This blog contains responses to blog prompts, & thoughts on spiritual or religious themes |
Disclaimer: Any views, about religion or sacred scriptures, expressed in this blog are my own and not the official views of the Baha'i Faith or any other religion. If you wish to know more about the Baha'i Faith, please check one of these websites: The Baha'i Faith: The Official Website of the Worldwide Baha'i Community or Baha'is of the United States . "The gift of God to this enlightened age is the knowledge of the oneness of mankind and of the fundamental oneness of religion. War shall cease between nations, and by the will of God the Most Great Peace shall come; the world will be seen as a new world, and all men will live as brothers." Abdu'l-Baha1 Other Blogs and Journals Content Rating 18+ "Writing in Snow" "The Snowflake Chronicles" "Snow Melt" "More Snow Melt" "Welcome to My Life" "Melting Snow" "Memories of Snow" "Dreams of Snow " "Poem Experiments" "Devotional Poetry" Other Journals Content Rating ASR "Bicentenary Poems and Prose" "Treasures lie hidden beneath the throne of God; the key to those treasures if the tongue of poets." The Bab "O my God! O my God! Unite the hearts of Thy servants, and reveal to them Thy great purpose. May they follow Thy commandments and abide in Thy law. Help them, O God, in their endeavor, and grant them strength to serve Thee. O God! Leave them not to themselves, but guide their steps by the light of Thy knowledge, and cheer their hearts by Thy love. Verily, Thou art their Helper and their Lord." Bahá’u’lláh2 Footnotes |
Jamál (Beauty), 3 Mulk (Dominion) 176 B.E. - Sunday, February 9, 2020 Artist: The Academy Choirs Title: The Star Spangled Banner U.S. National Anthem Lyrics3 Oh, say, can you see? By the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming; Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming. And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air. Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there: Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave? O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In fully glory reflected now shines in the stream: 'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh, long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a country should leave us no more? Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution! No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust": And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. We love it so much, I think you do too. I don't very many clear images of my father. I remember a tall man, who drink coffee, sometimes with cream and sometimes black. I remember he worked at the Blackwell Zinc Smelter (the same place Grandpa Frank worked). I have a foggy memory of him carrying me on his back, and of setting on the front porch steps with him. During World War II, Daddy served in the Army Air Corp--now the U.S. Air Force--and stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada. At that time Mom worked at the County Hospital--now University Medical Center on West Charleston Ave.--as a maid. I remember Mom telling me she took a bust from Nellis to the County Hospital. His name was Melvin Fay Darbe, he was born on a farm in Kansas on March 26, 1921, died someplace in Kansas on April 14, 1998, and is buried in the Lincoln Cemetery in Lincoln County, Kansas. I found out about my father's death when I did an internet search for him. Daddy is the child setting on the plow horse in the above photo, the man holding him on the horse is his father, Grandpa John. Daddy is one of the missing links in my life. I never saw him again after my parents divorce. One of my biggest regrets is that I never got to say good-bye to Daddy before he died. Now the only thing I can do is pray for the progress of his soul in the next world. "O Lord! In this Most Great Dispensation Thou dost accept the intercession of children in behalf of their parents. This is one of the special infinite bestowals of this Dispensation. Therefore, O Thou kind Lord, accept the request of this Thy servant at the threshold of Thy singleness and submerge his father in the ocean of Thy grace, because this son hath arisen to render Thee service and is exerting effort at all times in the pathway of Thy love. Verily, Thou art the Giver, the Forgiver and the Kind!" 'Abdu’l-Bahá4 Footnotes |