Archives › 2011 › December
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 each Baha’i locality. [...]
More than 200 Human rights activists and supporters gathered in the Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, on Dec 10 for the annual Human Rights Day forum sponsored by Amnesty International’s Evanston-based Group 50 and co-sponsored by the Baha’i communities of Chicago, Evanston and Wilmette. The Baha’i House of Worship Choir, under the direction [...]
Environmental Representative for the U.S. Baha’is Delivers Keynote Address at the 15th Annual International Environment Forum in Tasmania, Australia. (Scroll down for bonus TIMELINE) When Peter Adriance, NGO Environmental Liaison for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States, accepted to give the keynote address at a global environment conference focused on [...]
Thousands of American Bahá’ís inhabit the social spaces of society, and they derive much joy and satisfaction from sharing a Bahá’í perspective within them. From Neighborhood Watch to environmental organizations to the Internet, such spaces allow these friends to establish a sense of common purpose with fellow seekers of truth and justice. Just as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá [...]
A neighborhood celebration of the International Day of Peace was a joyous by-product of an Oregon Baha’i teaching team’s efforts over several months to get to know fellow residents and have meaningful conversations with them. Peace Day, as it’s commonly known, was established by the United Nations and first celebrated in 1982. In 2002 the [...]
Sara Haymond has always been the Baha’i in the audience or meeting room when Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, religious leaders discuss issues of the day. “I found out a long time ago that just having a Baha’i present makes a difference if only because the program speaker will include mention of the Baha’is due to [...]
Tyree Byndom figures he is engaged in virtually every “social space that is available to us at this time” — business, religious, community, entertainment and digital. “I sometimes have to force myself to stop doing so much and to focus on a specific area,” the Columbia, Missouri, Baha’i laments. And identify others who can carry [...]
Frameworks are a big part of Kamal Sinclair’s work with Question Bridge: Black Males, a project that seeks to represent and redefine black male identity in America. She has found that people from different worlds — ethnic, geographic, generational, etc. — often lack the frame of reference to have constructive interaction with one another. One [...]
Ray Lewis of Pickens County, South Carolina, is a writer, primarily for the juvenile market. Here is how Lewis describes his first-ever foray into the — to him — dangerous world of Open Mic Night. He hopes to use his newfound as another tool in sharing a Baha’i perspective on such topics as the environment [...]
The landscape Peter Adriance and Carl Murrell navigate is dotted with social spaces, and each one has a language of its own. Adriance, the National Spiritual Assembly’s liaison with nongovernmental organizations, serves on the boards of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development and the International Environment Forum, takes part in discourses on those [...]
The power of self-expression is being harnessed by Baha’is who wish to expound the teachings of the Faith through the arts or in ever-expanding digital spaces. A few examples: THE ARTS Andrea Hope, Portland, Oregon, slam poet This youth uses Baha’i writings to “inspire and enhance” her performances. At such a reading in June she [...]
Baha’is are aware and proactive on the whole, forever looking to share a Baha’i perspective — and learn from others’ — within the social spaces they join or help create. Sometimes those interactions provide opportunities to lift conversation to a spiritual level and, on occasion, invite people into the life of the Baha’i community. Other [...]
Every day in the neighborhood is a beautiful day to live the teachings of Baha’u’llah and where possible share them openly, say many Baha’is. Among them: Kamelia Sadeghi Dadgar, Lakewood, California, had the transformational power of children’s classes reinforced for her, the kids and neighbors recently. Class members decided to participate this Halloween in Trick-or-Treat [...]
With the Baha’i Faith being the newest of the world’s independent religions (it began in 1844), many Baha’is come from family backgrounds where other spiritual traditions were embraced and celebrated. So, when winter holidays, such as Christmas and Hanukkah, come each year, many Baha’is are asked, “Do you still celebrate these holidays even though you’re [...]
“It was a celebration of peace,” shares W. Imara Canady about the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial dedication held in Washington, DC on October 16, 2011. A lifelong friend of the King family, Canady was among the thousands of people in attendance, including President Barack Obama. “This gathering was a special moment in time where [...]
“When the light of the Sun of Truth inspires the mind of a painter, he produces marvellous pictures. These gifts are fulfilling their highest purpose when showing forth the praise of God.” – ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Trustworthiness, Harmony, Gratitude and Love – these are the virtuous names of some of Andrea Seals latest artwork. These four pieces [...]
by Tracy Simmons, Freelance Religion Reporter No more tents. No more aluminum-sided huts or rooms made of soft, crumbling bricks. In January, two years after a deadly earthquake devastated Haiti, a global organization of renowned architects will break ground on a housing project that will forever change the village of Anse-A-Veau. Members of the Haiti [...]
“Today our group experienced a breeze of confirmation.” That’s how Sara Kamali sums up the day a junior youth group she co-animates in Dallas, Texas, achieved a level of unity it hadn’t before and, in the process, took a measurable step toward unifying its neighbors. Significantly, the group’s gathering that day started with prayer — [...]
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 [...]
This year marks the 61st anniversary of the establishment of Human Rights Day by the United Nations in 1950. The annual date chosen for this commemoration was December 10 which honors the adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 – the first ever global enunciation of human rights. The promotion [...]
Iran’s dismal human rights record against women, labor and minority religions including the Baha’i Faith will be spotlighted at a Human Rights Day conference at Wilmette’s Baha’i Temple, 1 to 4 p. m., Saturday, Dec. 10th. Sponsored by Amnesty International USA and Chicagoland Baha’i assemblies, national experts will outline the denial of basic freedoms in [...]
Russell and Gina Garcia saw a lot of changes in the Bahá’í world, especially in the four decades since the Californians settled in New Zealand. But one consistent motivation for their service to the Faith rings as true now as it did in the 1970s: As Russ told many people, in many ways, over many [...]
In this latest podcast Warren Odess-Gillett interviews Jackie Villadsen who did a year of service at the Native American Baha’i Institute (NABI) and is now a graduate student studying astronomy.
Canadian Senator Romeo Dallaire, the former UN peacekeeping force commander who tried to stop the 1990s genocide in Rwanda, has said that Iran’s current actions against Baha’is remind him of what he witnessed in Africa. Read the full story from Baha’i World News Service
Mr. Ian C. Semple, former member of the Universal House of Justice, has passed away at the age of 82. Read the obituary from the Baha’i World News Service
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