...Are We There, Yet?

15 months ago I met these beautiful, bright, sunshiney-smiley-faced people for the first time. Meet my orientation group - well, 2/3 of us anyhow. Strange to think that more than 1/2 of us are now back in our respective corners of the world - going to school or working.

When we began our individual and collective service, we were strangers - and now I think we are family. Or if not family, then something very close and special. Certainly better than simply friends.

Indulge me why I think outloud, hmmm? I was reading my OED (don't hate, congratulate) and I came across the word conflagration (noun): a large and destructive fire; from the Latin. Well, directly below this is conflate (verb): combine into one. The origin here is also from the Latin, conflare 'kindle, fuse'. I believe that our service together, here in the Holy Land, has enlightened us, made us stronger, brighter and more ready for the world - and made us, if not quite family, more than friends.

Big shout out to the Bahá’í World Centre orientation group of July 2007 - where ever you are, whatever you're doing!

Perspective...

Sometimes my days (or my weeks) don't exactly go my way... I've found perspective in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, though. He says, speaking of His sufferings:


"The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound with chains that mankind may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted to be made a prisoner within this most mighty Stronghold that the whole world may attain unto true liberty.

"He hath drained to its dregs the cup of sorrow that all the peoples of the earth may attain unto abiding joy, and be filled with gladness. This is of the mercy of your Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful.
"We have accepted to be abased, O believers in the Unity of God, that ye may be exalted, and have suffered manifold afflictions, that ye might prosper and flourish."

The pictures above are of the Fortress City of ‘Akká, as seen from the Sea Gate; the Prison Cell in which Bahá'u'lláh was held in ‘Akká, Israel; and the terraced gardens at the Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa, Israel. The later two are pictures I have taken.

Knock Knock... Who's There?

Reality, that's who. So friends and family - I'm about half way through my service here at the Bahá’í World Centre (I know - crazy, huh?!?). So yeah, that means that it's time to start thinking about my not-so-distant future.... Sigh.

Most of the time, when I think about the current state of world affairs I realize that it is simply the disintegration of an old world order - a disintegration that, though painful, is necessary in order for the birth of the New World Order: the Promised Day of God. I'm also mostly capable of thinking that it's better to have this disintegration now, so that instead paying forward the pain and calamity we're currently embroiled in, we truly can begin to lay the ground work for peace. Peace our children can grow and develop in.
But sometimes the really selfish part of me is like, "but DUDE! what am I going to do?!?" I'm trying to educate that selfish person....

ps. I found this picture here - pretty hilarious site, actually.

Digital Love...

1. Talking Heads - Psycho Killer /Kate Miller-Heidke, 2. Radiohead - In Rainbows 2, 3. Jef Aérosol 2007 - Morrissey

I'm not one for gratuitous advertisements - but my iPod was totally hooking it up this morning:

Burning Down the House - The Talking Heads
There There (The Boney King of Nowhere) - Radiohead
The Last of the Famous International Playboys - Morrissey


I have pretty random and unique tastes in music, so for me to get such a rad mix, all in a row, and not planned at all by yours truly completely put a smile on my face and a tap in my foot!
Planned or unplanned - what are you listening to?

Autumnal Updates...

I'm so happy that it's fall! I had to finally put a blanket on my bed last night - this, in conjunction with the lovely cool breeze that comes off the hillside in through my window, makes for super cozy nights this time of year!
It's no surprise that fall is my favorite season - I love the crisp air, the cute fashion, the rosy cheeks and laughing eyes that magically appear in late September/early October. But I have a confession to make. This will surely mark me as a true Californian, or at least a true Piper....
While I love shoes (!), slippers, socks, and even slipper-socks - I can't stand shoes and socks (socks and shoes?). It's like my little toes are saying "Um, hello? Oxygen? We need it. 'k Thanks!"
Sigh. Just saying.
Ps. Isn't this picture the cutest? It totally reminds me of Our House by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.... Found here.

Fair Trade...

Sometimes I forget peoples names. Okay, I regularly do this - I think I hide it well, though. But I'll always remember your story. Like how many kids you have, something you said 5 years ago, etc. It's like I have a special place in my brain for trivial, random and useless information. ...that just happens to crowd out more important things - like your name.
Anyhow, my love of history definitely falls into the category of things I remember well. Well, I remember events - if not names {grin}. In the time I spent as a history major (and then anthropology, and then history/anthropology double major - only to settle, eventually, on English), I used to day dream about what it would be like to go back in time. LIke to literally wake up one morning in, say, the 18th Century.
I realized, pretty quickly in fact, that I would probably die. Aside from the obvious benefits of modern medicine... I realized that I lack the skill set necessary for survival then. I can't farm, I can't hunt - in fact, I like to pretend that when I eat meat (which I rarely do) that it never even belonged to an animal.... I can fish - but I don't like to catch anything. Yeah, I'd pretty much be a goner.
So then I got to thinking, and I realized that my single greatest commodity is time. Pure and simple. To know in your bones what your time is worth is a heady thing. Here's the real trip, though. How is it that the things on this earth that are most time consuming are often seen as having the least value? If we respect our own time, and others time, then we respect what ever it is we're doing with our time - whether raising a family, harvesting a crop, teaching a student, singing a song, etc. - and we are less wasteful with the product of our time, collectively and individually. But wait - it gets better! ...then we have less waste, and more harmony, and peace and love and unity. All from respect.
Maybe I should just say no to late night tea and coffee - or maybe I'm on to something... thoughts?
Image credit.

I should preface this by telling you that I majored in English Literature at University... and that the single hardest class I ever took was English grammar. I should tell you also that the best students in our class were those who had English as a second (or third, etc.) language.
Flash minorly forward in the background of the heart of today's post: my favorite mistake that native Persian speakers make when speaking English is that are often wont to confuse their he/she pronouns - in Persian there is no distinction of gender in the second person pronoun....
This is why, when I read prayers in the Bahá’í Faith specifically dedicated to women, prayers that have often been translated from the original Persian, I realize the profound importance given to the station of women by Bahá'u'lláh. The soul is genderless - gender is merely a phenomenon of physical existence - but this does not mean that men and women do not contribute uniquely, yet equally, to the beauty, wonder, betterment and advancement of humanity.
The following prayer, penned by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh), touched - nay, rather sang to - my heart last night. Whether you are a man or a woman, I hope you feel equally inspired:

"O Thou kind Lord! Bestow heavenly confirmation upon this daughter of the kingdom, and graciously aid her that she may remain firm and steadfast in Thy Cause and that she may, even as a nightingale of the rose garden of mysteries, warble melodies in the Abhá Kingdom in the most wondrous tones, thereby bringing happiness to everyone. Make her exalted among the daughters of the kingdom and enable her to attain life eternal.
Thou art the Bestower, the All-Loving."