Actor Rainn Wilson is NEBY-ish and proud of it -- proud to carry his message to over 1,000 Baha’is gathered recently at the 2008 Northeast Baha'i Youth Festival – NEBY, for short, held in Stamford, Conn.


Funnyman and Baha'i Rainn WilsonMr. Wilson, a self-described “weird, nerdy actor from a middling TV show” (the popular “The Office”), spattered his speech with softly scandalous Wilson witticisms. But his from-the-heart message came through loud and clear: Take your own spiritual journey, young people.

Raised in the Baha'i Faith, Mr. Wilson said he felt the need to break away when he was 20 and see what else was out there spiritually. Far from being a renegade, he was doing what Baha’is are encouraged to do: independently investigate the truth.

So for 10 years, Mr. Wilson pondered the existence – or not – of God. Enrolled in acting school at New York University, he made art his religion.

“I thought we (actors) could change the world,” he said, “and change people’s souls through the craft of acting… and that’s great!”

But Mr. Wilson’s years away from the Baha'i Faith also meant he lost his connection to Baha’u’llah’s love -- “that pure, pure spring of love in my heart,” he says. Yearning for that love, and for God, Whom he had temporarily forsaken, he returned to the Baha'i Faith.

Now a parent and mentor to a younger generation, Mr. Wilson cautioned those at NEBY to be cautious when pursuing a spiritual journey. He advised them to consider this quote from Shoghi Effendi:

“The more we search for ourselves, the less likely we are to find ourselves; and the more we search for God, and to serve our fellow men, the more profoundly will we become acquainted with ourselves, and the more inwardly assured. This is one of the great spiritual laws of life.”

As for how he lives his own life, Mr. Wilson said he tries to adhere to the following advice of Shoghi Effendi:

"The great thing is to 'Live the Life' to have our lives so saturated with the Divine teaching and the Baha'i Spirit that people cannot fail to see a joy, a power, a love, a purity, a radiance, an efficiency in our character and work that will distinguish us from worldly-minded people and make people wonder what is the secret of this new life in us. We must become entirely selfless and devoted to God so that every day and every moment we see to do only what God would have us do and in the way He would have us do it."

“Every day this quote is what I strive to do. I try to live my will in accordance with God’s Will and I tell you, my life has never been better.”      

 A list of the quotes used in Mr. Wilson's talk can be found on the NEBY site.