Category Archives: Matters of Faith

Greater Things

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 19, 2024- The full moon rose this evening, known as the Sturgeon Moon, as mid-August was traditionally the time when the sturgeon of the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, Lake of the Woods and Lake Nipigon were at their most prolific. Mid-August has ever been an auspicious time.

2024 has been one long, auspicious ride, and I still sense we have a long way to go. This evening, I was asked to take on a position in our Faith community that, fortunately, may be successfully carried out by electronic communication. It will challenge me to make sure that I am able to readily communicate with my fellows in Faith, in Homebase I, with the Regional Baha’i Council for our five-state region and with the Baha’i National Center, outside Chicago-no matter where else I may be called to serve on a temporary basis.

It can be done, I have concluded, after have an hour to contemplate whilst hosting a Spiritual Feast, this evening. We, individually and collectively, are being called to achieve greater things.

There is an old Irish proverb which goes, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” We’ve heard that, in modern times, from the likes of Henry Ford and Tony Robbins-and it holds water. Maybe that’s why I have been at my worst when I’ve sat around and wallowed in the mud of stagnation and worn-out routine. I suspect that I am far from alone, in that regard.

The next three weeks will feature a lot of activity close to HB I, but it will be far from routine. Then will come the striking of a balance between maintaining ties, as described above, and service activities in the Philippines. This is only the beginning of such situations, with rapid change, including a fair amount of transitions of all kinds going on in the background.

Many of us may find ourselves being called to adjust our thinking, our practices and our daily routines, as we approach the height of the Solar Maximum, in early to mid-2025. Earth and its creatures, including mankind, are far from being unaffected by what goes on, in and around the Sun. Let’s keep that in mind, as we continue to rise to the challenges posed by unusual climatic events and by the evolving of our human society.

No matter what one is called to do, a way can be found to achieve it.

Musings on A Simple Sunday

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 18, 2024- The gentleman spoke from the porch of the house where he’s lived for almost forty years: “Sure was a beautiful sunset! Did you get to see it?” I replied that I did, and from the nearby ridge that is the top of Acker Hill, sunsets are a common treasure. The small group of residents at the park’s edge, on South Virginia Street have one of the prime comforts, seeing every sunset that cares to show itself. We, their near neighbours, can get our steps in and take in the glory from one of four benches up above.

While I was speaking to the neighbour on the porch, a young woman skirted the sidewalk. I knew I certainly wasn’t going to harm her, but maybe she’s had bad experiences in the past. A few minutes later, a couple approached on the sidewalk, one street over. I do not cross the street to avoid people, regardless of their appearance-and certainly not a neatly-dressed, happy pair who were walking along, holding hands. I just made room and wished them a nice evening.

Sundays are generally open-ended now. I spent the afternoon and early evening helping a friend get through a Baha’i study. To do that, I had to decline two other requests, but such is life, when one event is scheduled, a second is planned shortly afterward and a third is an eleventh hour request, due to the need for a replacement. I most often stick to the first event, and so it was today.

Be A Tiger

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Fiction, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 16, 2024- Joseph Campbell, in his 2003 book, Myths of Light, ends his discourse on Eastern religions and thought with the story of “The Tigers and the Goats”. It seems that a pregnant tiger was out seeking food, for herself and her baby. She came upon a herd of goats. Charging and pouncing too hard, she landed roughly, laboured and gave birth, then died.

The goats took pity upon the helpless tiger cub, raised him as one of their own, teaching him to eat grass and bleat. He had no idea there was any difference between him and the goats, though he felt a discomfort. One day, a male tiger came along and charged at the goats, roaring and snarling. The genuine goats scattered, while the tiger-goat stood facing his larger nemesis.

The wise older cat listened, as the tiger-goat explained that he was a grass-eater, a goat. The grown tiger took the juvenile by the neck, led him to a pond and showed him his true likeness. Then he brought his new apprentice to his den, where other tigers were reveling in eating a gazelle they had killed. The young tiger struggled with the meat, but something inside him felt right, and he stayed with the group, learning to seize his true nature.

Each of us should be our true selves. A frugal person, who treasures conserving the best of tradition, cannot pass as a spendthrift or as a free-spirited innovator, without feeling that something is off. Likewise, an innovator, a progressive, fools no one by demanding that tradition be maintained, at all costs. Each can, and hopefully will endeavour to, see the value in what the other is doing, and work to find common ground.

The introvert needs time alone. The extrovert craves company and an expanded network. Most others, like myself, toggle between the two states of being, as ambiverts. Society needs all three personality types.

This is the balance, rooted in the love that was imbued in us by the Divine. We will ever have the process of reaching out, expanding and welcoming more to our circle, then taking time to consolidate and absorb the best of that expansion into our systems.

If you are a tiger, be fierce. If you are an ox, be taurine. If you are a goat, graze peacefully. There is space for all.

The Iron Circle

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 12, 2024- His words were unequivocal: “Excuse me, who said it was okay for you to go to the Philippines?” Since this came out of left field, so to speak, and from someone who professes belief in the Oneness of Mankind, I was rather taken aback. Maybe he thought I was moving there for good, or something of that order. Regardless, what I do is not, and never will be, his call. As grateful as I am for the services he has rendered, for a good many years, managing my affairs does not fall among them. (Clarity: The individual is not an officer of any government agency.)

I love a great many people, in this state, across the country and around the world. When it comes to making decisions about my path, however, any consultation is with my son and daughter-in-law, my siblings and their spouses, maybe an aunt or two, a few cousins, four Baha’i friends in the Prescott area (three women and one man), three other women friends here, and three or four other friends around the country. I run things by my dear friend, K, but neither she nor any of the others is under any obligation to answer at a moment’s notice. In each instance, moreover, the answer I get from any of them is not tailored to what they think I want to hear, and that is so much for the better.

The above are my Iron Circle. It is from them, and the inklings I get from my spirit guides, that I base my final course of action. I do not need permission from any random “authority figure”, to go anywhere or do anything. My son and my siblings are the closest, then the others I mentioned. Anyone else is free to disagree with a course of action, but they are not free to exert control. That is the purview of the government alone.

On my way back up to Home Base I, I stopped at Penny’s grave. I got the same answer- “It’s not his call. You know what you have to do; go do it!”

The Iron Circle remains tight, and I am not afraid to cry power.

Practice Noble Things

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Entertainment, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 11, 2024, Phoenix- This was the opening sentiment, expressed as a chant, by a devotional singer, as our second day of study of a document on bringing our Baha’i communities’ actions into sync with the true needs of society unfolded.

My main task, this morning, was to take notes for a breakout session, so I determined to be a lot more careful in my printing and to use the cursive writing that was instilled in me by Mom, at a very young age. Practice noble things.

My dear friend, across the ocean, told me of concerns she has. Her troubles are my troubles, so I will do what I can to bring resolution to those that I can, and find help for the things that are beyond my capacity. Practice noble things.

At the end of the gathering, several of us joined the volunteer kitchen staff and made sure the food was stored or prepared for distribution to the unhoused, the coffee and tea were dumped and the vessels cleaned and that the chairs were properly put back. Practice noble things.

Once back in Home Base I, tomorrow and for the next four weeks, there will be activities that will bring to bear a determination to- Practice noble things.

Small and large; commonplace and novel; with friends, family and all those extended kin that we call acquaintances and strangers-Practice noble things.

Scottsdale Flow

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 10, 2024, Chandler, AZ- The flow in question was one of ideas. A group of us discussed the various ways in which the Teachings of Baha’u’llah fit into addressing the needs of any given society. We are gathered in this two-day symposium, not to offer piecemeal, or even easy, solutions, to the problems plaguing mankind.

Our take is more holistic, and generally distributes power and resources more evenly, though with things like money and property, even distribution needs to be arranged voluntarily. Grabbing the wealth of a person or family creates other problems-mostly related to the party from whom the wealth was taken, turning around and seeking vengeance. There is also the matter of the recipient of an easy take not valuing the loot.

Profit sharing, cooperative ownership and unconditional philanthropy work better. Other issues, especially with regard to land rights and environmental protection, need to proceed, but with clear explanations well in advance of the actual procedure being carried out. In all that transpires, Baha’u’llah says “The best beloved in My sight is Justice”. That process recognizes that the wealthy, the traditionalist and the conservative-even the reactionary, is as much a child of the Divine as the impoverished one, the change-agent and the progressive-and vice versa. Either one, or both, can be in the wrong, if there is not good-faith acknowledgement of the opposite number’s valid points and a willingness to recognize and accept where one might be in error. The key lies in the balance.

The gist of Baha’u’llah’s Teachings it that all are equal in the sight of God and that each individual is responsible for own spiritual search, and growth. Those factors, alone, when more widely accepted, will lead to a climate of fairness, self-responsibility and personal agency. These are all requisite to the peaceful world we all claim to cherish.

The Raven Head Cloud

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 9, 2024- It placed, almost majestically, peaking out from a bank of stratocumulus this evening, as I drove towards Home Base I, after a visit to Rafter Eleven. Clouds that seem to rise out of others or to rest upon them, are essentially floating on air currents, the way people and animals can float on a large body of water. The Raven Head had a dark, cumulonimbus colour, while the cloud bank, as stated, was stratocumulus.

Ravens are a symbol of connection between material and spiritual, and are somewhat revered by those of us who appreciate intelligent animals with strong recall abilities. The Raven is also the name of one of our most popular live music locations, here in Prescott. So, I took the sight as a sign that the next few days will be safe and productive, as well as spiritually sound. That is well and good, as I will be headed to Scottsdale, early tomorrow morning and could use a problem-free I-17, as far as New River, where I could take a shortcut over to Scottsdale Baha’i Center.

Today was a good day for organizing thoughts and papers, in advance of tomorrow’s facilitation of a breakout session that is centered on advanced applications of spiritual knowledge to social issues. That is not as daunting as it sounds, and we only have 2 sessions of 90-minutes each. Thus, we will be just scratching the surface, as a raven scratches the surface of the soil, looking for hidden nuggets of carrion, or other sustenance.

I was encouraged by the signs that a friend here is recovering from a serious bout of illness. It was also a good day for me, exercise-wise. The local raven quoth “Evermore”. I enjoy being positive.

Eights and Aces

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, distraction issues, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 8, 2024- The number eight was in serial mode, in a few places today. I went off towards breakfast at 8:18 and this evening, when I pulled out of the carport, the odometer read 808080. Of course, this is the eighth day of the eighth month and the digits of 2024 add up to the number 8. It is a lucky, powerful number-except for Wild Bill Hickok, when he held that infamous hand.

Eight requires its holder to take informed action, which may have been why Sheriff Hickok took a bullet, as he allegedly was sitting with his back to the saloon door. Awareness of surroundings, now, as then, is the only way one can confidently move forward-whether on one’s feet, or sitting.

For me, today was a day to set a definite agenda for the final 4.5 months of 2024, knowing that the biggest item on the list will very likely have implications for the rest of my earthly life. Every atom of the Universe seems to be telling me to head for the Philippines next month, with full confidence. The last time I got such a strong message, I found myself alongside the woman who helped me get rid of a fair amount of personal baggage and embrace the Faith of Baha’ullah.

So the rest of August will see several faith-based gatherings, medical check-ups, Tagalog lessons (online) and a renewed fitness push. September and October will start and end with service activities here at HB I, but will mostly be across the Pacific, with similar service activities and building friendships. November and December will find me back in Arizona, with the focus largely dependent on what happens across the ocean.

I know one thing: The right thing will happen. I will be in a good place, come January 1, 2025. I will not sit with my back to the door, gamble or no gamble.

Sheets of Water and A Praying Angel

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 7, 2024- The line of cars on the side of the road started on I-17, a half-mile before the exit ramp. It continued along the exit ramp, then stretched for about three-quarters of a mile on Highway 169. The rain was that intense.

I briefly pulled off and joined them, using the time to check my phone messages. after ten minutes, the rain let up enough so that several of us could see ahead and so continued our drives towards Prescott. In the sky, at the junction of Highways 69 and 169, we could see a cloud that resembled a praying angel, superimposed on the sheet of nimbostratus that stretched ten miles westward and off to the south.

Several people on social media have covered cloud art very well. I like to think that there is something spiritual about how clouds can be seen as reflecting phenomena, or emotions. I have yet to see a heart-shaped cloud, but others have seen them. This is the first time I’ve seen what appears to be a supernatural being. I also spotted a heart-shaped drop of coffee, on the table at breakfast, this morning, but I probably put it there.

Still, these phenomena, especially the hearts, indicate to me that the day will pass in a safe and interesting manner. All I have to do is…. everything else: Pay attention to my surroundings, treat people well and respond in an effective, measured way to those who don’t, and tend to my responsibilities. The praying angel appeared just as the rain was letting up, and I drove the rest of the way back to Home Base I, before the westward moving cloud caught up with me.

It was a decent little visit to the Reservations, though I saw few of those who I had wanted to see, but it’s a workday, and it is gratifying that people have jobs to tend to. When I lived up there, many more were unemployed than now. I placed flower vases on two grave sites, just not the ones I had originally intended. The right thing always happens, though, when life is approached with unconditional love.

Fierce

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 6, 2024, Holbrook, AZ- The little girl peeked out, from behind the screen door, as I was speaking with her grandmother, on the family’s porch. She quickly figured I was no threat and came outside smiling, with a hint of mischief on her face. Her t-shirt said “Fierce”, and that is how I remember her mother, who is away on personal business, when she was a child. The present child began to emulate a tiger kitten and paw at the air, with a mini-hiss. In time, and with her family’s continued guidance, she will be fierce-in a good way, the way her mother, at her best, has been.

This was a day spent under a sometimes ferocious sun, looking for gravesites that were not catalogued or mapped-and dependent only on the memory of a mutual friend to me and the decedents. In the end, I did not find either resting place, leaving one flower vase at the lonely, unattended grave of a combat veteran (Afghanistan, 2015) and keeping the other for placement tomorrow, at the tomb of a friend who died nearly forty years ago. It was hot and dusty, at both cemeteries, and I noted both well-kept, love-saturated gravesites and untended, often unmarked, plots, often next to one another. Wind and wild animals have taken their tolls.

I see ferocity as something that is rising, in the life of the world-both good (self-affirmation and love for others) and ill (self-aggrandizement and disdain for those who are different). I see once good-hearted and loving people turn sour and hateful, and I wonder what happened in their lives to make bitterness so appealing. My own life has had its share of trouble an disappointment- but much of that came from my own doing, and the part that wasn’t my fault was shared with a good many other people. I am fortunate to have been raised by sensible and loving parents, in a large extended family and in a close-knot neighbourhood, where any given child was “raised by the village”.

I drove across the Navajo and Hopi Reservations, as the ferocious sun was supplanted by monsoon rain. It was raining, as I left the second cemetery, stopped by the house mentioned above and while I stopped for dinner, at Keams Canyon Cafe, where I had many a meal during my residence in the area, in the mid and late ’90s. It was raining again, when I got here to the Motel 6, chosen after I noted that Keams Canyon Motel had been razed, since I was there last.

The world is fierce, in nature and in everyday life. Let us be equal in ferocity, in the best sense of that word.

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