In Christian Reader, Ajith Fernando writes:

Bilquis Sheikh, a Muslim woman from Pakistan, was sitting at her grandson's bedside in the hospital. As she waited for test results to come back, her grandson's doctor, who was also a nun, stopped in the room. The doctor was surprised to see the Muslim grandmother with a Bible. As the two talked, Madame Sheikh admitted to Dr. Santiago that she had been searching for God for a long time. Dr. Santiago explained how important her relationship to God was. The grandmother said, "You seem to make God personal!"

"Why don't you pray to the God you are searching for? Ask him to show you his way. Talk to him as if he were your friend," Dr. Santiago suggested.

Madame Sheikh smiled and thought, She might as well suggest I talk to the Taj Mahal!

Then Dr. Santiago said something that hit the grandmother like an electric shock. "Talk to him as if he were your father."

Talk to God as if he were my father? It was a startling and yet comforting idea.

Later that evening, alone in her room, Madame Sheikh got on her knees and tried to call God "Father." She couldn't get the word out of her mouth. Wasn't it sinful to bring the Great One down to a human level?

She began thinking of how loving her father was to her when she was a child. He didn't mind if I bothered him. Whenever I had a question or a problem, no matter how busy he was, he would put aside his work to devote his full attention just to me, she thought.

Suddenly hope flooded her. If my earthly father would put aside everything to listen to me, wouldn't my heavenly Father?

Shaking with great anticipation, Madame Sheikh got out of bed, sank to her knees, looked up to heaven, and with new understanding called God, "my Father."