Befriended Stranger

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
(Christianity, Holy Bible, John, 16:12-13)

These are the appointed days which ye have been yearningly awaiting in the past — the days of the advent of divine justice. Render ye thanks unto God, O ye concourse of believers.
(Baha’i Faith, The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 161)

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, November 30th, I invite you and your loves ones to an interfaith Prayer Station in Arlington which will be dedicated to the topic of the Advent 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.

Last night nine of us gathered around the table to share a meal which was a mix of foods as diverse as the people around the table — from USA, Scotland, Togo, Peru, Norway, Mexico, Iran, Bolivia, and Bulgaria. I suspect Abdu’l-Baha would have liked this. And that was the point, for we were together to commemorate His Ascension.

After the meal, we watched a movie “The Promise of All Ages” and after a break, we tried for the first time the board game “Spiritual Pursuit”. I am not sure we actually figured the rules but we had fun. It was quite fascinating to observe the gentlemen, in a typical ignoring-directions fashion, pull back as the ladies were reading the instructions trying to figure out how to play the game. Lo and behold, we did play the game and it truly challenged our knowledge of the Baha’i Faith. I highly recommend it. I also recommend reading the rules in advance

Then the time came to get into a more reflective mood. Music helped set the tone. We started with “Dastam Begir (Hold My Hand) Abdu’l-Baha”:

Then we listened to the narration by Hand of the Cause of God, William Sears, on the life of the Master, Abdu’l-Baha, followed by the beautiful song “The Most Great Branch” by Vahid N’Dobe and then read from the story of the Passing of Abdu’l Baha. We sang together “Look At Me, Be As I Am” and offered some prayers, in Farsi and English, before we concluded with The Tablet of Visitation and the “Prayer for the Southern States” from Red Grammer’s CD “Prayers from the Tablets of the Divine Plan”:

O my God!  O my God! Thou seest me in my lowliness and weakness, occupied with the greatest undertaking, determined to raise Thy word among the masses and to spread Thy teachings among Thy peoples.  How can I succeed unless Thou assist me with the breath of the Holy Spirit, help me to triumph by the hosts of Thy glorious kingdom, and shower upon me Thy confirmations, which alone can change a gnat into an eagle, a drop of water into rivers and seas, and an atom into lights and suns?  O my Lord!  Assist me with Thy triumphant and effective might, so that my tongue may utter Thy praises and attributes among all people and my soul overflow with the wine of Thy love and knowledge.

Thou art the Omnipotent and the Doer of whatsoever Thou willest.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Having spent a wonderful Thanksgiving evening with a fascinating group of friends, with full tummy, after a call from my beloved daughters, and anticipating the wonderful community event I will have the honor of hosting tomorrow, I am thankful!  Thankful for family, friends and the glorious Baha’i Faith which has given me tools for spiritual growth. I just received a notification for a post on the Baha’i Communities website which is worth sharing as it gives such a wonderful summary on the Essential Requisites for Spiritual Growth:

Bahá’u'lláh has stated quite clearly in His Writings the essential requisites for our spiritual growth, and these are stressed again and again by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Talks and Tablets. One can summarize them briefly in this way:

1. The recital each day of one of the Obligatory Prayers with pure-hearted devotion.

2. The regular reading of the Sacred Scriptures, specifically at least each morning and evening, with reverence, attention and thought.

3. Prayerful meditation on the teachings, so that we may understand them more deeply, fulfil them more faithfully, and convey them more accurately to others.

4. Striving every day to bring our behavior more into accordance with the high standards that are set forth in the teachings.

5. Teaching the Cause of God.

6. Selfless service in the work of the Cause and in the carrying on of our trade or profession.”

(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly. September 1, 1983; listed in Lights of Guidance, Fourth Revised Edition, Section XLV, Reverence and Spirituality, p. 541, #1835)

Happy growing!

I feel so grateful and blessed with spiritual friends, for they help me keep the hunger for God alive! I just came from a wonderful prayer meeting hosted by the beautiful Ana and feel so spiritually rejuvenated!

Rid thou thyself of all attachments to aught except God, enrich thyself in God by dispensing with all else besides Him, and recite this prayer:

Say: God sufficeth all things above all things, and nothing in the heavens or in the earth or in whatever lieth between them but God, thy Lord, sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent.

Regard not the all-sufficing power of God as an idle fancy. It is that genuine faith which thou cherishest for the Manifestation of God in every Dispensation. It is such faith which sufficeth above all the things that exist on the earth, whereas no created thing on earth besides faith would suffice thee. If thou art not a believer, the Tree of divine Truth would condemn thee to extinction. If thou art a believer, thy faith shall be sufficient for thee above all things that exist on earth, even though thou possess nothing.
(The Bab, Selections From the Writings of the Bab, p. 123.)

And last night the Prayer Station was so wonderful! Ghaneh joined me, Farah, Wil, Madeleine and Merrie. He spoke so eloquently and with such sincere love for Jesus Christ, explaining the spiritual meaning of the tests faced by those who two thousand years ago had a chance and responsibility to recognize the Son of God, just as we all today are being tested in our readiness to recognize His Return, that Merrie was in tears and shared that she had never been so touched and so enlightened by another person shedding light on the wisdom in God’s Holy Book, and that Ghaneh was the answer to her dream from two week ago. Ghaneh humbly replied that his hope is we all become worthy of such responsibility. Rejoiced as we all were in praising the Lord, dear Madeleine encouraged us all to keep in our hearts the hunger for God, for only God can satisfy the hunger of the soul:

I counsel you, in the end, not to overstep the bounds of God, nor to heed the ways and habits of men, for these can neither “fatten nor appease your hunger”. Fix, rather, your gaze upon the precepts of God. Whosoever desireth, let him accept this counsel as a path leading unto his Lord, and whosoever desireth, let him return to his own idle imaginings. My Lord, verily, is independent above all who are in the heavens and on the earth, and above all that they say and do.
(Baha’u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 237)

O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
(Judaism / Christianity, Holy Bible, Psalms, 95:1-2)

Praised be God that following the firm decree of separation, the breeze of nearness and communion hath been stirred and the soil of the heart is refreshed with the waters of joy and gladness. We offer thanksgiving unto God in all circumstances and cherish the hope that He — exalted be His glory — may through His gracious providence guide all who dwell on earth towards that which is acceptable and pleasing unto Him.
(Baha’i Faith, Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 163)

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, November 23rd, I invite you and your loves ones to an interfaith Prayer Station in Arlington which will be dedicated to the topic of Thanksgiving 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.

The God-conscious being is always unattached,
as the lotus in the water remains detached.

The God-conscious being is always unstained,
like the sun, which gives its comfort and warmth to all.

The God-conscious being looks upon all alike,
like the wind, which blows equally upon the king and the poor beggar.

The God-conscious being has a steady patience,
like the earth, which is dug up by one, and anointed with sandal paste by another.

(Sikhism, Shri Guru Granth Sahib, Section  7 – Raag Gauree)

Another prayer station, both unique yet usual. This time it was Max, Marite, Sohi and myself. We had another bean soup / banitza / banana bread dinner (what it is with the Bs?), followed by Holy Writings, prayers and the music of Leonor Dely, SKY and Paul Parrish, each singing their version of:

O SON OF MAN!
For everything there is a sign. The sign of love is fortitude under My decree and patience under My trials.
(Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words, #48)

Then came the time for Marite’s questions who during the dinner told us that she is getting ready to become a Baha’i but has some things on her mind that trouble her. Can she pray to both Jesus Christ and Baha’u'llah? Can she accept both? Can she consider Jesus as higher than Baha’u'llah since Jesus was from older times? Can she be a Baha’i and go to church? She certainly feels more embraced and at ease at Baha’i gatherings than at church although understandably she is being careful about her own roots and identity.

We all shared our thoughts, and experiences, and prayed some more, and even sang the song “Hoy Es El Dia” together. And we clarified that if and when Marite becomes a Baha’i, she would be part of the Arlington Baha’i community. Now is the time for more patience and more prayers, until the heart is calm and ready to embrace the peace of knowing that there is one God, one humanity and one religion.

But, O my brother, when a true seeker determineth to take the step of search in the path leading to the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he must, before all else, cleanse and purify his heart, which is the seat of the revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of all acquired knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy. He must purge his breast, which is the sanctuary of the abiding love of the Beloved, of every defilement, and sanctify his soul from all that pertaineth to water and clay, from all shadowy and ephemeral attachments. He must so cleanse his heart that no remnant of either love or hate may linger therein, lest that love blindly incline him to error, or that hate repel him away from the truth. Even as thou dost witness in this day how most of the people, because of such love and hate, are bereft of the immortal Face, have strayed far from the Embodiments of the divine mysteries, and, shepherdless, are roaming through the wilderness of oblivion and error. That seeker must at all times put his trust in God, must renounce the peoples of the earth, detach himself from the world of dust, and cleave unto Him Who is the Lord of Lords. He must never seek to exalt himself above any one, must wash away from the tablet of his heart every trace of pride and vainglory, must cling unto patience and resignation, observe silence, and refrain from idle talk. For the tongue is a smouldering fire, and excess of speech a deadly poison. Material fire consumeth the body, whereas the fire of the tongue devoureth both heart and soul. The force of the former lasteth but for a time, whilst the effects of the latter endure a century.

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 192)

Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
(Christianity, King James Bible, Hebrews, 10:35-36)

O ye who believe! seek help with patience and with prayer, for God is with the patient.
(Islam, The Holy Qur’an, Sura   2 – The Cow)

It behoveth whosoever hath set his face towards the Most Sublime Horizon to cleave tenaciously unto the cord of patience, and to put his reliance in God, the Help in Peril, the Unconstrained.
(Baha’i Faith, Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 211)

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, November 16th, I invite you and your loves ones to an interfaith Prayer Station in Arlington which will be dedicated to the topic of Patience 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.

As the years of my Baha’i life pass, my appreciation of celebrating Holy Days becomes deeper and more enjoyable. In the past couple of years, first thing I do on the first working day of the new year is to block all Baha’i Holy Days on my calendar and send the list to my boss. This way, planned from early on, it is very easy to ensure I do not work on a Holy Day.

This year, the celebration of the Birth of Baha’u'llah, the Prince of Peace, was made doubly meaningful for me because I was able to attend it with two new friends who expressed interest in joining me during the Monday Prayer Station. As Madeleine and Merrie live in DC, I wanted to introduce them to some of the friends there. I went to pick them up and even though it was dark and rainy I found their place rather easily as I used to live in their vicinity years ago when I first moved to DC. The celebration itself was outstanding: full of music, prayers, joy and fellowship. It was hosted by the Baha’i Black Men’s Gathering who ensured we all participated and sang along. I loved their rendition of Van Gilmer’s “I’m Going Back To The Father”. Then Katharine, Melissa and Sholeh sang angelically SKY’s “Sign of Love”, followed by an original composition based on quotations from the Ruhi books and closing with their version of “Say God Sufficeth”. The musical dessert were the delightful Vocal Motion Six from Namibia, whom last week I had a chance to bring to the International Fall Fest at Sofia’s school.

The seekers enjoyed themselves. Madeleine was delighted to discover others intrigued by the Glory of God and was very impressed to meet some 5th generation Baha’is and some new Baha’is and Baha’is of such impressive diversity all mingle in loving fellowship. On the way to the celebration and back I had a fascinating talk with Merrie trying to interpret a dream she had had following the prayer meeting on Monday, in which she had found a box which opened threefold and in which there was a photo of a man in imperial clothes from 19th century. I linked the dream to the Covenant of Baha’u'llah and His Tablets addressing the kings and rulers of the world and the promise for world peace.

Speaking of peace, I am going to the dialogue hosted by the Baha’i Chair of World Peace next Thursday, which is the reason I am shifting my Ruhi 3 class next week. Tonight’s class was a very delightful closing of a long and busy but also joyous day, with some very deep discussions on how the unconditional love of God can be the only tool for overcoming insecurity and selfishness in children and adults:

For every one of you his paramount duty is to choose for himself that on which no other may infringe and none usurp from him. Such a thing — and to this the Almighty is My witness — is the love of God, could ye but perceive it.
(Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 261)

“The Bulgarian peaches” she said with her face glowing, adding “I miss them so much, I had never eaten anything so delicious. I still remember their flavor, the firmness of their flesh, the colors, their juicy sweetness”. She was a nurse from Sierra Leone whom I met today while I was volunteering at my older daughter’s school during the administering of H1V1 vaccine to the little ones. My role was to be a Comforter, a parent who would comfort the children if they were scared. As we were waiting for the children to come, we started talking about where we were from and when she heard that I was from Bulgaria, her face lightened up. She told me about her visit there in 1988, when as a 12 year old girl she  represented Sierra Leone to the Banner of Peace Children Assembly in Bulgaria. What truly pleased me was to hear not only about the Bulgarian peaches but about how welcoming the Bulgarian people had been to her! Such a comforting feeling to know that your nation has left a positive feeling to a stranger…

Just as I invited my new friend from Sierra Leone to the Prayer Station, the kids started showing up, making me appreciate the opportunity to be next to them and admire their strength — little as they were — brave in their own way. And I prayed for them tonight, out of gratitude for the health of my little ones, and for healing for those who are not as lucky, and with gratitude for the real Comforter:

Glorified, immeasurably glorified art Thou, O my God, and my Beloved, and my Master, and my Desire! Shatter not the hopes of this lowly one to attain the shores of Thy glory, and deprive not this wretched creature of the immensities of Thy riches, and cast not away this suppliant from the doors of Thy grace, and Thy bounty, and Thy gifts. Have mercy, then, upon this poor and desolate soul who hath sought no friend but Thee, and no companion except Thee, and no comforter save Thee, and no beloved apart from Thee, nor cherished any desire but Thyself.
(Baha’u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u'llah, p. 335)

What an unusual day! I woke up from a dream in which I was with Hillary Clinton and then reached out to shake hand with Bill Clinton praising his efforts to arise and serve humanity. I didn’t think much of this dream until I heard a story later this evening… Before that, I had prepared for the Monday Prayer meeting whose topic would be “Glory of God” in anticipation for the Birth of Baha’u'llah and had send an email invitation to friends. When I checked my email, I got an unusually enthusiastic response from the 86-year old lady who had attended a couple of Prayer Stations before:

What a FANTASTIC  TOPIC  you have chosen.  We can ask to see God’s Glory and also ask to have that Glory inside of us.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don’t know yet if I am coming.     Madeleine

Then at noon Madeleine called me to tell me she is coming with a friend. When she and her friend Merrie arrived, as I introduced them to Wil, the third guest, the topic somehow went into the need of praying for our government.  Turns out Merrie had hosted the two inauguration prayer meetings during the Clinton administration. Then she started telling us the story of how she met Hillary Clinton at a church service and how she had hoped to approach President Bill Clinton but it was he who reached out to her to shake her hand to which she answered with “We pray for you, sir”. So, all of a sudden, the dream started making sense. At least some sense

We all had wonderful and uplifting time reading from the Holy Bible and from the Writings of Baha’u'llah and Abdu’l-Baha. We listened to beautiful music — “Intone” by Katharine Key, “Love is the Light” by SKY, and “Night Hath Succeedeth Day” by KC Porter. Then we shared prayers — for our children and for our government and for unity. And then Merrie treated us to a song she had learned in Jerusalem, a song called “The Realm of Glory”. Should have been with these words (it was not):

O SON OF MAN!
Thou art My dominion and My dominion perisheth not; wherefore fearest thou thy perishing? Thou art My light and My light shall never be extinguished; why dost thou dread extinction? Thou art My glory and My glory fadeth not; thou art My robe and My robe shall never be outworn. Abide then in thy love for Me, that thou mayest find Me in the realm of glory.
(Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words, #14)

And as the ladies were leaving, they asked me if they could join the celebration of the Birth of Baha’u'llah to be hosted by the Washington, DC Baha’i community. The Glory of God is indeed with us!