Befriended Stranger

Spiritual laws work, just as the laws of physics. Today I have witnessed a powerful proof of God’s Justice. I know God is merciful too but there is a certain resignation and relief in knowing that His Justice is also unfailing. I don’t want to write much; just to remember this day.

He who dealeth faithlessly with God shall in justice meet with faithlessness himself; he, however, who acteth in accordance with God’s bidding shall receive a blessing from the heaven of the bounty of his Lord, the Gracious, the Bestower, the Generous, the Ancient of Days.
(Baha’u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 55)

Nothing is accidental in my life, it seems, including the timing of the events, for today is the Birth of Baha’u'llah. Very timely too, is this video of the song “The bird which soareth” by Elika Mahony:

O My servants! Could ye apprehend with what wonders of My munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your souls, ye would, of a truth, rid yourselves of attachment to all created things, and would gain a true knowledge of your own selves — a knowledge which is the same as the comprehension of Mine own Being. Ye would find yourselves independent of all else but Me, and would perceive, with your inner and outer eye, and as manifest as the revelation of My effulgent Name, the seas of My loving-kindness and bounty moving within you. Suffer not your idle fancies, your evil passions, your insincerity and blindness of heart to dim the luster, or stain the sanctity, of so lofty a station. Ye are even as the bird which soareth, with the full force of its mighty wings and with complete and joyous confidence, through the immensity of the heavens, until, impelled to satisfy its hunger, it turneth longingly to the water and clay of the earth below it, and, having been entrapped in the mesh of its desire, findeth itself impotent to resume its flight to the realms whence it came. Powerless to shake off the burden weighing on its sullied wings, that bird, hitherto an inmate of the heavens, is now forced to seek a dwelling-place upon the dust. Wherefore, O My servants, defile not your wings with the clay of waywardness and vain desires, and suffer them not to be stained with the dust of envy and hate, that ye may not be hindered from soaring in the heavens of My divine knowledge.
(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 326)

Friday movie night was dedicated to Tinkerbell, “the spunky, rebellious, impatient, impulsive, determined, persistent, temperamental… yet still charming and lovable fairy” which was born out of Disney’s unlimited ability to branch out stories and produce brand-able characters. Tinkerbell, like all other fairies, is given a unique talent symbolized, in her case, by a… hammer. When she discovers the meaning of this all, she is quite disappointed. For she is a tinkering fairy, not a “fancy” one. Tinkering fairies are basically the engineering type fairies — hardworking, creative (but not in the artistic sense, rather in the fixing things sense). The problem is, Tinkerbell really wants to be somebody else; in fact, she would want to be any kind of fairy but the tinkering one.

The movie is fun, at times even funny. I hope it will be embraced by organizations striving to encourage girls to go into engineering for I well remember when I was in my electronics design class there were only three girls out of a class of ninety…

Back to Tinkerbell and the moral of her story… She chases a dream: to go to the Mainland where humans live. And she is so eager to get there, she would try to learn any other fairy’s skill (no matter how incapable she might be at that) in order to prove that she is worthy of being allowed the flight back to the world of humans. So she tries being others, miserably fails at anything that is not her true calling, all along ignoring her own talents, always wishing for something others have. Finally, through tests and difficulties, she is given an opportunity to use her so-far-ignored but true talent in service to others and… she finds happiness.

If this all sounds like a Disney movie, well, it is a Disney movie. But it delighted me with the message that finding who you are and being content with that is so important, for you can never predict the wonderful adventures ahead of you. Pity the ones who are neither aware of their true self, nor able to find happiness in it.

True loss is for him whose days have been spent in utter ignorance of his self.
(Baha’u'llah, Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 155)

17. O SON OF MAN!

Be thou content with Me and seek no other helper. For none but Me can ever suffice thee.
(Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)

The Feast tonight was joyous for so many reasons but most of all because of two phone calls:

First came the news, delivered to me by a cell phone call as I was biking across Key Bridge from Georgetown to Arlington, that Mariama had declared! She is Nancy’s Malian neighbor who attended a fireside less than a month ago, then attended our devotional and joined our Ruhi 1 study circle. She spoke so eloquently tonight of her joy and gratitude of finding the truth of God and her eagerness to help others discover that truth for themselves!

Then came the news that my little daughters and their mommy were having a Feast of their own at home, with all three parts: prayers, prayer songs, consultation on what makes them happy (the love of God, said one, and planting the rose of love in the garden of your heart, said the other), and agreed on a service project — saying prayers for all children in the neighborhood — and then feasted on… peanuts

How can one not be happy at such a feast! Ya’Baha’ul’Abha!

The joyous feasts which these companions, despite their extremely modest earnings, continually offered in honor of their Beloved; the gatherings, lasting far into the night, in which they loudly celebrated, with prayers, poetry and song, the praises of the Báb, of Quddus and of Bahá’u'lláh; the fasts they observed; the vigils they kept; the dreams and visions which fired their souls, and which they recounted to each other with feelings of unbounded enthusiasm; the eagerness with which those who served Bahá’u'lláh performed His errands, waited upon His needs, and carried heavy skins of water for His ablutions and other domestic purposes; the acts of imprudence which, in moments of rapture, they occasionally committed; the expressions of wonder and admiration which their words and acts evoked in a populace that had seldom witnessed such demonstrations of religious transport and personal devotion — these, and many others, will forever remain associated with the history of that immortal period, intervening between the birth hour of Bahá’u'lláh’s Revelation and its announcement on the eve of His departure from Iraq.

(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 135)

Just a few random thoughts before jumping into a “Go / No Go” meeting at work…

Monday’s Prayer Station once again reminded me how much the question of the meaning of life is on people’s minds.

I was reflecting last night on the value of journaling one’s thoughts. There is a qualitative difference between when I journal my own thoughts and when I journal my reflections on inspired thoughts and Holy Writings. Life is so much easier when there is a guiding light to follow. I am so blessed to have this light in the Baha’i Faith.

This morning Gmail randomly selected a quote for me:

Robert Byrne: The purpose of life is a life of purpose.

Baha’i Readings sent me a message too:

The most important thing is to polish the mirrors of hearts in order that they may become illumined and receptive of the divine light. One heart may possess the capacity of the polished mirror; another be covered and obscured by the dust and dross of this world. Although the same Sun is shining upon both, in the mirror which is polished, pure and sanctified you may behold the Sun in all its fullness, glory and power revealing its majesty and effulgence, but in the mirror which is rusted and obscured there is no capacity for reflection although so far as the Sun itself is concerned it is shining thereon and is neither lessened nor deprived. Therefore our duty lies in seeking to polish the mirrors of our hearts in order that we shall become reflectors of that light and recipients of the divine bounties which may be fully revealed through them.

‘Abdu’l-Baha

Staying out of trouble, making sure not to do the wrong things, is so much less than a life of inspired service.

Being not the center of the universe but of service to others is so much more fulfilling than consuming whatever others might provide or might be manipulated out of.

Becoming a father was one (or rather two) of those pivotal moments in my life that very dramatically showed me that the meaning of life is in serving God and His creation. I am happy for Phillipe for experiencing this joy and blessing as well!

Blessings to you all!

I am in Sofia, the capital of my homeland, Bulgaria. The jetlag is starting to hit me and I can sense my brain slowing down, which probably is not bad anyway. It is wonderful to be here during the summer. The weather is lovely and even a bustling, dusty and busy city like Sofia is very pleasant and inviting. Of course there are plenty of quirky things about being here. I spent close to an hour trying to find the Baha’i Center by reading street signs too confusing even for someone who grew up in Bulgaria: There were the overlapping street names — several houses on the street had two numbers, one for each of the active street names, i.e. the same house would be #1 Mura St. and #20 Boyanski Vaszhod. Then, there were the streets who had to zigzag around to follow their names. And then, there were the puzzled looks of the people on the street who kept on answering my questions with “I don’t know, I don’t live here”. Yet in the end, after a prayer, when I decided to ask not for the street address but just for the Baha’i Center, a nice lady showed me the way.

The teaching project, coordinated by a fine young man from England, is still in the works. We are still trying to identify activities and receptive population but the important thing is that the first steps have been taken. Next Wednesday and Thursday few other travel teachers will come — from Greece, Macedonia and Germany — and hopefully I will be able to assit them and do some door-to-door teaching using the visual presentation.

My first teaching opportunity came already – as soon as I showed up in the Lufthansa airplane at Dulles Airport. As I was taking my seat, I noticed that the lady who was sitting next to me was greeted by her passing daugther who had to go and sit somewhere way back. I offered to switch my seat with her so they could be together. She gladly accepted and I left a “Baha’is believe in… ” card on the seat to greet the new passenger…

In the mean time, I am thoroughly enjoying the Bulgarian culture and visiting with my family. There is something very refreshing about spending time with my brother and sister-in-law, pouring our hearts out and after that deep, honest conversation, feeling better about life, universe and everything else.

Tomorrow I will coincidentally attend the engagement party of a nephew of mine, and later in the week I will go on a mountain hiking trip with another Baha’i friend from my hometown.

Last but not least, my dad will celebate his 75th birthday and I am sure having his two sons together again will be the best gift he could ask for.

As I am wrapping up this post, I can smell the delicious flavor of my sister-in-law’s home cooking! Yummy! Not bad for a first day back in Bugaria.

On Monday, my beautiful daughters helped us host the Feast of Rahmat (Mercy). In preparation, they had colored these 9-pointed stars in “rainbow” colors with signs for different virtues on each welcome card — I had told them that we will have many Baha’i guests and even the spirit of Abdu’l Baha will be with us. As the guests started arriving, the girls would enthusiastically greet each of them and would hand them one of the cards. Their mom had had the wonderful idea, following suggestions from JB Eckl and Eric Dozier, to spread rose petals on the stairs leading to the room where the Feast was hosted and that helped create a truly magnificent atmosphere! There were vases full of cream-colored roses and, at the end, the girls gave each guest a rose to take home! It was beautiful a beautiful Feast indeed!

The most beautiful was, of course, seeing the inspired faces of our girls — the older one almost 5 years old and the younger one almost 3 years old — as they listened to the gorgeous song “Let All Associate” by New Creation / TaliaSafa, proud as they were to have welcomed all the guests to Baha’i Feast.

Then the time to say prayers came. My older daughter decided she was too shy. We probably should have been more patient and give her a chance but we had to move on with the Feast program and covered for her. My younger one was less shy, or more oblivious, and sang her soft version of “Say God Sufficeth”. In the end all went fine, of course, and everyone liked the Feast.

What I personally liked the most was the sense of pride you could see on my daugthers’ faces, and the questions my big girl asked when I was putting her to bed. When I praised her for doing wonderful job in preparing for the Feast and welcoming all the guests, she said, “But daddy, God did not come!” And I said, “Yes, He did come, He is always in our hearts; we just need to notice He is there. And how we notice is by keeping our hearts pure.” Then I had to explain that yes, she is pure, and how she can stay this way is by keeping her thoughts and deeds pure. You can only imagine the sweetness of the hugs this girl and her younger sister give.

This same night, Baha’u'llah, provided another lesson in patience. As I was waiting for the next bus, an African-American gentleman who was on his way to work as a night guard at the Ballston Commons Mall came by and we started talking: about the weather, about the climate changes and the economy, and the world we live in, and that we should be grateful for what we have. I kept on thinking that I should talk to him about the Baha’i Faith, but I was hesitant, just as my daughter had been only a couple of hours earlier. I did asked him if he was religious and he replied, “Yes, Revelations and all”. Then we got on the bus and he commented on the rose I was carrying. I told him I was coming from a Baha’i Feast and asked him if he was familiar with the Baha’i Faith. He said no, so I recited for him the brief introduction from the “Visual Presentation” (Anna’s Presentation). He slightly moved back probably to show he was not very interested, and then I mentioned the name of Baha’u'llah. I wish you could have seen the sparkle in his eyes — he sighed with what it seemed a relief, “Ah, Baha? Is he from India?“, I said, no, He was from Persia what is now Iran, and He is the fulfillment of the all religions including the promise of Christ to come back. Then, as the bus was approaching his stop, the man said “But what about Jesus, the Savior? Didn’t he come and die for all of us?” I had only time to say, “Yes, we do believe in that and that the spirit of Christ has come back in Baha’u'llah”, and to hand him one of those “Baha’is believe in…” cards… That truly was a spiritual dessert after all the wonderful food at Feast.

The next day, I had another little surprise:

I had stopped by to check what my rent increase will be next year and started talking with the building manager, who is from Yemen but grew up in Germany. I told her about the class I am taking on Islam and what I am learning in it and how illuminating it is. The deeper we went into the topic of the importance of knowing the life of Muhammad and the traditions (hadith), in importance to reading the Qu’ran, the more surprised she was that a non-Muslim would take interest in her religion. Then she asked me, “Why are you taking this class?” I said, because I am a Baha’i and Baha’u'llah came from Shi’i Islam, just as Jesus came from among the Jews. She did not know anything about the Baha’i Faith and was perplexed why not, and why are Baha’i persecuted if they believe in the same One God. She asked many questions about how we worship and I decided to suggest she attend a devotional gathering I plan on hosting with a friend, and she said she would be very interested in attending.

Ya’Baha’ul’Abha! It would be great if I am given a chance to share the Message of Baha’u'llah with one new soul each day! But whether that happens or not, I will keep teaching myself!

In honor of my birthday, I will share the recipe for my favorite birthday cake. It is not a fancy-looking cake but anyone has ever tried it has praised it.

This is a three layer cake where the top and bottom layers are identical but the middle one has walnuts. Each layer is baked separately. After the sugar syrup and the cream are prepared, each layer is covered with syrup and then cream. Finally, the top is decorated with walnuts and chocolate.

Ingredients for each layers

• 3 eggs
• 1 not-full cup of sugar
• 1 cup of flour
• a few drops of vanilla extract
• 1 tea spoon of baking powder

Instructions

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a mixer and add the sugar and the vanilla. In another mixing bowl, mix the flour and baking powder Add the flour and baking powder mix to the eggs and sugar and make smooth batter. Pour the batter into a round baking pane and bake for 15 - 20 min at 380-400 degrees. Do the same for each layer with the only difference for the middle layer, adding a cup of walnut finely chopped in a good processor.

Ingredients for the sugar syrup

• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup of sugar

Instructions

Put the water and sugar in a pot on medium fire and mix until the sugar is fully absorbed by the water. Warm syrup works best.

Ingredients for the cream

• 1 liter of milk
• 2 egg separated into yolks and whites
• 100 ml of cold milk
• 1 cup of sugar
• 8 spoonfuls of flour
• a few drops of vanilla

Instructions

Pour the 1 liter of milk into a pot and put it on medium fire to heat. Add the cup of sugar to the hot milk. Mix regularly so it does not burn on the bottom of the pot. Mix the egg yolks and the 100 ml of cold milk in a mixing bowl. Add the 8 spoonfuls of flour and the vanilla extract. Mix into smooth batter. In another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and set aside for the end. Very carefully, start adding the egg yolk / flour batter into the pot with the warm milk and mix energetically so that they mix nicely. Continue mixing until the mix thickens.

At the end, add the beat the egg whites into the mix to make the butter more airy. Turn off the fire. Put each baked cake layer into the baking pan and cover it with sugar syrup and then a think layer of the cream. Repeat for each cake layer and decorate to your heart’s desire on top — I use chopped walnuts for cover and chocolate syrup for the signs. Put aside in a cool space and serve on the next day — that allows for the cake layers to get moist and juicy.

Last but not least, enjoy the cake in the company of your loved ones!

Last night I was sitting at the table helping my older daughter color welcoming cards to be used at the upcoming Feast of Rahmat (Mercy) which she and her baby sister will host next Monday. As she was coloring diligently, trying to stay within the lines (apparently a very important thing for a 4 1/2 year old one, and if you truly reflect on it, important for all of us), she was very concerned that she might make a mistake and cross the lines. I told her not to worry about it, that we all make mistakes but God is forgiving.

And then she asked the question that really made me pause:

“Does God like mistakes?”

I quickly answered:

“God likes it when we learn from our mistakes”.

The start of this talk, in fact, was inspired by our discussion of another mistake that had taken place the previous day — when she had cut, as artistically as she could, the hair of her 2 1/2 year old sister. Her mom (who shared with her that in her own youth she had done exactly the same to her own sister) and our daughter had reflected on whether what she had done was good, and we all praised her for telling the truth. (She clearly enjoys getting praise and confirmation for telling the truth.)

So, does God like it when we make mistakes? Does God like the mistakes we make? Seems to me that just as God loves us, He loves anything that would make us grow. So, as long as we learn from the mistakes, it is OK to make them. The trick is not to get in the habit of repeating them.

I have been trying to grow a garden of several vegetable plants, some berries, and a few grape vines. My goal is to make the grape vine climb on a trellis so we could enjoy the beautiful autumn evenings under the cool skies, broad leaves and succulent fruits. The way to make this happen is by lovingly but mercilessly trimming all the branches that the vine insist on growing in the wrong directions so that all its energy is spent for growth in the right direction, “the chosen highway“.

Does the vine like it when once a week I trim the newly sprouted leaves? Probably not. Is the vine grateful that it is reaching heights that only a year ago were unthinkable? Probably yes.

Do I like to see the vine grow all these extra sprouts? Yes, of course — these are signs of healthy growth. Do I call these extra sprouts mistakes? Of course, not — probably only the vine, in its lack of understanding, would label them as mistakes, seeing that I constantly prune them.

So, shall we call the mistakes we make “mistakes”? Perhaps we have no choice but to stick to a commonly agreed and accepted vocabulary, but we should never forget that in the eyes of God we all are loved, and so are our mistakes.

God is the greatest gardener and the best parent. The rest of us, whether gardeners-wanna-be or parents-in-permanent-training, should rely on His loving, and indeed forgiving, assistance:

O God! Educate these children. These children are the plants of Thine orchard, the flowers of Thy meadow, the roses of Thy garden. Let Thy rain fall upon them; let the Sun of Reality shine upon them with Thy love. Let Thy breeze refresh them in order that they may be trained, grow and develop, and appear in the utmost beauty. Thou art the Giver. Thou art the Compassionate.

- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

I am in pain these days — the pain of separation whose only soothing medicine, I know, is detachment. And while convulsing in this pain, I ask questions of why and how, Baha’u'llah gracefully provides answers:

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.

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

Baha’u'llah further offers an unfailing recipe for how to remain in His presence:

At the dawn of every day he should commune with God, and with all his soul persevere in the quest of his Beloved. He should consume every wayward thought with the flame of His loving mention, and, with the swiftness of lightning, pass by all else save Him.
(Baha’u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 192)

The communing with God is pretty obvious — daily prayer and meditation on the Holy Writings. The wayward thoughts are trickier to define, and to deal with. I am pretty sure for everyone they are different. For me sometimes these have been thoughts of things I used to do when I was too afraid of the painful reality of needing to grow; other times these were thoughts magnifying the faults of others with the same idea — of minimizing my own shortcomings.

But lately I am discovering a whole different category of thoughts that, when left unchecked, is a sure way of bringing pain upon myself — the thoughts that get me carried away from the present, whether back in the past reliving painful mistakes I have made or the future in a feeble attempt to plan it, calculate it, control it. The simple truth is, no one can predict the future. All that we know is the general direction of where things are going — spiritual progress not only despite physical pain but because of it. If we embrace the truth that growth is painful, the hope is we will not fight it, but will focus on enjoying God’s presence, one moment at a time.

More than a year ago I started this blog with an entry quoting a book review of “In Defense of Food”, the book by Michael Pollan which was succinctly captured by the healthy advice mantra “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Today I came across an interview with the author of this book which further sheds light on what is wrong with “nutritionism” and how to find the joy of eating today. Part of the answer is… gardening. The timing couldn’t have been better. The Washington Post started publishing a series on articles on the worldwide food shortage crisis. As I was planting a garden, I was reflecting on whether this is just a nice hobby, or a natural instinct to be closer to Mother Nature, or a therapeutic exercise, or honing life skills for hard days that might be coming, or teaching my daughters on where food actually comes from, or an attempt to provide local food (it does not get any more local than your own garden) as a counterpoint to the whole organic food craze. There is so much to be grateful for having a garden!

The other aspect of it is, of course, the Garden of Ridvan. It was in a garden near Baghdad, Iraq, in the spring of 1863, that Baha’u'llah revealed to His followers that He was the Promissed One of All Religions. So much to be grateful for a garden!