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I believe in the Mercy of God.

Today I received an email about a woman I have never met, a child I will never get to meet, and a family in despair. I learned of a woman with brain cancer, whose baby died. I have not met Fatima Qasim but I believe in the Mercy of God. That in this pain, grief and sadness, there is also mercy.

I believe in the Mercy of God who allows good people to fall sick, to die. I believe in the Mercy of God who allows us to veer so terribly off the course that we can hardly recognize ourselves. I believe in the Mercy of God despite the harm we inflict on our selves, our bodies, and our families. I believe in the Mercy of God to purify our hearts, to remove the blackness that grows like mold. I believe in the Mercy of God who solves all problems, and creates so many more problems for us to solve. I cannot understand why I am crying for a woman I have never met, but I believe in the Mercy of God who reminds me of who I am. I believe in the Mercy of God who allows a young woman my age to survive triple bypass surgery. I believe in the Mercy of God who allows me to see my mother, to call her, to have her still be here. I believe in the Mercy of God who punishes and reward, who gives and takes, who does and undoes what we try to create. In a moment there is a light, and in the next, it disappears. The world we construct is hardly real. The comforts we seek are not real. The true path is one of remembrance. The true path is of sacrifice and righteousness. The only things you take to the grave are your good deeds, the things you taught others. I believe in the Mercy of God who allowed me to remember this.

Suban'Allah.

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