Community dance and banana bread

As I was joining the horo, the Bulgarian line dance which was the centerpiece of this Saturday’s celebration of the Bulgarian community in the metropolitan Washington, DC, I couldn’t help but reflect on how natural it was to reach out and hold the hand of the next person in the line. And it made no difference whether it was a stranger or a friend, a woman or a man, a child or an adult, an American or a Bulgarian. We were all one, in one big circle, following the rhythm of the “Lyuti Chushki” band, enchanted by the melody of the gaida (Bulgarian bagpipe) played by my wonderful Turkish coworker Varol.

Bahá’u'lláh has drawn the circle of unity, He has made a design for the uniting of all the peoples, and for the gathering of them all under the shelter of the tent of universal unity. This is the work of the Divine Bounty, and we must all strive with heart and soul until we have the reality of unity in our midst, and as we work, so will strength be given unto us.
(Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 53)

The next day I went to a Zumba class, a wonderful exercise following the Latin and sometimes Indian rhythms of upbeat dance music made to full you into thinking that all the sweating of exercising is not hard work if it is fun. I was admittedly the only man among many women but the awkwardness of dancing in that group was palpable even though the teacher’s enthusiasm was infectious, and so different from the equally energizing and sweat-producing Bulgarian line dance.

Now I might be comparing apples to oranges but I am still puzzled by the ingrained need for personal space which, to me at least, translates into a certain coldness of the American society. This wall of personal space, of propriety, of calculated politeness, is so hard to penetrate. Yet I am not giving up. So tonight, since nobody came to the Prayer Station and I had just baked banana bread, I decided to read a teaching prayer:

Praise be to Thee, O my God! These are Thy servants who are attracted by the fragrances of Thy mercifulness, are enkindled by the fire burning in the tree of Thy singleness, and whose eyes are brightened by beholding the splendors of the light shining in the Sinai of Thy oneness.

O Lord! Loose their tongues to make mention of Thee amongst Thy people, suffer them to speak forth Thy praise through Thy grace and loving-kindness, assist them with the cohorts of Thine angels, strengthen their loins in Thy service, and make them the signs of Thy guidance amongst Thy creatures.

Verily, Thou art the All-Powerful, the Most Exalted, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.

and then ventured into the hallway to introduce myself to my neighbors by sharing with them my banana bread. The reactions of those who opened their doors was very positive (although there was one who looked through the peephole and did not open — must have been allergic to the smell of freshly baked banana bread . One neighbor, a young woman, decided to take an extra piece (I had originally typed “peace” — how appropriate on the International Day of Peace) for her roommate. Another neighbor told me about his newly born baby. Another one told me that this was the nicest thing that had happened to him in his life (I hope he was exaggerating, as sweet as that statement was!), and last but not least a teenage boy took a piece for his parents thanking me very politely. Most of them asked me if I was new here, and I was rather embarrassed to admit that I have been living in this apartment building for two years but only now was attempting to meet my neighbors in this, more systematic, way. So, now all of a sudden, the doors I pass on my way to the apartment each day have become more human. There are people living behind them. There are souls in the apartment building. May they all be guided:

O Thou, my God! Who guidest the seeker to the pathway that leadeth aright, Who deliverest the lost and blinded soul out of the wastes of perdition, Thou Who bestowest upon the sincere great bounties and favors, Who guardest the frightened within Thine impregnable refuge, Who answerest, from Thine all-highest horizon, the cry of those who cry out unto Thee. Praised be Thou, O my Lord! Thou hast guided the distracted out of the death of unbelief, and hast brought those who draw nigh unto Thee to the journey’s goal, and hast rejoiced the assured among Thy servants by granting them their most cherished desires, and hast, from Thy Kingdom of beauty, opened before the faces of those who yearn after Thee the gates of reunion, and hast rescued them from the fire of deprivation and loss – so that they hastened unto Thee and gained Thy presence, and arrived at Thy welcoming door, and received of gifts an abundant share.

O my Lord, they thirsted, Thou didst lift to their parched lips the waters of reunion. O Tender One, Bestowing One, Thou didst calm their pain with the balm of Thy bounty and grace, and didst heal their ailments with the sovereign medicine of Thy compassion. O Lord, make firm their feet on Thy straight path, make wide for them the needle’s eye, and cause them, dressed in royal robes, to walk in glory for ever and ever.

Verily, Thou art the Generous, the Ever-Forgiving, the Precious, the Most Bountiful. There is none other God but Thee, the Mighty, the Powerful, the Exalted, the Victorious.

- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá