doberman pizza. a baha'i (bahai, bahá'í) blog.

There aren’t many events that impress me as deeply as Phil Lane, Jr.’s fireside talk last night. In fact, it left such a potent impression that I’m having a tough time putting it into words, but I’d really like to share with you all how it went.

Perhaps you’re lucky enough to have someone in your life who, when you talk with them, can communicate much more than what they say with words. When Phil Lane spoke to us, he spoke to our hearts, looked into our souls and connected with truths that we all share within us.

While I listened to him speak I was struck by the strong, palpable respect he has for all life and all humanity, not just part of humanity but every race, color and creed. I was struck by the respect he has for elders — among them his grandparents and parents, but especially his father, who passed away in March of this year. His tone was that of complete and utter love, gratitude and respect, especially for the knowledge and wisdom they imparted to him.

Phil Lane is in fact Phil Lane Jr., member of the Yankton Dakota and Chickasaw tribes, renowned aboriginal athlete, and hereditary Chief. “Chief Phil Lane” could thus be an appropriate title. He went by “Phil” during the evening, though. He’s involved in development work around the world, particularly in Aboriginal circles, and in 2000 he received the Year 2000 award from the Foundation for Freedom and Human Rights in Berne, Switzerland, in recognition of his “unique contributions to improve the lives and future hopes of native populations”.

One of the things I learned about during the evening is the great potential of First Nations and Native people. I realized that, in overlooking the Native peoples of Canada and the rest of the world (as many of us often due in our busy, distracted lives), we are overlooking gems of inestimable value, who, if befriended, loved and attracted to the Faith of Bahá’u'lláh, “will become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world”. (’Abdul-Bahá).

Phil told the amazing story of pre-colonial American civilisation, that is, the story of the original Americans: the various aboriginal tribes of North and South America, or the “People of the Eagle and the Condor“, as he put it. Various tribes inhabited both continents, conducting active trade with one another, building temples, villages, cities, civilisations — and receiving guidance from Divine Messengers and Manifestations of God (one example he cited was Quetzalcoatl). He spoke of several civilisations that built empires: the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas, for example. He also spoke of how the Manifestations of God warned their people of approaching strife and counselled them to observe unity, lest they be destroyed. Unfortunately, they disobeyed and were eventually scattered by the forces of people who erringly sought to plunder their riches. I was deeply impressed by the way he told this story, never placing blame, but rather recounting in an objective way the actions of “members of the human family” (his words) who were simply misguided and lost in darkness.

He gave quite an interesting perspective on “bad medicine” or “bad magic“, in response to someone’s question. He said that there are four kinds of bad magic: bad thoughts (i.e. critical or negative thoughts, which hurt us and poison our relations with others); backbiting (i.e. criticizing others in their absence); criticism of others (i.e. negative or destructive criticism); and bad or dirty looks (sometimes called the “evil eye”).

A good part of his talk focused on the question of tests and difficulties: simply put, if God loves us, then why does He give us suffering? The answer which seemed to stand out was that through suffering, we grow, learn to abide by God’s will, and thus make ourselves better. Many examples of suffering and calamity were given — including several examples from current events. Even in the face of calamity that grips the world from every side, shaking it to its very foundations, Phil seemed to show no fear. Instead, making allusion to ancient Native prophecies that speak of the “shaking of the earth” — and asserting that the world at present is undergoing the “third shaking”, he explained that mankind is in need of a complete renewal, that the old ways of living will no longer suffice, and that Bahá’u'lláh has come to bring the long-awaited material and spiritual renewal, bringing us through the “third shaking of the earth” into the “fourth world”.

Masterfully and beautifully interweaving Native prophecies with Bahá’í teachings, he put forth a profound and vital message of hope: So many empires have come and gone in the past, brought down by their attachment to their vain imaginings and idle fancies, and their growing heedlessness of Divine Teachings. Today, however, we are at a unique stage, foretold by the Manifestations of God since the dawn of time, when the whole earth has come together and is ready to unite as one human family. Bahá’u'll´h has come to establish that unity, and renew the Divine message for this day, a “day which shall not be followed by night”.

If you’d like to read more about Phil Lane and his work, please feel free to peruse the Four Worlds website, with which Phil is intimately connected.

If you’d like to read more about First Nations/Native people in Ottawa, in Canada, or in general, here are some links to start with:

• The Odawa Native Friendship Centre - a centre in West Ottawa run by the Native Community. The centre has often been used by the Bahá’i Community for 19-day feasts and holy day celebrations.

• The Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health - a health centre in Vanier.
• The Aboriginal People’s Television Network.
• The Canadian Museum of Civilisation’s online exhibit on First Peoples.
• The Odawa/Ottawa Tribe.
• The Waban-Aki Nation: the Abenaki tribe established not far from where I was pioneering, in Quebec. Bilingual.
• SchoolNet’s article on residential schools in the aboriginal community.

If you’d like to read more about the relationship between Baha’is and First Nations/Native people, check out:

• The Spirit Run website - a teaching project focused on Native Americans

• A list of Native American prophecies fulfilled by the Baha’i Faith.
• Kevin Locke’s website.

hey everybody - the photos I took of my trip to Trois-Rivières are up, in the québec scrapbook. I guess you could call the trip “travel-teaching”, even though all I did that was remotely close to teaching was telling a few people about study circles. I guess any trip you take which includes some form of teaching or consolidation can be considered travel teaching. anyway, whoever you are, go see the photos without ado, because they’re good. they’re at times beautiful, at times hilarious. yo.

today was my first time helping out with children’s classes - Diana Cartwright’s “Shining Stars” class. it was an interesting experience; I liked it a lot. I think I might get the hang of it fairly quickly. We followed the basic format of the lessons from Ruhi Book 3; today, the lesson was on Courtesy. Everyone practiced being courteous (offering snacks, being polite during the activities, etc). The class is biweekly, so the next one will be on the 29th of September. I’m hoping to help out with children’s classes at the Suzanne Sabih Bahá’í School in Gloucester a little bit, just so that I can learn from some experienced children’s class teachers how they go about conducting their classes.

for those of you who are wondering, my weekend went very well (pics will be up soon). I got into Trois-Rivières on Friday evening and got picked up by Jeremy - it was Evan’s (Jeremy’s brother’s) birthday, so we went to see Resident Evil: Apocalypse with a bunch of Jeremy’s friends. I slept through bits of it. I was tired! I didn’t actually do much else until Sunday, apart from hanging around with Jeremy and Evan, playing lots of WWE Smackdown. On Sunday morning, the same gang of Jeremy’s friends were shooting a movie (!) and invited us along. Finally, later in the evening we gathered at the University of Trois-Rivières for an information meeting on Ruhi Book 1! That was awesome. We had three participants show up, all Bahá’ís; and they were really enthusiastic about starting the book and even talked about inviting some of their friends.

A little bit of background for those of you who don’t know: the Bahá’í community in Trois-Rivières has been mostly inactive for the past ten to fifteen years. There are enough Bahá’ís in the city to form a Spiritual Assembly, but there are no regular activities. What activities there are have been mostly one-shot events organised from outside to attempt to stir things up. The fact that a study circle is beginning that will bring people together to meet every Monday is a considerable achievement. We can only thank God for bringing about the proper conditions for this to finally happen! A new chapter really is dawning for the Bahá’ís of Trois-Rivières.

For those of you who are visiting this site from Ottawa or Montreal or some other big city where the Bahá’í Faith is well-established, it may be quite a shock to read the above. I was shocked when I moved out of Ottawa to find communities where I was the 9th member required to form a Spiritual Assembly, where there were no children’s classes to speak of, where 19-day feasts were sometimes cancelled, where I had to travel an hour and a half to attend a study circle. There are towns with two Bahá’ís, one Bahá’í, no Bahá’ís. Major towns like Trois-Rivières have no Spiritual Assembly. Many more large towns across Quebec are in the same situation. I think of Granby, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jérome, Joliette, Lévis… Other towns have Assemblies but have trouble maintaining basic activities like the Feast, Holy Day celebrations, devotional meetings… And to think that you can make a difference just by being there, by sacrificing a little bit of your time to be there and encourage people, by sharing your experience, strength and hope with them. I almost didn’t believe people when they told me how great, how valuable my contribution was in pioneering out in Quebec. Now I’m starting to realize that, yes, it was valuable, and I want to continue contributing, because I’ve done it and now I know that I can.

In other news, there are two fireside chats going on at the Howden/Cartwright place over the weekend. Martin B. will be giving a fireside on Saturday night’s Youth Fireside, and then on Sunday (the 19th), Phil Lane will be coming from Lethbridge, Alberta to give a talk. For those (like me) who didn’t know, Dr. Lane is “a member of the Yankton Dakota and Chickasaw tribes”, an “internationally recognized leader in human and community development”, and a “traditionally recognized hereditary Chief”. He has won several prestigious awards for his work with Indigenous people across the world, including the Americas, Africa, Micronesia, Thailand and India. So, um, come see him. And of course, Martin is Martin, so come see him too. You can also get in touch with Dave Howden for more info.

And in yet more news, Sector 9’s reflection meeting is on Sunday the 19th, too. Come bust it with the coolest cats in Ottawa, and help us get ideas on how we can light this focus sector on fire!

Last but not least, Anisa (Smith) forwarded me news of the upcoming Anisa-Fest: Black & White Party at 7 PM on Saturday, September 25th, at Anisa’s place in Kanata. It’s a potluck dinner, and everybody has to wear either black or white. Bring your pet zebra. For more information, see Martinsquest.com.

Ottawa being an “A” cluster and all isn’t just a fancy way of saying that we’re cool. It also means that we’re ready to take on the challenges surrounding the sustained growth of the Bahá’í community. One of these, of course, is teaching — and Ottawa youth have already made a good effort in teaching through the Tristan Schuurman Junior Youth Project (see the photos here). Another challenge that comes to us now is responding to the call for pioneers. Going out to pioneer somewhere can mean going overseas for a semester to study, joining up with a teaching or development project somewhere where help is needed, spending three months in a different country in order to gain work experience — whatever. If you’re a Bahá’í youth, you can call a year of service pioneering.

So what’s up with all this? Well, the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Ottawa has organized a “Spirit of Pioneering” conference this weekend, Sunday, September 12, 2004, from 9 AM to 5 PM (lunch included). It’s at 900 Dynes (Dynes runs between Prince of Wales and Fisher), in the Party Room. Why should you go? Well, besides the free lunch, you’ll learn about the pioneering needs all across the world, and get the opportunity to discuss with members of the Auxiliary Board and Spiritual Assembly just how you could smoothly integrate the praiseworthy act of pioneering into your life. Pioneering is a life-changing experience, one that you will remember your entire life. It’s worth the effort to organize it, even for as little as a semester of your school year, or the time of a summer vacation. For more information about the Spirit of Pioneering conference, consult your copy of Bahá’í Ottawa.

In other news, it’s Ayafor’s birthday today. Happy birthday Aya! Mad props. In case you don’t know Ayafor, he’s a very warm and caring human being, and also the snooker and pool champion of Ottawa. Don’t forget to wish him a happy birthday!

In still other news, the remnants of Hurricane Frances just chundered through Ottawa and is now beating the bejeezus out of Montreal and the province of Quebec (english), causing rather tragic traffic accidents (english). I cancelled an appointment today because it was just raining too much. It’s 2 PM and it still hasn’t let up. Today is a bad day to leave your car windows open.

And in even more news, I’m getting ready to visit friends in Trois-Rivières and in my old pioneer post of Victoriaville over the weekend. The Bahá’ís in Trois-Rivières are starting up a study circle, so I’m busing down to support them — and in the meantime I’ll be visiting my good friends Geneviève and Craig in Victoriaville. It’ll be the first time since I moved back to Ottawa that I’ll be coming back to the area where I served as a pioneer. I’m feeling a little emotional about it but I think it should be alright. I’m looking forward to seeing my old friends again. I’ll be taking photos and will probably put some of them up in my quebec scrapbook.

Holy moly, I’m all newsed out. Talk to you guys later!

I just thought you’d all like to know that the pokéname generator, doberman pizza’s wildly popular sideshow (so popular, it’s more popular than the rest of the website), has received visits from 100 different countries since I put the new hitcounter from nedstat on it. Here’s the list.

Oh, and Mom came over just now and gave me some work (paid!) to do, doing graphic design. Yay work!

I am drinking a most excellent homemade concoction known as a “strawberry-banana smoothie”, including milk, ice cream, and old bananas, whipped into submission with a pinch of nutmeg and a dash of allspice. It’s delicious. I think that’ll be my sugar quota for the day.

That’s it.

This post is for Dave, who hates short blog posts.

Oh yeah, and one more thing: Catherine’s off to Montreal for the weekend, visiting people and places, and going shopping. Next weekend it’s my turn to go out on a trip — to Trois-Rivières, and probably Victoriaville too. No shopping though.

That’s really it.

hey that was cool! Catherine, Dad and I drove down to the beautiful town of Magog, Québec for the day, to meet with my Uncle Ralph and Aunt Florence, who were on their way back to Ohio from their week-long vacation in Maine. It was lots of fun, we got to catch up on a lot of news. I found out that my cousin Russ is doing very well for himself in the broadcasting business — he and his family are living in North Carolina and all of them are buzzing with activity. For example, his wife Anita and daughter Lindsay just returned from a Christian missionary trip in England, Ireland and Wales. Russ has a website: check it out! My cousin Becky is living in Illinois, near Chicago, and recently gave birth to a new baby boy, Zachary. I saw lots of photos (and, luckily, brought over a photo album of my own to show Ralph and Florence recent photos of Zea, Hadi and Tamara’s daughter)

Ok, I’m tired now. I’m going to bed. But I’ll leave you with one picture (more to come, probably soon next week). This is a nice little thing we saw outside the McDonald’s in Magog, which is just across from the hotel where Ralph and Florence are staying tonight.

translation: thank you