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

O Lord, my God! Give me Thy grace to serve Thy loved ones, strengthen me in my servitude to Thee… (’Abdu’l-Bahá)

TO DO:

• Increase my own capacity and (NEW!) help others to increase their own capacity; help parents and families to become
  1. children’s class teachers
  2. active participants driving the core activities
  3. protagonists of their own development
  4. connected with Bahá’u'lláh
• Continually ask God for
  1. Grace to serve His loved ones
  2. Strength in my service to Him
  3. Help to stay focused on His Plan
  4. Forgiveness and Assistance when I fall short
• Focus on my own personal teaching plan
• Strive to maintain my indispensable daily spiritual habits
  1. Daily obligatory prayer & Allah’u'abhá x95
  2. Read the Writings morning and Evening & meditate on them prayerfully
  3. Strive to put Baha’u'lláh’s Words into action
  4. Teach & serve with selflessness and humility

“All praise be to the sanctified Lord Who hath illumined the world through the splendours of the Daystar of His grace.”

Bahá’u'lláh, Tabernacle of Unity, p.57

A UN resolution passed yesterday, originally put forward by Canada, made specific mention of the worsening plight of Iran’s Baha’is. From the Baha’i World News Service:

UN expresses “serious concern” over human rights in Iran, including the situation of Baha’is

UNITED NATIONS, 22 November 2006 (BWNS) — A committee of the United Nations General Assembly yesterday passed a resolution expressing “serious concern” over the human rights situation in Iran, including the escalation of violations against Iranian Baha’is.

The resolution passed the Assembly’s Third Committee by a vote of 70 to 48 on 21 November 2006. It will now go to the General Assembly plenary for vote, in December. The Third Committee considers human rights issues for the Assembly.

Put forward by Canada and co-sponsored by 43 countries, the resolution calls on Iran to “eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination based on religious, ethnic or linguistic grounds, and other human rights violations against persons belonging to minorities, including Arabs, Azeris, Baha’is, Baluchis, Kurds, Christians, Jews, Sufis, and Sunni Muslims.”

The resolution takes particular note of the worsening situation facing Iran’s 300,000-member Baha’i community, noting “reports of plans by the state to identify and monitor Baha’is,” “an increase in cases of arbitrary arrest and detention,” and “the denial of freedom of religion or of publicly carrying out communal affairs.”

The resolution also expresses concern over the “destruction of sites of religious importance” to Baha’is and “the suspension of social, educational and community-related activities and the denial of access to higher education, employment, pensions, adequate housing and other benefits” for Baha’is.

Read the whole story.

photo by shrued (creative commons)

From the Bahá’í World News Service:

Iran steps up secret monitoring of Baha’is

NEW YORK, 2 November 2006 (BWNS) — In an ominous move, Iran’s Ministry of Interior has ordered officials throughout the country to step up the surveillance of Iranian Baha’is focusing in particular on their community activities.

The Ministry has requested provincial officials to complete a detailed questionnaire about the circumstances and activities of local Baha’is, including their “financial status,” “social interactions,” and “association with foreign assemblies,” among other things.

The Ministry’s order came in a letter dated 19 August 2006 and addressed to provincial deputies of the Department of Politics and Security in Offices of the Governors’ General throughout Iran.

The 19 August letter, which was recently obtained by the Baha’i International Community, asks these deputies to order “relevant offices to cautiously and sensitively monitor and supervise” all Baha’i social activities.

The letter is the latest in a series of threatening documents that outline a secret national effort to identify and monitor Baha’is in Iran.

Read the whole story.

OK, so obviously, my series of posts on pilgrimage will soon continue, but in the meantime, there are some other things to mention that might stir up your interest. Among them:

• Unity in Diversity Week in Arnprior: Nov. 18. Since its inception in 1992, Unity in Diversity Week (see Ottawa’s 2003 celebrations on MartinsQuest) has become a widely observed occasion throughout Canada. As one Bahá’í community put it, this special occasion “aims at promoting positive relations amongst all people, strengthening equality, promoting the eradication of prejudice and the recognition of diversity in its broadest sense, regardless of race, gender, age, class or culture, ability, education or economic position.” The Bahá’ís of Arnprior will be hosting a celebration at 5:30 PM at Grove Auditorium. A potluck supper and variety show will be offered; cost of entry is a cash or food donation to the Food Bank.
• International Pioneering Evening: Nov. 18. If you’re the jet-set type (or if you just need a change of scenery, come to the Ottawa Bahá’í Centre at 7PM for an evening discussion on International Pioneering. The Canadian Bahá’í community is challenged to send out 750 long-term pioneers and 1,200 travelling teachers by 2010 - yes, 2010. Can we do it? Probably - if you make it happen!!!!
• Huqúqu’lláh Conference: Nov. 19. The Bahá’ís of the Ottawa/Gatineau area are invited to meet and discuss with Dr. A.M. Ghadirian, member of the Board of Trustees of Huqúqu’lláh in Canada. Participants will study together to understand the sacred law of Huqúqu’lláh better and the impact that this law can have on each individual and on the society around us. One of the highlights of the afternoon will be viewing portions of a newly released DVD of a talk recently given by Mr. Ali Nakhjavani in Germany. 1-5PM, Cabane en Bois Rond, 331, boul. de la Cité-des-Jeunes, Gatineau (Hull Sector).
• Festival of the Covenant: Nov. 26. Bahá’ís celebrate this festival in honour of the Covenant of Bahá’u'lláh, and in honour of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Centre of that Covenant, whose life is often called to mind on this occasion. Festivities (see an example from Vancouver, BC on Google Video) often include arts - music, dance, plays and skits - along with presentations by members of local, regional and national Bahá’í institutions. I’ll probably be going to the Quebec-wide Festival across the river in Gatineau, although there will be celebrations happening in the city of Ottawa proper. (Don’t worry Marty, they speak English in Gatineau.)
• Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Nov. 28. Just a reminder that the anniversary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing is commemorated at 1AM on the 28th of November. Work is generally suspended on this day.

[note: my apologies for the lack of context in this blog post. usually i like to explain whatever lingo and mumbo-jumbo i use (when i use it at all; i try to keep it to a minimum). i wanted to get this post done before the news got out of date, hence the curtness. -dj]

O Son of Being! Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent. Thy spirit is My place of revelation; cleanse it for My manifestation. (Bahá’u'lláh)

Feeling better now, and getting back into the swing of things. I’ve got less laundry lying around, the jetlag has mostly faded, and work is getting back on track. Keeping alive the conscious contact with God is a challenge when there are so many things around to steal away your energy—the effect of messy, disorganized environment has begun to dawn on me quite clearly. So, ok, doing laundry is one step, but managing my time is another thing that saps a lot of my energy right now. I haven’t yet found one reliable way to manage my time that allows me to efficiently and consistently juggle all the different things going on in my life. Which reminds me: another step I would like to take is to rewrite the set of rules by which I carry new ideas to action. In the past, my pattern has been to impulsively jump on new projects that look interesting (shiny objects, anyone?) I’d like to adopt a new pattern, in which I run all these new ideas through a set of reality checks to weed out the projects that will obviously never get done. Hopefully, something like this would help me maintain focus on those important things that are most necessary in day-to-day life and those that are (hopefully) most aligned with the Will of God.

There’s been more prayer and meditation in my life lately, and my mood has improved, which is good. I feel like I’ve learned how to pray through being so close to the Holy Shrines and asking for help at the Sacred Thresholds. Attaining to the Presence of the Báb, Bahá’u'lláh, and ‘Abdul-Bahá was such a powerful experience—I feel like it’s left its mark on my soul, or at least I fervently hope it has. I hope that by the grace of God, I may be enabled to continue turning my will over to His day by day, one day at a time.

The grace of God is something I want to share about with you all—but that’ll have to wait for another night. Stay tuned and keep checking out the new pilgrimage photos on flickr. Also check out Maruška’s livejournal for another view of our pilgrimage from a fellow “Port Inner“.

Thy love, O my Lord, hath enriched me, and separation from Thee hath destroyed me, and remoteness from Thee hath consumed me. (Bahá’u'lláh)

sadness came over me today as I realized that I was no longer in Haifa, and that pilgrimage was over. perhaps it was while posting my 100th pilgrimage photo to flickr, reliving the enriching thrill of nearness to the Holy Shrines, and fondly remembering all the new friends I made amongst my fellow pilgrims. since returning, I haven’t been following my daily programme of prayer, readings, and meditation as closely as I’d like. Maybe getting back on track with these will help soften the impact and help put me back into conscious contact with my Higher Power.

Catherine graciously typed out all the email addresses of people we met while on pilgrimage, so we can get back in touch with them, share photos, and so on. there’s a lot of getting in touch to do and I’m looking forward to that.

Yesterday morning, I dreamt that I was writing an exam at school - except that I didn’t recognize or understand most of the questions. For the ones I did understand, I didn’t have the tools I needed - for example, a ruler to measure lines, a calculator, etc. I remember feeling scared and anxious.

we’re back from pilgrimage.

There’s no way I could possibly share with you the full range of emotions we experienced, nor the depth and intensity of the spiritual forces that overtook us at every moment. There’s no way to share with you the transformation we’ve undergone in our outlook and our understanding. Every atom of my body wants to sing out in praise and I feel like my soul is blazing out with oceans of light.

In the weeks to come, I will try to share with you glimpses of our experience as guests of Bahá’u'lláh in the Holy Land, but be warned that my tongue and my pen will necessarily fall short of conveying the full grandeur, glory and beauty of the experience.