Cana of Galilee

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Razan Masri

I found this stunning photograph of a village in occupied Palestine known as Kafr Kanna or Cana of Galilee, I then found out that this photograph was captured in 1925 by a female Palestinian professional photographer who used to work between Lebanon and Palestine before the Israeli occupation. She captured beautiful images, and exhibited them during the first half century. Karimeh Abbud was her name and she was born in 1896 in Shefa Amer, Palestine, known as the Lady Photographer, she died in Nazareth in 1955.

The second photographer is another beautiful photographs of the Jordan River, also captured by Karimeh.

Today’s Guest for the wordpress daily prompt.

To the Intelligent

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Razan Masri

The meanest earning that goes on in the world,

is it ever practiced without the guidance of a master?

It begins with knowledge and is followed by action

That it may yield fruit after a while or after death.

Apprentice yourself, O possessor of intelligence,

To a generous and righteous craftsman.

Seek the pearl in the oyster-shell, my brother,

And seek craftsmanship from the skilled.

If you meet sincere spiritual counselors,

Deal fairly with them, and be eager to learn:

Don’t put on any airs.

If a tanner wears a threadbare coat,

That doesn’t diminish the master’s mastery;

If the blacksmith with massive biceps

Wears a patched apron while flexing the bellows,

His reputation doesn’t plummet in people’s eyes,

So strip the raiment of pride from your body:

In learning, put on the garment of humility.

Rumi – Mathnawi

DailyPrompt on Layers

Let Your Mind Serve You, Let It Not Destroy You

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Razan Masri

It is like being stuck in jail, only you have made this jail by yourself for your own self. Caged inside your own thoughts and head, creating knots that only gloom your serenity and sanity. You block the air from reaching out to your brains to free your repeated thoughts from strangling you down your own drain. Just breath, forget about it for a moment, get up and shake it off, move, leave, do something different, put a smile on someone’s face, change the nature you have created around you and pull yourself down to your own ground. Breath again, think about the possibilities, the multiple doors that can yet still open, think about the miracles that took place and still can take place , think about your opportunities, un-limit yourself and stop limiting yourself. Free yourself from your own cage, your own mind that can twist you apart. Let your mind serve you and let it not destroy you… Autonomy

Photo of the Day – Island

Posted on July 3, 2016 by Razan Masri

Space Out to an Island.

Opposites can Attract

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Razan Masri

A photograph of a Church built-in 1889 next to a Mosque built-in 1824 in Tripoli, Lebanon.

We have been segregated and divided from one another, when we were actually made for each other. We have been made opposites when we are nothing but truly very similar. We have the perception of Opposition built into each one of us and we have interpreted our spiritual beliefs into differences. Once we know we have different religions we automatically check the different box and mark ourselves different from one another. And why is that? because we pray in a different temples, we pray in a different form, or because we might dress differently, and because we might eat and drink differently? But did we forget to look at our similarities, that seem to be much bigger than our opposites? Our similarity in believing in a bigger meaning to our existence, our similarity in believing in the existence of the Divine God (whichever you wish to Call It), our similarity in the stories recited to us, our similarity in our values, our similarity in the use of our temples, our similarity in practicing a ritual to connect us to spirituality, our similarity in giving to our community, our similarity in our pure existence. Our temples have been built one next to the another since centuries ago, people lived together in harmony, people still live in harmony, we still share the same food on the table, we celebrate and congratulate one another, we seek peace and love upon our lives and upon each other. It does not matter if there is a minority out there who believe we are opposites, who dislike our opposites, as long as we no longer do see it as a fraction, but instead we see our opposites as our attraction; the beauty in our diversity, the beauty of our natural differences, being attracted to love one another for our differences, the true beauty of accepting and loving our differences, to look into our differences as a possible continuation of our own misinterpretation. We live with opposites, our lives are incomplete without opposites, puzzles only fit when opposite. Opposites are beautiful.

In response to the Opposites Photo Challenge by wordpress.- Read more about Tripoli, Lebanon.

What Prayers Look Like During Ramadan

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Razan Masri

I found this beautiful photograph on Instagram yesterday that I could not take my eyes off. Beautiful. It sure is, as much as prayers in Ramadan is. Serene. Full of color. From the prayer mat to what people are covered up with; to perform their prayers. Their spirits rise above to meet in unity, diverting their hearts and thoughts towards a meditative state of mutual connection towards the Divine. A prayer performed to remember what we are grateful for, to remember there is something much bigger than all of us, all of this and all of that, to remember that we are not alone but gifted, given, surrounded by miracles. Prayers; no matter how they are performed, no matter by whom they are performed, where or when, resemble the same beautiful purpose to express ones presence, gratitude, a beautiful way to express mutual humility and to remember always to take part in the unity of humanity.

Ramadan is a holly month that unites Muslims all around the world to submit their souls in the name of spirituality. They fast, practice their prayers, contribute as much as they can to charity and to their communities, it is a month to unite the people together to remember that we are all here, alive, today, through a common source. To practice not only what is good, but what can be better, to spread love, and peace, to ask for forgiveness and new chances, to start over again, to help people start over again. It is a month of unity, and it is a month of remembrance, a month for-giving.

To a world of today that is thirsty for our unity and love.

Photograph by Yassine Ismail, Morroco, found on EmergEast Instagram account.

Also tagged onto the Pleasure Daily post by wordpress.

UP in the air.

Posted on July 1, 2016 by Razan Masri

It is like a routine, a daily reminder, to get up, and start something new, everyday.

It is like walking up a mountain, between the trees, and the wind, and the air, and the breeze, and to breathe, once again, to remember, that life, is still up and running.

It is like being on the plane, looking out the window, to remember, the advantages of today, the opportunities of tomorrow.

It is like looking into the clouds, so white and fluffy, so inseparable and invisible, looking different at every angle, you can never get it right, because there is no right.

It is about the horrific things, that take place, every day, in this world, that make us forget, about the little things, we are surrounded by… reasons to be grateful for, that we keep pushing aside.

Prompt by WordPress Daily Post: Clouds