This is living, undeniable proof that I am totally distracted from the horrors and the repercussions of Gaza facing the brutality of Israel aided and abetted by their partners in crime..
You: What is the proof of your distraction?
Me: I am obsessed with this familiar phrase. “You have to kiss a lot of frogs.” Goodness knows I have kissed many a frog in my time.
I researched the Internet to discover why I might be obsessed with this concept. You shall now share results of the research coupled with my responses.
“The Princess kissed the frog and he turned into a handsome prince. However, you may have to kiss a whole lot of frogs before that happens to you. In other words you have to search long and hard for the right partner, and most of them will be frogs.
Me: You can say that again. Most of the guys I kissed have been frogs.
It is not rational, this obsession, not sure why I am thinking of that now. Particularly since, as a Muslim woman it is haram (forbidden) for me to be kissing guys. Moreover, I have no desire to kiss a frog (or a toad for that matter). Hahaha
The phrase comes from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the Frog Prince.
Me: Always found it ironic that the authors of children’s fairy tales have the last name of Grimm.
Two solutions were found. The first: Kiss a frog with your eyes wide open. If he turns into a prince you won’t miss the transformation, but if he doesn’t, you won’t be fooled by some wishful illusion in your head.
Suppose that is a solution (of sorts). But here is a better answer to the proverbial expression: How many frogs do you have to kiss before you find a prince?
The true answer to the question, “How many frogs do you have to kiss before you find your prince?” is: none. The aphorism is just plain wrong. It’s ridiculously easy to discover if a man is a prince or a frog without kissing him. You can spot a frog right away Basically, you need to build up your own strengths, work on your own weaknesses, and be your own prince, if you will.
Me: This brilliant! No kissing frogs. Build up your own strengths, work on your weaknesses. Be your own prince.
That answer is preferable to this version. A princess is wooed by a frog, who asks for a kiss. First recoiling in horror, the maiden eventually relents, out of sympathy or kindness, and kisses the frog. Suddenly, the frog is transformed into a handsome prince, and the couple are married, living happily ever after.
Me: Thanks anyway. I am not convinced that I want a handsome prince underfoot, even with the false promise of living happily ever after (or even for quite some time)
This is perhaps a middle ground, found in these two solutions. 1) The Frog Prince moral of the story is that you should never judge someone at first glance, instead try to understand the situation and act accordingly. 2) One of the themes of The Frog Prince is about keeping your promises. The princess tries to back out of her promise to the frog, but her father insists that she maintain her integrity. As a result, the princess ends up with her prince. Another theme is about persistence.
The middle ground is an intermediate position or area of compromise or possible agreement between two opposing views or groups. Used in a sentence: The UN peace envoy has failed to find any middle ground between the government and the opposition parties.
But sometimes a middle ground makes no one happy. It may result in a compromise that each side can take but neither is really pleased with,” says Terry B. McDougall, an executive coach and career coach.
However a middle ground may not be the best solution at all, refuted by the Argument to Moderation. The from Wikipedia.
The Argument to Moderation also known as false compromise, argument from middle ground, and the golden mean fallacy[1]—is the fallacy that the truth is always in the middle of two opposites.An example would be considering two statements about the colour of the sky on Earth during the day – one claiming, correctly, that the sky is blue, and another claiming that it is yellow – and incorrectly concluding that the sky is the intermediate colour, green.
This may be true now, with Palestine. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister was questioned:They: Can there be peace in Palestine? He:First there must be a cease fire. Then negotiations can begin. They; Will this happen?. He: We are prepared to negotiate for peace. That is the only long term solution. They: What about Israel? He gave no response as he was rushing to an important meeting.
A cease fire cannot be determined by the governments of Israel, the USA, the UK. All is in the hands of Allah (SWT). The Quran is the Word of Allah (SWT) and is the Truth.
There are several English translations of Quran 17:4
And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture, that indeed you would do mischief on the earth twice and you will become tyrants and extremely arrogant! (Mushlin Khan)
And We gave (Clear) Warning to the Children of Israel in the Book, that twice would they do mischief on the earth and be elated with mighty arrogance (and twice would they be punished)! (Yusuf Ali)
When the first of the two warnings would come to pass, We would send against you some of Our servants of great might, who would ravage your homes. This would be a warning fulfilled.(Quran 17;5)
Then ˹after your repentance˺ We would give you the upper hand over them and aid you with wealth and offspring, causing you to outnumber them. (Quran 17.6)
If you act rightly, it is for your own good, but if you do wrong, it is to your own loss. “And when the second warning would come to pass, your enemies would ˹be left to˺ totally disgrace you and enter that place of worship as they entered it the first time, and utterly destroy whatever would fall into their hands. (Quran 17:7)
This is, perhaps, the final word from Quran 17, The Night Journey.
Whoever chooses to be guided, it is only for their own good. And whoever chooses to stray, it is only to their own loss. No soul burdened with sin will bear the burden of another. And We would never punish ˹a people˺ until We have sent a messenger ˹to warn them˺. (Quran 17:15)
Whenever We intend to destroy a society, We command its elite ˹to obey Allah˺ but they act rebelliously in it. So the decree ˹of punishment˺ is justified, and We destroy it utterly. (Quran 17:16)
Children of Israel, you must obey Allah (SWT). It would be foolish, risky and downright suicidal not to believe and repent.
Here safe in my Oberio Hotel Room I leisurely take photos This is my my sanctuary. A sanctuary is a place of refuge or safety. Soothing synonyms are: refuge, haven, harbor, port in a storm, oasis, shelter, retreat, hideaway. I am blessed to have this refuge, oasis, port in a storm.
There are two photos of flower arrangements. My ‘adopted’ son (originally from India) an employee in this hotel for 26 years presented me with a bouquet of roses. The guidance offered by twenty years of Ikebana studies allowed the fashioning of an arrangement. Later, another variation was placed on my Palestinian scarf, purchased at the Edmonton Churchill Square in August 2022. Those days seem so long ago, so far away. At this moment, at the end of October 2023, there will be (hopefully) no Muslims visiting the Edmonton Churchill Square.. It is not a safe place for Muslims any longer because of Canada’s support of Israel’s atrocities. This has unleashed yet another round of Islamophobia. Edmontonian misinformed, uneducated bullies are attacking the Muslims of Edmonton. They cannot get me, I am safe in my Oberio Hotel room.
Another photo, a toy bought at the Riyadh Hilton, is standing on a desktop. A sign, embedded on the desktop, directs the Believer to the Quibla, the direction to be faced while offering the five daily prayers.
The last photograph is the blog statistics – the numbers, not the countries where the visitors reside In the last 30 days 990 visitors made 2,975 visits. In the last 90 days 2,984 visitors made 9,6645 visits.
That gives new meaning to the word outreach. The noun’s definition:the extent or length of reaching out. The verb’s definition: reach further than
Wikipedia says more about Outreach.
Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services.[1][2] A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meeting someone in need of an outreach service at the location where they are.[1][2][3] Compared with traditional service providers, outreach services are provided closer to where people may reside, efforts are very often voluntary, and have fewer, if any, enforceable obligations. In addition to delivering services, outreach has an educational role, raising the awareness of existing services.
This is true of the blog. The people it reaches are mobile, people read it voluntarily, there are no obligations on anyone’s part and it does have an educational role.
I do wonder if my Outreach has spread to the elite of the Children of Israel? My only obligation is to clearly communicate.
This was indeed an extraordinary blog – it began with Kissing Frogs, ended with verses from the Quran. This learned from the past. If I was always serious, then no one would read the blog as it would be boring. On the other hand, if I was always joking, then it would become trivial and no one (of any worth) wants to read triviality. Therefore a mixture of the two is necessary – never know what is coming up next, similar to the excitement of a roller coaster.
