By george wesley dannells on Jun 27, 2010 in All categories | Comments Off
By george wesley dannells on Jun 26, 2010 in All categories | Comments Off
Jeff's son Jamal (great name, huh!) and I hung out together Wednesday. We dropped in on the Baha'i children's class at Lisa's home in Salishan, the establishment of which constitutes Tacoma's greatest accomplishment in the Five Year Plan in my view. Jamal may not be able to quite appreciate that fact quite yet, but he certainly recognized that this is a place where the focus is on kids. Jamal had already had a big day, and felt so comfortable on the sofa as the other children were memorizing a quote, that he feel asleep. Whether sleeping or awake, these kids are cute. -gwd
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By george wesley dannells on Jun 26, 2010 in All categories | Comments Off
Jeff invited me to attend his graduation. It wasn't like one of those June graduations in theTacoma Dome, but it was just as special. His youngest son Jamal was there to witness his accomplishment. We didn't know it in advance, but another Baha'i from the cluster Jeanne was there, too, in an official capacity. So Jeff had a chance to meet Jeanne. It's a small world, and Baha'is are doing their utmost to make it even smaller. -gwd
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By george wesley dannells on Jun 25, 2010 in All categories | Comments Off
Saturday is the Baha'i Cluster Reflection Meeting. Sunday is the deepening at Robert & Lynda's. This is what the carryin' on looked like two weekends ago. -gw
The story of Tacoma's 'entry by troop' in the 90's.
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By george wesley dannells on Jun 25, 2010 in All categories | Comments Off
We all encounter tests and difficulties. It's important that we know how to roll off a block. Here Coach Charles shows his young charges how to do just that. -gwd
Even as Jesus Christ forfeited His life, may you, likewise, offer yourselves in the threshold of sacrifice for the betterment of the world; and just as Bahá’u’lláh suffered severe ordeals and calamities nearly fifty years for you, may you be willing to undergo difficulties and withstand catastrophes for humanity in general. May you bear these trials and tests most willingly and joyously, for every night is followed by a day, and every day has a night.
The Tacoma Tigers, a football team playing in the Upper Tacoma Youth League, is getting in shape and practicing hard for the football season. Got a son who wants to play? See Coach Charles or Coach William for an application. -gwd
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By george wesley dannells on Jun 24, 2010 in All categories | Comments Off
Hopefully, it will be easier to surround myself with people of my own faith. I can only hope. It took quite some time for me to find fellow Baha’i folks here, but I would assume back in the U.S. it would be easier. I sure hope that’s the case, though adapting to a new set of people, and waiting for them to adapt to my outgoing, straight-forward, shoot-from-the-hip nature, well, that will be an adventure for sure. I’m a great person, but Lord made me a handful.
I have an ever-increasing network of Baha’is in my life- world-wide now- and I am thrilled at this. I have always loved people, but there’s a different quality about the Baha’i community. We trust each other, depend on each other. Every time I speak to a new Baha’i it is much the same; we begin with the sizing up, ensuring that the other is not of the rare sort that preaches just a little too much or remembers their own humanity just a tad too rarely. Once we’ve established that neither of us are amongst that group, we hit it off quite well, and find that we have a great deal in common, and that we both have quite a bit of interesting things to say and discuss. At least by military standards, if not American or human standards, the sizing-up period tends to be quite brief, though I think it’s a natural and much-needed part of human interaction.
Thank God I’m Baha’i, because I remember, right at this moment, why I struggled so much with trying to be the proverbial Good Christian. I cannot wrap my head around the thought that there are women out there who genuinely believe that their entire identity is based solely on the man they married. I feel like I should be saying Hail Marys for thinking about all of this.
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By george wesley dannells on Jun 24, 2010 in All categories | Comments Off
the concept of … … something we know when we see it … and Marvin Gaye is in the background. Rahmat (mercy) is the sixth month of the the Baha’i calendar.
James Eugene Frank
Indeed, Jamie’s set for the Baha’i month of Rahmat goes well with a little Marvin Gaye. And Mercy, Mercy Me is particularly apropo for a nation reeling from what may be its greatest environmental disaster to date. Skip over the ads, but don’t miss Marvin’s testimony in the last few minutes of this video. What’s Going On.
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By george wesley dannells on Jun 23, 2010 in All categories | Comments Off
A wise Asian woman offers an observation that may run counter to what Americans are used to hearing. Is a fading American glory associated with the American track record regarding opportunities for women? -gw
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By george wesley dannells on Jun 22, 2010 in All categories | Comments Off
Anne is back from pilgrimage with a collection of exquisite pictures of the Baha'i holy places on her blog. -gw
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By george wesley dannells on Jun 22, 2010 in All categories | Comments Off
Question: I am much intrigued by the "Desire" liner notes; they generated a couple of questions in my mind. First, when it comes to interpreting lyrics, how much "spiritual" depth can and/or should be read into them. For example, in “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” are the lines "It's a Barnum and Bailey world/Just as phony as it can be/But it wouldn't be make-believe/If you believed in me" a nearly Zen-flavored perspective on human life or are they just a well-turned love lyric?
Sutton: The beauty of a masterpiece like the song "Paper Moon" is that it is a masterpiece because it is both "a well-turned love lyric" and ALSO can be seen as something much, much deeper. I think all great art has more than one layer, more than one interpretation. The great lyricists seem to channel deeper things within the mundane.
Baha'i Tierney Sutton is performing her sets in Oakland, and, as usual, is letting her listeners in on the spiritual undertones in her music. -gw
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