For Serious...

 Mid-hike photo-op...

 More nature exploration... this time: tide pools in Dana Point, CA

 Junior Youth and animators in the park...

Thinking 'outside of the box' about the creation of a moral structure...

So I have been taking a small hiatus from 'sharing deep thoughts with the internets' as of late... but I have been roused from my figurative slumber.

You may wonder why I include pictures in which I am in full-swing field trip mode (errr... exploring nature!) and frolicking in the park. Well, that's because those are the pictures that tend to survive such things as children's classes and junior youth spiritual empowerment programs.... 

But I think the fact that they are not very remarkable at all, other than as mementos to those actually in the pictures, is what makes what I'm about to tell you all the more profound.

7 youth and young adults were arrested in Iran (at least one is being held in Evin Prison in Tehran) on Monday for doing the exact same thing you see my friends and I doing in the pictures above.

Again? Okay... 7 youth were arrested on Monday for such crimes against humanity as teaching children's classes and for empowering junior youth. They might also have had the crazy notion that they should go to university.

Service to one's community and seeking higher education are not the hallmarks of criminal activity... but those arrested happen to be Baha'i. Like me. If you, like me, recognize the injustice in this treatment of Iran's largest religious minority, I encourage you to speak out - city officials, congress persons and representatives, news sources, your FB wall (or twitter, tumblr, blogspot, wordpress site). Tell your friends and family!

The internet is a useful medium, and your voice is a powerful tool. To Justice!

Arts and Crafts...

Courtesy Luckybeans

So now that I'm back in the States, one of my favorite things to do is to work with the children and youth in my area - learning cool things and making new friendships. Accordingly, I'm always on the lookout for cool arts and craft ideas or science experiments to try.

And one of the best sources I've found is Luckybeans.

You know... just paying it forward: one creative person to another!

P.S. Children's Class is totally making these stars this week: for my shining stars!

I Can't Get No...

Courtesy Samimi-Extremie

Wow. This is likely the best thing I could have seen today. I've been thinking a lot about resolutions: who I want to be and how to get there.... And I realize that I need to do what ever it takes to stay hungry for more. Knowledge. Love. Understanding. Movement. Growth.

So this year I resolve to give thanks for the people in my life who help my wounded spirit try again in those instances I pause too long, get too comfortable and backslide.

...Let There Be Light

Maybe it's because these photos from NASA (courtesy A Cup Of Jo) are so lovely and serene, or maybe it's because our days will start to get longer and warmer (crosses fingers...) - but I feel a little reflection is in order.

East

West

So the biggest change in my life this year is the cross-globe move I made from Israel to the States at the beginning of August. I tell you that there was not a small amount of nervous excitement in that move. But I'm finding that the smaller ripple changes that resulted from that move have been correspondingly profound.

One of my biggest challenges has been holding on to the lessons of material detachment I learned (emphasis on earned) in Israel, particularly now that I'm living in a capitalistic society again. Being able to put that lesson to the test, so to speak, really makes me proud of myself. I also find that I'm thinking about and appreciating the idea of capitalism in a much different way... mostly by reevaluating what it is that I'd like to foster and invest in.

Which brings me to the true joy I've found in my new "extra-curricular" activities. At least once a week (but now that school is done, I aim to spend more time), I work some of the smartest, coolest, and kindest people I've ever met. As a team, we're learning how change our culture and society in positive ways: we examine things like the effects of unity and friendship versus the destructive effects of gossip and "cliques". We think about our impact on the world socially, materially, and spiritually and really think long and hard about the kind of people we want to be: how to be a true friend; how to be wise stewards of our environment.

I am learning so much from these people, who, by the by, are between the ages of 9 and 11.

Spend some quality learning time with children and youth, yourselves - it's the best investment I've ever made!

Nobel Peace Ladies...

Via Bitte Ein Kuss

(L-R)

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia

Leymah Gbowee, Champion of Women's Rights (Liberia)

Tawakkul Karman, Icon of the Arab Spring Protest (Yemen)

[2011 Nobel Peace Prize recipients]

"The woman is indeed of the greater importance to the race. She has the greater burden and the greater work. Look at the vegetable and the animal worlds. The palm which carries the fruit is the tree most prized by the date grower. The Arab knows that for a long journey the mare has the longest wind. For her greater strength and fierceness, the lioness is more feared by the hunter than the lion.

The woman has greater moral courage than the man; she has also special gifts which enable her to govern in moments of danger and crisis…." - 'Abdu'l-Baha, from an address given in London.

I don't mean this to sound like man-bashing... because it is not. But it is nice to see the contributions and achievements of women recognized, particularly in the field of peace building and community development.

Time... And Past.

**Disclaimer: if you have a delicate constitution or are sensitive... you may want to take a pass. You won't hurt my feelings.**

The article: from Time magazine.

I imagine that by now this article has caused quite a stir in the States (and other areas where people regularly read Time). And I know that I'm wont to be an optimist - but I tell you truly that I will be disappointed if this doesn't cause a stir in the people who read it.

I've been thinking lately, though, about how this kind of ferocious misogyny isn't so uncommon - and neither is it limited to the developing world, to safely be "their problem".
As you will see in the video, the brand of misogyny marketed to westerners is actually worse, because we (as women) have been conditioned to hate, abuse, and disfigure ourselves....

I originally spotted this video on 'This Is Samimi-Extremie' [thanks for the head's up] and I've been sort of obsessed with it since then.

If I'm going to be perfectly honest (here goes nothing...) the stuff that you see here in this video [dude, just watch it already!] is pretty much the root of the anxiety I feel whenever I think about going home to visit the family. My family is cool - Orange County is murder on a woman's self-esteem, though. Suffice it to say that Israel has been very good to me. Not least because I don't have to look at tabloids and billboards any more....

So we'll see how long I last and in the meantime I invite you to start thinking constructively about the reality of women in your society - wherever you are - and to start thinking about the way you consume your culture.

There Is No Time Like The Present...

Image courtesy Bitte Ein Kuss.

I really don't think that more explanation is necessary here.

Rejoice!

Yesterday and today mark the Twin Holy Days: The Birth of the Báb and the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, respectively. If you've visited here before, you likely know that I am a Bahá’í, and that I am living in Haifa, Israel serving at the Bahá’í World Centre. What you may not know is that the Báb (a title meaning "Gate") is the Herald of the Bahá’í religion and that Bahá’u’lláh (a title meaning "the Glory of God) is the Prophet Founder of the Bahá’í religion. From the Bahá’í Writings:

Glory by to Thee, O Lord my God! Make manifest the rivers of Thy sovereign might, that the waters of Thy Unity may flow through the inmost realities of all things, in such wise that the banner of Thine unfailing guidance may be raised aloft in the kingdom of Thy command and the stars of Thy divine splendor may shine brightly in the heaven of Thy majesty.
Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou, verily, art the Help in Peril the Self-Subsisting.
- Bahá’u’lláh

Image credit.

Upon Further Reflection...

I think of myself as a somewhat awkward person - I'm a bit clumsy, if you will. If there's a wall to be walked into, I will find it; likewise the crack in the sidewalk that lies in wait for unsuspecting people to trip up. I have mastered (equally well, I might add) the awkward silence and its opposite: the unintelligent babble meant to mask silence that somehow just makes everything more uncomfortable.

But I've been reflecting and meditating on grace. Grace in all its meanings: elegance of movement, polite good will (okay, maybe I haven't thought about this definition so much), and the unearned favor of God. I was particularly thinking of the latter definition and how God's grace pours continually on us - whether or not we're prepared to receive it.

[For example, if you wish to feel the rain on your face, but insist on looking at the ground... it doesn't mean it's not raining - it means you haven't placed yourself in such a way as to feel it on your face.]

So then I got to thinking about what it is to be graceful. And I am. Now I just need to figure out how to manifest it more consciously!

Dear DHD... sorry for the half-formed and corny than usual (even for me) pun. I hope you're enjoying your family time, pilgrimage & pow wows, respectively.

Globalization...

Bahá'u'lláh said that "the earth is but one country and mankind its citizens". The verity of this becomes more obvious every day - just think of the number of people you communicate with, or share interests and beliefs with. It's truly mind blowing.
So I know that it's cliche - but let's try this experiment (particularly during the warm & fuzzy 'holiday' season): think globally and act locally.
If the whole world is one giant community: friends, family, colleagues, etc. why don't we try to really make an effort to know our neighbors? I'm sure many of you already do - 3 cheers for that - but let's take it to a new level. Let's raise our consciousness - talk about the world, how to make it more positive, more spiritual, how to create a relationship with God.

Go on. Try. Try it together. It's good for you.
Image credit.

One Fine Day...

21 November 2009 :: 'Akká and surrounding environs, Israel

Sunset :: Bahjí
same same

Bahjí

I had the opportunity to visit two Bahá'í Holy Places this weekend in 'Akká... the weather was perfect - complete with peaceful meditation. It was like a spiritual vacation.

All photos courtesy Sholeh Magzub. I know... and yes, all of my friends really are this talented. Sigh. Lucky me!

Excited, With a Chance of Delay...

I find it interesting that we still have time delays on some things - particularly entertainment things like movies. Pop culture seems to me to be so ubiquitous now that I really wonder why movies don't have world wide releases.... But what do I know - I'm just a pop culture junkie.

Patience: n. the ability to accept delay, trouble, or suffering without becoming angry or upset. {via the OED}
Lesson subtitle, courtesy Christopher David Ryan.

Lesson soundtrack (and 'excited' impetus), courtesy Bon Iver & St. Vincent.
Enjoy.

Butterfly In The Sky...

As you no doubt know, Bayan and I have 'reading times' at least once per week. If you've ever read with a child (particularly a very active little boy), you know that it can often be a challenge to find material that is engaging and yet reading level appropriate. This is especially challenging for me because eight-year-old Bayan, the wunderkind polyglot that he is, is at a very beginner reading level in English.

Naturally, I'm always on the lookout for children's books [even if they have to go on my wish list: a.k.a. 'things to get when I go on vacation'].

I learned of this book "14 Cows For America" today in the NYTimes - and I'm honestly so intrigued... and my heart is really warm. {the original article is amazing, please read it}
It is the true story of how, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a Masai village in Kenya came to the aid of the United States.

...“because there is no nation so powerful it cannot be wounded, nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort.” *Excerpted from Nicholas D. Kristof's article, link above*

Book information:
14 COWS FOR AMERICA
By Carmen Agra Deedy with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah
lllustrated by Thomas Gonzalez

I Would Like to Thank...

I remember watching award shows when I was a little girl - the Emmys and Grammys. And then MTV put one together, but that was cool because there was finally one targeted at my age group - and the nominees didn't (at least in the beginning) have to take themselves so seriously and it was fun and etc.

Now I think that there's an award show for e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.

And it's boring. Generally. Particularly when the awards seem to no longer be celebrating good creative thought. To clarify: I realize that these shows recognize and showcase the talent of a myriad professionals - it's just that only the tabloid darlings make it to the primetime broadcast.....

Like even the red carpet just isn't exciting or special or glamorous when everyone and their mom seems to have one.... But I digress.

An award show that praises and celebrates innovation of all kinds - with a special prize for PEACE work? That my president, Mr. Barack Obama, just won for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples"? Hecks yes.

Naturally it's a classy affair - no paparazzi and the typical accoutrements associated therewith - but I sure would have liked to see that!

I am positive that to even be nominated and considered for such a presitigious award as the Nobel Peace Prize is an honor to be cherished for a lifetime. And I don't mean to make this into a blog of one-upmanship - but friends, I tell you truly, I am so happy and proud right now.
Addendum: NYT Editorial. Pretty much sums things up.

Crisis and Victory...

"Marek Edelman, [...] the last surviving commander of the 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising against the Germans, died Friday in Warsaw. He was 90." I saw this article today in the New York Times and was almost moved to tears by the story of this man's life. The choices he had to make, the way that he never abandoned his people, the life long persecution he endured... truly inspirational.

Two weeks ago I met a Holocaust survivor on the bus, here in Haifa. I had to work really hard to remember to keep my mouth shut and not stare – but I was in complete awe.

Actually, I totally stared. He was talking to me. I’m pretty sure that I also said “wow” (hopefully) really softly – the way that it tends to escape your lips as part of a sigh.
Universal House of Justice member Mr. Dunbar says that it used to be pretty common to see survivors around town or even working behind a counter somewhere – but now they’re so rare, it's as though they’ve taken on legendary proportions.

I took this picture of the Prison Cell of Bahá’u’lláh - founder of the Bahá’í Faith - earlier this year in 'Akka. Bahá’u’lláh endured a lifetime of persecution and torture, living the life of a myriad martyrs, never abandoning His people, connecting the world of being to the Word of God....

So much pain seems to hinge on one tiny pocket of earth, on one simple seeming concept: that we exist to know and love God... and yet, from another vantage, so much hope rides on the same patch of earth - on the same knowledge and love for God.

"O SON OF BEING!

Thou art My lamp and My light is in thee. Get though from it thy radiance and seek none other than Me. For I have created thee rich and have bountifully shed My favour upon thee."

From The Hidden Words, Bahá’u’lláh

Words to Live By...

This morning my friend Nava forwarded to me a lovely passage from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (the son of Bahá'u'lláh) - alternately known as necessary meditation.

It has not only given me pause and encouraged a reflection on what I say, but I feel that it demands a reflection of all means of expression including, in this world of interweb communication, what I put here on my little blog.

"Profitless discussions fatigue and weary a person. People who call on me almost every day carry on a stream of profitless, unspiritual talk and I must listen to them with patience. We are commanded to associate with all the people.

Man's speech is the revealer of his heart. In whatever world the heart travels, man's conversation will revolve around that center. From his words you can understand in what world he is traveling, whether he is looking upward toward the realm of light or downward to the nether world, whether he is mindful or unaware, whether he is awake or asleep, whether he is alive or dead. For this reason his holiness [Imam] Ali says: “Man is hidden behind his tongue. Out of the abundance of his heart does man speak.”

There are persons with whom you associate and converse whose utterances are life-imparting, joy-giving. The withered and faded are refreshed, the joyless become happy, the extinct become enkindled and the lifeless are quickened with the breaths of the Holy Spirit. The one drowned in the sea of hesitation and doubt is saved by the life-boat of certainty and assurance; the one attached to this material world becomes severed and the one steeped in blameworthy deeds is adorned with praiseworthy attributes. On the other hand there are some persons whose very respiration extinguishes the light of faith; whose conversation weakens firmness and steadfastness in the Cause of God; whose company diverts one’s attention from the kingdom of Abha.

The souls who are rejoiced with the glad tidings of God, attracted to the fragrances of holiness, severed from aught else save God, who are commemorating the name of God are withdrawn from the world of darkness, their thought permeated through and through with spiritual vibrations and their messages consisting of divine advices and exhortations; such souls are the manifestors of God's mercy, the educators of nations and the vivifiers of the world of humanity. They are guardian angels, the cause of human progress and the spiritual guides of the wandering children of men. Glory be unto them!"
- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Spiritual Refreshment...

“Even as the clouds let us shed down tears, and as the lightning flashes let us laugh at our coursings through east and west. By day, by night, let us think but of spreading the sweet savours of God. Let us not keep on forever with our fancies and illusions, with our analysing and interpreting and circulating of complex dubieties. Let us put aside all thoughts of self; let us close our eyes to all on earth, let us neither make known our sufferings nor complain of our wrongs. Rather let us become oblivious of our own selves, and drinking down the wine of heavenly grace, let us cry out our joy, and lose ourselves in the beauty of the All-Glorious.”
– ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Increasing Awareness...

My correligionists in Iran - who I feel a closeness with as though we were, unmet, already friends and family - have been persecuted since the inception of the Bahá’í Faith in 19th century Persia.
In this age of unprecedented information and communication capabilities, we have a responsibility to not let a group of people become swallowed - for the reality of their suffering, nay, their very existence to become silenced.
This article, from International CNN*dot*com/world, sheds light on the current status of 7 Bahá’ís.... Inform yourselves - increase justice.
Story Highlights

Seven Baha'i prisoners accused of espionage to go on trial next week in Iran

Baha'is are accused of spying for Israel, spreading propaganda against Iran

Case of the seven Baha'is has drawn global attention

Slikha!

Bahá’ís - just like most people the world over - work hard to develop a praiseworthy character - complete with all kinds of beautiful qualities like dignity, honor, trustworthiness, generosity, kindness, honesty.... Speaking of, I'd like to talk about one of my favorite qualities - patience. You see, I pray for patience very regularly, and correspondingly God gives me opportunities to be patient. And then I get to pray for patience all.over.again!
Take this past weekend, for example. I went to ‘Akká to get my hair done by the world famous Roi (see above) on Friday afternoon, and on my way back I was cutting it a little close on the whole Shabat (Sabbath) renders my entire city (Haifa) a ghost town thing.
Plus it was (and IS!) almost a million degrees outside (don't hate the exaggerator - it's hot as here!) so I didn't feel like walking up the Mountain when I got back to the city. *There is almost always inter-city transportation, but after 4 or so - not so much intra-city transportation*.
The pictures below are what happened when I got on the wrong sherut. Why? Because after 2 years in Israel, I had my first public transportation fail.
I know - I'm surprised I made it this long, too.
So there was my friend Dayyan - ready to catch me in all of my frustrated glory....

Note the chagrin when it occurs to me (finally) that I'm not as 'ambassadorial' as I might be....
Looking around for anything willing to cart me up mountain at this point.

Mid-whinge, I'm almost positive.

My kingdom for a car!

ps. the frustration saga continued - last night, in fact. I waited over 30 minutes for a bus that never came! So not only did I miss swim practice (sigh. I know - I was really looking forward), but I had the opportunity to stand around while my sweat (not so) slowly and (very) surely soaked through my bathing suits.

...excuse me while I go pray for patience - and add detachment to the list!

It Takes a Village...

So I've been doing a lot of thinking about the current state of affairs in the world, particularly in Iran. If you've been checking in every-once-in-a-while, you'll know that, although my coreligionists in Iran have faced near constant persecution from the various authorities in power in that region, Iran has a special place in my heart because it is the birth place of Bahá'u'lláh, the Prophet Founder of the Bahá'í Faith.
Friends - I think that a precedent has been set. Anywhere you look in news media - online in papers, blogs, youtube, facebook, twitter, or the like - we see the mass persecution of an entire group of people. Today it is Iran, but let us not think of this madness, this oppression and negation of basic human rights as a one-off. This happens everyday.
You may have also noticed from a recent post of mine that Bahá'ís do not participate in partisan politics - particularly because the single greatest aim of the Bahá'í Faith is to unite humanity....
But then what is this community to do? What, in fact, are any of us to do?
In each of the following two posts I have included a quotation that I find to be powerful and timely. The first is from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh and speaks to the roles and responsibilities of governments, rulers and leaders. The second is a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks and addresses, through the narration of a seemingly isolated and yet completely relevant event, the position that the people of the community must take. ...interestingly this poem is narrated by a person who failed to act.
Let that be a lesson we learn here and from other shameful moments in our collective history - not one that we repeat.
Disclaimer: Normally I'd do something like apologize for writing so much, and etc. But I'm not sorry. This is important - educate yourself on the world around you; don't wait for others to distill the interweb for you.