TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword
Chapter One God is Love
Chapter Two Growing up in Jordan
Chapter Three Finding my New Home in America
Chapter Four Studying in France
Chapter Five Planting the Seeds in my Heart in Medjugorje
Chapter Six Change in Travel Plans
Chapter Seven Returning to the United States
Chapter Eight The Growing Pains of Law School
Chapter Nine The Dark Nights of my Soul
Chapter Ten My Path to Inner-Healing
Chapter Eleven The Reawakening of My Soul
Chapter Twelve My Life’s Call
Chapter Thirteen Taking the Leap of Faith into the Unknown
Chapter Fourteen The Merits of My Life’s Difficulties
Chapter Fifteen The Enemy of Love
Chapter Sixteen School of Love
Chapter Seventeen Message of Love
About the Author
Contact Information
Chapter One
God is Love
“Whoever is without love does not know God; for God is love.”
- 1 John 4: 8
I am not afraid to talk about God. God is the source of life and
healing love in my life. This book is about that love. God is
Love. What do you feel when you read these words? I will
repeat them one more time.
God is Love.
Perhaps my words are making you feel angry right now. I have
met many people over the years, including close friends, who
are very angry with God and refuse to give Him a chance. They
have suffered enormously in their lives so they feel betrayed by
Him and cannot experience His love or protection when they
need it the most. I truly understand their anger and empathize
with them. I also have endured very difficult and dark periods. I
have often found myself feeling angry with God, feeling
abandoned by Him to the point of reaching despair; but through
my life’s journey, despite what I have endured, God has
demonstrated that He is Love. He has confirmed to me that
everything in my life - good and bad - has its purpose. As you
read about my life, you may also realize, looking back in your
own life, that you have not been abandoned by God either. My
greatest hope for you is to find some answers to your life’s
questions through reading about mine. I pray that my journey
serves as an important step toward achieving inner-peace and
healing for all my readers.
Maybe you are uncertain who God is, or, maybe you agree with
me that God is Love; regardless, I welcome you to accompany
me on this journey through my life to my own discovery of God
and His abundant love for each of us. This book is for everyone
who is willing to open his or her heart to experience God’s
healing love.
The purpose of this book is not to convert you or convince you
of my own beliefs as I relate them to you. I am inviting you to
join me as I share with you my spiritual journey so far in this
life. It fashioned my beliefs and led me to live and experience
God’s immense and immeasurable love for me and for everyone
else around me. My life’s journey has stretched over several
different continents, from Jordan in the Middle East, to the
United States in the West and, hence, the first part of the title
of my book “The Bridge between the East and West.” The
“bridge” represents my life.
As I open my heart and share with you my life’s journey toward
God, I pray you will also try to open your heart as you read my
story. I challenge you to step outside of your social paradigm
that might have restricted your beliefs and open your soul to a
new way of seeing things, a new meaning for life and your life’s
mission.
Prepare yourself to see the world through my eyes as I take
you to other countries and introduce you to different cultures.
Prepare to smile or even laugh. Prepare to feel some anger and
sadness. Allow your tears to flow. Get ready to be challenged
to look deeply within your own heart. I pray that by the time
we conclude this journey together, you will be filled with more
faith, more hope, more inner-peace, more joy, and most
importantly, more LOVE.
WHAT IS LOVE?
Unfortunately, in today’s world, the word “love” has lost its
meaning. We use it for everything; I love these shoes, I love
golf, I love my dog, I love my iPod, I love this movie, I love
this song and I love sushi.
When I refer to God as being LOVE, I take this word very
seriously; I would like to restore it to its original and full
meaning. Unfortunately, throughout history, many have used
God’s name to destroy life and sow seeds of hatred, when in
reality God is the heart of life and love.
My life’s journey has showed me that LOVE entails forgiveness,
sacrifice, mercy, compassion, hope, faith, trust, understanding,
self-giving, healing, truth, vibrant life, peace and joy. These
are a few of the words that describe God who is the essence of
LOVE. Love is the heart of everything alive. Love is the core of
our being. Love is the oxygen that is essential for our existence.
All the books in the world could never teach us about God or
His love if we never had an intimate knowledge of Him. Once
we actually experience His love and open our hearts to receive
Him, we never remain the same. With love, God has changed
my heart and has healed the woundedness that encompassed
lies I believed about myself and my surroundings. Only God’s
truth dispels my false beliefs. Only His light dissipates the
darkness in my heart. Only His love restores my life and
transforms my wounded holes into wholeness.
Of course, whenever defining love, it feels natural to recall St.
Paul’s famous words about the characteristics of love that are
so frequently read during Christian wedding ceremonies:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not
pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its
own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over
injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with
the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
WHO AM I?
I am not a theologian or a historian and I certainly am not a
therapist or a psychologist. By profession, I am a lawyer and
also a real estate broker. I am very blessed that my life’s
journey has led me to become fluent in four languages, English,
Arabic, Spanish and French. Through these blessings, God has
allowed me to share His love with people of different cultures.
My university degrees and what I do to earn my living do not
define who I am as a human being. Any profession points only
to one skill and everyone’s life is in a constant change of
motion. I now define myself by my relationship with the One
who is the reason behind my existence on earth. He gives
meaning to my life and everything that occurs in it. He is the
One who has strategically planned my birth and my specific
mission in life. He is the only One who knows the exact minute
and even second when I will finally graduate from earth to my
heavenly home.
Of course, I have not always defined myself in this manner.
God has proven to me He is my Heavenly Father in many ways
throughout my life, particularly, in the midst of a horrific
incident that could have traumatized me forever. I am first and
foremost a daughter and a child of God, our Heavenly Father.
You, the reader, are my spiritual brother or sister and also a
son or a daughter of our Heavenly Father, regardless of what
creed, religious background or beliefs you may currently practice.
As you will read in later chapters, I experienced some
extraordinary miraculous events that changed the course of my
life and occurred while I was backpacking through Europe with
some friends. My reasoning mind could not fathom what I
witnessed with my eyes or experienced in my heart. My notion
of God changed forever and I have been invited to share these
powerful experiences throughout California and even Mexico.
Let us begin our journey as I welcome you to the country of my
birth, our first destination.
| THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE EAST AND WEST: a jOURNEY TO tRUTH THROUGH hIS lOVE Author: Samia Mary Zumout |
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Music composed and played by
the musician: Salvador Carranza
the musician: Salvador Carranza