Befriended Stranger

I had a wonderful day hiking Old Rag Mountain in Virginia. I find that being close to nature in the company of a wonderful friend is so nourishing. We shared a beautiful adventure, beautiful vistas, beautiful prayers — all on the top of the mountain — what could be better?

I am well aware, O my Lord, that I have been so carried away by the clear tokens of Thy loving-kindness, and so completely inebriated with the wine of Thine utterance, that whatever I behold I readily discover that it maketh Thee known unto me, and it remindeth me of Thy signs, and of Thy tokens, and of Thy testimonies. By Thy glory! Every time I lift up mine eyes unto Thy heaven, I call to mind Thy highness and Thy loftiness, and Thine incomparable glory and greatness; and every time I turn my gaze to Thine earth, I am made to recognize the evidences of Thy power and the tokens of Thy bounty. And when I behold the sea, I find that it speaketh to me of Thy majesty, and of the potency of Thy might, and of Thy sovereignty and Thy grandeur. And at whatever time I contemplate the mountains, I am led to discover the ensigns of Thy victory and the standards of Thine omnipotence.
(Baha’u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u'llah, p. 271)

During our adventure, we managed to get lost but somehow after saying a prayer we got a cell phone signal just at the right time when we needed to consult with a park ranger on how to find our way back. It pays to not give up when tested but persevere and see the obsticle from a different angle. And it helps to have a beautiful friend next to you to encourage you. We truly had a wonderful time hiking. I am going to bed exhausted but smiling and grateful! Praised be God!

Today I witnessed how unfair human justice can be. But I am a firm believer in Divine Justice:

He hath extended assistance to every wayfarer, hath graciously responded to every petitioner and granted admittance to every seeker after truth. In this Day the Straight Path is made manifest, the Balance of divine justice is set and the light of the sun of His bounty is resplendent, yet the oppressive darkness of the people of tyranny hath, even as clouds, intervened and caused a grievous obstruction between the Day-Star of heavenly grace and the people of the world. Blessed is he who hath rent the intervening veils asunder and is illumined by the radiant light of divine Revelation. Consider how numerous were those who accounted themselves among the wise and the learned, yet in the Day of God were deprived of the outpourings of heavenly bounties.
(Baha’u'llah, Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 255)

I should have listened to the virtue card! You see, I have this set of Virtues Reflections Cards which I bought two years ago in Green Acre, the wonderful Baha’i school, and have been using it by randomly choosing a virtue to practice each day. Now, choosing a card and practicing a virtue are different things. Having the mindfulness to remember what the intended virtue of the day was and applying it to situations as they arise, is another thing. Today’s card was on… humility. And today, in a pretentious attempt to be funny, I made a lame joke, demonstrating anything but humility… I did apologize but sometimes even the apology seems so lame… And for this walking imperfection, it is still so difficult to find the balance between humility and humiliation… At least there was a lesson in this experience, but it is still saddening to offend a friend:

Beware lest ye harm any soul, or make any heart to sorrow; lest ye wound any man with your words, be he known to you or a stranger, be he friend or foe.
(Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 73)

On the other hand I did host the second session of my Ruhi 3 study circle, and it was truly wonderful and nurturing.  The participants hail from four continents and their experience with children ranges from none through parenting of young children to parenting of grown-up children. It is so inspiring to observe how we all are able to reflect on a quote from such different, yet complimentary, angles. And each one of us is indeed trying to learn to polish gems of inestimable value, so the homework for next Thursday is:

1. Think of the favorite teacher from your childhood and reflect on what made that person so special
2. Practice noticing the gems of virtues within yourself, and others
3. Memorize this remarkable quote:

Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.
(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 259)

I will be on the lookout for my humility! I know it must be buried somewhere… Because before I can polish the gem, I need to find it…

Humility exalteth man to the heaven of glory and power, whilst pride abaseth him to the depths of wretchedness and degradation.
(Baha’u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 29)

P.S. Turns out the joke was not so bad after all… Talk about a talent for self-torture. Oh well, live and learn.

Some days I am calm; others, I am restless:

Thou seest, O Thou Who art my All-Glorious Beloved, the restless waves that surge within the ocean of my heart, in my love and yearning towards Thee. I implore Thee, by the signs of Thy majesty and the evidences of Thy sovereignty, to subdue Thy servants by this Name Which Thou hast made to be the King of all names in the kingdom of Thy creation. Potent art Thou to rule as Thou pleasest. No God is there but Thee, the All-Glorious, the All-Bountiful.

Do Thou ordain, moreover, for every one who hath turned towards Thee what will make him steadfast in Thy Cause, in such wise that neither the vain imaginations of the infidels among Thy creatures, nor the idle talk of the froward amidst Thy servants will have the power to shut him out from Thee. Thou, verily, art the Help in Peril, the Almighty, the Most Powerful.
(Baha’u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u'llah, p. 67)

So I am learning to be patient. And I envision myself as the calm kelp floating gently on the surface of the ocean, slowly going up and down with the waves, unhindered by their angry energy, aware of their gentle caress, immersed in the rhythm of life and in God’s love — simply, patiently, presently:

The Pen of the Most High hath, at all times and under all conditions, remembered, with joy and tenderness, His loved ones, and hath counselled them to follow in His way. Well is it with him whom the changes and chances of this world have failed to deter from recognizing the Day Spring of the Unity of God, who hath quaffed, with unswerving resolve, and in the name of the Self-Subsisting, the sealed wine of  His Revelation. Such a man shall be numbered with the inmates of Paradise, in the Book of God, the Lord of all worlds.
(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 340)

As I was getting ready to go to Peter and Riva’s prayer meeting, the “Tiny Seed” melody came to mind:

I am, O my God, but a tiny seed which Thou hast sown in the soil of Thy love…

So timely, for the theme of the prayer meeting tonight was to be Transformation.

We must strive with energies of heart, soul and mind to develop and manifest the perfections and virtues latent within the realities of the phenomenal world, for the human reality may be compared to a seed. If we sow the seed, a mighty tree appears from it. The virtues of the seed are revealed in the tree; it puts forth branches, leaves, blossoms, and produces fruits. All these virtues were hidden and potential in the seed. Through the blessing and bounty of cultivation these virtues became apparent. Similarly, the merciful God, our Creator, has deposited within human realities certain latent and potential virtues. Through education and culture these virtues deposited by the loving God will become apparent in the human reality, even as the unfoldment of the tree from within the germinating seed.
(Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 90)

As I was driving I would listen to the song, immersed in Tara Ellis’ voice and singing along with her…

When I arrived in their welcoming home, the hosts offered prayer books but the one I picked was such an old edition that I got lost looking in vain for the prayer containing the verse about the tiny seed. Just as I gave up, I opened on a page with a prayer for children and started reading:

Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! I give Thee thanks inasmuch as Thou hast called me into being in Thy days, and infused into me Thy love and Thy knowledge. I beseech Thee, by Thy name whereby the goodly pearls of Thy wisdom and Thine utterance were brought forth out of the treasuries of the hearts of such of Thy servants as are nigh unto Thee, and through which the Day-Star of Thy name, the Compassionate, hath shed its radiance upon all that are in Thy heaven and on Thy earth, to supply me, by Thy grace and bounty, with Thy wondrous and hidden bounties.

Then I thought, how appropriate, for these days I feel as if my life is starting anew:

These are the earliest days of my life, O my God, which Thou hast linked with Thine own days. Now that Thou hast conferred upon me so great an honor, withhold not from me the things Thou hast ordained for Thy chosen ones.

And then I recognized the verse I was looking for and switched from reading to singing:

I am, O my God, but a tiny seed which Thou hast sown in the soil of Thy love, and caused to spring forth by the hand of Thy bounty. This seed craveth, therefore, in its inmost being, for the waters of Thy mercy and the living fountain of Thy grace. Send down upon it, from the heaven of Thy loving-kindness, that which will enable it to flourish beneath Thy shadow and within the borders of Thy court. Thou art He Who watereth the hearts of all that have recognized Thee from Thy plenteous stream and the fountain of Thy living waters.

Praised be God, the Lord of the worlds.

(Baha’u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u'llah, p. 176)

So often in life, the answer comes naturally, unforced — not when you seek it but when you are about to give up trying, and then, free from expectations, the answer appears… Answer for a tiny seed.

God always provides the timeliest answers. As if to address my hesitation from a day ago about the pros and cons of having a blog, a new friend who had hoped to come to the Prayer Station tonight emailed me saying:

“I noticed your  email address name — do you have a blog with this name “befriended stranger”? I’ve seen this before.”

So, befriended strangers,welcome back

Tonight the Prayer Station was selfishly tuned to the theme of the Saints because it is my name’s day, but Wil, the kind gentleman who has been attending my devotional gathering every other week, asked me if the reason was the approaching All Saints’ Day. We ended up talking about what sainthood means and Wil was surprised to discover that the Apostles were indeed called Saints in the Bible. Funny how traditions become such ingrained habits that we tend to not even notice their meaning — Wil grew up the son of a Lutheran priest and is currently alternating this Christian denomination with Universalist Unitarian church but was first introduced to the Baha’i Faith in 1968.

We talked about the prospective of one day being in the company of the soul of saints in the next world:

Grant, then, O my God, that Thy servant may consort with Thy chosen ones, Thy saints and Thy Messengers in heavenly places that the pen cannot tell nor the tongue recount.
(Baha’u'llah, Baha’i Prayers, p. 42)

But we also reflected that as we turn to God, even in this world we can join the saints:

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God.
(Christianity, King James Bible, Ephesians, 2:19)

I shared with Wil about the suffering of Baha’u'llah and that of His followers even today in Iran, then we listened to MANA’s song “They Suffered”:

…they suffered the most grievous difficulties and severe ordeals. They withstood the tests with wonderful power and sublime heroism. Thousands were cast into prison, punished, persecuted and martyred. Their homes were pillaged and destroyed, their possessions confiscated. They sacrificed their lives most willingly and remained unshaken in their faith to the very end. Those wonderful souls are the lamps of God, the stars of sanctity shining gloriously from the eternal horizon of the will of God.
(Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 138)

Then we shared prayers and Wil read a couple of Baha’i prayers, commenting how beautiful they were…

Prayers as guiding lights; Saints as lamps of God.

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God.
(Christianity, King James Bible, Ephesians, 2:19)

Whoso obeyeth Allah and the messenger, they are with those unto whom Allah hath shown favour, of the prophets and the saints and the martyrs and the righteous. The best of company are they!
(Islam, The Qur’an, Sura   4 – Women, 69)

It behoveth thee to be content with the Will of God, and a true and loving and trusted friend to all the peoples of the earth, without any exceptions whatever. This is the quality of the sincere, the way of the saints, the emblem of those who believe in the unity of God, and the raiment of the people of Baha.”
(Baha’i Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 25)

Dear friends!

What nurtures your soul? What makes your heart tender? Prayer, music, fellowship, food cooked with love, tea poured in peace, cake shared with smile? Whatever the answer might be, sharing prayers with friends gets us all closer to the Creator and recharges us for the week ahead.

This Monday, October 26, I invite you and your loves ones to an interfaith Prayer Station in Arlington which will be dedicated to the topic of Saints as reflected in different religious traditions. We’ll start at 7:30 pm with light refreshments followed by reading, at 8:00 pm, of selected Holy Writings and Prayers. I have many books of prayers from different faith traditions but if you wish, feel free to bring your own prayer. We’ll also uplift and refresh our souls with music, and we’ll conclude with tea and cake.

We’ll also say prayers for anyone in need, so if you can’t join us and would like to request prayers please contact me.

I am, I am, I am the Promised One! I am the One Whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at Whose mention you have risen, Whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of Whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily, I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word, and to pledge allegiance to My person.
- The Bab

Dear friends!

What nurtures your soul? What makes your heart tender? Prayer, music, fellowship, food cooked with love, tea poured in peace, cake shared with smile? Whatever the answer might be, sharing prayers with friends gets us all closer to the Creator and recharges us for the week ahead.

This Monday, October 19, I invite you and your loves ones to a special Prayer Station in Arlington which will be dedicated to the Holy Writings and Prayers revealed by the Bab, the Forerunner of the Baha’i Faith, whose advent was anticipated by all world religions and whose Birth will be celebrated the next day by Baha’is throughout the world.

We’ll start at 7:30 pm with light refreshments followed by reading, at 8:00 pm, of selected Holy Writings and Prayers. I have many books of prayers from different faith traditions but if you wish, feel free to bring your own prayer. We’ll also uplift and refresh our souls with music, and we’ll conclude with tea and cake.

We’ll also say prayers for anyone in need, so if you can’t join us and would like to request prayers please contact me.

Dear friends,

At the most recent Interfaith Prayer Station, several representatives of the Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Baha’i communities reflected on how worshiping God binds us together regardless of our religious backgrounds. We also listened to inspired poetry highlighting the powerful experience of pilgrimage to the holy sites of Islam and compared that to other religious experiences.

Next Monday, October 12, Katharine Key is going to mix things up a bit with a musical introduction to grassroots service activities conducted by Baha’is around the world for the spiritual enrichment of their local communities.  Katharine will be playing a mostly acoustic set of her own compositions and a few covers related to study circles, devotional gatherings, children’s classes, junior youth groups, and social and economic development projects.

Thousands upon thousands, embracing the diversity of the entire human family, are engaged in systematic study of the Creative Word in an environment that is at once serious and uplifting. … Responding to the inmost longing of every heart to commune with its Maker, they carry out acts of collective worship in diverse settings, uniting with others in prayer, awakening spiritual susceptibilities, and shaping a pattern of life distinguished for its devotional character. … Aware of the aspirations of the children of the world and their need for spiritual education, they extend their efforts widely to involve ever-growing contingents of participants in classes that become centres of attraction for the young… They assist junior youth to navigate through a crucial stage of their lives and to become empowered to direct their energies toward the advancement of civilization. And with the advantage of a greater abundance of human resources, an increasing number of them are able to express their faith through a rising tide of endeavours that address the needs of humanity in both their spiritual and material dimensions.
–The Universal House of Justice, April 2008

We’ll start at 7:30 pm with light refreshments followed at 8 pm by Katharine Key’s concert. We’ll conclude with tea and cake.

We’ll also say prayers for anyone in need, so if you can’t join us and would like to request prayers please contact me.

O people! Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship. Thus hath the day-star of His sanction and authority shone forth above the horizon of the decree of God, the Lord of the worlds.”
(Baha’u'llah, Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 21)

Dear friends!

What nurtures your soul? What makes your heart tender? Prayer, music, fellowship, food cooked with love, tea poured in peace, cake shared with smile? Whatever the answer might be, sharing prayers with friends gets us all closer to the Creator and recharges us for the week ahead.

This Monday, October 5, I invite you and your loves ones to a special interfaith Prayer Station in Arlington with the participation of Mrs. Ninie G. Syarikin who will be an Ambassador to the Parliament of Religions (PoR) in Melbourne, Australia later this year. She will share with us some of her Islamic poetry and about the mission of PoR. Of particular interest to the Baha’is among us would be the fact that it was in 1893 in Chicago at the Parliament of Religions that the name of Baha’u'llah was first publicly proclaimed in the West.

I have many books of prayers from different faith traditions but if you wish, feel free to bring your own prayer.

We’ll start at 7:30 pm with light refreshments followed by reading, at 8:00 pm, of selected Holy Writings from diverse religions. We’ll also uplift and refresh our souls with music, and offer prayers as the spirit moves us.  We’ll conclude with tea and cake.

We’ll also say prayers for anyone in need, so if you can’t join us and would like to request prayers please contact me!