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The Baha’i Community grows systematically. The institute process that is at the heart of this growth and the core activities of devotional meetings, study circles, junior youth activities, and children’s classes are a frequent focus of Baha’i content online. The 41 Baha’i regional conferences of November 2008-February 2009 were opportunities for consultation by Baha’is collectively on the growth of the Cause.

On the Significance of Ruhi to Baha’is: More mentions

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 

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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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21I 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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32Before 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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angela_with_antlersBy 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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page_header_bg2-993x126In 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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photo-madrid-06Un 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

 

 

On Our Baha’i Devotional Meeting: Paintings, prayers, and Mi’Ma’amakim

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Our Baha’i devotional meetings on Thursday evenings celebrate art. Walter Palmore brings his exquisite paintings, such as the one above. We say prayers and have conversations of spiritual significance. New Baha’i Peggy comes. Another Baha’i artist, Nuri, has started to come. Polin comes. Ed comes and shares poetry. I slip in the tunes. Bonita takes pictures and serves up the tea, rooibos tea from Africa this past Thursday.

One of the songs I have played that has been a devotional meeting hit is this one. -gw

Mi’Ma’amakim (Out Of The Depths) (5:49)

theidanraichelproject

The Idan Raichel Project burst onto the Israeli music scene in 2002, changing the face of Israeli popular music and offering a message of love and tolerance that resonated strongly in a region of the world where the headlines are too often dominated by conflict. With an enchanting blend of Ethiopian and Middle Eastern flavors coupled with sophisticated production techniques and a spectacular live show, the Idan Raichel Project has become one of the most unexpected success stories in Israeli music today.

http://www.last.fm/music/The+Idan+Raichel+Project/

I whisper, ask in your ears:
Who is it that calls to you tonight – listen
who sings aloud to you under your window
who stakes his soul just for you to be happy
who will lend his hand to build you a home
who lay his life down underneath you
who like the earth at your feet shall live on
who will love you better than all your lovers
who will save you from all evil spirits
from the depths.

http://othejoys.blogspot.com/2008/06/mimaamakim.html

On a Conference, a Convention, and a Meeting: Baha’i thumbnails

Kiev Regional Baha’i Conference

3351586891_f3cbf15bb9_t Uploaded on March 13, 2009 by fotofrancis on flickr 3352417724_66083320df_t

From the last of the 41 regional Baha’i conferences called by the governing body of the Baha’i Faith, The Universal House of Justice. Feb28-Mar 01 2009. Some of the over 750 people attending the conference. There were large delegations from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, White Russia, Russia, Moldova, and Armenia.

More photo’s can be seen at :

gallery.fotofrancis.lv/francis/kiev1/

gallery.fotofrancis.lv/francis/kiev2/ 

3346557919_24e4e5e61a_t Regional Bahá’í Convention 2009
Uploaded on March 11, 2009 by The Akermarks on flickr

Tags: Click this icon to see all public photos and videos tagged with geloofbahai religion geloof göteborg sweden convention 2009

 3249890660_40e2eeca99_t reflection meeting
Uploaded on February 2, 2009 by dragfyre on flickr

TagsClick this icon to see all public photos and videos tagged with baha'i baha’i reflection meeting ottawa canada

There is something holy about a gathering of consulting Baha’is, whatever the size. -gw

On Facebook Zabine Says Hi: Tantalizing advance word

On images12 Zabine says Hi, and I catch up on tantalizing news, on Baha’i teaching and on Heart 2 Heart. -gw

8:39pm Zabine
Hi George
logo_82MeetUp is starting to pick up seekers
now I am talking to a seeker in Tacoma
lets network
am planning on meeting her as soon as we can
8:42pm George
That’s great, Zabine.
8:42pm Zabine
need to find out where she lives soon
8:43pm George
You’re always teaching, which warms my heart
8:43pm Zabine
h2hH2H is at the production co downloaded
8:43pm George
Wow
8:43pm Zabine
yes am here and there and teaching for sure
getting closer
8:44pm George
And your work has already had great effect
8:44pm Zabine
6 active homevisits with seeker from Meetup
8:44pm George
Fantastic
8:44pm Zabine
reflectionswell we will see that ripple one of these days
am working on a website now
soon I will get even there
8:45pm George
The website will be a great victory
8:45pm Zabine
yes I found somebody in CA and he is willing and ready to help
8:46pm Zabine
Reflection is about to be hyperlinked all 6 chapters so that you can jump around and just look at what you want to review

On Finding Him Seated on the Earth’s Loftiest Heights: Calling aloud to all mankind

continent

“Should they attempt to conceal His light on the continent, He will assuredly rear His head in the midmost heart of the ocean and, raising His voice, proclaim: ‘I am the lifegiver of the world!’… And if they cast Him into a darksome pit, they will find Him seated on earth’s loftiest heights calling aloud to all mankind: ‘Lo, the Desire of the world is come in His majesty, His sovereignty, His transcendent dominion!’ And if He be buried beneath the depths of the earth, His Spirit soaring to the apex of heaven shall peal the summons: ‘Behold ye the coming of the Glory; witness ye the Kingdom of God, the most Holy, the Gracious, the All-Powerful!’”

THE DISPENSATION OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, p/108

images1191Why now, Oprah? Why, Rainn, have you emerged at this moment as this most effective public figure for increasing awareness of the Faith to the general public? There is a direct relationship between the victories the Faith is current achieving and the sacrifices being made by believers both imprisioned and subject to grievous persecutions in the Land of Ta. -gw

upliftingwordslogoupliftinglongO ‘ land of Ta
O ‘ land of Baha
country of mystery
placed on a planet
full of history

ancient and hostile
home of the exiled
patient you wait

http://www.upliftingwords.org/poetry/Cradle.htm 

Anyone who cares about religious freedom in the world should read this letter from the Baha’i International Community to the Prosecutor General of Iran regarding the plight of the Baha’is in prison… http://bic.org/areas-of-work/persecution/prosecutor-general-iran-en.pdf

For those who are interested in a little more (an alternate description), here is a commentary by Rainn Wilson and his thoughts on the current religious crisis in Iran: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/02/17/wilson.faith/
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80556519_a84f5d333c_mThere is a lot on my mind during these days of fasting; and yet as I have so much to be thankful for, I am certain that spreading this message of love and support and telling the story of the imprisoned Baha’is is Iran is the the least I can do. As a Baha’i I will keep fighting for religious freedom and the belief that this world really can be a better place.

http://confessionsofapokemom.blogspot.com/2009/03/being-bahai-and-my-concern-for-bahais.html

Pokemom photo: Uploaded on January 1, 2006 by midorigin on flickr

On Jacqueline Left Hand Bull as Keynote at Democratic Party Function: Interfaith inspiration

washington_logo

Mayors’ Interfaith Luncheon

Mar 31 2009 – 11:30am
Mar 31 2009 – 1:30pm
You are invited to
The Inter‐Religious Action Network
of Washington County’s
4th Annual
Mayors’ Interfaith Luncheon
“Courage to Inspire”
Keynote Speaker
Jacqueline Left Hand Bull‐Delahunt

Chairman, Baha’i National Spiritual Assembly
Jacqueline Left Hand Bull‐Delahunt is a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu
Lakota). She is the Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the
United States and the first American Indian woman to hold that position. Her
pluralistic background is a moving spirit behind her leadership.
Sacred Words from Many Faith Traditions
Music from Burke Family Quartet
Panel Discussion with Special Guests
Mayor John Kinsky, Banks
Mayor Dennis Doyle, Beaverton
Mayor Bill Bash, Cornelius
Mayor David Hatcher, North Plains
Mayor Keith Mays, Sherwood
Mayor Lou Ogden, Tualatin
 
Tuesday March 31, 2009
11:30 AM ‐ 1:30 PM
Portland Community College — Rock Creek Campus
17705 NW Springville Road, Portland, OR 97229
 
RESERVATION DEADLINE—Friday March 13th
For more information call 503‐846‐5792
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Jacqueline’s  comments will add greatly to this event, I am sure. -gw
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On Rainn on Religion: No hippy dippy, airy fairy or precious malarky making it awkward or isolating

img_0208I … watched this webcast he just did for Oprah’s Soul Series. It’s really cool, and jiving perfectly with my whole am-I-Christian-or-am-I-not conundrum. Rainn practices the Baha’i faith (which says when organized religion stops unifying, it’s in fact better to have no religion at all), and talks about it at length in the interview. He also discusses the whole driving force behind the site: to get people to start talking about “life’s big questions” in a cool, modern, open and easy way, with no crystals, and no “hippy dippy,” “airy fairy,” or “precious” malarkey making it awkward or isolating. Well, sign me up!

http://orcappuccino.blogspot.com/2009/03/soul-trippin.html

I think there are a lot of blog posts like this being written at this very moment. Thanks, Rainn Wilson. Thanks, Oprah Winfrey. Thanks Soul Pancake. -gw

On When It Rainns: Yes … it pours

Great story! Not surprising. -gw

bI’m at a conference table in another office discussing cartography and my cell phone rings. It’s an emergency. Our website, Bahai.us is down – not responding. I’m immediately on the phone with our managed hosting provider attempting to triage the issues – and learn the reason why our site went down. The database shutdown due to an excessive amount of server requests. Far above the set limit. “DoS” I thought – “this is it, we’re being hacked” I thought. An hour later the server is back online. I root in – curious as to what’s happening and find that over 90% of the servers memory is in use. Hmmm. I check the logs to see what’s being accessed. This is when everything started making perfect sense. I could see that we were receiving hundreds of requests per minute to one node: http://www.bahai.us/rainn-wilson

Yep. Rainn was Oprah’s guest yesterday on her Soul Series webcast. Period.

A simple Google search for “Rainn Wilson Bahai” says it all.

Rainn was awesome. My wife and I listened to the show last night and had a sweet deepening. Perhaps it’s because I’m fasting and somewhat spacey – but I totally didn’t put it together this morning while witnessing the Google rank increase -OR- when our server went down. It wasn’t until I checked the server logs that I understood. There’s an industry term for this — “Slashdotted”. But in this case – I say, we were “Rainned on” :)

Brian

ttp://www.bahaiwebdev.net/profiles/blogs/when-it-rainns

On Oprah to Rainn: What Is Soul Pancake?

:-) feature this!

1serial_703653_largeSholeh to me
2:45 PM (1 hour ago) Reply

images8REALLY good interview!!  And the website, Soul Pancake, has been launched. 
S — http://sholeh.calmstorm.net

Okay, Sholeh. (Hey that rhymes!) -gw

http://www.oprah.com/article/spirit/inspiration/pkgoprahssoulserieswebcast/20090309_oradio_oss_rwilson

xm_logo_90x69

Part 1  Watch Now Listen Now 

Part 2  Watch Now Listen Now 

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Hi. I’m Rainn Wilson. I’m an actor. I helped create this here Web site, SoulPancake.

 http://www.soulpancake.com/

On a Pilgrimage Along the Way: Historia Bahá’í z Nowego Miasta Lubawskiego

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A pilgrimage figured in the charming story about how this Polish youth became a Baha’i. Click over to Building Momentum and read the entire post. -gw

howibecomeI was charmed! I had never heard of any doctrine, which directly says that people turn to the same God, no matter what they formally belong to. The idea of unifing people in one common faith, one universal cause captured my soul.

What’s more, I had pilgrimaged to Jasna Góra, the most holy place for Roman-Catholics in Poland. It had taken an entire 2 weeks to get there on foot. I had prayed for the return of Christ, the promised “one shepherd and one flock”. I couldn’t understand why there was a division between the Roman-Catholic and the Othodox Church. I knew that their dogmas were mostly the same. In my childhood I used to dream I could unify them one day. All my life I supported the efforts of John Paul II, who did a lot for ecumenism.

http://buildingmomentuminpoland.blogspot.com/2009/03/historia-bahai-z-nowego-miasta.html

Photo: “Sunset over the Jasna Gora monastery in Czestochowa, Poland,” uploaded on April 3, 2007 by lucas figo on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic

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