Blogs

Mammacomic loves kids. -gw

I am thinking about combining my love of design, art and architecture, with my love of kids and education. I am taking Ruhi book 5 this month, which is a training course in working with “junior youth” or kids in that sticky age just before becoming teenagers. I am stoked about it and think that this age group would be perfect for my idea. I want to develop an after school program for this age group in design, sustainable living and art. (some urban agriculture would be good too…) Somewhat like the mad science program…only design and living…and probably much smaller scale (at least to start…)

Anyways, the idea is to run after-school programs, and workshops for kids, and to be able to promote the stuff I love. I’m pretty stoked about it right now…and I’m writing about it because its on my mind, and because I am open to ideas, suggestions, references, networking…and all that jazz…I mean maybe it already exists and I just dont know about it…

http://mammacomic.blogspot.com/2009/03/art-design-education-and-dreams.html

This is what Baha’is are about. -gw

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• Children’s Class Teacher Gathering with Addis Fryback
• Ruhi Book 2 at Midway Point
• Ruhi Book 4 Study Circle Underway
• New Monthly Devotional Meeting
• New Activities at Magic Years Complete their First Month

http://nonthaburi.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/childrens-class-teacher-gathering-with-addis-fryback/

This Baha’i from Poland writes: “Not every song has to be happy and full of beautiful melodic lines as long as it stimulates the desire to better słuchaczu behavior, being a better person and a better serve” (Google Language Tools translation).  No truer words in any language were ever spoken. -gw

Jako muzyk, mogę jedynie powiedzieć jaki jest lepszy zawód od tego, który daje ludziom dużo radości i życiowej energii. Jest to zajęcie pomagające ludziom zastanowić się nad tym kim są, gdzie byli i czego dokonali. Nie każdy utwór musi być szczęśliwy lub pełen pięknych linii melodycznych o ile pobudza w słuchaczu chęć do lepszego zachowania, bycia lepszą osobą i lepszego służenia. Gdy śpiewam utwory kompozytora bluesowego Williego Dixona, lub kompozytorów jazzowych, jak Jobim czy Ellington, a nawet śpiewając utwory soulowe lub wspaniałe karaibskie piosenki Arrow, Crazy czy Mighty Sparrow pamiętam jak ważna dla naszych żyć jest historia (w piosence) i jak te historie odzwierciedlają historie z naszego życia podczas naszej podróży do lepszego życia i kochania.

http://kushtar.blogspot.com/2009/03/siona-majewska.html

A collection of mentions of the Baha’i New Year by both Baha’is and others. -gw

theprayercat (theprayercat) wrote,
@ 2009-03-21 09:25:00 

Current mood:

optimistic

1 Splendour 166 (Baha’i New Year)
Dearest my Lord, as I rush off to START DOING STUFF, remind me that I can do only what is in Your plan for me to accomplish, and that self-hate is not a requirement. Whether I have a productive day or a lazy one, it is OK to enjoy the day. “This is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

http://theprayercat.livejournal.com/9342.html

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Maruska>NAW RUZ 166-2009 Slideshow

http://picasaweb.google.com/marshnly/NAWRUZ1662009?feat=embedwebsite&fgl=true&pli=1#slideshow

And so began Baha’i year 166.
A spent the day at the Nine Star ranch where I, together with Maggie and Emily, helped Farah prepare a wonderful feast. Maggie did all the flowers, Emily and I did a lot of chopping, stirring and preparing of plates. Farah even prepared a Haft Sin which is an Iranian tradition for Naw Ruz. It is a table with sevent hings that start with S and represent different spiritual virtues. The party was wonderful. The house was full of wonderful flower arrangement, amazing food, interesting conversation and fantastic songs and prayer. The joy was palpable and the Baha’i New Year began with a blast.

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The Network Educators For Social Transformation (NEST) Inc. facilitated a gathering in celebration of Naw-Ruz last March 21, 2009 at Tita Fannies Liempo and Chicken Haus located at Corrales Avenue, Cagayan de Oro. …

The occasion started with prayers followed by a short talk from Perla Judith V. Somonod-Duamar, NEST Inc. Vice President for Development Programs. Then the meal was served while a ten-minute video presentation entitled ‘Impossible Dream’ was played signifying the burdened role of women in the society as a housekeeper, wife, wage earner at the same time, mother.

Noemi C. Alindog-Medina, NEST Inc. President gave a talk on discrimination against women and an overview of the change of the society today from years before. Then a forum on the said topic and some Baha’i values followed.

http://haifabaluyos.blogspot.com/2009/03/nest-inc-holds-gathering-in-celebration.html

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Today is the Vernal Equinox. It is also the celebration of the Bahai New Year.

http://divers-and-sundry.blogspot.com/2009/03/vernal-equinox.html

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start of a new year

Well, the new year has come. We celebrated with a party at the weekend – hall packed with people and not a drop of booze anywhere. Fruit, rice, vegetable stew, bread, juices, tea and coffee, and cakes. Then music performed live by some talented young people. That was the New Year party for members of the Baha’i Faith and their friends in Nottingham.

Since I had to stay in Austin for the Baha’i Faith (www.bahai.org) New Year celebrations, I did not do the stage racing that was on down in Fayetteville. But it worked out ok as I was able to put in two back-to-back five hour rides on Saturday and Sunday to clock up over 180 miles. This is the most I have done in a long while, especially on consecutive days.

Naree has put on her thinking cap for these. -gw

Before I become a diehard TV junky, here is a list of activities I believe would better me during my “short” time on this earthly realm:

1. Social dancing, especially salsa and swing (with my favorite dance partner)
2. Swimming and running outdoors
3. Quiet time to meditate more
4. Baking — definitely missing the scones
5. Reading Baha’i writings and enjoying fun fiction
6. Knitting scarves and learning to make beanies
7. Hosting dinners
8. Backpacking
9. Raise an amazing hypoallergenic dog

http://narly-naree.blogspot.com/2009/03/flaming-cheetos-for-brain.html

Photo: “Peru has offered US President-elect Barak Obama a hypoallergenic Peruvian Hairless dog as a new White House pet.” Reuters

How will the leaders of Iran respond to invitations for responsible behavior in keeping with a modern, and not a medieval,  state? -gw

 

President Obama’s special video message for all those celebrating Nowruz, or “New Day.” This year, the President wanted to send a special message to the people and government of Iran, acknowledging the strain in our relations over the last few decades. After committing his administration to a future of honest and respectful diplomacy, he addresses Iran’s leaders directly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY_utC-hrjI

President Barack Obama told Iran’s people and leaders that the United States wants to engage with their country and end decades of strained relationship, but not unless their officials stop making threats. Obama on Friday released a video message with Farsi subtitles that urged the two countries to resolve their long-standing differences. His video was timed to the festival of Nowruz (no-ROOZ), which means “new day.” It marks the arrival of spring and is a major holiday in Iran.

Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZKyHoLGOY0

Barack Obama on Naw Rúz!

Happy Naw Rúz to you too Mr. Obama!

http://mauxito.blogspot.com/2009/03/barack-obama-on-naw-ruz.html

Note: I have updated this post to use the official “whitehouse” YouTube video. -gw

At the fireside I attended last Saturday there were so many people I didn’t know.  I thought they were from out of town. No, they were from Pierce Peninsula in our cluster. Hearing them speak  so knowledgeably about the Faith, I assumed they were Baha’is of long-standing. In fact, they were newly registered, their knowledge the fruit of the Ruhi Institute process. -gw 

This semester I’ve been meeting weekly with a Baha’i study group.  This week we talked about prayer.

It hit me tonight. I haven’t prayed in a very long time, and suddenly I’m not okay with that.  I think for a long time I’ve associated prayer with asking some faceless God for things that deep down I know may or may not happen, because I’ve felt for a long time that God does not have a hand in the events of the earth any longer.

But, in that statement… I feel like that there is a God, and he/she/The Divine Power that is God, does have something to offer, even if he has stopped involving himself directly in the affairs of humanity.

This thought came after we discussed the Prophet Muhammed’s thought that “prayer is like a ladder, suspended between heaven and earth by which we can ascend to paradise” (a summary from the Ruhi Institute book) along with the Long Obligatory Prayer.

http://windowsandthings.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/i-guess-you-would-call-this-an-epiphany/

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I put through my working with children check today.  So now if i need to be in charge of young people, it’s actually legal, lol.  We’ve almost finished Ruhi book 5 semi-intensively, so if i actually had time, I could start a junior youth group.

http://thustin.livejournal.com/10978.html

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Before leaving, vandals sprayed hateful slurs and insults on gas and water tanks found on the cemetery grounds. These slurs contain spelling mistakes suggesting that the vandals may have been young or uneducated. One of the insults contains a reference to the Ruhi program, a series of study courses offered by the Baha’i community to serve the spiritual and educational needs of the greater community.

http://www.iranpresswatch.org/2009/02/semnan-cemetery/

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By obeying the commandments, I can open the doors to what is possible in both this world and the world to come.  I can’t figure any of this out on my own. by the way. What little awareness of meaning that I have is due to studying the Writings, participation in Ruhi study circles, prayer and consistent participation in 12 step groups so that my “idle fancies and vain imaginings” have less effect on me, “one day at a time”.

http://angelfly72.blogspot.com/2009/02/thoughts-about-gods-commandments.html 

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In our IPG area there are many people who want to know more about the Faith and become Baha’is that it is like picking out the roses in a flower garden. The core team literally has to slow down teaching efforts, because of the need for more Ruhi tutors and children’s class teachers.

Comment to http://meetingthedualchallenge.blogspot.com/2009/02/beauty-of-tag-team-teaching.html

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Un número de personas que compartieron sus experiencias durante las sesiones plenarias. Sonia, of the Canary Islands, said she had participated in a study circle, using Book 1 of the Ruhi curriculum, with five women who were not Baha’is. Sonia, de las Islas Canarias, dijo que había participado en un círculo de estudio, utilizando el libro 1 de la Ruhi currículo, con cinco mujeres que no se bahaíes. “At the end of the book, all of them wanted to declare themselves Baha’is,” she said. “Al final del libro, todos ellos quería declararse bahaíes,” ella dijo.  

http://www.idiomaswatson.com/noticiasbahais/?p=111

Andrew, you’re going to be missed. Your blog posts over the years have greatly enriched the Baha’i Blogosphere.

Andrew is going to pull the plug on Andropolis.org next week, he posted yesterday. He marshalls all the reasons, citing the Wired post from last fall. He thanks Lacey, mother Baha’i blogger to him and a lot of others.

He’s right, of course. There are so many other ways to be online. And as I’ve said many times before on this blog, Twitter is it.

My wife posted on her blog for the first time in a month yesterday. She has told me on a regular basis that she is done blogging, although she’s the one in the family who started blogging back in 2005. I suspect she will continue to write about her current interests. First it was chronicling our canoeing outings and family gatherings. Then it became cooking. Now it’s thrift and making do, in keeping with the economic climate, although nothing has changed for us financially. For her, it’s become fun to see how cheap she can buy the groceries. So that’s what she’s posting on, if she posts at all.

I started blogging in January of 2006. Here I am, Lord, in 2009. I’m not done blogging. For me blogging still fits, perhaps because I’m … on the backstretch of my career, if not the final turn. Life is simple. Teach the Faith, eat, sleep, work, maybe canoe, and blog.

My blog is not that personal, but I do use my full name. What I have posted on is not going to make it more difficult to get another job, because I don’t plan to get another job. I like where I’m working now and plan to retire from it, if they’ll let me.

Blogging gives me an excuse to live my life and explore the Internet in a way that seems systematic, posting about the discoveries. I am so inspired by what other people are doing for the Faith in the world, and inspired, too, by how the multitudes are finding the Faith.

The rage right now among Baha’is in Cluster 19 who are not college-aged is to get on Facebook, not blogging. I can’t tell you exactly how many have become my Facebook friends in the past month or two, but it seems like a lot. It’s the mature, and even the over-ripe (just a joke, there) who are becoming wired. Yup.

There is one brand new blogger in our cluster as of the past several months, Arlene of Weaner Pigs, and she’s a natural. There is still blog content out there that is personal and reflects some aspect of Baha’i life that is worthy of exposure. I continue to be interested in finding what I consider to be gems of blog expression and excerpting from them.  And throwing in whatever else I feel like that seems somehow Baha’i-related.

For me, it’s impacting Google word-searches that continues to have me blogging most days and for hours a day. Take a word to google, any word, and add “Baha’i” to the search and see what comes up for results. If Baha’i Views comes up and folks click over, I hope that when they leave they will have had their understanding of the Faith expanded a little bit. It’s all about links.  

Hey, I just googled “Baha’i” and”search” and Baha’i Views came up as the 9th result. 9th! Hey, that’s an omen. I’m going to keep blogging. Blogging, I love you. -gw

There I’ve Said It Again

I love you, there’s nothing to hide,
It’s better than burning inside,
I love you, no use to pretend
There I’ve said it again

I’ve said it, what more can I say,
Believe me, there’s no other way,
I love you, I will to the end,
There I’ve said it again.