Collective effect of our prayers and activities undertaken for His love

(Excerpt from a letter from the National Spiritual Assembly, 10 May 2010):

We hope that the collective effect of our prayers and activities undertaken for His love in the name of our Iranian brothers and sisters may be accepted by the Blessed Beauty, and that He may hasten the emancipation of His lovers in the Cradle of the Faith.

With loving Bahá'í greetings,

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
BAHÁ'ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES


Kenneth E. Bowers
Secretary-General

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Subject: Call for May 14 Prayer Gatherings on Second Anniversary of Imprisonment of Yárán

May 10, 2010

To the American Bahá'í community

Dearly loved Friends,

As we celebrate the magnificent victories won by the worldwide Bahá'í community this past Ridván, our hearts are ever with those dearly cherished friends, the seven Iranian Bahá'í leaders formerly known as the Yárán. Their continued steadfastness has, no doubt, released mighty spiritual forces into the world.

This Friday, May 14, 2010, will mark the second anniversary of the imprisonment of these seven believers on baseless charges, at least two of which carry the death penalty. Although three hearings have been held since January 2010, no evidence has been presented against the Yárán and the Bahá'í International Community continues to categorically deny all charges against them. No date has been set for their trial to resume.

Currently, the five men and two women are confined to two small cells in Tehran's Evin prison, without beds or bedding. They have neither fresh air nor sunlight in their cramped cells. They are permitted outside for only two hours each week, and their circumstances have, quite understandably, had a harmful effect on their health. Contact with their loved ones is limited to telephone communications lasting not more than 10 minutes each week. Only rarely have they been permitted to meet with their families in person. The vast majority of such visits are conducted behind a glass barrier, thus depriving them of the comforting embrace of their spouses and children.

The Universal House of Justice has called upon the Bahá'ís of the world to organize special prayer meetings around May 14 for "the indomitable followers of Bahá'u'lláh in Iran, indeed, for all the people in that blessed land who are similarly subject to oppression, that the Hand of Divine Providence may grant them relief from their long ordeal." We hope that the friends throughout the United States will arise to this call.

The friends should be assured that, guided by the Universal House of Justice, our National Spiritual Assembly and our sister National Spiritual Assemblies are working with governments, organizations of civil society, and the communications media to do everything possible to defend the Iranian Bahá'ís.

We hope that the collective effect of our prayers and activities undertaken for His love in the name of our Iranian brothers and sisters may be accepted by the Blessed Beauty, and that He may hasten the emancipation of His lovers in the Cradle of the Faith.

With loving Bahá'í greetings,

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
BAHÁ'ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES


Kenneth E. Bowers
Secretary-General

Development Paradigm as Process-Oriented in the Bahá'í Faith

Processes of Development: The Bahá'í Approach

The most important successes of Bahá'í development initiatives are qualitative in nature. With an emphasis on grassroots action and evolutionary growth, Bahá'í development projects complement the many other elements of Bahá'í community life. Development activities are an integral aspect of Bahá'í efforts to create a pattern of living that releases individual potential and simultaneously promotes the collective good. The systems of belief and administration underlying the Bahá'í program of community building uniquely integrate the moral and the practical, provide a unity of conception that allows for great flexibility of application, and above all arouse and maintain motivation.

Typically constrained by the limited resources of the communities in which they operate, Bahá'í projects are primarily focused on exploring new models of social change that encourage individuals, communities and institutions to develop cooperative methods of participation and decision-making. Specific endeavors designed to improve human well-being flow directly from the application of these models.

A Bahá'í kindergarten class in Uganda. The two year kindergarten program was established in 1957 and now has 140 students.

Upraising the quality of life through the systematic application of Bahá'í principles is, in some sense, the very definition of Bahá'í development. There are six main development processes that form the basis of a pattern of action by Bahá'í communities around the world:

1. Organic Growth
   In general, social and economic development activities best begin with a relatively simple set of actions at the grassroots. The desire for change must come directly from individuals and communities and cannot be imposed from the outside. As experience is gained from action, grassroots initiatives can naturally grow in complexity. A tutorial school, for example, can in principle become a center for activities such as health education, family counseling and reforestation, but in most cases, it will start simply as a school focusing all its resources on the children it proposes to serve. Although simple, well-defined projects have the greatest likelihood of success, to raise local action to a reasonable level of effectiveness may eventually require that development initiatives extend beyond the village level to regional and national levels.
2. Capacity Building
   Development is not a product to be delivered by the "developed" to the "underdeveloped." Rather, it is a process in which individuals and communities in all parts of the world, regardless of the degree of their material prosperity, become the principal actors in defining, analyzing and solving their own problems. While concrete action in any project should be directed towards visible improvement of some aspect of life, the success of a development initiative is ultimately measured by its impact on the capacity of a community to address development issues at increasingly higher levels of complexity and effectiveness.

   A people's ability to participate fully in its own process of development entails a number of interrelated elements. Generating and sustaining an integrated set of social and economic activities relate directly to the development of specific capacities at the personal and group level. Certain key capacities include learning how to take initiative in a disciplined and imaginative manner; adopting methods of decision-making that are non-adversarial and inclusive in nature; thinking systematically in understanding problems and searching for solutions; replacing relationships based on dominance and competition with relationships based on reciprocity, collaboration, and service to others; encouraging recognition of the essential nobility of human beings; fostering rectitude of conduct at all levels of society; and developing the skills and commitment necessary to generate and apply technical knowledge.

3. Learning
   Learning to apply Bahá'u'lláh's teachings to individual and collective life is the centerpiece of Bahá'í social and economic development. This learning takes place at all levels and involves all the members of Bahá'í communities, whatever their capacities and experiences. It entails not only study, but a systematic and ongoing process of consultation, reflection, and action designed to bring about consistent patterns of change. Such a learning process can occur in a very simple manner at the village and local level, but with greater sophistication at the regional and national levels. In this regard, every Bahá'í development project, regardless of size, endeavors to become a center for learning concerned with promoting material, moral, and spiritual well-being.
4. Development of Human Resources
   Intimately related to learning and building of capacity is the development of human resources. Training methods--which foster participation and an open attitude toward learning--principally involve individuals and groups at the grassroots, but can also include professionals and students from other regions and countries. In this way, a worldwide process of learning is encouraged. That development ideas and projects are not imposed from above, and that institutions should respond to the aspirations and initiatives of communities at the local level, are established characteristics of Bahá'í development. However, the application of these principles does not preclude the possibility of utilizing proven and well-conceived approaches to training developed at the national or international levels. Thus, project sites may be seen as locations where training is provided for an increasing number of individuals from all parts of the world and from all sectors of society.
5. Contributing to the Advancement of Society
   The application of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh to social and economic development is part of a larger process of creating stability and prosperity in human affairs. Development activities offer opportunities for the Bahá'í community to become directly involved in the life of society. Bahá'í projects are thus designed to engage and benefit all the members of a community and not only Bahá'ís. Collaboration with organizations and leaders of thought concerned with social, moral and economic advancement is an important component of Bahá'í development endeavors.
6. Integration
   The world's experience has shown that fragmented activities in different fields do not bring about development. The knowledge that should be brought to bear on development problems does not fit into a single discipline. The integration of efforts across various fields, such as health, education, agriculture, and environmental preservation, is essential for real progress in a region. Such integration can be achieved when simple grassroots initiatives evolve to more stable and complex stages of operation. In Bahá'í development, the concept of integration also pertains to the integration of material progress and spiritual development. Social and economic development activities are therefore an expression of faith in action.
   
   Underpinning the Bahá'í approach to development is the belief that every culture and segment of humanity represents a distinct heritage that must be encouraged to flourish and contribute to an emerging global civilization. The Bahá'í commitment to social change and progress derives directly from Bahá'u'lláh's vision of humanity as one people. Fostering unity of purpose among individuals, groups, and institutions is consequently an essential characteristic of all Bahá'í development pursuits.

Bahá'í communities operate a number of low-powered radio stations, such as the one shown here in Ecuador. These stations broadcast a wide variety of cultural, educational, and community-service programs. Stations, for example, frequently provide agricultural and health advice. Here two Bahá'ís from Quechua background are speaking in their native language. The five stations in Latin America all broadcast extensively in indigenous languages, a feature which serves to maintain the cultural identity of local peoples.

 

A spiritual journey - in photos

Photos of my spiritual journey

Posted: 21 May 2009

I wanted to share some photos from my recent journey to the Baha'i World Centre.  The buildings and nature were gorgeous so I wanted to give you a glimpse of the beauty there.  I've included some photos of my family too.  Enjoy!

Elika Mahony

Music video: The Gallantry of Illumined Souls

A fabulous 6 min video.

The Gallantry of Illumined Souls

Posted: 21 May 2009

This surely is a time for the gallantry of illumined souls. Very dear friends, we pray that you can be counted among this noble company.

Video at: http://www.vimeo.com/4604825

On May 14, 2008, six of the seven members of the ad-hoc governing body of the Bahá'ís of Iran were arrested and taken to the notorious Evin Prison. Last week marked the one-year anniversary of their arrests (the seventh had been arrested on March 5, 2008). Since then, they have been held without access to their legal counsel, Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi.

They have been charged on the baseless accusations of "espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic" and, most recently, "spreading corruption on earth."

They are men and women, mothers and fathers, some of whom have a history of persecution in their families. Among them are: a developmental psychologist, an agricultural engineer, an educator and school principal, a social worker, an optometrist, an industrialist, and a factory owner.

In a letter written on September 9, 2007 to Bahá'í students deprived of access to higher education in Iran, the Universal House of Justice wrote:

Service to others to others is the way. Let it be your watchword, 'Abdu'l-Bahá being your exemplar. Like Him, you can find practical ways of serving your fellow citizens. Strive to work hand-in-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder, with your fellow citizens in your efforts to promote the common good.

As we keep them in our thoughts and prayers, and as we work, in whatever way we can, to speak out against this injustice, let us remember the poignant words of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís in Iran, in a letter written on November 26, 2003:

Your long night will end, and you will have the joy of witnessing with your own eyes the might structures your sacrifices have raised.

Source: http://www.bahaiperspectives.com/current-affairs/2009/05/21/the-gallantry-of-illumined-souls/

Art project engages youth in Canada's Arctic region

Youth art project brings citation for Nunavut resident

26 April 2009

 

In this file photo from the Nunatsiaq News, Beth McKenty prepares materials for youngsters in Iqaluit who come her sessions to create art. (Photo copyright 2002 Nunatsiaq News. Used by permission.)

 

IQALUIT, Nunavut, Canada, 26 April - Beth McKenty moved to sparsely populated northeast Canada - to Iqaluit on Baffin Island - in 1999 to fulfill a pledge, made 45 years earlier, to devote part of her life to reducing youth suicide.

Within two weeks of arriving she had begun a project to help children build self-esteem by exploring their creativity. The Arctic Youth Art Initiative has since grown to involve hundreds of children.

Ms. McKenty's efforts were acknowledged this month when she was one of 75 individuals from across Canada named as recipients of the Caring Canadian Awards for 2009. Created in 1996 by the Canadian Governor General, the award is presented to individuals and groups whose unpaid, voluntary contributions over a number of years provide extraordinary help or care to people in their community.

It has been a long and often surprising road for Ms. McKenty from her birthplace of Snowflake, Manitoba, to Iqaluit, population 7,200 and the capital of the Nunavut territory. In addition to several decades in Wisconsin, where she worked as a freelance journalist and raised a family, she has lived in Japan, China, and Russia, and she has taught at the Navajo College at Tsaile, Arizona, in the United States.

"I started out on a farm in Manitoba, one of seven children," she said. "My father was from pioneer stock and a veteran who served at Vimy Ridge. My mother, a nurse, was an Icelandic immigrant. We grew up in a home with an openness to the whole world.

"In 1954, my younger brother took his own life. One way I dealt with the anguish was to make a promise to myself that some day, somehow, I would do something to help reduce youth suicide."


To read the rest of the article, which was first published by the Canadian Baha'i News Service, and see photographs, go to: http://news.bahai.org/story/711
For the BWNS home page, go to: http://news.bahai.org
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Copyright 2009 by the Baha'i World News Service. All stories and photographs produced by the Baha'i World News Service may be freely reprinted, re-emailed, re-posted to the World Wide Web and otherwise reproduced by any individual or organization as long as they are attributed to the Baha'i World News Service. For more information, visit http://news.bahai.org.
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The complementary forces of destruction and construction in the world

This is from Dale and Kathy Lehman's enlightening blog PlanetBaha'i.org

Tearing Down and Building Up

by Dale E. Lehman

Appeared: 04/17/2009

In my last article, "Can Leaders Save Us", I suggested that Bahá'u'lláh's teachings indicate that even the best political leaders can only do so much to effect transformation in the world. Without the remedy prescribed by Bahá'u'lláh, we will not be able to truly resolve the most pressing issues of our age.

After that article appeared, I got an email from a reader named Graham suggesting I had overlooked something important. There is a flip side to the story, he pointed out: the world is constantly moving towards implementation of many of Bahá'u'lláh's key teachings in spite of not being consciously aware of Him.

This comment, with which I certainly agree, got me to thinking about two great processes that are always taking place: the tearing down of the old and the building up of the new. As with so many things, this duality is a universal theme. We find it throughout nature, in human civilization, and according to Bahá'u'lláh, in the effects of the spiritual forces unleashed by the appearance of a Manifestation of God. In a passage with an outwardly apocalyptic tone, Shoghi Effendi told us:

A world, dimmed by the steadily dying-out light of religion, heaving with the explosive forces of a blind and triumphant nationalism; scorched with the fires of pitiless persecution, whether racial or religious; deluded by the false theories and doctrines that threaten to supplant the worship of God and the sanctification of His laws; enervated by a rampant and brutal materialism; disintegrating through the corrosive influence of moral and spiritual decadence; and enmeshed in the coils of economic anarchy and strife -- such is the spectacle presented to men's eyes, as a result of the sweeping changes which this revolutionizing Force, as yet in the initial stage of its operation, is now producing in the life of the entire planet.

(Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 46-47)

I say "outwardly apocalyptic" because in spite of the doom-and-gloom language, Shoghi Effendi attributes these evidences of dissolution not to the wickedness of humanity, but to that "revolutionizing Force" unleashed through the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. This is, in other words, a work of divine reconstruction, not a work of wanton destruction.

Bahá'u'lláh Himself pointed this out in this well-known passage:

The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System--the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.

(Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, para. 181)

"Upset equilibrium" certainly describes the world today! But why would God desire to throw the world into apparent chaos and disorder? Isn't His purpose in sending His Messengers to build rather than to destroy?

It is. But how often are we able to build up something without also tearing down something? Some environmentalists might cringe, but we can't build a house without first clearing away any significant greenery from the site and generally digging at least a bit of a hole. Living organisms live and grow only by consuming resources from their environment, including other living things. Planets like our Earth only exist because previous generations of stars died in dramatic explosions that created and scattered heavy elements that could in turn take part in a new cycle of stellar birth.

We find similar examples in human social evolution. Be it in the field of human rights, technology, or government, progress tends only to occur through the course of trials and upheavals. We might wonder why this is necessary, but in fact tearing down is inextricably linked with building up, in human affairs just as in the larger world of nature.

Bahá'u'lláh has come to unify humanity. In order to achieve that, He must of necessity tear down the barriers that prevent us from being united. As imposing as those barriers are, the forces necessary to destroy them must be even more imposing. And thus, we find the world in the state described by Shoghi Effendi in the passage quoted above. The tearing down is part of the building up.

We can usually find more than one way to look at a given situation. Kathy, who has made a fair bit of clothing for children and grandchildren, offers an analogy taken from the tailor's trade. To make an article of clothing, you begin with a large piece of cloth. You then cut the cloth into a number of pieces, each with a particular shape. To the uninitiated, it's not always obvious what those fragments of cloth are going to be once the garment is constructed. Indeed, to an observer who didn't know what was going on, it might seem that the cloth was being hacked to pieces for no good reason! Only later when a finished garment begins to emerge does it become clear that this is a work of creation rather than destruction.

So to bring this back to my previous article, although there is only so much that even the best leaders can do to fix the world's ills, all leaders (as well as the rest of us) are nevertheless playing a role in an ongoing process that will culminate in a united humanity. I feel my previous point still stands: only when humanity recognizes Bahá'u'lláh and consciously implements His teachings will unity be established and its power be unleashed to solve global problems. At the same time, the spiritual forces operating in the world as a result of His revelation are at once breaking down the barriers that prevent us from attaining unity and building up the structures that will enable us to do so.

My thanks to Graham for his email and the chance it afforded me to obtain and share a glimpse of the larger picture.

A Deed of the Báb - the mystery of reward and punishment --[FORGIVENESS], [SACRIFICE], [LOVE], [JUSTICE]

Many thanks to Keyvan for translating and sharing this edifying story on the excellent blog kidsidebyside.org !

Story of the mystery of reward and punishment!

One of the early believers of the Bab, by the name of Haji Abu'l-Hasan Shirazi shares the following eye-witness account of his journey with the Bab and Quddus from Port of Bushihr to The Holy places of Islam in Arabia in 1844. At the time Haji Abu'l-Hasan was one of the Muslem pilgrims and a year later, when the Bab was brought to the Masjid Vakil for interrogation and humiliation by the government and Moslem clergy, Haji Abu'l-Hasan Shirazi recognised The Bab's station and became a believer. The divine power of meekness emanating from The Bab and the empathic capabilities of thousands of receptive souls was among the many ways that the loving and patient God assisted His ignorant and wayward servants to arise and recognize His new Revelation.

Through out the course of this journey which lasted two months and despite the rough sea, Haji Abu'l-Hasan witnessed the Bab, radiantly revealing verses and Quddus taking down the dictation. This Journey to the Holy cities was particularly full of sufferings for the Beloved Bab. From Bushihr He embarked on a small and crowded ship called Baghleh. Much of the crowd consisted of Persian pilgrims heading for the annual pilgrimage in Mecca.

The leader of the Moslem pilgrims was an ignorant and arrogant man by the name of Shaikh Abu Hashem. He was a power hungry, wicked, egotistic and vicious individual. Soon he became perturbed with jealousy and was burning with anger because the Bab refused to follow his lead in the group prayer. He felt insulted that the Bab did not pay respect to him in front of other pilgrims and missed no opportunity to do everything in his power to steer his group to insult the Bab and cause Him pain. His aggression became so blatant that the ship's captain reprimanded him and warned him about his behavior and told him to leave the Bab alone.

Eventually the ship's captain himself got into a dispute with him and the ignorant Shaikh insulted the Captain. This proved to be a deadly crime on board of a ship and was punishable by death. The captain was enraged and ordered the nasty Shaikh to be thrown into the Sea and off the board of his ship. In this instant the beloved Bab approached the captain and asked for the Shaikh's life to be spared. The captain was furious and could not stop screaming and ordering: "throw this cursed trash overboard".

The Bab knew that the captain was absolutely determined to have the Shaikh thrown into the sea. In order to prevent the Shaikh's execution, the Bab approached the Shaikh and tightly embraced His enemy to stop the Captain from killing him while asking the captain to pardon the Sheikh for His sake and release the Sheikh to Him. The captain was perplexed by the Bab's extraordinary action and his heart was touched by the Bab's request. He commented to the Bab that this cursed man has been hurting you more than any one else and of all people you should welcome his death. The Bab replied "These people are only hurting themselves, it is becoming for us to have a sin covering eye."

This intercession of the Bab and the radiance of His unconditional love awakened the ignorant and warmed the hearts of those who were sincere on board of the ship to the extend that they changed their behavior towards the Bab and from then on offered Him their utmost respect.

In one of His prayers the Bab reveals an unprecedented and unimaginable mystery about how God confers His blessings upon a servant when He so chooses and also how He ordains evil for a servant for raising against His Will and committing injustice.

"Indeed shouldst Thou desire to confer blessing upon a servant Thou wouldst blot out from the realm of his heart every mention or disposition except Thine Own mention; and shouldst Thou ordain evil for a servant by reason of that which his hands have unjustly wrought before Thy face, Thou wouldst test him with the benefits of this world and of the next that he might become preoccupied therewith and forget Thy remembrance."

- The Báb

Be awake

Keyvan
Story Translated by Keyvan from Payam-i Bahá'í