holiness: Haram=ungodly

Nora and I had another one of our deep conversations. The three year old makes me think more than does her mother, perhaps because our conversations are more honest. She is very cognisant of what is haram. "Har-am, grandma, not ha-ram." It is important to her that I learn the words correctly. She is patient but firm. (I taught her mother to correctly say words and grammar, and it comes back to haunt me. However that was for English. I am a bit more flexible when one is learning another language.)

Don't remember exactly what the subject was that brought it up. I believe it was about dressing correctly and not revealing too much. But we were watching tv and sometimes the dancing of the stars is more sexual than is necessary. Cannot argue the point as I was the one who taught her mother that the choreography of dirty dancing was inappropriate. Informing Nora that I use the term ungodly didn't mean much so I repeated the word haram correctly. I humored her, but will explain more another time. We have the same concept but use different words.

Inwardly I question the legitimacy of Dancing With The Stars and other shows. If one is going to teach his child the importance of such terms, he should also be circumspect about what he watches. I wonder how much of the kids' time is spent being ignored while their parents are watching nonsense either on tv or computer. How much are they humored in order to get a certain amount of relaxation and diversion from the day? Two girls can be a handful, and parents do somewhat need "me" time.

Wish I had not taught my daughter to depend so much upon the television. But it was my babysitter, valued as such since I had no family that I could depend upon for relief. Our kids did play in the neighborhood, but after dark, or dinner, it was mostly up to me. Even true somewhat for the rest of the day but my husband was sometimes gone for several days at a time on business, or was on the phone since we were self-employed. Balanced by his being home often in the morning, or sometimes afternoons, they did get daddy time. (And that is not to disregard the substantial amount of times when I went back to school, or was working when he did spend considerable time watching them.)

Most of their early watching (for the first two) was Disney movies, Sesame Street, clean other movies. Not that they were not exposed to other movies, tv shows, or whatever, but it was a major issue to keep things in our house spiritually clean. Not true for James, as he was exposed to middle school boys, and fourth grade girls who were just finding out the facts of life from more mature shows than what they had previously experienced. It was downhill from there: Simpsons,South Park, Married with Children, Beevis and Buthead, 90210, etc., etc. Acceptable somewhat for learning to deal with what the world offered, with parental comments accompanying. Or fights to change the channel if that night's show went beyond normal repartee.

Nevertheless, what was acceptable for the kids was mostly the prime importance. I wonder how much her parents are going to be shocked when Nora grows up to want to wear stylish clothing, dance and behave as she has watched on sit-coms that mildly flitted through their thoughts, but stayed to root/roost in her mind.

I want to teach her of the concept of holiness: A Christian version that states that how a person acts is just as important as how they dress. Of course, her parents wouldn't disagree. But the Koran's standards are different. In even what remains of Christendom, little old men cannot marry nor F little girls. Neither can they capture and kill someone's mate to force someone to marry them. I want her so desperately to know that though she desires purity and truth, they are not always there in Islam, especially by allah's apostle. Nor his successors. A Christian man cannot slough off his lustful desires as only his innocent response to (evil) women. No matter what the source, we must own our responsibility, not blame various stimuli. I want to praise Muslims for desiring to adhere to standards of godliness, and question them as to how they can accept Mohammed if they have them.

Allah and His Apostle are inseparable. One cannot state that he worships Allah and disregard Mohammed. To do so may be wise, discerning, and a great start, but it is not Islam. While I pray for all of us to return to and keep a standard of godliness, which we so easily disregard, I question the difficulty of reaching these people. But godliness is a key issue.

And I marvel. Some folks have stumbled into salvation, hardly looking for it. Others have been chased down a long, hard road by a fiercely pursuing deity who would not give up until this one was gathered into the fold. Knowing both the stubbornness of the Almighty, as well as His great graciousness, it boggles my mind that some can avoid discovering salvation (and a relationship with the greatest Love man can know.)And yet individuals of all races and backgrounds continue to do so.

Do not doubt me when I say He is stubborn. Though we can change His mind when we pray, you may not have been on the other side of an argument, wrestled with Him over issues or the direction He wants things to go in. You will not win, though it break your heart. Yet the question remains, why does He so firmly resist some, and allow others to go their own ways?

The Bible says that if you are not disciplined, you are not a child of His. And even if some are his children, for some it matters more. I do not have all the answers. But I do know that His love and protection are deep, and that it is better to be on the losing side because it shows He cares.