Focus, Focus, Focus

The Power of Focus

Victor over at "Anxiously Concerned" has a nice piece about psychological research on multi-tasking and Baha'i teaching on the power of focus:

"This evening I came across another fascinating article from the wonderful website, Psychology Matters. Interestingly, the article relates directly to a quotation from the Baha'i Writings that I had never read before (that I can remember), but that I've come across randomly four or five times in the last few weeks. Both the article and the quotation relate to the topic of focus, so I am starting to think that this is something I need to work on."

You can read the whole thing at www.anxiouslyconcerned.blogspot.com

Community Bloggin' in Cameroon

(Baha'is in Cameroon, 1954)

Just tripped over this sweet little community blog that has been put up by the Baha'is of Cameroon. Two of my good friends, Hansel Ndam and Heleminah Loh are Baha'is from that beautiful country. The blog is called "Just News" Check it out!


In 2003, the Baha'is of Cameroon celebrated their Golden Jubilee, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Baha'i Faith in their country.

Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha

On the morning of November 28th, Baha'is around the world commemorated the passing in 1921 of 'Abdu'l Baha, designated by Baha'u'llah, Founder of the Baha'i Faith as the Center of the Covenant to whom all Baha'is should turn and the Interpreter of Baha'u'llah's Writings, which exceed one hundred volumes. 'Abdu'l-Baha is also considered by Baha'is to be the perfect Exemplar of Baha'u'llah's teachings and is refered to by Baha'u'llah as the "Mystery of God". The Baha'i Writings offer this testimony of the station of this remarkable, revolutionary soul:

He is, and should for all time be regarded, first and foremost, as the Center and Pivot of Bahá'u'lláh's peerless and all-enfolding Covenant, His most exalted handiwork, the stainless Mirror of His light, the perfect Exemplar of His teachings, the unerring Interpreter of His Word, the embodiment of every Bahá'í ideal, the incarnation of every Bahá'í virtue, the Most Mighty Branch sprung from the Ancient Root, the Limb of the Law of God, the Being "round Whom all names revolve," the Mainspring of the Oneness of Humanity, the Ensign of the Most Great Peace, the Moon of the Central Orb of this most holy Dispensation -- styles and titles that are implicit and find their truest, their highest and fairest expression in the magic name 'Abdu'l-Bahá. He is, above and beyond these appellations, the "Mystery of God" -- an expression by which Bahá'u'lláh Himself has chosen to designate Him, and which, while it does not by any means justify us to assign to Him the station of Prophethood, indicates how in the person of 'Abdu'l-Bahá the incompatible characteristics of a human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are completely harmonized. (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 134)

Horace Holly, an heroic early American Baha'i put it this way at a lecture he gave in Los Angeles in 1948:

"Now a message from God must be delivered, and there was no mankind to hear this message.

Therefore, God gave the world ‘Abdu’l-Baha. ‘Abdu’l-Baha¡ received the message of Baha’u’llah on behalf of the human race. He heard the voice of God; He was inspired by the spirit; He attained complete consciousness and awareness of the meaning of this message, and He pledged the human race to respond to the voice of God. My friends, to me that is the covenant that there was on this earth some one who could be a representative of an as yet uncreated race."

If you want to read some more about 'Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i Related Blog has a nice piece on his passing and my friend Phyllis Ring has a column about him regarding thanksgiving.

Headed Back to the Holy Land

I will have the inestimable blessing of praying in the holiest spots on earth for Baha'is, Haifa and Akka, Israel next month. I can't wait! Reuters has a pretty good article about Baha'i pilgrimage that came out recently. The opening paragraph is below:

By Jonathan Saul

HAIFA, Israel (Reuters) - Some pilgrims stand in silence. Others prostrate themselves and offer fragrant petals. There is no clergy, no sermons, no pressing throngs of faithful.

The hushed Baha'i pilgrimage to the Holy Land focuses on personal prayer and meditation, and is like no other in a region long torn between religions struggling -- often noisily and sometimes violently -- for hearts, minds and land.

"It was a spiritual journey for me," said Mutale Salimu Hobbs, 30, from Zambia in southern Africa.

"It was a great experience, with people coming together as one," she said on Mount Carmel, the world headquarters of the Baha'i movement above the busy Israeli port city of Haifa. (Read the Whole article here)

NYC Shooting Incident: What About the Women?

The dynamic of crisis and victory in American race relations just keeps on rockin' and rollin' with yet another incident of black men being shot to death by the police:

NEW YORK -- Angry residents demanded to know yesterday why police officers killed an unarmed man on the day of his wedding, firing a hail of bullets that also wounded two of the man's friends. Some called for the ouster of the city's police commissioner. At a memorial vigil and rally the day after 23-year-old Sean Bell was supposed to have married the mother of his two young children, demonstrators led by the Rev. Al Sharpton shouted "No justice, no peace."(Read the Whole Article Here)

Whether or not this incident represents the all too frequent and lethal expression of institutional white rage that those protesting it seem to believe remains to be seen. There was one little detail though that as a responsible American Baha'i I could not allow to slip by before the discussion of this tragedy becomes exclusively about race. This little detail is that the incident occurred outside a strip club where one of the soon to be married black men had been being "entertained" with his friends. Anyone who has read my comments about the Duke Rape Case, knows how I feel about such "entertainment".Now I know that my role here as a fellow black male is to be in solidarity with my brothers and not bring up any "inconvenient truths" (as Al Gore might put it). I know that I am also only one unlucky encounter with the wrong police officers, in the wrong neighborhood, at the wrong time from ending up similarly filled with hot lead. I just can't play the game that way though. I have to ask myself, what about the women in that strip club? Who will speak for them? Will the streets of American cities burn with righteous anger at their exploitation and victimization by an outrageously well funded sex industry that routinely causes serious harm to women, children AND men everyday in America? Once Reverend Sharpton is finished leading the charge against police brutality, will he lead a protest of the strip club? Will he perhaps put out a call to members of the black community in New York to raise money so that they can purchase that strip club and turn it into an educational center for the empowerment of young black men, or perhaps a community clinic where black men, women and children could receive access to the high quality medical care that far too many of them are denied in the richest nation on the face of this earth? I am reminded of a recent article in the U.S Baha'i News about the efforts of American Baha'is to emphasize in international circles the importance of moral education to combat violence against women and children around the world:

The Baha'i International Community has released a statement that highlights what it says are often neglected solutions to eradicating violence against women.

"Beyond Legal Reforms: Culture and Capacity in the Eradication of Violence Against Women and Girls" acknowledges the importance of political, legal and economic change in eliminating violence against women, but places special importance on developing individuals' moral and spiritual capabilities.

"Sincere efforts to eliminate violence against women and girls must begin by educating children both in school and at home with values that promote equality and justice," said Sharona Shuster, U.S. Baha'i representative for the advancement of women.

According to the statement, violence prevention strategies must include "cultivating in them (children) a sense of dignity as well as a responsibility for the well-being of their family, community, and the world." (Read the whole thing here)

Baha'u'llah and Black Theology

(Photo of Dr. James H. Cone)

As some of you are aware, I've been reflecting for some time on the relationship between the Revelation of Baha'u'llah and the spiritual destiny of black Americans and have recently began to write about it a great deal. My recent discovery of James H. Cone, considered by many to be the father of Black Theology in America has deepened my passion for this topic and greatly influenced my thinking about Baha'u'llah and Black Theology. I'm currently reading Cone's A Black Theology of Liberation and Black Theology and Black Power. This brother is deep. If you want to experience a real treat, you can watch him giving a recent lecture at my alma mater Harvard Divinity School called Strange Fruit: The Cross and the Lynching Tree. You'll see what I mean!

My exposure to Cone has caused my mind to explode, so I'm still in the process of collecting the various pieces of gray matter and putting them back in my skull. Because of this I will make a few brief comments about what could serve as a basis of analyzing what the Revelation of Baha'u'llah might mean for black Americans.

1. The Revelation of Baha'u'llah represents the fulfillment of the eschatological expectations of both Christianity and Islam, the two religious traditions that the majority of black Americans either belong to or are greatly influenced by.

2. That Baha'u'llah's comparison of blacks to the "pupil of the eye" has profound implications for understanding of their role in ushering in the Kingdom of God on earth and represents the "great reversal" of social relationships mentioned in both the Bible and the Quran.

3. That Baha'i expectations of the God-given role that America is destined to play and fulfilling the Will and Purpose of God for this age, implies great spiritual significance for the meaning of being a black American.

4. That the "unique", "wondrous", "System" which Baha'u'llah has brought to the world is what will make possible the fulfillment of the long-held aspirations of black Americans for racial justice and unity.

White Rage: A Few Baha'i Thoughts

(Photo of a white man attacking a black man with the American flag during a Boston race riot. Can you say irony?)

Many of you have probably heard about the most recent strange event in American race relations when not-so-funny man Michael Richards (one time "Kramer" of Seinfeld) showed his "true colors" during a stand up comic routine. For those who haven't heard, he got upset with some African American hecklers and screamed "nigger" several times and made a reference to lynching. If you want to watch it, you can try and do so here. I don't know the man so I have no idea what he is like in his personal life. Maybe he didn't really men what he said and just had a Mel Gibson moment. Only God fully knows the hearts of human beings so I'm not even going to go there, but the incident has stimulated some reflections on an important but not frequently talked about issue in American society: white rage. Wait, don't I mean black rage? That many black people in America get heated quickly about race is something folks on both sides of the racial divide are well familiar with. White rage, however is just as common and potentially more damaging because whites continue to have greater power to negatively impact the lives of blacks and other minorities in our society than the other way around. A classic of Baha'i literature, The Advent of Divine Justice, offers a psychospiritual analysis of the challenges which must be overcome by white Americans if they are to play a positive role in achieving racial unity:

"Let the white make a supreme effort in their resolve to contribute their share to the solution of this problem, to abandon once for all their usually inherent and at times subconscious sense of superiority, to correct their tendency towards revealing a patronizing attitude towards the members of the other race, to persuade them through their intimate, spontaneous and informal association with them of the genuineness of their friendship and the sincerity of their intentions, and to master their impatience of any lack of responsiveness on the part of a people who have received, for so long a period, such grievous and slow-healing wounds." (Shoghi Effendi: The Advent of Divine Justice, p.33)

This masterful statement identifies three psychospiritual challenges facing white Americans:
1. A usually inherent and at times subconscious sense of superiority.
2. A tendency toward revealing a patronizing attitude toward blacks.
3. Impatience at the lack of responsiveness to their positive gestures toward blacks.

These three challenges offer three possible origins of white rage.
1. The sense of superiority: Many white people are sick and tired of the social pressures placed upon them in the post-Civil Rights Era to speak and act as if they really believed that blacks are their equals. Some white Americans are profoundly ambivalent about racial equality and this causes stress which, when it builds enough, can explode.

2. The patronizing attitude: Many white Americans see blacks as a "people of perpetual problems" who require the benefits of white charity and good will. There may be some acknowledgment of the historical roots of many of these problems on an intellectual level and a white person may even see themselves as a champion of racial justice. The attitude that gets expressed, however unconsciously, is patronizing. Some well meaning white Americans are getting sick and tired of hearing about the problems of black people and feeling obligated to do something about it. They're sick of being made to feel guilty for racism and have so called "compassion fatigue". Resentment quietly builds in the heart and eventually comes out.

3. Impatience: Many white Americans are sick of trying to be nice to black people who don't seem interested in being nice to them. Even people who receive the daily blessings of a social order based on skin-color privileges need to feel loved, and being repeatedly rebuffed starts to make them feel bad and they eventually get really mad.

If we are ever going to achieve the goal of racial unity that is required for America to fulfill its true spiritual destiny, we have to examine critically the fact that many whites are just as angry, if not angrier than blacks are about race in our country. This does not just mean those who are conscious, overt racists but the many, many more who see themselves as "liberal" or "progressive" and are in denial about how angry they really are and how it may be effecting their behavior long before it comes out in a white rage episode. Ultimately this is not an issue of blaming whites for their anger, but being honest about it so there can be an opportunity for healing. The Baha'i view of the psychospiritual challenges facing whites may offer one framework for beginning to understand what is necessary for the healing to begin.

Let neither [whites nor blacks] think that anything short of genuine love, extreme patience, true humility, consummate tact, sound initiative, mature wisdom, and deliberate, persistent, and prayerful effort, can succeed in blotting out the stain which this patent evil has left on the fair name of their common country.
(Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 40)

U.S. Senate and European Parliament Say to Iran, Back Off the Baha'is!

There are have been two recent high profile victories in the struggle for complete and immediate emancipation of the heroic Iranian Baha'i Community!

The European Parliament passed a resolution that explicitly demands, among other things, that the ban on the Baha'i Faith be lifted. You can read the entire resolution here.
And the United States Senate also recently passed a resolution specifically regarding the increasing pressures being put on the Iranian Baha'is. You can read that resolution here.

South African President Praises Baha'is

(Photo, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa)

My blogger brother Marco in Lisbon, Portugal let me know about this sweet, sweet story out of South Africa. You can check out Marco at www.povodebaha.blogspot.com.


The National Spiritual Assembly of South-Africa hosted a banquet for the Birth of Bahá'u'lláh on the 11th of November in Johannesburg where some 170 non-Bahá'í guests and about 110 believers attended. The occasion not only celebrated the Holy Day but also the 50th year of the anniversary of the election of the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of South Africa. The Bahá'í Community was indeed privileged to receive a message of congratulations from the State president of this country, "Mr. Thabo Mbeki". Which would like to send you a copy of it for your information. As you will note, they have taken the date of the Birth of Bahá'u'lláh as the actual date of the first election.

MESSAGE BY PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI ON THE OCCASION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ'ÍS OF SOUTH AFRICA I am most honoured to have this opportunity to extend warm greetings to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of South Africa on this important day, the 11th of November, in which you celebrate your 50th Anniversary. That you are today turning fifty testifies clearly to your steadfastness and to the pivotal role you have played and doubtlessly will continue to play in advancing the cause of unity and amity in our beloved country, South Africa. Since its formation half a century ago, on 11 November 1956, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of South Africa untiringly has promoted the spiritual, moral and material development of Bahá'ís in this country as well as that of the South African society in general. In this regard, your notable participation in the National Religious Leaders Forum has also contributed immensely in ushering in an age of hope in our country. The fact that your anniversary falls in the same year in which we commemorate our country's land-marking events, such as the tenth year of our democratic Constitution which recognises and promotes religious freedom, points further to the historical position you occupy in our country. Accordingly, on behalf of the Government and people of South Africa we say congratulations and best wishes to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of South Africa on your 50th Anniversary. May you have more successful and fulfilling decades ahead!

THABO MBEKI

My Friend Phyllis

U.S. Baha'i News has a nice article about a friend of mine who has recently been honored with a regular column on ReligionandSpirituality.com, called "One Light Many Lamps".
An excerpt from the article is below:

"In a perfect world, we'd spend more time talking about spiritual things instead of minutiae," says Phyllis Edgerly Ring, a Baha'i columnist featured on www.religionandspirituality.com .

Ring, a prolific, seasoned writer and editor from Exeter, New Hampshire, creates that "perfect world" in "One Light, Many Lamps ," her Tuesday column on religionandspirituality.com, which is operated by UPI (United Press International)...

Ring, a former nurse, "writes from the heart" about unity and oneness, but not just as pie-in the-sky concepts. Rather, she illustrates how these ideals - two of the core beliefs of the Baha'i Faith - play out in everyday life. In a recent column, Ring wrote about the sense of peace and family closeness that blossomed as relatives gathered around her dying father-in-law. In another column she examines our impatience for patience and the virtue of serenity.

"There is one light from God, but many different lamps to reflect that light," says Ring, explaining the meaning of the name of her column. And we're put here to recognize that light and those lamps. One way is to recognize how unity and oneness are manifested in virtues. (Read the whole thing here)

You can also learn more about this remarkable Baha'i woman at her website, PhyllisRing.com

Phyllis, I never really knew just how wicked cool you are. You go girl!!

Gospel Musicians, Emcees, and Prayer Warriors

As some of you know I have an interest in religion and race. There's a really interesting thing that is happening in the Baha'i community that is transforming our culture of worship and being lead, not surprisingly by people of African Descent and those who love them. This new dimension of the spiritual revolution that is sweeping the planet known as the Baha'i Faith, involves three things, the introduction of gospel music that is inspired by Baha'i theology, the proliferation of Hip Hop music and prayer gatherings inspired by Baha'i theology, and a style of worship inspired by the African American experience that had it genesis in the Baha'i Black Men's Gathering and has now spread throughout Baha'i communities in North America, South America, the Caribbean and Africa.

The older of these trends is Baha'i gospel music which had its formal debut as a style of worship that Baha'is could embrace and be transformed by in 1992 at the second Baha'i World Congress in New York City that was part of a year long commemoration of the centinary of the passing of Baha'u'llah the Founder of the Baha'i Faith. From that earth-shaking moment at the World Congress, Baha'i gospel choirs began spreading from community to community all across the U.S. I've had the pleasure of singing with several of these choirs over the past ten years all over the country and currently sing with a local gospel choir called The Voices of Glory (Baha'u'llah in Arabic means "The Glory of God") Outstanding Baha'i gospel musicians in collaboration with musicians from a variety of religions and ethnic backgrounds have continued since 1992 to enhance this unique worship experience through composing original music as well as creating new arrangements of traditional Negro Spirituals. Composers such as Eric Dozier and Van Gilmer are two examples. So what is Baha'i gospel music? My definition is that Baha'i gospel is a form of music ministry that draws on the style and form of gospel as it has developed in Christianity and infuses it with key elements of Baha'i theology such as Baha'u'llah being the Promised One of all Religions, the Advent of the Kingdom of God on Earth and the oneness of humankind. In recent years, Baha'i gospel music has gone global with tours in Europe under the direction of Van Gilmer.

Baha'i Hip Hop has also emerged over the past decade and really began to rise to the top as a transforming influence on the consciousness of a new generation of Baha'i youth and young adults. Hip Hop groups such as Fort Tabarsi of New York, who are about to perform in Boston, offer a mix of beats, rhymes and Baha'i analysis and social commentary to their listeners. The proliferation of Baha'i inspired Hip Hop as an art form has evolved into Hip Hip as a form of devotional experience blending prayer, song, rap and personal testimony laid over infectious beats. The experience, when done well is electric but definitely still in it experimental phase.

Finally, the Baha'i Black Men's Gathering has generated a form of devotional experience that is changing the way people pray all over the Baha'i World. The Gathering (as its participants affectionately call it) is celebrating its twentieth anniversary with a journey to Africa and the Baha'i World Center in Haifa, Israel in December that I'm happy to say I will be participating in.
What is the Black Men's Gathering? I think the most eloquent description I've heard is that offered by the Universal House of Justice, the world governing Council of the Baha'i Faith:

"...the Gathering is a distinctive activity with a different agenda. It does not concern itself chiefly with race unity...as such. It addresses itself to a special situation faced by a minority that has suffered severe social and spiritual afflictions imposed upon it by the majority. The program of the Black Men's Gatherings is unique and exemplary as an avenue for transcending the legacy of anguish, frustration and social pathology that is peculiar to black men in the United states; it urges them towards a fullness of life within the spirit and principles of the Bahá'í Revelation."

The soul of the Gathering is the spirit of prayer, prayer that can both break and heal the heart, the voices of black men raised in praise to God, calling on the power of the Holy Spirit, on the assistance of our spiritual ancestors, seeking aid, seeking forgiveness, seeking healing, seeking grace. We drum, we sing, we chant, until both the building and our bodies are vibrating. Anyone who has experienced it will tell you that it is life altering. Thankfully, this experience is becoming part of the devotional culture of Baha'i communities everywhere and was recently featured in an article by the Baha'i World News Service, which did a story about the Hush Harbor devotional meeting in New York City.

The term "prayer warrior" is a popular one among my Christian brothers and sisters and I believe is an accurate term to describe the spirit of prayer practiced by the men of the Gathering.

I'll close with the following commentary that speaks to the mission of the spiritual revolution that these gospel musicians, MC's and prayer warriors are in the vanguard of:

"Throughout history, the masses of humanity have been, at best, spectators at the advance of civilization. Their role has been to serve the designs of whatever elite had temporarily assumed control of the process. Even the successive Revelations of the Divine, whose objective was the liberation of the human spirit, were, in time, taken captive by "the insistent self", were frozen into man-made dogma, ritual, clerical privilege and sectarian quarrels, and reached their end with their ultimate purpose frustrated.

Bahá'u'lláh has come to free humanity from this long bondage, and the closing decades of the twentieth century were devoted by the community of His followers to creative experimentation with the means by which His objective can be realized. The prosecution of the Divine Plan entails no less than the involvement of the entire body of humankind in the work of its own spiritual, social and intellectual development."
(Commissioned by The Universal House of Justice, Century of Light, p. 113)

Who Is Baha'u'llah?

The Shrine of Baha'u'llah near Acre, Israel. On 12 November, Baha'is throughout the world observe a Holy Day celebrating the birth of Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baha'i Faith. Baha'u'llah was born Husayn Ali at dawn on 12 November 1817 in Tehran, Persia. His sacred remains are buried near where He passed away in 1892 at Bahji, near Acre in Israel. Baha'is commemorate His Birth by abstaining from work and holding joyous meetings open to all. There are no prescribed rituals but gatherings usually involve prayers, devotional readings, music and fellowship. To read more about Baha'u'llah's life click here.

There's also a nice multimedia presentation commemorating His birth that you can enjoy right here.

Like my fellow Baha'is around the world I will be celebrating the birth of Baha'u'llah in my local community. It is a blessed time of remembrance and reflection on how He has saved my soul and completedly changed my life for the better. It is also a time to ponder deeply Who Baha'u'llah is and it implications for my soul and for the world. So Who is Baha'u'llah? I couldn't put it any better than the testimony of the Baha'i Writings themselves:

"He Who in such dramatic circumstances was made to sustain the overpowering weight of so glorious a Mission was none other than the One Whom posterity will acclaim, and Whom innumerable followers already recognize, as the Judge, the Lawgiver and Redeemer of all mankind, as the Organizer of the entire planet, as the Unifier of the children of men, as the Inaugurator of the long-awaited millennium, as the Originator of a new "Universal Cycle," as the Establisher of the Most Great Peace, as the Fountain of the Most Great Justice, as the Proclaimer of the coming of age of the entire human race, as the Creator of a new World Order, and as the Inspirer and Founder of a world civilization...

To Him Isaiah, the greatest of the Jewish prophets, had alluded as the "Glory of the Lord," the "Everlasting Father," the "Prince of Peace," the "Wonderful," the "Counsellor," the "Rod come forth out of the stem of Jesse" and the "Branch grown out of His roots," Who "shall be established upon the throne of David," Who "will come with strong hand," Who "shall judge among the nations," Who "shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips slay the wicked," and Who "shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." Of Him David had sung in his Psalms, acclaiming Him as the "Lord of Hosts" and the "King of Glory." To Him Haggai had referred as the "Desire of all nations," and Zachariah as the "Branch" Who "shall grow up out of His place," and "shall build the Temple of the Lord." Ezekiel had extolled Him as the "Lord" Who "shall be king over all the earth," while to His day Joel and Zephaniah had both referred as the "day of Jehovah," the latter describing it as "a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers." His Day Ezekiel and Daniel had, moreover, both acclaimed as the "day of the Lord," and Malachi described as "the great and dreadful day of the Lord" when "the Sun of Righteousness" will "arise, with healing in His wings," whilst Daniel had pronounced His advent as signalizing the end of the "abomination that maketh desolate."

To Him Jesus Christ had referred as the... as the "Comforter" Who will "reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment," as the "Spirit of Truth" Who "will guide you into all truth," Who "shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak," as the "Lord of the Vineyard," and as the "Son of Man" Who "shall come in the glory of His Father" "in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory," with "all the holy angels" about Him, and "all nations" gathered before His throne. To Him the Author of the Apocalypse had alluded as the "Glory of God," as "Alpha and Omega," "the Beginning and the End," "the First and the Last." Identifying His Revelation with the "third woe," he, moreover, had extolled His Law as "a new heaven and a new earth," as the "Tabernacle of God," as the "Holy City," as the "New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." To His Day Jesus Christ Himself had referred as "the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory." To the hour of His advent St. Paul had alluded as the hour of the "last trump," the "trump of God," whilst St. Peter had spoken of it as the "Day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." His Day he, furthermore, had described as "the times of refreshing," "the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy Prophets since the world began."
(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 95)

Baha'i Elections: Spiritual Democracy in Action

(A Photo of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, the International Governing Council of the Baha'i Faith)


The U.S. Baha'i News has a nice piece on the spirit and practice of Baha'i elections and the testimony of a person from the former Soviet Union who has recently become a member of the American Baha'i community. A portion of the article is below:

"If I weren't glad before to be a Baha'i, I was especially glad after participating for the first time in the Faith's electoral process; it was one of the highlights of my life," says Irma Simuni of Wilmette, Ill. Simuni, who grew up in the Soviet Union, became a Baha'i in May, and in October, at one of 161 local conventions held throughout the United States, voted to elect a local delegate to the Faith's annual national convention held each April. Baha'is worldwide also participated in local conventions. In April, the delegates, including 171 from the United States, will elect nine Baha'is to serve on the National Spiritual Assembly in their respective countries. To date, there are 182 National Spiritual Assemblies worldwide. Every five years, members of these assemblies elect nine Baha'is to serve on the Universal House of Justice , the administrative body of the worldwide Baha'i community. (Read the entire article here)

During this mid-term election season, it is nice to be reminded that are alternative ways of going about the choice of leadership of one's community that are free from the partisanship and prejudices that frustrate the energies of positive change that exist in our great country. It is a blessing to know that my vote in a Baha'i election represents the fruit of my own conscience, free from manipulation by vested interests with narrow agendas. It's an experience of spiritual democracy in action.

Baha'i Activism in Tanzania

(Baha'is with cultural and educational leaders of Tanzania pose for a photo)

Baha'i World New Service has a great article about Baha'i involvement in promoting development in Tanzania. A selection from this piece is below:

Sohaila Loftus, a representative of the Baha'i community of Tanzania, stressed the importance of the education of women in achieving the goals of reducing poverty, improving health, and promoting education.

It is, she said, "essential for the child to interact face-to-face with an educated, intelligent, loving, caring mother who will give this child the moral and spiritual grounding it needs in order to grow into an effective adult."

Ms. Loftus also stressed the importance of religion and spirituality as the keys to creating a strong family.

"Families should strive to raise children who will choose education and good-will," said Ms. Loftus. "Children should be brought up to bend their wills to the service of the human race, seeing their roles as contributors to communities. These are faith-based concepts." (You can read the whole article here)