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 |   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 ![Merit Badge in WDC Soundtrackers
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ʻIdál (Justice), 17 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Wednesday, May 13, 2020
PROMPT May 13th Writing Sprint! Set a timer for 10 minutes and write without stopping about whatever comes to your mind. I challenge you to deny your urge to edit yourself as you write. If you must, you’re allowed to edit, but only after you finish your ten minute sprint. Ready? Set. GO! Las Vegas has begun to reopen. I made an appointment with Supercuts, to have my hair washed and cut. This is the first haircut I've had this year. I will feel better with my hair short and my bangs out of my eyes. The appointment is for 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 14. The RTC paratransit bus will pick me up between 8.32 and 9:03 am to take me to Supercuts on Maryland Pkw. The return trip is scheduled for 10:43 to 11:13. After the hair cut I'll wait in front of the Supercuts for my ride. I'm going out again next week to pick up Senior Commodities, I think I'll do that on either Monday or Wednesday. After that I've nothing else planned, but I'm sure something interesting will come up. Living in lock down isn't too difficult, except for not going to the beauty salon or going to Sunday devotionals at the beginning of the month. I hope devotional services will start again in June, but if they don't I still have the prayer app on my smartphone. That app has both prayers and scriptures on it. I also have access to online spiritual activities, which is good. However, I like the face to face contact at the Baha'i Center. I think I'll plan more outings in the coming months. The RTC is a 24/7 service so I can plan other activities. I haven't been out after dark in a long time. In fact, most of my social interactions have been with doctors and the devotional service at the Baha'i Center. I still have a lot of stuff to do at home so I'm not going to get bored. |
Fiḍál (Grace), 16 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Tuesday, May 12, 2020
PROMPT May 12th Write about a fork in the road in your life, and how you made the decision to go the direction you did. What would have happened if you chose the other path? The fork in my road occurred when I declared my belief in Baha'u'llah. I made the decision to change my religion was based on two reasons. First, reading the scriptures revealed by Baha'u'llah. Second, two dreams--which have remained clear all my life, I had when I when I was younger. What would have happened if I had chosen another path? I would be a different person today. Could I, given the events in my life before the fork and the way I went about making the decision to become a Baha'i, have chosen a different path. Maybe and maybe not. I believe in free will to an extent, but I also think we, human beings, have limits on the way free will works in our lives. Most of the time we base our choice on what we know about a given situation or event. Sometimes we base our choice on intuition (gut feeling). Sometimes we use a combination of intuition and known facts to make a choice. Given those scenarios, where does free will come in? Your guess is a good a mine. I like to toy with the idea of free will, but I also like to toy with the idea of coincidence. I don't believe in coincidence because I don't know all the events leading up to what, most humans, consider a coincidence. Since I don't know all the facts I can't say for sure if a coincidence occurs any more then I can say a decision is based upon free will. |
Kamál (Perfection), 15 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Monday, May 11, 2020
PROMPT May 11th Look at a picture from your younger years. You don’t have to share the photo with us, but try to describe it in as much detail as possible. What led up to the photo being taken and what happened after? I prefer to avoid photo opportunities. I seldom like the way I look in a photo, which is probably why I have very few photos of myself. I have photo of me with other people, but very few with me alone. I don't take selfies because I know I'm going to focus on one of two things either how dorky my hairstyle makes me look or how nerdy my clothes make me look. I don't mind looking like a nerd, but I don't like looking like a nerd with a dorky hair style. Therefore, I'm going to talk about the one photo that doesn't make me look like a nerd with a dorky hair style.  This photo was taken at a poetry reading dedicated to 9/11. I was reading a poem I wrote in commemoration of the attack on the Twin Towers. |
Istiqlál (Independence), 12 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Friday, May 8, 2020
PROMPT May 8th Take a look at this list of values: https://liveboldandbloom.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/400-personal-values-list... Pick your top ten values and rank them based on how important they are to you. Then, write about the values you chose and if any have changed throughout your life. Values 01. Faith 02. Education 03. Creativity 04. Usefulness 05. Humor 06. Empathy 07. Spirituality 08. Gratitude 09. Diversity 10. Perseverance At 73, these are the values that are important to me. When I was younger, I would have picked different values and/or put them in a different order, When I am older the values and/or order may change. When I was choosing them, I contemplated happiness instead of education, but happiness is a value that encompasses these and other values. I picked these values because they are survival values. They assist the individual to survive in both the material and spiritual worlds. Faith is necessary because without faith it is impossible to do anything. When you wake up each morning, you have to have faith that you will be able to get out of bed and accomplish something, such as making a carafe of coffee and drinking it. Having faith that you will get up each morning and find something to eat and drink is the minimum amount of faith you need to survive. Education is more than simply book-learning. It is the ability to discover you innate abilities and develop them. It is learning from the tests and difficulties you encounter each day. It is discovering, through trial and error, you talents and using them to enhance your own and other peoples lives. Creativity is the ability to find and take a different approach when you keeping failing the same test over and over and over. Usefulness is accomplishing something that helps both the individual and society. It gives the individual a reason not to give up. Humor help us be happy and laugh. It lets us laugh at ourselves when we do something foolish. Empathy helps in understanding our fellow human beings. Spirituality is a combination of prayer and meditation. It helps use to see the common foundation to all religions. Gratitude is an attitude that helps us survive and be grateful for the little things ins life. Diversity is of experience and friends widens our point of view and gives us a world view that takes in every human being and nation. Perseverance is steadfastness in the path of faith. |
Istijlál (Majesty), 11 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Thursday, May 7, 2020
DAY 2729: What are you studying in your free time? Share your new knowledge with us. Right now I'm studying The Hidden Words, because I can access articles about it on BahaiTeachings.org . I begin studying these gems on Wednesday, May 6, when I read the first article in the series Unearthing the Hidden Words by David Langness. The first article is Discovering the Hidden Words , and I wrote about it in "Hope and The Hidden Words" . I will read this article again, but this time I will take some notes, and look closer at the quote that was in this article.I have learned that Baha'u'llah revealed the Hidden Words while He walked on the banks of the Tigress river. They were revealed before He declared His mission to His followers, which occurred in 1863.
Day 2122t: Endure and Let Go. Use these terms in your Blog entry today. Endure the tests of faith, with patience, fortitude, and steadfastness. Prayer by prayer let go of the worries and superstitions carried with you from the past. |
Istijlál (Majesty), 11 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Thursday, May 7, 2020
PROMPT May 7th Start your entry today with the words: “I used to believe...” I Used To Be Superstitious I used to believe in superstitions that 13 was an unlucky number, that black cats brought bad luck, and that if I sneezes without someone to say "Bless you" the devil would take may soul. I used to be superstitious, but then I received a black cat, she was a bitch, who-- even when neutered-- attack every female or male cat that came into her territory because she was jealous of my affect for other cats. I used to be superstitious, but then I learned how to add and found out that I could add 1 + 3 to get 4, and-- despite rumors to the contrary-- 4 wasn't an unlucky number, so why should 13 be unlucky. I used to be superstitious, but then I discovered that the Devil or Satan was a symbol for humanities lower self; the part of the human being that is selfish and hateful. I used to be superstitious, but now-- when I find myself practicing superstitions-- I look at the superstition to determine while I think that action is good or bad luck. |
ʻIdál (Justice), 10 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Wednesday, May 6, 2020
PROMPT May 6th Write about an object you own that has negligible monetary value, but is priceless to you. I've written about this subject before, I remember Mom using the prayer beads everyday before she went to work. Even after the Alzheimer's begin to get worse, she would use the prayer beads a couple of times a day. I suspect she would forget she chanted “Alláh-u-Abhá!”, so she chanted it again. Pink or Rose Pink Prayer Beads 95 pink beads Mom intoned God's Most Great Name her voice melodic 95 pink beads Mom counted the beads each time she intoned God's Most Great Name A blossom in God's garden Rose beneath the Tree of Life Mom's prayer beads hangs around my neck waiting for me to intone God's Greatest Name Footnotes |
Fiḍál (Grace), 9 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Tuesday, May 5, 2020
PROMPT May 5th Find a local news story that makes you feel something. Share the story along with your opinion on it in your blog. "Conservation group works to stop Lee Canyon expansion over endangered butterfly habitat" by Cody Miller, Monday, May 4, 2020The Mt. Charleston blue butterfly, whose only known habitat is in the Spring Mountains, is endangered. The Center for Biological Diversity has threatened to sue several other agencies because of planned expansion in the Mt. Charleston and Lee Canyon areas (both located in the Spring Mountains). One of the threats to the butterfly is “implementation of recreational development projects.” It is felt that construction in these areas will threaten the butterfly. Destroying a biological species and its habitat for recreation, doesn't make sense to me. Especially since one of the reason people go to Mt. Charleston in the spring and summer is to see the mountains beauty. Butterflies are an important species because they help pollinate the plants that make The Mountain beautiful. Expanding the recreational area on Mt. Charleston and in Lee Canyon is just another example of putting profits before people and animals. This is something that has gone on in Las Vegas for years and it will continue unless someone puts a stop to it. |
Kamál (Perfection), 8 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Monday, May 4, 2020
PROMPT May 4th Describe your cooking or baking ability. What was the last thing you cooked/baked that you we’re proud of? Are you a recipe-follower or freestyler? I am a creative cook! Sometime I follows recipe and sometimes cooks freestyle. I can cook anything in a microwave! The microwave ability comes from the time Mom and I lived in the house on Bracken Ave. The regular oven stopped working and it cost too much to have it fixed, so I cooked everything that I had to bake in the microwave. The biggest problem I had with this, was cooking a 20 lb. turkey in the microwave. I had to plan this adventure carefully several days ahead. How To Cook a 20 lb. Turkey in a Microwave Step 1: Let turkey thaw completely. Step 2: Remove giblet package from turkey's ass. Step 3: Find large sharp butcher knife. Step 4: Place sign next to telephone with the phone number of 911 in huge red letters. Or make sure this number is on your cellphone's speed dial. Step 5: Begin carving raw turkey by removing its wings. Step 6: Remove turkey's drumstick and thigh portions. Step 7: Separate turkey's thighs from its drumsticks. Step 8: Separate turkey's breast from its backbone. Step 9: It's now time to begin cooking the turkey. Each drumstick and other turkey parts have to be cooked separately in order to make sure they are cooked through. While the first drumstick or turkey part is cooking, you can begin cooking the giblets on a regular stove because they can be boiled until done. Important Note: Make sure all turkey parts are appropriately seasoned before placing them in the microwave. The time it takes to cook a turkey part in a microwave varies. Begin with 10 minutes, check the turkey part to see if it is well-cooked. If turkey part is cooked through, remove and put another part in the microwave. If the turkey part isn't completely cooked put back in the microwave for another 5-10 minutes. The only disadvantage I've found to this method is that the turkey isn't brown as it would be if cooked in a regular oven. If your guest are impolite enough to complain, tell them "Stuff it and eat!" |
Jamál (Beauty), 7 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Sunday, May 3, 2020
PROMPT May 3rd What do you do you relax and unwind in the evening? Paint us a picture of your ideal relaxation  Relaxation is the name of the game, And each night the rules aren't the same. How do I relax? I read, pray, meditate, yawn, or doze with my reading material in my hands. When I yawn or begin to doze, I take my glasses off, I put my eye drops in, sometimes I turn the bedside light out, and I put my feet up (to alleviate the swelling). Lately, I've been unable to sleep with the light off. I close my eyes, listen to the night noises, and eventually fall asleep. Usually I sleep about a hour or so before the pain in my right knee wakes me up and I have to shift position in my recliner. I find a comfortable position and go back to sleep. I wake up again about 3:30 or 4:00 a.m., at this time I take my first medication of the day and go back to sleep. Sometimes I turn the light off or back on depending on whether it was off or on before I went to sleep. I don't know why I haven't been able to sleep without a light, lately. Maybe it has something to do with the mice in the house. We put out sticky mouse/rat traps, and those work when the mice don't jump over them. The best type of sticky mouse traps are the black one because the mice can't see them. The mice will jump over the white sticky mouse traps. |
Jalál (Glory), 6 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Saturday, May 2, 2020
PROMPT May 2nd What one fictional character would most like to meet and talk to? Why? What would you like to ask? Considering the mouse problem we've had recently, I pick either The Cat in the Hat or Garfield. Since Garfield tends to make friends with the mice, the better choice would be The Cat in the Hat. Besides it's easier to rhyme with cat and hat than it is with Garfield. Can the Cat in the Hat catch a mouse or a rat? If the Cat in the Hat chased a rat, would he catch it in a trap or hit it with a bat?
Day 2724: The Flowers of May. In the merry month of May, the flowers come out to play, and dance in the warm spring breeze. The flowers of May release their scent and gratitude upon the morning air and wish each passer by a fair and beautiful day. |
Istiqlál (Independence), 5 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Friday, May 1, 2020 The Twelfth Day of Ridvan
PROMPT May 1st Tell us something uplifting! We need good news now more than ever. What is something positive that happened or is about to happen in your life? What has made you smile recently? Happy May Something good always happens in May, May is a merry month, a joyous month, and a happy month. May is the month decorated with Lilly-of-the-Valley and Hawthorn. Let's raise our voices in praise of May the most beautiful and joyous months of the year. |
Istijlál (Majesty), 4 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Thursday, April 30, 2020 The Eleventh Day of Ridvan
DAY 2722: A new month lies ahead. What are your goals for May? Did you accomplish everything you wanted in April? Are you on track for your goals for the year? Looking Ahead to May I'm looking ahead to May, I'm looking forward to May to writing poems about days of celebration and commemoration. |
ʻIdál (Justice), 3 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Wednesday, April 29, 2020 The Tenth Day of Ridvan
Day 2114:"All things seem possible in May." Edwin Way Teale Use this quote in your Blog entry today. May Possibilities May is a month of joy, sorrow, celebrations, and commemorations. Days of Celebration  Twelfth Day of Ridvan Mother's Day Feast of ʻAẓamat (Grandeur) Declaration of the BabDays of Commemoration Memorial Day Ascension of Baha'u'llahMay is a month of possibilities, a month of inspiration, a month full of hope, and a month filled with gratitude. |
ʻIdál (Justice), 3 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Wednesday, April 29, 2020 The Tenth Day of Ridvan
How have you been (or not been) keeping track of the days? One day at a time One day at a time is the new normal bringing joy and sorrow into everyone's lives. |
Fiḍál (Grace), 2 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Tuesday, April 28, 2020 The Ninth Day of Ridvan "O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life. O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord." ‘Abdu’l-Bahá4 I'm in a rut. I got an electric scooter today. It's the kind that you can sit down on and use to ride on the sidewalk. It doesn't go very fast, but I don't need fast. I'm planning on using it about an hour or so a day to get out into the sun. I'll also us it when I go to the doctor or blood services. I need to make a few changes in the way I do things, and this is the best way to start. I'm going through one of my "I don't want to do this phases". Part of the problem might be vitamin D. I ran out of it a while back and haven't been able to afford it. I'll order some more on May 1. In the mean time, I'll just have to put up with the way I feel. Footnotes |
Fiḍál (Grace), 2 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Tuesday, April 28, 2020 The Ninth Day of Ridvan
Have you learned anything or acquired any habits during this quarantine/lockdown that you plan on keeping with you and/or practicing once it is lifted? A Learning Experience If approached with the proper attitude, everything in life (which doesn't kill you) is a learning experience. The main thing I've learned is that I need to control my negative thoughts while practicing patience. |
Kamál (Perfection ), 1 Jamál (Beaut y) 177 B.E. Monday, April 27, 2020 The Eighth Day of Ridvan and the Feast of Jamál
Day 2719: "Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious." Stephen Hawking Use this quote to inspire your blog entry. Curiosity Curiosity is a spiritual attribute! It helps humanity make sense of the universe around us. It encourages us to ask questions the universe and about the Unknowable Creative Essence we call God. Without curiosity we would be no better off than the lower animals, which are unable to ask questions about who created us and why we were created. Curiosity can lead an individual to accept the existence of God or reject God, depending on whether or not the individual listens to the promptings of their ego or those of their soul. "The essence of all that We have revealed for thee is Justice, is for man to free himself from idle fancy and imitation, discern with the eye of oneness His glorious handiwork, and look into all things with a searching eye." Curiosity helps us to practice justice, which is also a divine attribute, and look into everything--even religion--with a "searching eye". Justice and curiosity help us to put behind us both learned superstitions and our own ego's vain imaginings in our search for the both the spiritual and scientific laws that govern the universe. Footnotes |
Jamál (Beauty ), 19 Jalál (Glory) 177 B.E. Sunday, April 26, 2020 The Seventh Day of Ridvan
How has your idea of lockdown/quarantine changed since the beginning of this month? I contemplate my present mental state, and the way I now get around town. Has the stress and anxiety passed? I knew it wouldn't last, just as I knew the quarantine would eventually be lifted. The COVID-19 pandemic has made me more aware of the interconnection between human populations, and between the nations. When a virus born in one part of the world can cause death in another section of the planet, the Earth is truly a single country. |
Jalál (Glory), 18 Jalál (Glory) 177 B.E. Saturday, April 25, 2020 The Sixth Day of Ridvan
Describe the best place to hide in your home (closet, bed - under it or the covers, basement, attic, behind the couch, in a cupboard, etc.), and why it is the best? No Place To Hide In my 73 years on Earth, I've never lived in a house or an apartment that had a good place to hide. I've lived in three houses that had attics, but no basements. I've lived in three apartments with neither attic nor basement. For someone suffering from arachnophobia, an attic--because of the real or imagined spiders--isn't a good place to hide. One of the houses I lived in had a root cellar (it was in Oklahoma, so we called it a storm cellar). It didn't have electricity, so the only time you could safely hide it in was during the day, when you could leave the cellar door open. Hiding in it during the night, was an adventure in stress. You never knew what kind of eight-legged critters were crawling around and waiting to drop on your head. I suppose the bathrooms would be a good place to hide. However, most bathrooms in apartments are too small for more than two people to hide in. No matter how immaculate a housekeeper you are bathrooms attract spiders and mice. I can tell you from experience, that mice get really pissed off when you are between them and their exit. Plus if the police are looking for you, they'll breakdown your door and send in the dogs. I don't think there's a good place to hide in any house or apartment. I remember when I was in grade school, we had atomic bomb drills. During those drills the teachers taught us to hide under our desk in case an enemy dropped an atomic bomb on our town. I don't think hiding under the desk would save anyone's life. If an A-bomb had been dropped on the Blackwell Zinc Smelter, the entire town would have goon up in one huge mushroom cloud. |
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