Archive for April, 2011

On a Learning Culture: LIsa has a question

By on Apr 30, 2011 in All categories | Comments Off

 
During Feast Lisa had a question. Tim and Deb found a quiet corner (well, not so quiet), found some Baha'i texts to search, and got busy trying to find the answer. Thereis something lovely about this demonstration of a learning culture that is the Baha'i community today. -gw

On Elections at Ridvan: All kinds of elections

By on Apr 30, 2011 in All categories | Comments Off

Today I’m all about Elections. Because this spring I’m casting TWO ballots! What did you say Emad? Two ballots? How’s that? Well, you see, I’m currently residing in two electoral districts: Halifax West, and Halifax Cluster. In the Halifax West riding I’m voting for my future municipal and federal government, and in the Halifax Bahá’í Cluster I’m voting for my future Local Spiritual Assembly.   Interestingly enough, this is all happening during the Bahá’í festival of Riḍván, i.e., the Bahá’í elections are happening on the first day of Riḍván (tonight at sunset), and the Federal elections are happening on the last day of Riḍván (May 2nd).

Coincidence? Absolutely.

Blog-worthy? Yeppers!

 
Want to read a really good post about the signficance of governance for Baha’is, and the difference between Baha’i elections and the other kind, read Emad’s highly readable entry. (Thanks, Secret Contributor of the North, for this.)
 
We elected our Tacoma local assembly 9 days ago as did Baha’i communities all over the world. At this very moment the U.S. Baha’i National Convention is underway which will involve another election, for the national governing body.  If you follow the link below, you’ll find Ellen’s mention ofboth that election and her own local Assembly election. -gw
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On Where to Find Good Tripe in Tacoma: Our community is becoming more diverse

By on Apr 30, 2011 in All categories | Comments Off

Menudo is a wonderfully aromatic soup made of tripe, hominy and chili, and is stewed for hours with garlic and other spices. the broth is rich, red, papery, and glistens with fat. It stimulates the senses, arms the insides, and clears the head.

Menudo is served in big open bowls brought to the table steaming and fiery. It is usually eaten in the wee hours after a night out on the town and widely proclaimed to be an antidote for hangovers.

Mexicans brag about menudo's goodness, about how the hot broth with its medicinal condiments, particularly the chili, replenishes vitamins A and C, soothes the stomach, and stimulates the gastric juices to overcome any loss of appetite.

 
 
BJ likes good menudo. So does Jim. They were comparing notes at Thursday's Baha'i Feast on where to get the best tripe in town. -gw

On Managing Depression: Maintain spiritual practices and seek professional help

By on Apr 30, 2011 in All categories | comments(1)

 

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post “On Managing Depression: Spiritual Solutions”: 

I am a Baha’i and I have experienced depression for most of my life. I am at a point in my life that I am really suffering. I try to fill my heart with God’s love and fly above these feelings but sometimes I feel no connection. I love the Faith and I want to love myself as God’s creation. I want to have that burning love but sometimes I don’t feel like living anymore. What Baha’i literature can I read that touches on mental illness so that I can try to understand a way to be on my path and overcome this very difficult test? I need help. I need support. I live like this in a closet. I put on my happy face but I don’t radiate like a spiritual being should. In such a loving community I feel so lonely. I pray that God will give me strength and answers. Does anyone have any advice?

 
You are not alone as a Baha’i who experiences depression. My advice is to seek the help of professionals who specialize in alleviating the symptoms of mental illness and consult with a nearby Baha’i Spiritual Assembly. The Baha’i Writings all contribute to mental fitnss. We may not always “feel it” when we pray and study, but by maintaining spiritual practices and seeking professional help, we will achieve our heart’s desire. Therapy works. God really loves us. -gw
 

On Taking Detours: And choosing God’s way

By on Apr 30, 2011 in All categories | Comments Off

 
True religion has never yet been fashionable. God grant that one day it may become so; but it is still true, as in the days of Christ, that “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” The gateway of spiritual birth, like the gateway of natural birth, admits men only one by one, and without encumbrances. If, in the future, more people succeed in entering that way than in the past, it will not be because of any widening of the gate, but because of a greater disposition on the part of men to make the “great surrender” which God demands; because long and bitter experience has at last brought them to see the folly of choosing their own way instead of God’s way.
 
 
 The Illahee Preserve noon-time hiking crew went hiking and, because of mud and puddles, had to take a few detours. We just had to .-gw
 

On the Baha’i month of Jalal (Beauty): Jamie Frank invites you to see a photo set on Flickr

By on Apr 30, 2011 in All categories | Comments Off

 
Thanks, Jamie! -gw
 
 

On Comedians Have Credibility: Celebrity has its benefits

By on Apr 24, 2011 in All categories | comments(2)

 
From: Northwest BahaiLibrary
Omid Djallili, a British-Iranian movie and TV actor-comedian, speaks
about his Baha'i Faith.

Audio Broadcast:  BBC Radio 3 broadcast on 4-18-2011

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0107239/Belief_Omid_Djalili/

Bio / films:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omid_Djalili
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0229084/\

 
Why is it that comedians have so much credibility and constitute great presenters of the Faith. I'm thinking, Omid and Rainn Wilson (or is he an actor?) – and there are others. -gw
 

On Nayriz: Official site of AWAKENING: A History of the Babí and Bahá’í Faiths in Nayriz

By on Apr 24, 2011 in All categories | Comments Off

A fascinating site. Thanks, Robert. -gw
 
From: Northwest BahaiLibrary

 
This new website was just announced:

http://www.nayriz.org/template.php

On a Celebration of Easter: A devotional program of Baha’i Writings

By on Apr 24, 2011 in All categories | Comments Off

 
The Beaverton Baha'i website features the readings for a devotional program to honor the Christian celebration of Easter. -gw
 

On Pastor’s Kids and Gospel Music: Conversations at practice

By on Apr 22, 2011 in All categories | Comments Off

Smitty is a P.K., a pastor’s kid, he told me last night at the Tacoma Invaders football practice. P.K. is a new term for me.
Chris & Smitty
Chris G is a P.K., too. He heard the gospel mix playing on my iPod dock and shared that information. He also plays drums for a Baptist church.
 
As anybody who knows me will tell you, I like gospel. I didn’t grow up with it. Unitarians don’t listen to it. But I’ve loved gospel music rbrt since the 70′s. Rev James Cleveland singing “I Ain’t Noways Tired” was one of my favorite songs back then. I had a Mighty Clouds of Joy album. Love their kind of music.
 
Smitty told me that his favorite group is the Williams Brothers. I told him I think I have them in my collection. They’re not on my iPod, I know, but I think I have a CD of some of their songs somewhere. I’m going to check.
 
White folks can and do like black music. It stirs the soul.
 
I’m not Unitarian anymore. I’m not Christian, although I love Christ — you can’t be a Baha’i and not love Him. There are a lot of songs sung in the African American tradition out of the thousands of Baha’i-inspired songs available today. Many of the songs I’ve been playing on my iPod dock for devotions before the Invader practices are Baha’i.
 
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My favorite Baha’i artisit currently is Walter Heath. He has a song “Daddy Was a Preacher Man”  on his album Praise His Name, which you can hear a little bit of here. So Walter is a P.K.
 
My friend Jeff is a P.K.
 
Rocky and Robert are members of our Baha’i cluster. They were not pastor’s kids – they were pastors, ordained as ministers at one time in their lives, serving Christian communities before giving service to humanity as Baha’is. -gw
Robert & Rocky 
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