Good Deeds and Sighting Death

Sometimes God gives you those little reminders to let you know you don't have it so bad. The last couple of days have had some for me. Reminders to make me humble, to remind me who's in charge.

As a muslim I know I am not supposed to tell of the good deeds I do. I am not here to tell what I did, but how I felt afterward. I feel that I am a very sweet, caring individual on an every day basis. I feel that I help people and do things to make their life better. Islam says that even a smile is an act of charity towards another person. When you have nothing else to give, you can always give a smile. The good deed I did yesterday was nothing big, but it made me cry. I used to do things like this for people all the time. People used to accept my help more when I wasn't muslim. Now they feel afraid that I might do something to them. I was so happy that this non-muslim person accepted my help, that it made me cry. It also reminded me that there are so many things that I can do, that others can't. I need to be thankful to Allah for my mobility.

I also need to be thankful for life in general. Today on my way to work I saw a really terrible accident. I had to sit at the stop light for quite some time, not too far from the scene. A firetruck, 3 cop cars, and the ambulance were all there. They were trying to get into one of the vehicles and had the stretcher waiting. They couldn't get in, and I was glad the light turned green so I didn't have to see anymore. I don't think there was an actual fatality there, but it sure gets the mind working. I hate seeing accidents. I get a creepy feeling, and thank Allah I wasn't there however many minutes earlier. It is a definite reminder that life is short, and to make the best of it. I saw an even worse accident about a year ago; the car had rolled over. I was supposed to leave the house with my little brother. I got a phone call, and my brother was all impatient to leave. I told him to wait a minute, let's not hurry, and let me finish my call. Alhamdulilah, thank Allah, imagine if I had not taken that call! Everything happens for a reason. Life is too precious to take for granted and waste our time on trivial things.