Angela, I hope that you will get a women's gatheri...

2007-09-29T21:33:00.000-03:00

Angela, I hope that you will get a women's gathering started. There's nothing special about what the BMG does, some people just did it and saw that it was helpful and kept doing it for 20 years and learning as they went. God willing others will arise and create spaces for their own healing and empowering so that they can become capable servants of the Cause, which is all the BMG is about.
A Black Women's Gathering could start tomorrow. Perhaps you are the one you've been waiting for, so to speak.

I second Barney's emotion, Phillipe; I would have ...

2007-09-29T19:48:00.000-03:00

I second Barney's emotion, Phillipe; I would have loved to be there. But then again, I love being anywhere there is a large gathering of Baha'is! The discussion of the Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys by Drs. Barbara and Rick Johnson would have been of particular interest to me. I've been taking my time reading the book because there is so much to absorb. But I can see how it offers lessons in healing the mind, body and spirit. All things are possible with God.

I've always wanted to talk to the founders of BMG, particularly Dr. Roberts. The energy that radiates from the group is very powerful and uplifting. Maybe there will be a Black Women's Gathering some day.

Fascinating report, Phillipe, what a great confere...

2007-09-27T13:51:00.000-03:00

Fascinating report, Phillipe, what a great conference! Sounds like everyone there had the opportunity to learn a great deal about themselves, about the Writings, about spirituality and mental health.

I would have loved to have been there.

Thank you Judith for such a thoughtful and thought...

2007-09-26T00:10:00.000-03:00

Thank you Judith for such a thoughtful and thought provoking comment. Hope others will do the same!

thanks Phillipe, for your pix and concise summary....

2007-09-25T21:13:00.000-03:00

thanks Phillipe, for your pix and concise summary.
All during the conference I was thinking, as a participant, of the 'paradigm shift' taking place within the world-wide American Baha'i community, including notions of what constitutes community, how this change was affecting those gathered, and how we in turn can aid in the process.

I was sensing a definite turning point to these conferences, one which I cannot really articulate yet--I've now learned that the last Hand of the Cause of God on earth has left this plane of existence and is in the Abha Kingdom. Surely a historic moment in world history! Reading the Writings about the influence of pure and saintly souls on progress in this world-- and it is astounding to think about how Baha'u'llah says such souls are responsible for all of the world's progress in the arts and sciences--makes me think that this departure is one cause of such change.
This also coincides with the news item you posted: the reunion of the "Little Rock 9", an historic moment in desegregation. If we could only understand it, I'm sure we would see the deep, deep connection between this and so many more events!
To return to the general theme of your posts: I've been thinking about how the union of black and white, 'Abdu'l-Baha tells us, will be an assurance of world peace, and the pivotal role of America. Despite the seeming divisions,--and we have so far to go in our thinking and feeling, even within our own Baha'i community, one which is committed to the oneness of human kind-- every American is, in fact, a mixture of both these cultures. When we are really united, really love each other, what an explosion of energy that will be.

Interestingly, I've been reading some essays by Ralph Ellison, the author, of "The Invisible Man"
These essays are from the 50's.
Here's a thought Ellison expressed way back then that seems to be so much germaine to the themes of the conference:
The following reference is from "Shadow and Act", the section"
"The SEER and the SEEN", the chapter "That same pleasure, that same pain, an interview", p. 16-21.

This is part of his response to a question, "Did you ever think of writing stories in which Negroes did not appear", to which he replied "No", but he wanted to write about it "from a different perspective,
" one that was " a relatively unexplored area of American experience simply because our knowledge of it has been distorted through the over-emphasis of the sociological approach...Now, when you try to trace American values as they find expression in the Negro commmunity, where do you begin? To what books do you go? How do you account for Little Rock and the sit-ins? How do you account for the strength of those kids? You can find sociolgical descripitions of the conditions under which they live, but few indications of their morale...
Like most Americans we are not yet fully conscious of our identity either as Negroes or Americans.
This affirmation...this insistence upon acheiving our social goals has been our great strenghth and also our great weakness because the terms with which we have tried to define ourselves have been inadequate...
"...that which I believe to be enduring and abiding in our situation, especially those human qualities which the American Negro has developed despite and in rejection of the obstacles and meanness imposed upon us...those human values which can endure by confronting change...I speak of the faith, the patience, the humor, the sense of timing, rugged sense of life and the manner of expressing it which all go to define the American Negro...times change but these possessions must endure forever..."

This seems to me still so timely,especially under current rapidly deteriorating societal conditions, so much in keeping with the letter the House of Justice wrote in 2006 to an African American believer about the role of African Americans. I note the portions about how it would depend on efforts of this generation of African American Believers to live the teachings as to whether the precious contributions of this group will survive, flourish, and be a part of the Golden Age.

Sooo...thanks again for the ongoing insights contained in your consciousness-raising, thought-provoking blog.

Comments on Bahá’í Thought: Human Spirit and the Social World

Angela, I hope that you will get a women's gatheri...

I second Barney's emotion, Phillipe; I would have ...

Fascinating report, Phillipe, what a great confere...

Thank you Judith for such a thoughtful and thought...

thanks Phillipe, for your pix and concise summary....