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Hooper Dunbar, retired member of the Universal House of Justice, provided some thoughts on coherence in his address that closed the recent Rabbani Trust Conference in Orlando, Florida: “There’s this wonderful message we heard reviewed about social action. And in the very inception of that it talks about interacting processes. … Shoghi Effendi, in his [...]
“Patience, Grasshopper.” Television viewers of a certain age will recall that sage advice — delivered often, in one form or another, to an eager young Shaolin priest on the ‘70s show “Kung Fu.” Build your capacity. Act, learn from your actions and act some more. Accompany others as you yourself are accompanied. Achieve coherence within [...]
Key points from “Coherence: Learning to Weave a Tapestry of Action,” the opening talk by S. Valerie Dana, deputy secretary of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly, at the recent Rabbani Trust conference in Orlando, Florida: For some time, we have had the word “coherence” in our vocabulary. We have seen it in messages from the [...]
Kian Glenn has both an opportunity and a problem. Many of her acquaintances on the north side of Chicago would like to work for social change. “In my circles there’s a strong sense of need to do some kind of action,” she says. They include “friends in more corporate work who aren’t feeling fulfilled and [...]
An ongoing process of action, reflection, consultation, study and the application of those learnings through further action is marking efforts nationwide to share the vision and teachings of Baha’u’llah with friends and neighbors. Witness these three recent examples shared with The American Baha’i: Guidance translates to action Baha’is serving the King Estates neighborhood of south [...]
Key points from “The Nature of Systematic Learning,” a panel discussion at the recent Rabbani Trust Conference in Orlando, Florida, with George Costant, Natasha Bruss and Kaveh Shahidi: George Costant, Social Action Desk of the National Spiritual Assembly Related to the need for systematic learning, ‘Abdu’l-Baha wrote: “Know that nothing which exists remains in a [...]
As we build our capacities to serve God and humanity, Nichole Agarwal of Riverside, California, commends to our attention the example of Kathryn Kim. A newly registered Baha’i who was raised in a nonreligious home, Kim has told Agarwal that through the Faith she found her channel to serve humanity. Indeed, she spends many hours doing [...]
There’s a reason Nwandi Lawson titled her workshop at the recent Rabbani Trust Conference in Orlando, Florida, “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” She hopes each of us becomes the kind of neighbor the late Fred Rogers was to generations of young television viewers and their parents. “Doesn’t he just epitomize neighborhood?” asks Lawson. [...]
Cynthia Davis was at a crossroads in her Baha’i service when she arrived in Orlando, Florida, for the Rabbani Trust Conference and the development seminar that preceded it. Circumstances rendered her “life path … an open chapter” when she lost her job as an educator. And the toll from heavy involvement in her cluster’s activities [...]
Often a Baha’i or a Baha’i-sponsored activity will touch a heart or mind, or both. It will spark within an individual the longing to learn more, engage further in some way — begin a spiritual journey, perhaps, that can be nurtured. Here are three recent examples reported by Baha’is around the country: Sharing a love [...]
Accompaniment is learning in the company of another. That’s how one attendee summed up what was learned in the workshop “How Accompaniment Can Help Us Teach and Better Serve the Faith” offered by Wendy Yap at the recent Rabbani Trust Conference in Orlando, Florida. Simple yet profound, because behind the statement lie a number of [...]
Mark Scheffer of Sioux City, Iowa, relates this slice of the recent Rabbani Trust Conference in Orlando, Florida: “I and three other people just missed the start of morning devotions. (The doors are closed for the duration of prayers.) “We sat in a nearby alcove to wait, and I was considering suggesting we have our [...]
Hooper Dunbar, retired member of the Universal House of Justice, provided some thoughts on building capacity in his address that closed the recent Rabbani Trust Conference in Orlando, Florida: “I want to quote something here. This is from a letter from Shoghi Effendi a year before he passed away. … ‘We must always remember that [...]
“A process of community development … needs to reach beyond the level of activity and concern itself with those modes of expression and patterns of thought and behaviour that are to characterize a humanity which has come of age. In short, it must enter into the realm of culture.” — Office of Social and Economic [...]
Key points from “Building Capacity through the Process of Growth,” a talk by Counselor Anita Williams at the recent Rabbani Trust Conference in Orlando, Florida: The Counselors recently met with the International Teaching Center and Universal House of Justice members for four to five days, and most of the time was spent consulting about North [...]
Hooper Dunbar, retired member of the Universal House of Justice, provided some thoughts on learning and action in his address that closed the recent Rabbani Trust conference in Orlando, Florida: “‘Abdu’l-Baha in the Divine Plan … tells us to change our inner nature and then go out and breathe life into the souls of others. [...]
“A rich tapestry of community life begins to emerge in every cluster as acts of communal worship, interspersed with discussions undertaken in the intimate setting of the home, are woven together with activities that provide spiritual education to all members of the population — adults, youth and children. Social consciousness is heightened naturally as, for [...]
The words resonate far beyond the lecture halls of the University of Maryland. Hoda Mahmoudi could be addressing equally those Baha’is hard at work to build community and everyone who strives for a better planet when she observes: “We need to gain far more knowledge and be well informed about the Baha’i writings and the [...]
Jane Faily is living in her eighth decade. She says it doesn’t take a clinical psychologist — which she is — to know that “living in a materialistic society with rapidly changing communication technology is hell for older people.” In her own life Faily has noticed “what a depressing effect the negative stereotypes of aging, [...]
A summer project that fostered the core activities at a homeless shelter and other locations on Long Island, New York, was born of a desire by Baha’i institutions in the Northeast to engage in a process of learning how to mobilize youths. Photo Gallery Youths engage in core activities in Long Island, New York. Photo [...]
Themes of environmental stewardship and justice are getting attention in the U.S. Bahá’í community, due in no small part to a program for junior youth (ages 12-14), called, “Environmental Stewards: Champions of Justice!” Now in its fourth year of development, the program is scheduled to take place at Green Acre and Bosch Bahá’í schools, in [...]
In this blog entry on The Huffington Post, Peter Adriance, Representative for Sustainable Development in the U.S. Baha’i Office of Public Affairs, shares his reflections after attending a gathering sponsored by the White House office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which was attended by more than 150 representatives of widely diverse faith groups and congregations from [...]
Lilly Mohtadi keenly felt a need to do something about the plight of young Baha’is in Iran who have been denied their right to education. One is a second cousin her age who is unsure what he is going to do after graduating from high school. “I couldn’t just let him and hundreds, if not [...]
Photo Gallery National Center for Race Amity gains momentum in Metro Boston area. Photo courtesy of William H. Smith Click to enlarge and browse a gallery of related photos. While relations among racial groups have come a long way over the history of the United States, many of us see reminders every day of divisive [...]
Can listening save a life? Even listening just with your eyes, as in Candy Asman’s case? Asman, a Baha’i in New York City, once worked as a clinical nurse specialist at a major hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. That’s where she encountered a young man with a baffling condition masked by his inability to speak. [...]
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