Archive for March, 2006

I clicked over to Google Blog Search and typed in “How I became a Baha’i” and then hit “Enter.” The “Sort by date” top item, a blog posted “1 hour ago,” is from Becky, who describes herself thusly: “Well, I’m a taxi driver, chef, drycleaner, housekeeper, accountant. Oh, better summed up, a mom! I love my boys (that includes the hubby) and wouldn’t change a thing.” Below is an excerpt from her entry. The kiddos pictured here look pretty happy with her decision, too.

Last sunday, I signed my card and became a Baha’i. For those that don’t know or haven’t heard of Baha’i’s here’s their website… www.bahai.com Lately in my life, I’ve been lacking something, and I think the majority of the lack has been spirituality. While I’ve always believed in God, and for most of my life I’ve been a Christian, there was still something lacking. Dennis became a baha’i two years ago, and through him, I’ve researched and read a number of things, attended baha’i functions, and everything they’re about (so far as i’ve learned) makes sense to me. One thing I love about the baha’i faith is that I don’t have to give up my christian roots. Baha’i’s believe in Jesus, and Muhammed, and all the manifestations of God that have come in the past. They just believe that Baha’u'llah is the next manifestation. And so do I. It’s a very big change in my life, a very good one I think. I’m very happy with my decision.

“Super Busy Week,” Becky’s Nook, A Place to Unwind, MSN Spaces, March 31, 2006

It is so interesting to me to note the many different ways the Baha’i Faith comes up in people’s lives. One need only to jump into the personal/public world of blogs, blog search “Baha’i,” and read away to gain a sense of how the Faith is introduced and how people respond in all its diversity. It’s happening, folks, it’s really happening. What Baha’u'llah said would happen, is happening.

I used multiple blog search engines to gather this collection of one-liners, mentions of the Baha’i Faith that occured over the last five months or so. To the best of my knowledge these bloggers are not Baha’is, or at least were not at the time they posted.

OK. You know the exercise. For the blog-source of the one-liner, click on it. Not that hard, really.

The customs guy laughed when we told him we’d visited Canada for a Jewish holiday (the new year), said he was Baha’i and had no idea about our holidays! Any laughing customs guy is a good sign, I figure.

Tonight we are going to a fireside at the Baha’i workshop. I’m intrigued.

The Baha’i Faith - Intelligent monotheism in a world that desperately needs it….Although I question their contention that they’re the “second most widespread religion on earth”, it should be, anyway.

Today we went to a ceremony honoring the (observed) birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. I was a little surprised to see so much Baha’i presence.

The great bulk of Baha’i teachings is concerned with social ethics; the faith has no priesthood and does not observe ritual forms in its worship….

My husband has been a Baha’i for several years, and although I looked into the Faith at first, it wasn’t until recently that I began to feel a connection to it….I’m thinking about becoming a Baha’i….

Decided to check out what the other religions do on a Sunday, so tagged along with Karen to see what she does on Sundays with members of the Baha’i faith in this small town….

I am a Religious Humanist, with pantheistic beliefs, and shamanistic methods, who believes the religions who comes closest to getting it right are the Baha’i Faith and the Unitarian Universalists….

have to write a world religions research paper on Baha’i. It shouldnt be so bad….

I went home and eventually met up with Nani and went to a fireside, a Baha’i event….There was singing, and Warren (Nani’s dad) talked about how he became Baha’i and about why the Baha’i’s are so positive about the future. Zack mostly enjoyed himself too….I’m still not sure if I want to be Baha’i or not, but I’m thinking about it….

When I lived in a dorm, I used to have a card stuck to the wall that the Baha’i student group gave me…. [the card]

He was deeply religious and never faltered from the beliefs of the Baha’i Faith….

Which brings me to my curiousity about the Baha’i faith….My friend Lacey who knits and knew Anne first is a Baha’i. I am fascinated by other religions so I am looking into it….

Case in point, a friend of a work colleague is saying that Christianity was originally like the Baha’i faith….

Baha’i House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois. We had never heard of the Baha’i before - it is an interesting faith.

Rainn Wilson, Dwight on “The Office”, is married to a lady named Holiday. AWESOME. Also, he’s a member of the Baha’i faith. Baha’i is my favorite of all the religions I don’t belong to! (Really.)

We went up to Evanston this morning to see the Baha’i Temple. It is a pretty amazing structure….I had never heard of the religion of Baha’i (not sure I am spelling it correctly, either)…

Thanks to Zu who was down for the long haul, and for hooking me up with the Baha’i’ proverb - beautiful stuff. Good looking out girl.

I gotta read about baha’i because I missed 2 days of comparative religion -.-

There’s this religion called the Baha’i World Faith, a type of breakaway Islamic faith. I’ve been studying it for awhile but have yet to make any firm decisions.

we went to the beach this weekend to walk around… the water is beautiful. at night i went to the Bahai Temple to see its beauty close up… its amazing. i was told that the Bahai religion’s belief is that all religions lead to the same God and is a branch of Islam, but i do not know much about it, but it was beautiful and huge.

Photo: eszter

… who knows what will happen when i get involved in Baha’i things, but whatever the end result, i know that i love you so much….

The cause of World Federalism does not rise and fall on the EU’s petty national interests. I think I may study Baha’i. One God. One Religion. One People. Three interlocking unities….

Lunch time, we went to Baddie’s, who was another non-Caucasian man who was also Baha’i. He was very heartwarming and open, and every lunch time or so in his room, because he had connections with the video store, he would display a particular movie at lunch time.

… on new year’s day i’m gonna be chanting Tara’s praises for the whole Universe to hear at a service at the Baha’i Temple, which i am also very excited about…. … there’s a Baha’i Temple in Sydney too so i’m thinking about getting involved in the community, because Universalist sanghas are a good thing. Good vibes to you all! Namaste….

I love her to pieces and I wouldn’t otherwise gripe about religious differences.But she is Baha’i. A religion not completely out of tune with Christianity and on many respects more dead on to biblical teaching than some denominations of Christian. we have been able to operate in sync, religiously most of our lives… until now. There is a nifty little clause in Baha’i law regaurding marriage. All living BIOLOGICAL parents must consent to the marriage.

I visited the Bosch Bahai School up in the Santa Cruz mountains. It was nice to get away for UCSC for a while, and at the school I enjoyed the scenery and had some great discussions about religion.

The meeting was informative too… Baha’i is a fascinating religion! I really need to learn more about them. i’ve seen their shrine in Haifa (the heads of the Baha’i club were jealous of me for that), and it’s absurdly beautiful, especially at night.

She is fasting as a Baha’i. I am fasting both in support of her and for my own continually meandering spiritual path….

Last night I went to a Naw-Ruz (Baha’i New Year) celebration in western Sydney with my Baha’i club friends. It was a bonkalicious good time culminating in an effervescent clown man and young aussie boy dressing up like chickens and b’cawing across a weirdly lit blue stage, shaking their feathered butts in unison all the while being accompanied by the eerie score of an aging keyboardist.

QUESTION: Scott, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief has said that she’s highly concerned that the government of Iran is about to increase its persecution of the 300,000 members of the Baha’i faith in that country. What is the President’s message to the government of Iran on this issue?

Republican National Convention Blog NYC 2004

I know I said just yesterday that I am on hiatus from blogging. But, if you will read the excerpted posts below, you will see why I just couldn’t resist. What a pure heart Jess has! Click here to read Jess’ post previously excerpted on Baha’i Views.

I began reading the book, “The Baha’i Faith” yesterday. I just finished the first section of the book which describes the history of the religion. I am looking foward to the next section which will discuss Baha’i beliefs. I have found it all to be quite fascinating. It is very different from Chrisitianity yet there are many similarities. For instance, the arrival of Baha’u'llah (which means Glory of God) was predicted by a prophet of sorts, just as Jesus’s arrival was predicted by prophets in the Old Testament. The early believers were terribly persecuted just as the early Christians were. Baha’u'llah was very confident that he was sent by God to deliver His divine message, just as Jesus proclaimed. The big difference is that Baha’u'llah never claimed that he was God as Jesus did. Though he did claim that he was the long awaited return of the Messiah who was sent to deliver the next stage of God’s plan for mankind. And what a plan: To unite humanity into one cohesive group with no nationalites.

After such a short amount of reading I’ve been very impressed by what this man and his followers were able to accomplish in a relatively short amount of time. I wonder if the early Christian church was as successfully organized and as widespread in the first century of its existance as the Baha’i church was? I am also very impressed that the Baha’i religion is uniform and has not splintered into sects as has happened with all the other major religions in the world. Unity amongst practitioners is very remarkable.

I will admit that I find my new undertaking to explore religions other than Christianity a bit scary. I have even been a little nervous as I read this Baha’i book. Even though I have no real intentions of converting to a different religion I am afraid that my own personal beliefs may change to such an extent that I will have to abandon Christianity based on what I discover in my search. And for my entire life I have been taught that if you do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God then you will be damned to Hell for eternity. It isn’t a very nice prospect, is it? I know in the depths of my soul that I do not believe that God would punish so many people in that way. I know it yet I still want to believe in the divinity of Jesus, because frankly, it is a very safe course of action. Who wants to risk their eternal life?! It almost seems to be a superstitious belief for me at this point. A safety net if you will. And yet I know that fear is a very shallow, pathetic reason to follow any religion. But, the bottom line is if you do not accept that Jesus was sent here to save mankind by being the ultimate sacrifice (God sacrificed Himself) then you aren’t a Christian. That is the crux of the faith and it doesn’t leave any room for a more liberal interpretation. And believing that is my struggle.

It has also been very easy for me to be a Christian because my family is. Plus, I am very comfortable with Christianity. I know the hymns and prayers, I can recite verses and I know all the apostles, I love celebrating the holy days and I love the peaceful sanctity in the sanctuary of a church. I can honestly say that I have had some very real experiences with God because of Christianity. God is a tangible presence in church and I can feel Him so strongly at times during services that I have wanted to cry because my emotions have been so engaged. But I like the idea that God is present in all religions. He must be to provoke such strong emotions and fervent beliefs in any specific doctrine by any practitioner of any faith in this world. As I said in a previous blog, I know Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Shiks, and a Hindu who are all very passionate about their faiths and have very real relationships with God because of their religion. There just has to be more to it than I have discovered. So, scared or not I will continue to make this journey.

Jess, “Fascinated,” Rambles, Reviews and Rants, Tuesday, March 28, 2006

I have been continuing on with my study of the Baha’i faith and as I’ve read I have been filled with such a pure, peaceful feeling.

Bahai’s believe in three basic principles:

1) The Oneness of God

Everyone in the world who feels the presence of God and fellowships with Him is worshipping the same God even though he is known by several different names including Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah or Brahma.

2) The Oneness of Humankind

Everyone in the world, regardless of ethnicity belongs to the human race. From the book, “The Baha’i Faith: The Emerging Global Religion”, “Baha’i’s believe that humankind has always constituted one species, but that prejudice, ignorance, power-seeking, and egotism have prevented many people from recognizing and accepting this oneness.” (pg. 76)

3) The Oneness of Religion

Baha’i’s accept all religions in the world as being valid. Baha’u'llah said, “These principles and laws, the firmly-established and mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are the rays of one Light. That they differ from one another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated.” (pg. 82)

Baha’i’s believe in progressive revelation through Manifestations. Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and most recently Baha’u'llah were all divine messengers of God. Interestingly, Jews don’t believe Jesus was a divine messenger and Christians don’t believe Muhammad was a divine messenger and now Muslims, Christians, and Jews all don’t accept Baha’u'llah as a divine messenger.

Other neat beliefs of Baha’i’s include, the equality of men and women, universal education, the unity of religion and science, and economic justice. (All taken from the The Baha’i Faith by William Hatcher).

Just thought I would blog about what I have learned thus far. Tomorrow I will probably be back with one of my daily life blogs and give the religious quest a rest.

Jess, “Oneness,” Rambles, Reviews and Rants, Wednesday, March 29, 2006

“When the most important work is at hand, let go the important work.”

I believe Abdu’l-Baha said this–or at least I’ve been saying he said it for years. As I mentioned in a previous post, my community is engaged in its fourth Intensive Program of Growth.

What’s IPG? It’s two weeks of focused attention on reaching out and teaching souls that comes every three months in our cycle of growth as an A-Cluster. Two weeks out of every quarter, two months altogether out of every year. Regular as a heartbeat.

As I like to say, we’ve had “entry by troop” in previous cycles. Now we’re aiming for “entry by troops.”

This is a particularly thrilling time for Baha’i Views. There have been many confirmations, and I am grateful for all of the support. But for the rest of this Intensive Program of Growth I am going to put Baha’i Views on hold so I can try to do my part in my cluster.

There are people I need to call and e-mail. There are home-visits to set up. There are firesides to support and one my wife and I are hosting on Saturday to which several of my co-workers are invited to attend. There are teaching teams out and about. If the weather is warm, I may do some teaching from the park bench. And all of this on top of work responsibilties. So I’m going to put Baha’i Views on hold until April 10th.

If I were to post today, I know what I’d post about. I’d do an entry on Steven Fuqua’s latest post on Conscientia, his blog described as “one node in the shared network of knowledge,” the post entitled “Lessons on Baha’i-Christian Dialogue from a Muslim” — what a remarkable fella Steven is, highly involved in the interfaith movement as a Baha’i.

If I were to post today, I’d wax poetic about the Baha’is group on Flickr and call the attention of my readers to the photos and images of the likes of Ryan, and Jay S B, where Sanisha’s latest and greatest photos just in from China and Miss B’s pilgrimage photos can be found. That’s what I’d do.

If I were to post today, I would extol the virtues of the blogs of my wife and children–Bonita, Ruhiyyih, Tarazullah, and Rahmatullah, and Annie–and invite my readers to go check them out. That’s what I’d do today if I were posting.

I’ll be back atcha on the 10th. Keep the light on.

I’m not blogging today, I’m not blogging today, I’m not…

Photo source: thai-bahais.org

This picture is not your typical World Center shot. It has a very “postmodern” feeling to it, in my view, and it’s all in the juxtapostion of images. Thai Baha’i in the Holy Land. The gold hat matching up with with the gold dome of the Shrine of the Bab. The similarity of the smiles on the faces of the two Baha’is in the picture. I even like the imposing temporary speaker-stand rising to one side of the photo which ties this picture to the World Center opening celebration from a few years back. And, of course, in the foreground of the photo as a focal point our Thai Baha’i provides the classic Southeast Asian finger display, which I have seen in videos and live performances of Cambodian dancers, thanks to my friend Polin. This picture is like the Faith itself–it surprises you with “Can this really be?”

Photo: Austrailian Red Cross Regional Manager Vahideh, a Baha’i

June/Pearlz left the following comment on one of my blog entries the other day and an entry on her own blog about Cylcone Larry:

Wow missed this blog and lots of stuff so much, had power off for a week as we had a cyclone in our area. We are all okay but the trees were ripped out and the place looks devestated. No loss of life and everyone’s fine.Rang lots of friends this week, these things remind you of how important it is to always be spiritually and physically prepared.

The recent cyclone in Australia, Cyclone Larry, was apparently enormous and effected all people, Baha’is included, just as Katrina in the States had a devastating effect upon all. (The experience of the Baha’is in New Orleans was profiled in a recent Baha’i Newsreel video segment that was distributed for viewing at Feast here in the U.S.) I pray that Baha’is affected by these and any other disasters recover quickly.

There have been many news stories criticizing the response to Hurricane Katrina generally, and lately, many critical of managers with the Red Cross here. It is nice to note the positive story about a Red Cross manager in Australia who is a Baha’i that Mehran of Hullo World brings to the attention of his readers.

The northern part of my home state (Queensland) recently bore the torture of hurricane Larry. It has left entire cities without power, water or telephone lines, and a great number of people have lost their homes and possessions, not to mention, no doubt, health. Interestingly enough, I read an article today about the relief efforts published in “the Northern Star” which mentions the efforts of one amazing Baha’i.

Vahideh, the Lismore-based regional manager for the Red Cross, flew to far north Queensland yesterday to coordinate a team which will provide support, comfort, care and referral services.

Read the rest of his post and then, for laughs, read his previous post, “Serial Killer Encounter!”

The first picture is of the Area Teaching Committee of the Salman cluster in Kinshasa, a cluster which will launch an intensive programme of growth on the 19th of March.

The second picture was taken at the statistics training in the National Office in Kinshasa. With so many laptops around, this office had never looked more high-tech.

These pictures and taglines are included in a post by Maarten, one of the many Baha’is who work at the Baha’i World Center and who keep a blog as a way of keeping in touch with family and friends. For non-family blog-explorers, reading these blogs are a delightful way to gain a sense of what a special experience it is for Baha’is to be able to provide such service. Maarten writes in “Another Trip to Africa”:

At the end of February, I went to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to facilitate a training for a number of Central African countries on a software program developed by the Department of Statistics at the World Centre. After the training I had the privilege of attending an institutional meeting in Kinshasa where friends from all over the Congo gathered to consult on the new Five Year Plan.

When I saw Maarten’s photo of the Area Teaching Committee for Kinshasa cluster in the Congo, I thought of the dear souls serving on the ATC in my own cluster here on the other side of the world, where we are beginning our fourth Intensive Program of Growth. We had our Cluster Reflection Meeting today for its launch. What a privilege it is to be alive in this day and have the bounty of attempting to contribute to the growth of the Faith!

I am aware that the blogging experience can never replace the face-to-face teaching experience that confirms souls and builds community, and so I will gladly put aside my blogging at such times. Pray for our cluster as we strive to raise up baby Baha’is.

Speaking of baby Baha’is–the other kind of baby Baha’is–there is another picture on Maarten’s blog that is just too cute for words. That’s Maarten and daughter on the left.