500

Wow.

I can't believe it.

Another year has gone by. Yes, it's my birthday again (tomorrow, not right now), and, again, I am giving pause to reflect. In previous years I have sometimes mentioned it, and even written about it. But this year something else is happening, too. This is my 500th article on this blog.

I really can't believe it. 500!?!

When I look back over the past few years, I am truly amazed at all the changes that have happened.

But first, I want to reflect a moment on how I began all this.

At the time, I was serving the Faith in an administrative capacity, and one of the joyous responsibilities of this service was to travel throughout the Snoman Region. Saskatchewn, Northern Ontario, and Manitoba; what else were we going to call it?

So one day, way back then, I was at a meeting in Regina, sitting in the main hall at the Regina Baha'i Centre. Now, if Regina were in the States, it would have been the Regina Baha'i Center, but it isn't. It's in Canada. And therefore it is the Regina Baha'i Centre.

So there I was, sitting in the main hall, listening to people share their stories about how their children's classes were going. Story after story of these incredible gatherings were being shared, one after the other, really giving us all a sense of how much was happening in the area. But then someone stood up and asked the question that really made the day stand out for me, above and beyond all the other similar meetings I had attended. He said, with his straightforward, matter-of-fact, farmer's drawl, "This is all well and good, but how did you all begin? How did you get those kids to come over to your house the first time?"

Now, you have to understand, at that time my wife and I had had a children's class going in our home for a few years and I hadn't ever really considered that question before. How did we get those kids to come over the first time? And then I remembered.

Then I snickered.

It was just a little laugh, but the guy sitting next to me (whose initials are Ward Johnson) heard. Later, when he was giving me a ride back to where we were both staying, a good 30 minutes or so away, he asked me why I had laughed.

"Oh," I replied, "I was just remembering how Marielle and I began our children's class."

He looked a but puzzled and asked, "How?"

"Well, our cat peed on our comforter."

As I told Ward the story of how our classes began, which you can read about here, he was laughing so hard that I realized I had a good story to share. I needed to write it down. And so I decided to write a little bit about what I had learned about the Faith.

And that is how this blog began.

Over the previous umpteen years a number of people had told me that my very simple way of looking at the Faith, and figuring out how to apply the Teachings, was useful to them. And while I didn't think much of my own insights, and still don't, really, others had said that they did help them find more in the Writings.

And since I am really just one lone Baha'i struggling to find his way amidst the... Hmm, I can't think of a good analogy here.... Uhm, since I really am just one lone Baha'i trying to keep afloat in this vast ocean of His Writings (how's that?), I thought I would call it "One Baha'i".

So I did a quick search for a reasonable blog site, came across blogspot, typed up the story, and the rest, as they say, is history.

But then I ran into a problem.

What else could I write about?

Well, the second article was easy. I just wrote a bit more about that little old children's class.

And then I remembered another interesting thing that had happened at that same meeting in Regina and wrote that little bit about the Right of God.

Oh, and then I recalled something I had once said about the Tablet of Ahmad that really stood out to someone else. And then it was time for an election, so I wrote about that. And then I remembered... Well, as you see, it has kind of gone on from there.

500 articles gone on from there.

Nearly 4 years gone on from there.

And for those of you, and yes, I'm referring to you, dear Reader, who have been reading this for most of that time, you have seen me move from the prairies to the coast, watched my son double in age from 4 to 8, and seen me get back into my artwork. You have seen me lost in wonder, puzzled over a quote, inspired by a line I had never considered, chastised for skipping sacred Text, crying over the loss of a friend, confused over what something in the Writings means, and generally blabber and blither as I talk about those little tidbits I am able to find amidst this vast treasure house of Writings.

A lot has happened in those nearly 4 years.

Now we have seen the Baha'i Faith grow and change, too. Four years ago I never would have dreamed of seeing the call for local Houses of Worship in my lifetime. It never would have occurred to me that we could possibly see over 100 youth conferences in so short a span of time. I could never have imagined how much we would learn about actual growth in just a couple short score of months.

Way back in October of 2009 I used my first quote from the Writings in an article here in this blog: "O dwellers of My Paradise! With the hands of loving-kindness I have planted in the holy garden of paradise the young tree of your love and friendship..." Today I look back on that quote and realize that little seed has come to fruition through your love and friendship.

I never would have dreamed of the people I would meet through telling that simple little story of going to the laundromat and beginning a children's class. I never would have dreamed of all the e-mails I have received from all over the world. I never would have dreamed of all the joy and tears and questions and insights and laughter and... well, I never would have dreamed of how this simple little practice of writing a blog about how the Faith has influenced my life would influence my life.

Thank you for sharing this with me, and thank you for all of your kind words and loving support.

And if anyone ever asks me how I began writing this blog, well, it is all because of my silly little cat peeing on my comforter.