Alhamdellah!

A story from "The White Bedouin" by George S. Potter:

Once upon a time there was a king and his faithful chief servant. The servant was a good Muslim. He was known to be cheerful and always thanked God for every event, whether good or bad. "Alhamdellah: thank God; It's a good thing," he would say.

One day the king decided to take trip and have his chief servant accompany him. Just before they were to leave on the journey, the king accidentally cut off part of his little finger. "Alhamdellah," the servant said. "It is a good thing." The chief servant's apparent insensitivity outraged the king, so he had his loyal servant put in prison.

While on his journey, the king had to pass through a dark jungle. Deep in the jungle, primitive savages attacked the royal party. The king's guards were killed, and the king was taken hostage. They savages gathered firewood to burn the king alive. Just as they were about to sacrifice the king to their pagan god, the savages noticed that a part of his finger was missing. Sacrificing such an imperfect offering would only offend their god, so they let the king go free.

When the king returned from his journey, he immediately freed his chief servant from prison. "Forgive me. Forgive me," the king said to his chief servant. "You were right. If I had not cut off part of my finger, I would have been burned at the stake. Will you ever forgive me?"

"Alhamdellah," the chief servant said once again. "Thank God you threw me into prison. It was a good thing."

The king shook his head, "How could it have been a good thing that I put you in prison?"

The servant replied, "If you had not put me in jail, I would have been with you in the jungle, and the savages would have sacrificed me in your place."


This story really strikes a chord in me. We never know in advance when "tragedy" strikes, how it may turn out to be a blessing. We need to have enough faith in our father in Heaven to accept His will for us - whatever it entails. We need to be more like the servant and thank God for everything that happens in our lives, because we cannot tell, from our mortal vantage point, what the bigger picture is.

Our Trip

What a time we had in Canada! On Friday, Aug 29, we flew into Vancouver. We stayed downtown at the Sheraton Wall Centre, which was centrally located. Our first evening there, we ate Sablefish at the Blue Water Cafe. The fish was unbelievably tender and delicious, if a bit pricey. After dinner we walked along the sea for a couple of miles then went back to our hotel.

The next morning, we took a taxi to Stanley Park in north Vancouver. It is a beautiful park full of trees, lakes, hiking paths, and flowers. In December 2006, a cyclone hit the park, knocking down 10,000 trees, but you could hardly tell, there were so many left standing. We got to briefly watch a cricket match, then hiked into the centre (Canadian spelling) of the park. After that, we rode a bus to Granville Island - the artsy crafty center of Vancouver. The picture above is the view from the northern edge of Stanley Park.

Sunday we caught a bus at 7:30 in the morning that drove us several miles to the ferry. The bus drove right onto the ferry for the 90 minute trip to Swartz Bay, north of Victoria, then when we arrived, it carried us right into downtown Victoria. We checked into our B&B and caught a bus to church on Quadra Street. After church we walked around Victoria for awhile, then went back to our room for a good night's sleep. The Spinnaker B&B was right next to Victoria harbor, which doubles as the runway for the local pontoon airplanes. It was neat seeing all the ships and planes coming and going in the harbor.

Monday we caught a ride on a whale watching boat, and headed out to sea. After about 4 hours of whale watching, the ship dropped us off at Butchart Gardens. What a beautiful place that is! Jan remarked that if the Celestial Kingdom doesn't look like that, she will be disappointed. I agree.

Tuesday we took it easy, just wandering around looking at the incredible beauty of Victoria. The place looks and feels like Europe, with enormous baskets of flowers hanging everywhere. It was a gentle walk along the sea from where we were staying into downtown, so we did a lot of walking. It took away the guilt of eating some of the food we got to eat there.

Wednesday morning we caught the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, Washington, where our friends the Wilcoxes met us. They drove us to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Forest (see picture), then to their home in Shelton. We spent the next couple of days in the back seat of their car, craning our necks looking at the dense forestation and craggy mountain peaks of the Olympic penninsula. We drove out to Mt. Ranier on Thursday, and we weren't prepared for the beauty of that mountain. Just breathtaking!

Saturday morning we drove into Seattle to visit the famous Pike's Place Market, where you can see the fish mongers throwing fish to each other across the crowded room. There were thousands of flowers for sale, and fresh fruits and vegetables of every color and description.

All too soon, though, we had to leave for the airport. We were wondering why, when we have so often said that "no matter where you go, you will run into someone you know," we had not seen anyone we knew except our friends we had planned on seeing. But sitting in the Alaska Air terminal, Jan suddenly said, "That looks like Jeanine Blau!" - a friend from our childhood ward that neither of us had seen in more than 3 decades. And sure enough - it was she! So we are proven correct yet again!

All in all, it was a wonderful trip, packed with the most beautiful scenery imaginable. We are glad to be home, though. Our bed felt really good Sunday night.