Author Archive for George

 It’s Friday and Bonita had Ruhi today in the house. Betty and Kendra were over, along with Chris, the tutor. I love hearing the news on a Friday night that the study circle took place. It takes some effort, after all.  Chris drives in all the way in from Bonney Lake to pick up those on the Hilltop able to attend and bring them to  our home for the class.  The core activities are, after all, at the core of Baha’i community life: the holding of study circles, children’s classes and devotional meetings.  A week without involvement in one can leave one feeling barren, bereft of the spirit. BTW, Bonita has kindly permitted me to run photos she took today before she has had a chance to post on them on her blog Flitzy Phoebie. The quotes for memorization that were studied in today’s circle are below. -gw

Section 5, Ruhi 1 

“A kindly tongue is the lodestone of the hearts of men. It is the bread of the spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning, it is the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding.”    (Baha’u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 15 )

“O ye beloved of the Lord! In this sacred Dispensation, conflict and contention are in no wise permitted. Every aggressor deprives himself of God’s grace.”   (Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith - Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 445 )

“Nothing whatever can, in this Day, inflict a greater harm upon this Cause than dissension and strife, contention, estrangement and apathy, among the loved ones of God.”    (Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 9 )

“Do not be content with showing friendship in words alone, let your heart burn with loving kindness for all who may cross your path.”     (Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 16 )

“When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love.”     (Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 29 )

http://www.ruhiresources.org/index.php?src=news&refno=365&category=Book%201%20-%20Quotations

Yesterday I discovered Baha’i while stumbling around the internet.

Sam K — Post subject: Many questions about Baha’i…

Sam had questions, so he posed them on Baha’i Library Forum. Below are his “random” ones. How did the Baha’i friends who responded answer them? -gw

(4) Is the possibility (or impossibility) of life in on other planets addressed in Baha’i? Is Earth the only place that matters in the eyes of God?

(5) Politics. I had a Grandfather who would never swear in church, but was quite enthusiastic about the practice everywhere else. Along these lines, are members of Baha’i required to avoid political discussions entirely, or just with other members of the group?

(6) Are there any dietary restrictions?

(7) Within a marriage, is sexuality for the purposes of intimacy and enjoyment frowned upon?

(8) Within society, are there any activities that are considered unacceptable, such as reading fiction, playing video games, or watching movies with explosions?

(9) What is the expected attire for meetings?

http://bahai-library.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2111&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Top photo: Uploaded on July 16, 2007 by Computer Science Geek on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic

Bottom Photo: Uploaded on November 1, 2008 by navilluS Photography on flickr

On the the Birth of Baha’u'llah, Nov 12th, Elika Mahoney gifted us with a music video produced by Jarome Matthew of her song “The Bird Which Soareth” from her most recent album, Fire and Gold.  Please note that Elika has other songs and videos available for free download as well. You can download them from the link on her blog.  http://www.elikamahony.com/emlist_gifts.html

As a thank you for supporting me, and my creations,
here are some special gifts for you!

MUSIC:
Should Prosperity Befall Thee - mp3
Prayer For The Departed - mp3
The Light In Thy Love - mp3
The Light In Thy Love - wav, High Quality
From the Album ‘Fire And Gold’
Produced by Jarome Matthew

VIDEO:
The Bird Which Soareth, with Lyrics - WinMedia
The Bird Which Soareth, Best Quality - Quicktime
This Is Faith - Windows Media
This Is Faith - smaller, Low Quality, WinMedia
This Is Faith - Best Quality Mpeg 4 video

http://www.elikamahony.com/emlist_gifts.html

Photo, right: Uploaded on August 12, 2008 by DrGBB on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

Between readings tonight during Baha’i devotions, I played these songs (again!). -gw  

Drömspår — Efterspel  by Lena Willemark & Ale Möller 

A Distant Episode  by Jai Uttal

Eve of Reality  by Arrested Development

The First Flute Song 

by Kevin Locke

Peace  by Bobby McFerrin

Bonita has become a foodie, that is, an aficionado of food. Check out her gorgeous food photos on our Baha’i Views/Flitzy Phoebie flickr site.

I told her tonight that I would play her favorite song at her funeral, if she should go first. Her favorite song is “Soul Food to Go” by Manhattan Transfer. Only my version for her would be, “Foodie’s Soul to Go.”-gw

“Pumpkin-zucchini squash soup, with a tinge of orange juice, carrots, onion, celery and garlic; tarragon, anise and tumeric; ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon, chicken broth, and a bit of organic carrot soup base for sweetening.” Uploaded on October 31, 2008
by Baha’i Views / Flitzy Phoebie

I can only imagine what effort it takes to pull off 41 regional Baha’i conferences in locations around the world over just three months time. The friends in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, and the Central African Republic are undoubtedly working very hard in preparation for conferences this weekend. I know when the week of the Portland Conference comes, I will be working for the weekend, aching for Saturday to arrive and the party to begin. I encourage you to plan on attending the conference nearest you. If I may take the liberty of quoting a couple of lyric lines from that 1981 hit by Loverboy, “Working for the Weekend” …  -gw

You wanna be in the show
Come on baby lets go
“Working for the Weekend”

http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/johannesburg.html#morephotos

http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/nakuru.html#morephotos

http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/lusaka.html#morephotos

The photos posted on the Baha’i World News Service site keep calling me for another look-see. I can’t wait to see the photos from this coming weekend’s gatherings. -gw

Upcoming conferences
15-16 November 2008

• Bangui, Central African Republic
• Bangalore, India
• Uvira, Democratic Republic of the Congo

http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/

From the Changing Times Blog I learn of this new Devon Gundry music video with a rather steller line-up of Baha’is. -gw

Devon Gundry - “Armed” from Justin Baldoni on Vimeo.

 Looking for conference news?  Land here. -gw

Regional Conferences of the Five Year Plan: 

Conference reports and photographs

the site has been created by Baha’i World News Service to provide a richer
experience of the conferences. You will be able to find all conference
reports here as well as other features (video, photos etc). -gw

Photo: Uploaded on April 9, 2006 by John Wardell (Netinho) on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic

No surprise here. This photo is Creative Commons licensed. -gw

Uploaded on July 8, 2008 by Evi Christodoulou on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.

Too often the debate over creative control tends to the extremes. At one pole is a vision of total control — a world in which every last use of a work is regulated and in which “all rights reserved” (and then some) is the norm. At the other end is a vision of anarchy — a world in which creators enjoy a wide range of freedom but are left vulnerable to exploitation. Balance, compromise, and moderation — once the driving forces of a copyright system that valued innovation and protection equally — have become endangered species.

Creative Commons is working to revive them. We use private rights to create public goods: creative works set free for certain uses. Like the free software and open-source movements, our ends are cooperative and community-minded, but our means are voluntary and libertarian. We work to offer creators a best-of-both-worlds way to protect their works while encouraging certain uses of them — to declare “some rights reserved.”

http://creativecommons.org/about/

At the Holy Day observance for the Birth of Baha’u'llah I talked Iranian (and Baha’i) geography last night with one of the Persian friends. I was reminded of something I knew but never thought about with regard to the Iranian Baha’is, the fact that Iran has a population that includes many ethnic and linguistic minorities. This friend was from one of those minority groups, whereas our dear host family for the evening was from the largest segment of the population. Baha’u'llah came to unite people of all ethnicities. -gw

…ethnicity/race in Iran breaks down as follows: Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_in_Iran