People are hurting. As someone attempting to raise the level of knowledge & spirituality in myself & my community, I can understand the frustration at times when it seems everyone is stagnant. There are times I’m overwhelmed just wishing that people could see the gates of Paradise that just seem so real to me. While I attempt to understand & pass down these beautiful Divine teachings, I am sometimes met with disdain, anger, and ill-temper.

It wasn’t long ago that I had a community member spend a good two years of their life aimed at defaming me in any capacity they were able. It was horrible. Slurs at my family, organizations being beckoned to remove me from their boards, & masajid requested to ban me from entering. It was a dark place because the entire time all I remembered was how much I just wanted to serve.

I think we all have had moments like this. Relationships where we gave everything, or businesses that we invested everything into, all with good purpose, only for things to completely backfire. One mistake (or perceived mistake) we made turned into an eternity of sorrow. Not only that, but some of those who we thought were our supporters, friends, and sworn protectors didn’t take a moment to stand up for us. My frustration turned into anger, and then came the broken heart from whence a stream of tears poured out.

But then one day it hit me, what if they were hurting me because they themselves were hurting? What if the community, society, & nation wasn’t turning away from religion because it was outdated, but because some of those that don the garments of the people of God have made guilt into a noose? So this morning as I sat in bed & I thought about the person that once hurt me, I realized how much I cared about them & how I was concerned that I hadn’t heard or seen anything about them in months. You see, what I mean to say is that we need to love people. We need to forgive people. We need to realize that though people may not show it, many of us are in turmoil inside. We need to remember that we all make mistakes & we aren’t proud of them. Be my pillar and I’ll be yours, and together we can be the support for our blessed community.

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