Life is not a Misery, it is what we make of it.

We will experience periods of “difficulty” in life, but that is for a purpose, and is inevitably followed by better times, and there are many reasons why this is necessary.

Besides being tests to strengthen us, we can understand that sometimes to get to greener pasture we have to cross a river, and these difficult times can be seen as our time crossing a river, and the greener pasture awaits us if we follow God’s advice. Acting against His guidance could cause us to “fight against the river” instead of patiently waiting till the torrent eases. This could result in us both not reaching the other side, and arriving back on our side of the river but at a worse position.

It is only when we have acquainted ourselves with God’s guidance that we can hope to put it into practice in our life. How much of God’s guidance can we say we are really aware of, and more importantly, how much of what we accept as being from God truly is from God, and not from some human who concocted it and presented it as being from God? How much of these concoctions are of our own making?

If our concept of religion incorporates the four basic teachings of every prophet (PBUT), then our faith and conduct is founded correctly. If not, then we have some serious soul searching to do. This is a reality even if we wish to deny it. Not every "religion" worships God.

The word "Religion", when used in the way we usually do, denotes our relationship with a Higher Being. This Being has already defined the manner of this relationship. It ensures our freedom, but it entails strict adherence to His guidance. The positive outcomes are possible if we allow ourselves to become products of His guidance.

Religious practice where we define the terms of the relationship is a form of self-worship. We place ourselves in a position of absolute superiority and determine our relationship with God. This is not submission to God. It does not result in true success in this world or the hereafter. It does not lead to Paradise.

A celebrity I communicated with refused to consider the possibility that God exists because his mother was an atheist and he considered it a betrayal of her legacy to believe otherwise. How satan corrupts our thinking, that we will follow our parents even when they are wrong. This is parent worship, and anything that takes us away from God, when traced to its root, will be found to be rooted in satan. This poor man was serving satan while blissfully thinking that neither God nor satan exists. Satan does not require that we acknowledge his existence as long as it is his lead that we follow.

In most cases our deviation from the original teaching of a Prophet was not with malicious intent. Consider a pious man teaching his disciples that we should respect all life and learn to see the presence of God in everything. Many generations later we may find their descendants worshipping living things because of a failure to grasp the essence of the pious man’s words. This, I believe, has been a not uncommon occurrence. They have taken the words literally, and worshipped living things because “God is in everything”.

From this we can understand the true meaning of “religion”. It is the body of knowledge passed on to man from God via his Prophets (PBUT). Prophets are chosen because of their inherent qualities which qualify them for this status. They also have a much higher standard by which they are judged, so we should not feel disadvantaged or discriminated against in any way. If we truly think about the tasks the prophets were faced with, we may find ourselves thanking God for sparing us.

To worship God is to act in accordance with His guidance. Worship began with the creation of the heavens and the Earth, the very first things created. They acted as God commanded and in so doing they worshipped God.

Everything other than Human and Ginn worship God exclusively. We have the privilege of choice.

The “religion” that embodies God’s guidance has been called “submission to the will of God”, or Islam in Arabic. One who practices Islam is a Muslim. Every Prophet (PBUT) practiced Islam and was a Muslim. Islam is not specific to Arabs or followers of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

“Religion” has been discussed in more detail in an earlier post.

When we adopt the Worship of God alone, we become free and make it possible for others to similarly become free. This will be discussed in the next post. When we fail to heed His advice, we face all the tumult and oppression that God wished to spare us. Who is responsible for the wars, death misery and social upheaval on Earth?

If our life is miserable, it is because of the choices we have made. If we want our life to change, then we are the ones who have to change. It is as simple as that.

Until next time.