رسول ... Messenger of God

"Allah. There is no god but He, the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? ... His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme in glory." Qur'an 2:255

I recently had an opportunity to visit a sports store out in town Kabul. Looks the same as any other except the games have changed. Here, like the rest of the world outside the U.S., they play with their feet, not their hands...except for the game of cricket which is closer to baseball! I picked a bat and couple of cricket balls as a token gift to the cadets for teaching me the game.

Well, still hoping to excite them about the game of baseball, I gave them a baseball which I signed with a sharpie. The cricket ball and baseball are roughly the same size, covered in leather and weigh about 5oz. They will never hit the baseball because I wrote "Go with God and do great things!" Muslims are very particular about taking care of anything that has the name of God on it. We can all take a lesson from that!

So, what does that have to do with the “Messenger of God?” Another short antidote…In the Muslim world, my name is pronounced "ru-sool" and is written in Arabic like this: رسول . It means "messenger of God." So, it is another name or descriptor of their prophet Mohamed. The cadets just think it is so cool that my name is so famous and they cannot understand why I am not a Muslim. Another post on religion later, but the reader's digest version of this is that I signed my name in Arabic on the baseball to further preserve the leather and laces!! They would not dare mistreat it now. : )

These cadets at the academy are great kids and part of what can potentially be a great future for Afghanistan's armed forces. They have a long road to hoe!! I'll miss being around their "youth" as I head to my new job very soon.