Archives › 2011 › February
Baha’is mourn loss of former National Spiritual Assembly member, James Nelson
Following is a message from Frank Nelson, son of Judge James Nelson: Beloved servant of the Faith, James F. Nelson, passed into the Abha Kingdom on February 26 at approximately 8:00pm while celebrating Ayyam-i-Ha with his Family. He passed quietly and painlessly, sitting in his favorite chair. Although we will miss him as a husband, [...]
Anita P. Geib
As reported in fdlreporter.com Anita P. Geib (nee’ Kuether) died Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011, after a brief illness. A graveside service is planned for Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 1 pm at Ledgeview Cemetery in Fond du Lac arranged by Twohig Funeral Services. Memorial gifts will be donated in Anita’s honor to the National Baha’i Fund [...]
From sunset Feb. 25 to sunset March 1, Baha’is will be exchanging gifts, getting together with friends and family, and engaging in acts of charity – activities that characterize the festival of Ayyam-i-Ha.
Once the anchor is set, the crew of a boat can go about their duties confident it won’t drift. Mindy and Charles Miranda provide such an anchor for community building in Garland, Texas. All four core activities are based in their home and a teaching team uses it as the springboard for visits to neighbors. [...]
Editor’s note: Here is the retelling of a spiritual conversation from the perspective of someone just introduced to a passage from Bahá’u’lláh. By Timothy A. Sanborn, MD, with Lucki Melander Wilder Medicine and religion have this in common: They each strive to heal, whether in body or soul, through both brief moments of dramatic intervention and [...]
Jalal Eshraghi was a lifelong enthusiastic teacher of the Bahá’í Faith, a homefront pioneer and member of regional committees supporting teaching in Iran, and an inernational pioneer in southern Africa for five years. He passed away at age 100 on January 2, 2011, in Los Angeles, California. A letter of condolence from the National Spiritual [...]
World Religion Day is a great way for people of all faiths to recognize how progressive revelation has led us to this day. For new Bahá’í Robin Blass Godby, this January’s celebration in Pembroke Pines, Florida, came with an additional benefit. Make that two. Daughter Sarah, 10, voiced her enjoyment of learning about different religions [...]
Recent scientific discoveries and advances have caused some to mount a new atheistic movement that is fast spreading in academic circles. It is particularly challenging for younger generations of Bahá’ís who are engaged in various academic and scientific fields. “A New Atheism and the Bahá’í Writings,” a panel presentation and open discussion, is planned as [...]
Communication is essential for Bahá’ís as geographically spread as those in the Pathfinder cluster of east-central Wyoming. The cluster, centered on Casper, has launched a website and begun to experiment with video chat as a vehicle for group study. “Due to our small and scattered numbers, we have chosen to make use of the Internet [...]
“Transforming Habits of Thought” is the theme for the 35th annual Conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies–North America, Aug. 11–14 in San Francisco, California. The association is inviting proposals for presentations at the conference. Presentations are not limited to the conference theme, and proposals are especially welcome from youth and those who have never [...]
Positive Hip Hop: Common Market
Carl highlights the band Common Market in his blog Losing Sight of Land. “The first thing you’ll notice about Common Market is the intelligence that they bring to hip hop. Scion’s lyrics are a melting pot of story and biography, and his raps are an adventurous romp through an array of expertly delivered vocabulary words [...]
Fifty years ago, after a two year court battle, the University of Georgia was integrated by two students, Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton “Hamp” Earl Holmes. It made national news and I might have seen it on TV but don’t remember. At age eight watching the news was a peripheral event. More likely I was reading [...]
Finding romance isn’t always easy. And once you do find that special someone, it takes work to make the relationship a success. But thanks to some digital entrepreneurs, finding love and holding onto it has gotten a little simpler. As reported recently on the Today Show, there’s a website for single Baha’is. Adam O’Toole, co-founder of [...]
Baha’is lobby U.S. commission to help them survive in Iran
Eric Marrapodi from CNN reports that family members of Baha’is currently imprisoned in Iran met with the commissioners and reporters to tell their story of how their family members were arrested, tried and imprisoned on false charges. “Our hope is for the commission to continue to support this within their power and do whatever they [...]
Singers may still apply to participate in the fifth annual Bahá’í House of Worship Choral Music Festival, set for Memorial Day weekend, May 26–29. Two public devotional concerts and participation in the Holy Day observance on Sunday, May 29, will culminate three days of fellowship, rehearsals, deepenings and other sessions. The festival each year attracts [...]
The principle of the unity of religion is at the center of Baha’i teachings. Bahá’u’lláh states that humanity is engaged in a collective growth process quite similar to the growth process of an individual: just as a person begins life as a helpless infant and attains maturity in successive stages, so humankind began its collective [...]
Do We Live in a World of Illusions?
Keyvan writes, in a blog on the website for the Center for Global Integrated Education, about the Baha’i process of consultation.
The Color-Line 2.0 on Campus
In the latest entry of Baha’i Thought, the author explores the issue of political prejudice. “In too many situations, academic institutions use their power to protect and promote particular ideas while implicitly or explicitly suppressing others rather than functioning as opportunities for students to engage a truly diverse set of views and form their own. [...]
The Baha’i year consists of 19 months of 19 days each. The months are named after the attributes of God. Each Baha’i community holds a Nineteen Day Feast on the first day of each Baha’i month. The Feast has spiritual, administrative and social functions and is the primary locus of fellowship and community decision-making [...]
Video Feature: The Baha’i approach to building community
What is the link between world peace and grassroots community building? This video reviews the Baha’i approach to personal and social transformation — empowering individuals to connect with the Sacred Word and take conscious action to improve their neighborhoods and communities.
Old Richmond Senior Citizens and Oneness
Anne Respess shares highlights in her blog One Human Family of an opportunity she had to share Baha’u’llah’s Teachings on the Oneness of Mankind.
The End of the Beginning
James reflects on life and death in his blog Transience Divine.