Anecdote
A Little Boy’s Temper
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily, gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said “you have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one.”
You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there.
Make sure you control your temper the next time you are tempted to say something you will regret later.
One of the traits of the believers is that they control and suppress their anger. Anger is part of our ego that we should learn how to tame in order to attain righteousness.
[3:133] You should eagerly race towards forgiveness from your Lord and a Paradise whose width encompasses the heavens and the earth; it awaits the righteous,
[3:134] who give to charity during the good times, as well as the bad times. They are suppressors of anger, and pardoners of the people. GOD loves the charitable.
[42:37] They avoid gross sins and vice, and when angered they forgive.
Awareness of our ego and how we feed it is very important. God willing, as long as we are aware of the anger as it arises, and let it go, consciously, in every moment, we have control of it. If we can’t do this, we become a slave to our own ego. We should always ask help from God, like Prophet Moses did:
[20:25] He said, "My Lord, cool my temper.
Also, we should ask forgiveness from God when we forget and err.
[3:135] If they fall in sin or wrong their souls, they remember GOD and ask forgiveness for their sins - and who forgives the sins except GOD - and they do not persist in sins, knowingly.
God Willing
24th
United Submitters
Annual Conference
July 31— August 2, 2009
Sacramento, California
God willing, mark your calendars and start making plans for attending the Annual Conference of the Submitters.
God willing, the registration forms and hotel information are being mailed out to the subscribers of Submitters Perspective. In case you don’t get the forms, or misplace them, you can find the information on the internet:
www.masjidtucson.org/conference
If you have any specific questions regarding the conference, email us at info@masjidtucson.org
God willing, we are looking forward to seeing you all again and to meet new submitters.