An Example

This afternoon, as I was leaving the house, I grabbed a copy of Some Answered Questions. When I had a chance to sit for a few minutes and read, I found something I had never read before. Oh, I'm sure you've read it many times, but I hadn't. It is part of the introduction by Laura Clifford Barney:

"I have given you my tired moments," were the words of 'Abdu'l Baha as He arose from table after answering one of my questions.

As it was on this day, so it continued; between the hours of work, His fatigue would find relief in renewed activity; occasionally He was able to speak at length; but often, even though the subject might require more time, He would be called away after a few moments; again, days and even weeks would pass, in which He had no opportunity of instructing me. But I could well be patient, for I had always before me the greater lesson -- the lesson of His personal life.

During my several visits to 'Akka, these answers were written down in Persian while 'Abdu'l Baha spoke, not with a view to publication, but simply that I might have them for future study. At first they had to be adapted to the verbal translation of the interpreter; and later when I had acquired a slight knowledge of Persian, to my limited vocabulary. This accounts for repetition of figures and phrases, for no one has a more extensive command of felicitous expressions than 'Abdu'l Baha. In these lessons He is the teacher adapting Himself to His pupil, and not the orater or poet.

I quote this here not because it is sacred text, for it isn't, but because it shows, to me, a beautiful and respectful attitude that an individual had towards her teacher. It is just a glimpse of a majestic figure as seen through the eyes of one of His devoted followers. She recognizes His sacrifice, acknowledges the tremendous pressure He was under, and shows us how He still took the few moments He had to answer her simple questions. Oh, and they were not simple for us, but they were just her questions, pure and simple.

Perhaps that is what I get most out of these few words: her purity and her simple manner.

Whenever she had the opportunity, she would ask 'Abdu'l-Baha a question that was bothering her, and, over dinner, He would respond. Isn't that beautiful all by itself? Can't you just see it? In the evening, after serving the people of Akka all day, and meeting people from all walks of life, He comes home tired, ready to enjoy a meal with His friends and family. They could talk about inconsequential things, or just enjoy each other's company. Instead, they spoke about the eternal realities, trying to learn as much as they could from one who was in their midst for only a shorttime.

Here I am reminded of Marcus Bach's appreciation of Ruhiyyih Khanum, who, he said, "talked as though time and conversation were intended for the deepening of knowledge and faith."

But I am also moved by Laura's motivation. She did not speak much Persian and so, rather than possibly missing a bit of what 'Abdu'l-Baha was saying, she took notes. Then, when she had the chance, she would study these notes and double-check with Him to ensure that they were correct. It is because of this concern, and His double-checking, that we have this priceless volume. And it is considered authoritative instead of merely a good pilgrim's note.

These notes of the dinner conversations were not made with an eye to publishing them, but rather just for her own education. I believe it took her husband to recognize what she had and encourage her to publish them, with 'Abdu'l-Baha's permission, but I'm not certain of that.

The question before me now is "What can we learn from this?"

Well, I'm not sure, but for me it shows the importance of sharing what we have learned. How many hundreds visited 'Abdu'l-Baha and heard these priceless gems of wisdom fall from His lips? And how few recorded them? And how many of those few took the time to make sure that what they recorded was accurate? As far as I know, she is the only one. (Unless you count the records of His talks in the West.)

Today, it is this sharing of what we have learned that has allowed the teaching work to go as far forward as it has. By keeping notes of what we are doing as a community, the institutions have been able to assist us to see where we need to apply our learning, what we need to strengthen, and where we need to focus.

It is also a reminder, to me, that we need to be aware of our strengths and play into them, not try to do things that will, in the end, burn us out. For example, don't ask me to call people in my service to the Faith. Oh sure, I can, and have in the past, but it is not my strength, and takes a lot out of me. I am not a phone person, as many of my dear friends continually remind me. And please don't ask me to file. Talk to people? Sure, no problem. Meet new people? Love it. Study the Writings in depth? Will do for hours and hours on end.

Laura Cllifford Barney didn't need to be told what to do, but her example can help us see what we can do in our service to the Faith.

My Favorite Law

I was recently asked "What is your favorite article that you have written in your blog?" Now this may seem like a strange question, given that this article is called "My Favorite Law", but they are related. You see, I did think a lot about the various articles I have written over the last year (yes, this blog is only a year old, celebrating its birthday this coming week), and decided that my personal favorite is the one about the most difficult law.

But then I started thinking about it and realized that it was, in some way, a negative article. Oh, not in tone or topic, just in perspective.

Well, here is a more positive spin on the same idea. What is my favorite law?

That's a tough question to answer.

There are so many wonderful laws, how can I choose?

My first thought would be to flippantly say "Kitab-i-Aqdas, paragraph 152", and the discerning reader will immediately recognize this as the same law that I said was the most difficult: washing the feet every day in the summer, and every third day in the winter. Oh, and then I could go on and talk about how wonderful it feels to scrub your feet, and talk about the sheer pleasure of washing between the toes.

My second thought would be to talk about the Right of God, and how great it is that we can be more aware of our finances, take a bit out, and use the rest as we will. (Talk about a guilt-free latte.) This really gives us the freedom to enjoy some of the things of this world without any feelings of guilt, as long as they do not come between us and our Creator. Besides, it is "the source of all good".

I could talk about the laws surrounding prayer, and how it is these laws that really uplift our spirit, raising us to spiritual heights we never dreamed of (or in my case, I'm still dreaming of).

Should I refer to the law of marriage? After all, this is the foundation of my life with Marielle and Shoghi.

The more that I think about it, I think my favorite has to be the law of fasting. It seems odd to me as I write it, but I think that's it. It's a challenge, and the rewards seem quite immediate. I mean, my most creative time of the year is during the Fast. It is when the dreams are the strongest and the thoughts of the spiritual are at their most vibrant. It is when I feel most connected with my spiritual side.

It is also a time when I think about others, and the sufferings of the world, the most. It is during the Fast that I am most conscious of helping those around me, as my friends helped me during my first fast.

Aside - When I first became a Baha'i, it was shortly after the Fast ended. Many of my Baha'i friends joked about my waiting so that I could practice being Baha'i before engaging in the Fast. To be honest, I hadn't even realized when the Fast was.  But then, when the Fast did come around again, I was working at a store where I had to catch a train home from work. I soon realized that if I took the first train after work, the sun would set halfway on my way home. As it was almost an hour ride, this did not excite me. I had thought of staying at work and eating there, and just catching the next train after sunset, but this would also have gotten me home fairly late, which didn't excite me either. But it did seem the best alternative. My preference was to request an early shift, and leave early.

Well, the Fast began, and I was scheduled to close that night. Oh well. Scenario one came into play, and so I decided to take my time closing, eat in town, and take a later train. But just as the store was about to close, all the staff walked in. They knew I was doing my first Baha'i fast, and they had all decided to join in. Every one of them had fasted that day, and I didn't even notice. We all pitched in closing the store, and some of them had brought a pot-luck dinner for everyone, which they proceeded to set up. When the sun went down, I was invited to say a prayer, and then they began to ask me about it.

"How did you find your first day of fasting?"

"Well," I said, after finishing my bite of food, "it was very interesting. I feel like I have a new appreciation of the world around me and am more aware of my utter dependence upon my Creator. I thank God I can eat again."

And you know, although that still sounds flippant to my ears all these years later (and still brings a smile to my face), I was actually serious, too. Isn't that the very basis of saying grace at a meal? We thank God for the food we consume. We thank God that we can eat again.

Yeah. While there are so many wonderful laws within the Faith, I think it is this one that has to be my favorite.

Of course I'm sure that will change tomorrow. But, hey, I'm writing this today.

Water

I received an e-mail this morning asking me if I would write about water today. They said that there was a "blog action day" to help people think about the importance of water, and in it, they included some facts about water. My question was how to make it relevant to my blog. Well, here are the "facts" that they included:

1. Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Unclean drinking water can incubate some pretty scary diseases, like E. coli, salmonella, cholera and hepatitis A. Given that bouquet of bacteria, it's no surprise that water, or rather lack thereof, causes 42,000 deaths each week.

2. More people have access to a cell phone than to a toilet. Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets. This means that sewage spills into rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water and causing disease.

3. Every day, women and children in Africa walk a combined total of 109 million hours to get water. They do this while carrying cisterns weighing around 40 pounds when filled in order to gather water that, in many cases, is still polluted. Aside from putting a great deal of strain on their bodies, walking such long distances keeps children out of school and women away from other endeavors that can help improve the quality of life in their communities.

4. It takes 6.3 gallons of water to produce just one hamburger. That 6.3 gallons covers everything from watering the wheat for the bun and providing water for the cow to cooking the patty and baking the bun. And that's just one meal! It would take over 184 billion gallons of water to make just one hamburger for every person in the United States.

5. The average American uses 159 gallons of water every day – more than 15 times the average person in the developing world. From showering and washing our hands to watering our lawns and washing our cars, Americans use a lot of water. To put things into perspective, the average five-minute shower will use about 10 gallons of water. Now imagine using that same amount to bathe, wash your clothes, cook your meals and quench your thirst.

Now, while all this is very interesting, or sad, or whatever adjective you choose to use, it actually makes me think of something else altogether. This is not to diminish the importance of taking care of our resources, and ensuring the safety of all peoples, but to help me think a bit more about the spiritual importance of water, and its symbolism in religious history.

You see, in Gleanings, Baha'u'llah says that we can "discover in all things the mysteries of Divine Revelation", and that "Each and every thing, however small," could be "a revelation" leading us towards God. (By the way, isn't it neat how Amazon inserts a picture of the books I reference? I guess it's true that marketing often drives technology. Oh, and I don't really see any revelation in that.)

I used to live with a very good friend of mine, and he always kept a water jug in the refrigerator. It was a simple yellow-ish plastic water jug, the kind that is often used to hold juice. Well, one day I came home and there was this writing all over it.  Samuel (said roomie), you see, had decided that he wanted to find creative ways to remind himself of the Writings throughout the day. So he went to Ocean and found all the references to water he could, and copied some of them on the jug.

On this jug, Samuel had written such things as "the waters of renunciation", "the living waters of Thine utterance", "the living waters of Thy pardon", "the soft flowing waters of Thy mercy", and so on. He also included "the ocean of God's hidden knowledge", "this surging and treasure-laden Ocean", "the ocean of My presence", and "This is the Ocean out of which all seas have proceeded, and with which every one of them will ultimately be united." There were references to sea, and so many more quotes.

And then one evening, we were talking. We were talking about religious history and I think I was pouring myself a glass of water from that jug. I don't really remember, but it's not all that important, is it? We began to talk about water in the history of religion. There is the river that flowed in Eden, and then branched into four seperate head waters that watered the lands. There is the story of Noah, who built an ark to sail upon the waters to keep himself, his family, and all the animals safe during the flood. There is Moses who parted the waters to bring the Israelites to safety. Jesus walked on the troubled waters to His disciples. According to Muhammad, the Kaaba was built at the site of a holy well, next to the temple constructed by Adam and rebuilt by Abraham. Water just flows throughout the history of religions (oh yeah, pun intended). Baha'u'llah? Well, He declared His mission in an island amidst the waters, and has sailed His ark upon Mount Carmel.

When I look at a glass of water, I am not just seeing a glass filled with a dihydrogen monoxide, plus a few other assorted elements. I am seeing something that is the very staple of life as we know it.

A Clarification on Questions

Dear Readers, you have caught me out. You are correct. I stand before you guilty as charged.

Questions, in general are not dangerous.

What I should have said is that questions "can" be dangerous, not that they are.

Now before you chastise me on this, let me explain.

There are, I think, two different types of questions. One of them is seeking explanation, such as "Why is the sky blue" or "Why do you think Baha'u'llah said no women on the Universal House of Justice". These are, in my own opinion, always good to ask. They are not dangerous (unless you ask too often without accepting a reasonable answer, then you may get bopped on the nose. And I'm thinking about the bozo who kept asking "But how do really know 1 + 1 = 2?" Sheesh.). (Oh, my answer to the guy about basic math was "Given our defintions of 1, +, = and 2, it is a true statement.)

The other type of question is more of a leading variety. They are generally asked by people in a position of some sort of authority, and are meant to help direct others towards a realization of some kind. These are the ones that I still mantain can be dangerous (note the word "can").

Oh, and it is not that they are dangerous in and of themselves, but that they can unintentionally force a flawed presupposition, such as "Have you stopped beating your wife yet". Obviously this particular question cannot be answered either yes or no without condemning oneself.

There is a wonderful book by Connie Willis, called Passage, in which she deals with this. When trying to interview people about near-death experiences, one interviewer is careful to not guide the interviewee, but asks questions like "Did you see anything? Can you describe it?" The other interviewer asks "Did you see the bright light? Even though it was brighter than anything you've ever seen, it didn't hurt your eyes, did it?"

You can see the difference between these types of questions.

When asking questions of the Baha'i community, and how we can serve more effectively, or better help bring about a new civilization based on spiritual principals, then we need to be careful how we word our questions.

That is all.

Apology done. Explanation finished (I think).

Time to get back to my own work.

You can go about your day now.  :)

Oh, and thanks for calling me to task. You all passed the test (he says, as if he planned all this).

Questions

I really love the Baha'is in my community. They are so wise, kind and courteous. Whenever I approach any of them and share a silly idea for a post, like this one, they sit there and say, "Wow, that's a great idea." And quite often they then add in a wonderful and insightful comment that really helps me get on track.

Today we were talking, and I mentioned my love for the Baha'i calendar. I mean, come on, how can I not love it? It isn't really based on the lunar months, nor even on the solar cycle. No. I think it is based on pure math, with a bit of the sun thrown in for good measure.

As I'm sure you know, it is 19 months of 19 days each, which totals 361 days. Then, to round out the solar year, there are 4 days thrown in for fun, or 5 in a leap year. Oh, and I do mean "for fun", because they are even called the Days of Ha, Ayyam-i-Ha. How much more fun can you get?

My wife says that she thinks Ayyam-i-Ha is a time for discovery. It is when you go, "Ha!" Maybe the extra "a", for "Aha!" comes from the initial for Ayyam.

Anyways, another part of the calendar that I love is the very names of the months. They are named after some of the attributes of God. You have the months of Glory, Might, Splendour, Perfection, and so on. All attributes of God, right?

Hmm.

What about Masa'il? The month of Questions? (Maybe that should be the Days of Ha? Or perhaps that would be the Days of Huh?) (I can already hear the phone getting to ring as an Auxiliary Board member calls to ask me to show a bit more respect. Sorry.)

But seriously. How is questions an attribute of God? I just don't understand. See? I even have a question about questions.

Perhaps it is that it is an attribute of ourselves, in that we do not know everything, like God, and therefore will always have questions. I really don't know. If anyone out there has an idea, I would love to hear it.

All of this, though, leads me to another thought about questions.

I was in a meeting once when someone said to a Counsellor, "Can I ask you a question?"

His response was a thoughtful, "I'm not sure. After all, questions are dangerous things." He spoke for quite some time about the danger of questions, and how we need to be very careful with them.

I was reminded of this just a few days ago when someone asked, "How can we strengthen our children's classes?"

Now that is a good question, in principle, but I think a dangerous one. Fortunately that danger was avoided during the discussion, and we all came away with a better understanding of the framework of the Five-Year Plan.

Now, why do I say it was dangerous? I'm glad you asked, dear Reader. The way that it is phrased presupposes a seperation between the children's classes and all the other core activities. It seems to indicate that they can be strengthened or weakened on their own, in isolation from the rest of the community. Oh sure, we can work on our lesson plans, researching age-appropriate activities and crafts that are relevant to the theme, or find stories and music that will enhance the ideas we are trying to convey. But really, I believe, and the community showed me this, that the best way to strengthen these classes is to ensure that they are in conjunction with the junior youth groups, as well as study circles for the adults. They also can be further strengthened when they are surrounded by the love of the devotional gatherings.

Later, Marielle and I were trying to figure out how we would try to ask the same question without unintentionally implying this seperation, and it was very difficult. I think what we finally settled on was, "How can we further enhance our children's classes within the framework of the Five Year Plan?"

And you know, that just seems cumbersome to me.

So my hat is off to the people who organized our meeting and came up with the question they did. I'm not sure I could have done better.

Besides, their question did get me to think.

And that, as we all know, is a dangerous thing.

Birthday Thoughts

As you may have guessed from the title, today is my birthday. Now this does not happen to be all that important to me, and in fact, there have been years in the past when I didn't realize it was my birthday until it was nearly over. But this year (I'm 43, if you think that makes a difference), I'm thinking about it a bit more. Oh, and in this age of facebook relationships it is practically impossible not to know it's your birthday days before it even occurs. I think I had six different sites remind me of the upcoming celebratory day, and half a dozen friends wish me a happy one before the calendar even turned.

But that's not all.

It may have helped that my son is at the age where he even counts half, and sometimes quarter, birthdays, as in "Hey, Papa, I'm five and quarter today." And that Marielle reminded me that she wouldn't be here for my birthday (she's on tour with the band in eastern BC).

Whatever it is, I have been thinking about this day quite a bit for the past week, and you, dear Reader, along with this blog, have fit prominently in my thoughts.

You see, I've been giving thought to the passing of time, and how it is that we mark that passage. The planting and the harvest festivals remind us of the chainging seasons. The holy days help us remember the cycle of faith within the year. The various ceremonies and rituals, such as graduation or marriage, help us know that we have advanced to a new stage in our life journey.

And birthdays can be that point in the year during which we pause and think about that gentle nudge of the clock that keeps moving us forward, ever forward.

They can be the catalyst that makes us stop and ask those questions: What has happened over the past year? What have I done? What have I accomplished? Am I a better person today than I was last year at this time?

They are the perennial equivalent of that beautiful quote from Baha'u'llah, "Let each morn be better than its eve and each morrow richer than its yesterday." Every year should be an improvement over the past.

Birthdays are also a time of celebration, for many of us. They are the time when we are reminded of the miracle of our birth, and the love of our parents that brought us forth. They give us a hint of the joy of those who have chosen to share their lives with us. As one friend said, it is a time when we are reminded that on the day of our birth, "the angels sang and they blew on their horns and they smiled and they raised up their hands".

And they did this for each and every one of us.

When we pause to celebrate, or even just contemplate, the miracle that brought us here, we are confronted, once more, with the magnificence of our own creation. We are "the noblest and most perfect of all created things".


But, as one of my favorite authors once said, "With great power comes great responsiblity." (Yeah, Stan Lee of Spiderman fame.)

'Abdu'l-Baha said that children have within them the potential to cast the brightest of lights upon the planet, or the darkest of shadows.

And so this year, I ask myself what have I done to bring more light into the world this past year?

Last year, at this time, my writing had stalled, and I was trying to figure out how to capture the voice of one of the characters in my book. A couple of weeks later I gave up, knowing that I needed to put it down for a bit. Then I went to that fateful meeting in Regina and was asked, as part of the group, how I had started my children's class. Thus was born this blog.

Now, over 200 posts later, I find myself continually searching for more ideas to share. My reading has shifted from mostly fiction to mostly inspirational. I am looking at the Baha'i Writings more and more, searching for obscure passages to try and unravel. I am more involved with children's classes than ever. And I am sharing spiritual thoughts in more and more conversations.

And I am writing even more than ever. I even found the voice for that character. Now I just need the time to finish my book.

I recently went to the library and noticed that they had organized their shelves differently from any other library I had ever seen. They didn't have sections like "biography" or "mystery". There was no "fiction" or "history". Instead, they had sections like "fun and quirky".

Which is where I found "The Year of Living Biblically". And this, too, has prompted my annual reflection on my life. You see, in this book, A J Jacobs has decided to spend a year trying to be as obedient to all the laws in the Bible as he can. During the first month or two, he is a staunch agnostic who has trouble with the whole idea of prayer. He is cynical and self-centred, and is wondering if the year ahead of him will change his approach to life and faith.

By the sixth month, you can see the change. He is often compelled by the idea of God, and is much more comfortable with prayer. There are times when he "finds refuge in prayer".

By the end of the book, he is still the same person, but much more spiritual, much deeper, and more aware of the world around him. He has had insights and disappointments, challenges and triumphs.

And in his story, I can see a mirror of my own. If I had known how writing this blog would change me over the past year, I have to wonder if I would have done it. Well, I mean, of course, I would, but would I have embarked on this journey had I known how tough it would be to maintain?

Way back when I first started writing this, a friend of mine from Europe e-mailed me and said that I had set myself up for "quite the challenge". (And then he stopped following this blog. Hmm.)

But today? Today I think I will walk down to the beach and watch the waves. I have been so busy trying to finish certain tasks over the past few weeks that I think I have forgotten about what is important.

And what is important? Well, dear Reader, you are. And my son, my wife and my whole family. And all my friends, new and old. As well as myself.

Today is my birthday, and I think I will celebrate by watching the waves.

Recent Days

There were so many things I wanted to write about over the last few days, but time just has not allowed me. Well, I can't really blame time. I'm sure it's just my own inability to manage my time all that well. But then again, maybe I can shift the blame. After all, who really knows what time is? A web connecting disparate moments together, allowing them to be perceived as a continuous stream?

Yup. That sounds good. "It's the web's fault." Hmm. Maybe not. It sounds like one of Spidey's problems, or like I've been playing computer games on the net all day.

No, the last few days have been filled with more attempts at getting into a rhythm of life here on the island. Oh, and watching nature, which is part of that rhythm of life. (I've seen many new types of birds that I've never seen before. Yesterday, I was sitting on the front step, munching on a bag of carrots, watching a jay, when 3 of the local deer came up and politely asked if they, too, could munch on the carrots with me. It was really cool. One of them even came up within a foot of me. We could smell each other's breath, as the Maori would say.)

Today, I'm off to Sydney. (BC, not Australia.) I have to talk to a couple of stores up there, and I'm also giving a friend of mine a ride to the ferry, so she can get to Vancouver and catch a cheap flight to LA.

And that has gotten me thinking. It's amazing what simple things in life can get you thinking about the Faith when you're always looking for things to write about.

I have flown from the Island to Vancouver, and I have taken the ferry. Both are so beautiful, but very different.

With the ferry, you have to wait a couple of minutes in line (whether you're in the car or on foot), and then you get a nice, enjoyable 90 minute boat ride, amidst gorgeous islands. If you're lucky, you get to watch the otters and the whales and the seals, and all sorts of nature things.

If you're in a hurry, though, you can always fly. The trip is only about 20 minutes.

Oh, but then you need to stand in line and get through security, not to mention park and get a cab at the other end. So let's see: 20 minute flight, plus you have to get there an hour early, so add another 60 minutes. Then you need to wait for your luggage, which is usually another 20 minutes or so. Plus you need to get a ride from the airport to wherever you're going (you don't need to do that with the ferry if you take your car).

Hmm. It looks like the ferry is now faster.

And why is that? Because of the fear involved in flying. Oh, not the fear OF flying, but the fear of terrorism that surrounds flying these days.

I find it interesting that our fears have made, in this one case, life more enjoyable. If I am in a hurry to get to Vancouver, I can travel faster and cheaper in a more enjoyable way. All thanks to fear.

A few years ago I had the bounty and pleasure of speaking at a university on the subject of fear and security in a post-911 world. The main theme was the idea that the fear of God leads to wisdom (quoted in all the various sacred texts I could find), and that when we fear God, we will fear nothing else (the second half of the quote in all the various sacred texts). During this talk, I was quick to point out that fear, as it is defined in the dictionary, is not the same as terror. You can kind of see fear as the low point of a scale that goes up to paralyzing terror at the far end. Fear is more like a reverential awe.

When you begin to look at the world, and the universe as a whole, and all of time... Well, you become a bit disoriented. At least, I do. I mean, think about it. What will I do in my life that will be remembered in a few years? How about in a hundred years? A thousand? Six billion? This is ridiculous. I am so inconsequential, it is not even funny.

And so when God sends down a Messenger, I pay attention.

But back to the subject at hand. The other point of the talk was that we can never really be secure. Oh sure, we can put on our seatbelts, or walk through the metal detector, or even take our vitamins every day, but that does not prevent a meteor from falling on our head. Nor does it mean that I should walk around under a metal umbrella just in case I end up being the third person in recorded history to be hit by a meteor.

No. It is fine to take sensible precautions, but we still need to enjoy life. We need to take the time to look at the beauty of the world around us, and find those few moments to simply breathe.

This is why I am so glad that my friend took the ferry this morning when she just as easily could have taken the plane.

Besides, it gave me something simple to write about.