was the last tour of the day and there was no one else, so I got a private tour. The Mosque was large, and impressive, but I wasn’t absolutely blown away. It cost 20 million (USD) to build in 1988 and can hold up to 9000 worshipers. Its only males allowed in the main auditorium (the females have a separate room that has a capacity of 1500. My guide explained that most of the women want to stay home with the children while the husband comes to church. There is no furniture in the main hall. The men during prayer come to stand in line shoulder to shoulder and they kneel, put their face on the ground, and stand up repeatedly following the leading of the Imam (leader). When they have there services on Friday, the Imam, generally will give a topical speech on politics, economy, but its not like a normal message from the Koran. I asked why, and the guide explained that religion and life should be intermixed constantly throughout the week so the lessons from the Koran should have already been adopted. Oh I made a mistake earlier. I mention Eid-Al Hada was celebrating Abraham’s faithfulness in trying to sacrifice Isaac. Apparently that’s wrong…the Muslims celebrate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Ishmael. Who is the father of the Muslims. Now, don’t go thinking Im converting to Islam because im going into all this detail. Rather Im trying to learn as much as I can about their culture so I can be a better witness and representative for my faith. I know there is major conflict between Arabs, Jews and Christians. But if you think back to Ishmael’s day. Hagar (Mother of Ishmael) really got a bad deal. I’ve always felt this, even before I came out here. If you recall, Sarah was barren, so she said Hey Abe…go into Hagar our handmaiden (servant) Oh by the way this is the Rick Abridged Version, I could Also say…Hey Abe go thee and know thy maidservant, do you ya dig? (KRJV, King Rick James Version. ) So Hagar was just doing as she was told. Then once she had the baby, Sarah got all jealous and kicked Hagar out of the house. So Hagar had to fend for herself and Ishmael all alone. What Sarah did was wrong on two accounts. One by not trusting God and offering Hagar, and Two she compounded the mistake by ostracizing her. That’s probably one of the main reasons there is so much hatred and division between the two races even though they are brothers.
OK…here’s the exact text from Genesis 15…
1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her."
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me."
6 "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?"
"I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered.
9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." 10 The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."
11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:
"You are now with child
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael, [a]
for the LORD has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward [b] all his brothers."
13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen [c] the One who sees me." 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi [d] ; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
So Arabs aren’t necessarily the bad guys here historically as everyone in the West likes to portray them as. There was guilt on both sides. Its interesting the prophecy that the angel said…”He will live in Hostility towards his brothers.” You see that prophecy being fulfilled over and over again.
OK, Im writing a lot lately. I went to dinner with the Romanian again. She is so my best friend here and we have a great time. Its going to be soooooo hard not to fall for her. We just get along splendidly…But I know that God has a plan. I mentioned in my blog last night…that if I didn’t wind up with her, God would have someone better. She told me no my dear…there is no one better than me. We had a good laugh…we laugh about a lot of things.
It was cool, we just played games tonight. She wanted me to teach her how to play chess. Which I did, she so wants to expand her mind. She is constantly reading self-help books and was anxious to get into Joel Osteen’s book, Become a Better You, which I bought her yesterday. We even watched an online Sermon for Osteen yesterday. And then she went all “Osteen” on me and admonished me not to live in the past and to get over the whole ex-wife thing and not to complain. Speak positively not negatively. I know, I know, everyone tells me that. I just miss my kids, not my ex, but my kids. If I had them, everything would be right in the world. Im working on the positive.
After chess we watched some of my movies online…oh by the way, if you ever want to see my work, you can watch them too http://homepage.mac.com/rickbeeman She sent me a text after I dropped her home, (she lives a minute away from me) Saying “Your videos were beautiful, I couldn’t take my eyes off of them.” She really knows how to get to my heart. Wow…
By the way, feel free to share this blog with anyone you might think would be interested in it.
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