Archives › 2011 › June
Prayers aren’t always answered like we want
Gwen Chavarria shares a perspective on receiving answers to prayers in this editorial in the Idaho-Press Tribune.
The American nation, Baha’is believe, will evolve through tests and trials to become a land of spiritual distinction and leadership
Religion shouldn’t disqualify presidential candidates
With the 2011-2012 Presidential election season coming upon us, Robert Stockman, Director of The Wilmette Institute, suggests in this Chicago Tribune editorial that it is character qualities, not religious affiliation, that should be considered when voting for public officials. “The first concern for anyone should be whether a candidate is willing to uphold the Constitution [...]
How Does It Feel to Be A Question?
In his latest BC blogcritics entry, Phillipe Copeland discusses the denial of education to Baha’i students in Iran and ponders “the implications of viewing a whole population as a question rather than as people.”
The intersection of religious morality and secular law
Mark Heinz shares reflections on the topic of morality in this article in OpEdNews.
Tributes in brief: D. Hoffman, H. Dashtizadeh, T. Aboonour, G. and R. Jones
Doris Hoffman, 91, Yakima, WA Doris Hoffman devoted much of her retirement to serving the Bahá’í Faith in the Philippines, locating there in 1973–1974 and again in 1979–1987 with a few months’ interval in 1984. She passed away December 6, 2010. A letter of condolence from the National Spiritual Assembly to the daughter of Doris [...]
Gayle Woolson helped establish the Baha’i Faith in Latin America
By the time Gayle Abas Woolson opened the Galapagos Islands to the Baha’i Faith in 1954 — thus earning the distinction of Knight of Baha’u’llah — she was already a veteran pioneer for the Faith in Latin America. She had co-founded the Baha’i community of Costa Rica, helped raise the first Local Spiritual Assembly in [...]
Feast of Mercy
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 in [...]
Prayer programs thrive on variations on a theme
Prayer services at the Baha’i House of Worship seem to be simple affairs: a series of readers stepping up to the lectern to recite, chant or sing prayers. There’s no clergy in the Baha’i Faith, so there are no sermons. There’s no “congregation” because Baha’i temples are built as places of prayer and worship for everyone. No instruments or [...]
A Baha’i Perspective 06.11.2011
In this latest podcast Warren Odess-Gillett interviews Fereshteh Bethel who grew up in a Baha’i family in Iran until she was 15. Her family decided to leave Iran to serve the Baha’i Faith elsewhere and ended up in El Paso, Texas.
Ruhi practices and reflection gatherings — a perfect match
An effort to better link the training institute process with activity toward growth of the Baha’i Faith in Atlanta, Georgia, is building a “new sense of community.” That’s the experience of Joanna Wooster, the cluster’s institute coordinator. She had participated last August in a seminar focused on enhancing understanding of Ruhi Book 1, Reflections on [...]
Colorado Springs Baha’i Center serves the Five Year Plan
By Baha’i Center Assistance Corp. More than just a venue for Bahá’í meetings, a local Bahá’í center can be placed effectively at the service of the Five Year Plan, as a springboard for teaching and core activities that spread into the community. That lesson has emerged clearly as the Bahá’í Center Assistance Corp. (BCA) examines [...]
Seasoned believers make their mark in Plan’s closing months
While many young people have served internationally during the past five years, in the last month of the Five Year Plan of 2006–2011 the stalwart believers of middle age or wiser were the ones who dropped what they were doing, overcame numerous obstacles, picked up the banner of Bahá’u’lláh — and were central in the [...]
Standing up for bullied girl is life-changer for all involved
Simple act of humanity is answer to parents’ prayers
From celebration to vigil after arrests of Bahai in Iran
Tara Bahrampour reports in this feature article in The Washington Post how Kamran Mortezaei couldn’t call his daughter, Mahtab, on her graduation day from George Mason University, because he and 15 of his colleagues, all members of the Baha’i Faith, were arrested for providing higher education to Baha’i students. “I expected it,” said Jila Tahmasebi, [...]
Invitation to the Baha’i Faith: A Comprehensive Introduction course
Please join us in an online course on The Baha’i Faith: A Comprehensive Introduction NOW ONLY $50!! June 15, 2011 – September 15, 2011 Faculty: Zaid Lundberg and Niki Daniels • Provides a thorough, comprehensive study of the Baha’i religion • Reviews the lives of the Bab, Baha’u’llah, `Abdu’l-Baha, and Shoghi Effendi • Explores [...]
Improvised percussion adds awe and wonder to the 5th annual choral concert
The Baha’i House of Worship welcomed 1,400 people to the twin concerts concluding its fifth annual Choral Music Festival on May 29. It also had another visitor: a powerful thunderstorm that doused the area with more than an inch of rain — and supplied some “improvised percussion” to accompany the classical, gospel and spiritual songs [...]
A Baha’i Perspective 06.04.2011
In this latest podcast, Warren Odess-Gillett interviews Alejandro Jarquin, a Baha’i currently living in Los Angeles. Jarquin discusses what is was like growing up as a Baha’i in Nicarauga, a very Catholic country.
Feast of Light
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 in [...]
For Baha’i educators, a lesson in power from Iran
Mitra Mobasherat and Joe Sterling report in this CNN Beliefblog how eleven Baha’is in Iran have been arrested for offering education to fellow members of their Baha’i community. “The Iranian government will stop at nothing in its shameless persecution of the Baha’is in Iran,” said the commission’s chairman, Leonard Leo, in a written statement. “It’s [...]
Race Unity Day: Second Sunday in June
Baha’u’llah, Founder of the Baha’i Faith, implored people to “Close your eyes to racial differences and welcome all with the light of oneness.” To that end, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States inaugurated Race Unity Day in 1957 to promote racial harmony and understanding. Since then, communities throughout the country [...]