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 |
Fidal {Grace), 5 Masa'il (Questions) 177 B.E. - Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Day 2950: The best gift I ever received was ______. Why? The best gift I ever received Baha'u'llah is ... The Manifestation of God for today The Return of the Spirit of Christ The Day star of the universe The Pen of the Most High The Speaker on Sinai The Blessed Beauty The King of kings The Fifth Buddha The Most Great Name The Return of Lord Krishna The Founder of the Baha'i Faith The Glory of God Life didn't become easier when I declared my faith in Baha'u'llah, and my acceptance of the three onenesses: (1) the oneness of God, the oneness of religion, and (3) the oneness of humanity. Finding Baha'u'llah answered a number of questions that no one else, including my childhood Sunday school teachers could answer. It also generated more questions, which I can answer by turning to the writings of the Central Figures of the Baha'i Faith. Each revealed prayer and scripture I read helps me to become stronger in my faith and firmer in the Covenant of Baha'u'llah. |
Jamal {Beauty), 3 Masa'il (Questions) 177 B.E. - Sunday, December 13, 2020 Why Do I Grieve In December? Why do I grieve in December? Where does this grief come from? Is it a symptom of Seasonal Effective Disorder? Or is it something more profound? Why do I grieve in December, when memories of joyful winter holiday celebrations rise to bring laughter and tears to my eyes? “Grief and sorrow do not come to us by chance, they are sent to us by the Divine Mercy for our own perfecting.” 'Abdu'l-Baha3 I contemplate 'Abdu'l-Baha's words, consider the reasons for my sadness, and afterwards I write my sorrows in line and stanza, in rhyme and rhythm, or metaphor and simile. Thus, I transform my grief into artistic form, while worshiping the Glorious Lord.4 Footnotes |
Jalal {Glory), 2 Masa'il (Questions) 177 B.E. - Saturday, December 12, 2020
Day 2948: What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know. Saint Augustine - What is your definition of time? What is time? On the material plane our souls and bodies are merged into a single entity, perceived as one reality. At death, the soul ascends into the spiritual realm, while the body is consigned to ashes or a grave in the ground. The soul flies into eternity, and time become decomposition consuming the body-- changing it back to subatomic particles. Therefore, tell me: What is time? |
Istiqlal (Independence), 1 Masa'il (Questions) 177 B.E. - Friday, December 11, 2020 Feast of Masa'il (Questions) 'Today questions of the utmost importance are facing humanity, questions peculiar to this radiant century. In former centuries there was not even mention of them. Inasmuch as this is the century of illumination, the century of humanity, the century of divine bestowals, these questions are being presented for the expression of public opinion, and in all the countries of the world, discussion is taking place looking to their solution." Yesterday evening, I attended the Zoom meeting of the Feast of Questions. The above quote is one that I picked out for the Feast readings, it comes from a talk given by 'Abdu'l-Baha in 1912. The specific question he discussed, at that time, was the equality of men and women. Gender equality is one of the basic teaching of Baha'u'llah, and one of the topic 'Abdu'l-Baha spoke about when he came to America in 1912. There are, of course, other important questions facing humanity today. Some of them Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote about, while other questions they didn't specifically mention in the sacred writings.
DAY 2497: Are you going to take the vaccine or are you going to take a wait and see attitude? How confident do you feel about the testing on the vaccine before it's released to the public? Vaccines are one of the important questions facing humanity today. While vaccines weren't specifically--at least I don't think they were--mentioned in the sacred writings, the subject of the harmony of science and religion were discussed by both Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha. In fact, 'Abdu'l-Baha mentioned three methods of healing: (1) Medical Treatment, (2) Prayer, and (3) Joy and Laughter. He emphasized that the prayers revealed for healing are for both spiritual and physical healing. He encouraged people to see doctors and recite or read the healing prayers. Will I get the vaccine when it is released to the public? Yes! In addition to getting the vaccine, I will continue recite or read the healing prayers. Footnotes |
Istijlal (Majesty), 19 Qawl (Speech) 177 B.E. - Thursday, December 10, 2020 Today we celebrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , which was released by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was released in the twentieth century, it was in the mid-nineteenth century that Baha'u'llah, the prophet founder of the Baha'i Faith, established human rights as God given rights. In 1912, 'Abdu'l-Baha, the son of Baha'u'llah, gave a talk in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in which he spoke about ten teaching of Baha'u'llah. One of those teaching was an "equal standard of human rights". "Baha’u’llah taught that an equal standard of human rights must be recognized and adopted. In the estimation of God all men are equal; there is no distinction or preferment for any soul in the dominion of His justice and equity." God has given humanity these rights, and it doesn't matter what cultural, religious, political, national, or any other human created designation we claim for ourselves. This is the twenty-first century, the time has come for us--the people of Earth-to practice these rights in our collective and personal lives. Footnotes |
Fidal (Grace), 17 Qawl (Speech) 177 B.E. - Tuesday, December 8, 2020
Day 2944: “It's the questions we can't answer that teach us the most. They teach us how to think. If you give a man an answer, all he gains is a little fact. But give him a question and he'll look for his own answers.” ― Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear Let this quote inspire you blog entry. Answerer of Our Questions God is the answerer The needs and questions of present age are not those of earlier aeons nor are they those that will be asked later epochs. The answers for each era come through one of God's Holy Manifestations: Christ answered the questions asked in His time, Muhammad answered the questions of His era, and Baha'u'llah answers the questions of today. |
Kamal (Perfection), 16 Qawl (Speech) 177 B.E. - Monday, December 7, 2020 "When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on." Franklin D. Roosevelt On the first Monday in December 2020, I am hanging on, and inhaling the fragrance of hope rising out of the unknown possibilities of 2021. |
Jamal (Beauty), 15 Qawl (Speech) 177 B.E. - Sunday, December 6, 2020 For me, December isn't the Holiday Season. If one of my friends or family invites me to their holiday celebration, I will go and participate in the celebration out of respect for my friend or family member. When I go out in public--this year I will be wearing a mask--I will say Happy Holidays, because I don't know which winter holiday the person I'm talking to celebrates. If someone says Merry Christmas, I will respond with a Merry Christmas. Otherwise, I will smile--under my mask--and say Happy Holidays. I am a world citizen. I live in a multicultural society. I interact with people of various religious affiliations or no religious affiliation. Therefor, a person's religious affiliation doesn't matter to me, unless someone starts telling me I'm going to hell because I don't believe as they do. This is the point when it stops being the holiday season and becomes the "I'll pray for you salvation" season. There was a time, when it would have become the bah-humbug season, but bah-humbug has become a cliché. I'm attempting to avoid clichés, with the exception of pandemic. |
Jalal (Glory), 14 Qawl (Speech) 177 B.E. - Saturday, December 5, 2020
DAY 2316: What's your favorite holiday movie? Holiday song? December isn't a joyful month for me, and I'm not sure it ever was. The short, usually cloudy, days, and the long dark nights make me sad. I've never--that I can remember--went to a movie in December. As a child, I watched holiday specials on television, and enjoyed them. I listened to Christmas carols in church, radio, or played them on the record player; I always enjoyed the songs. This enjoyment alleviated the sadness (the depression) for a little while, but it didn't dissipate it. Plus, having a birthday on December 24 didn't help my mood. I enjoyed most of the Christmas specials, now called Holiday specials, because of the actors, the songs, and the story lines. I watch them, laughed, and smiled; when I was depressed I never said much of anything to my parents or grandparents. At that time, I understood that December was supposed to be a joyful time of year, and depression or sadness wasn't part of the December mood. Now, at 73 going on 74, I enjoy the happy or joyful memories, especially when there are songs that I liked or that made me happy involved. The December blues haunts my childhood holidays casting shadows over Christmas and New Year's Eve.
Day 2941: Holiday Cookies Christmas cookies, this is what we called them when I was growing up, always made me happy. One of my happiest memories is making sugar cookies with Grandma Mary. She had cookie cutters in the shape of Christmas trees and snowmen. Once the dough was rolled out, I cut out the cookies and Grandma put them in the oven. After they were baked and cooled, we would put frosting on them. I enjoyed Christmas at my Grandparents' house, even when I was a bit sad. I knew that Grandma or Grandpa would say or do some to make me laugh. Still the December or Holiday Blues was waiting just beyond the joy. |
Istiqlal (Independence), 13 Qawl (Speech) 177 B.E. - Friday, December 4, 2020
DAY 2939: Please, use these words in your entry : barrier, discriminate, smile, illusion, conversation and reindeer. On the first Friday in December 2020, I contemplate the dying year, and wish I still believed in flying reindeer. If reindeer could really fly-, I would catch one in the twinkling of an eye, and go someplace warm where my joints would no longer ache. I smile at the mental picture of ascending into the sky, and speeding over man-made and natural barriers to find a warm place in the sun. On the first Friday in December 2020, I laugh at the illusion of flying around the world on the back of a reindeer, I wonder how high I could fly and my old eyes still discriminate between the landscapes below. My laughter continues, as I imagine the conversations with radar personnel when they detected my flying reindeer's location. |
Fidal (Grace), 10 Qawl (Speech) 177 B.E. - Tuesday, December 1, 2020 "O friend of mine! The Word of God is the king of words and its pervasive influence is incalculable. It hath ever dominated and will continue to dominate the realm of being. The Great Being saith: The Word is the master key for the whole world, inasmuch as through its potency the doors of the hearts of men, which in reality are the doors of heaven, are unlocked. No sooner had but a glimmer of its effulgent splendor shone forth upon the mirror of love than the blessed word “I am the Best-Beloved” was reflected therein. It is an ocean inexhaustible in riches, comprehending all things. Every thing which can be perceived is but an emanation therefrom. High, immeasurably high is this sublime station, in whose shadow moveth the essence of loftiness and splendor, wrapt in praise and adoration." I raise my voice in praise of the Word of God-- At dawn and sunset, I raise my voice in praise sing the Words of God revealed by the Pen of Glory, Baha'u'llah. I raise my voice in praise to the Word of God, the key to the door of reality. Footnotes |