Happy New Year to you. I was searching the net for some Naw Ruz quotes to be sent to my community when I came across your blog. This fasting was so tiring for me but was more meaningful then normal too…

Have a great trip to Vietnam.

Cheers…ahmootha

Thanks again for being so truthful.

Christmas in Western culture, and especially in the US, is very much a big deal. I think that it probably is THE most important holiday and that there are a lot of expectations that people have during this time of year.

Remember that the early Christians eventually differentiated themselves from any earlier faith they had followed – whether it was Judaism or the Roman paganism. For the Romans, Saturnalia was a huge festival (complete with gift-giving, feasting, and merriment), yet the early Christians did not participate because they did not believe in worshiping Saturn – and because many of the traditions associated with Saturnalia conflicted with their new beliefs.

Those that came from the Jewish tradition did still cling to those traditions for up to a century after Christ came, but various factors (such as persecution which caused them to flee outside Judea and inability to access a temple) contributed to their adapting to Christian practices.

Because the Faith is God’s latest revelation, it has its own calendar and own Holy Days. Therefore, while it’s not wrong to accept your family’s invitation to Christmas dinner – or even for you to host one for your family! – to continue with your own celebration which favors only one of God’s Messengers would not respect the other Messengers. In any case, the Universal House of Justice gave guidance on this subject in 2002; the letter is online for you to read.

As you most probably already know, Ayyám-i-Há is the four to five (in leap years) day period of time when Bahá’ís show love, fellowship, and unity – and many times exchange gifts (however, that are usually inexpensive and/or home made).

Before my husband became Bahá’í, we did celebrate Christmas. However, after he declared, we did not continue the tradition, although we did go to relatives and friends homes. As a service to those who did all that heavy cooking, we did sometimes host Christmas dinner at our house. We would go to mass, read the Bible, and sometimes sponsor a family as well. But we also made sure we hosted the community’s Ayyám-i-Há party, and involved both boys in its planning and execution. And we definitely invited our non-Bahá’í family and friends to partake.

Remember, though, that the Faith does not encourage blindly following tradition. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, “In past centuries the nations of the world have imagined that the law of God demanded blind imitation of ancestral forms of belief and worship. For example, the Jews were captives of hereditary racial religious observances. The Muslims, likewise, have been held in the bondage of traditionary forms and ceremonials. The Christians also have been implicit followers of ancient tradition and hereditary teaching. At the same time the basic foundation of the religion of God, which was ever the principle of love, unity and the fellowship of humanity, has been forsaken and cast aside, each religious system holding tenaciously to imitations of ancestral forms as the supreme essential.” The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 443. So it’s a good thing because we do not have to celebrate a Holy Day the same way every time!

God bless you and yours.

honey bu! who was that friend? they didn’t come for ur real wedding :-W. u hv to contact them now and complain for that hehehe.

ps. yes! i am hư. am going around reading ur blog hehehe

‘Abdu’l-Bahá has written that “Among certain nations of the East, music was considered reprehensible”. Though the Qur’án contains no specific guidance on the subject, some Muslims consider listening to music as unlawful, while others tolerate music within certain bounds and subject to particular conditions.
There are a number of passages in the Bahá’í Writings in praise of music. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, for example, asserts that “music, sung or played, is spiritual food for soul and heart”.