Category Archives: Spiritual

Yes, It Matters

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

April 22,2020-

In the midst of confusion,

in the heart of despair,

I hear you say

“This nonsense about all lives matter

is not how we live”.

You spoke differently,

apparently indifferently,

when others said

“Black Lives Matter”.

Then, you said,

ALL lives Matter!!”

Friend, life matters.

It matters, because

God gave it to all

His creatures.

It matters, because

each form of life

has purpose.

Each form of life

serves its Creator.

Humans, without respect

to colour, gender, status,

stature, age,

level of cognition,

level of hormonal balance,

progress on the Spiritual Path,

progress on the path of knowledge,

progress on the path of gestation,

are the highest form of material being,

ever to live on Planet Earth.

It is always wrong for individuals

to kill one another,

whether in the name of vengeance,

or in the name of fear,

or in the name of science.

It is always wrong for individuals

to diminish one another,

whether in the name of superiority,

or in the name of  possession,

or in the name of  revulsion.

Killing, diminution,

are the province of God,

for only He knows the hearts

of His children.

Only He has complete

knowledge of True Justice.

There was a time

when my maternal grandfather,

in the heat of frustration,

threw up his hands

and said he was through

with anyone who was

spending their days

lazing about.

Papa was no teacher

or counselor,

though he taught,

and listened to,

his children.

He was a shoemaker,

a gardener,

and tireless in his labours.

Genetics passed his ethic on,

to twenty-nine grandchildren,

whom he never knew,

in his brief earthly life.

He watches us yet,

and makes his lessons,

his regrets,

his triumphs,

known to me

through dreams

through waking visions.

He tells me

that all life

matters,

more than

the living realize;

more than many

even want to know.

In the midst of confusion,

in the heart of despair,

God’s love for us all

glimmers,

through the fog

and through the clouds,

just as Christ foretold.

 

 

Surprises

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

April 21, 2020-

Today,

the second day of Ridvan,

produced these:

I experienced a higher

than usual

level of energy

and positivity,

upon rising,

this morning;

A video,

not made by a Baha’i,

which affirms several

basic teachings

of Baha’u’llah,

regarding the future

of humanity;

I had an easier time

doing the exercises

in my online yoga class;

It rained, a fair amount,

this morning and afternoon,

despite a forecast of sunshine.

I was able to complete

the first module

of an online course in

Humanitarian Assistance.

(I am, at the age of 69, unlikely to be called to serve in any real capacity, by humanitarian agencies, but it helps to gain this perspective, in case of any unforeseen emergencies, even in this country.)

 

 

 

Paradise and Change

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

April 20, 2020-

As I bid farewell to my Baha’i friends, after the Zoom call that commemorated the First Day of Ridvan, I found a message, essentially telling me I was part of a greater problem, for having attended the Holy Day observance.

Ridvan is Persian for “paradise”.  The Garden of Ridvan was a salubrious place, just outside Baghdad.  In 1863, Baha’u’llah and His family were preparing to obey the edict of the Ottoman Empire’s Sultan, and depart Baghdad for Constantinople (Istanbul).  They camped in Ridvan Garden for twelve days, April 21-May 2. As we use a lunar calendar, called the Badi Calendar, to reckon our Holy Days, the actual dates may fluctuate, as they have this year. So, today is the Festival’s first day and May 1, the twelfth day.  In between, there is a commemoration of the ninth day, during which Baha’u’llah revealed His Station, as Messenger of God, to His family and camp followers. We Baha’is commemorate all three days, as sacred.

No one who knows me really thinks I sit around and am content to merely observe ritual or tradition.  At the same time, observing special occasions with friends is NOT wrong, nor is it wasteful.  There are those, however, who feel it their duty to savage people, for whatever reason they have cooked up in their minds.  My inclination is to not let their diatribes turn me aside from what I know to be my spiritual path.  One of my spiritual advisers urges me to stay on my path, and I’m sure that. were I to consult the others, they would agree.

There will, no doubt, be many changes coming our way, in the immediate future and throughout this decade.  The 24/7 nature of our news and communications have many people in an uproar. Some will make risky choices and suffer for them, possibly taking others down with them.  Others will want to make choices FOR others, offering to take control of many lives-“in the name of scientific progress”.   I will, as I’ve said recently, make my own choices and they will take both my needs, and those of the multitude whom I love, into consideration.  For that matter, I will consider the safety and well-being of those who attack me, as well.  God created them, too, even if they don’t see it.

This has been a year of meticulously taking one day at a time-and it will continue as such, well after COVID19 has subsided.

My Four Tent Posts, and Center

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

April 18, 2020-

Today would have been the start of Earth Week, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day One.  As it happened, I spent quality time (2 hours) watching and listening to young people talking about their concerns regarding Mother Earth.  Few are really blaming all of the mess on the human race, but each made the point that we are not blameless, nor are we powerless, in the face of the climate challenge. Youth groups and the Farmers’ Market are my anchors, in this Center that is my Home Base.

There are also four spiritual posts, one in each direction, that help me stay centered, and which have connections to one another, and to the Center.

East– The Baha’i Faith originated in Iran, spread gradually in all directions, and is now found in nearly every nation on Earth, with its World Centre being in Haifa, Israel. The Teachings of Baha’u’llah have confirmed my lifelong conviction that there is only one Race,the Human Race, and that all religious teachings emanate from One Creator.   This eastern spiritual post has led me to the others.  http://www.bahai.org

South– Elizabeth Peru is based in Adelaide, South Australia.  I was drawn to her website, was introduced to her daily guided meditations and insights into the interaction between Earth and all other elements of the Cosmos.  These meditations and observations both affirm and enrich my own.  The southern spiritual post affirms my connectedness with all living beings.  http://www.elizabethperu.com

West– Earth Rising, based in San Francisco, also focuses on the connectedness of all beings on the planet and in the innate spirituality of mankind.  I was drawn to this site, through other Baha’i friends on social media.  It’s a private group on Facebook, yet I feel abundantly welcome, and affirmed here.  I join in regular digital conferencing of this group and its affiliate, Gaia Calling.  New members are welcomed, through Earth Rising’s Facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1039631319395983/

North– Chief Phil Lane is a longtime Baha’i friend and well-deepened Lakota spiritual guide.  His Four Worlds International Institute, in the Vancouver area of British Columbia, is in many ways a North Star.  I have deep genetic memory of being connected to First Nations people, especially those of the eastern woodlands.  Four Worlds has graciously welcomed me into its fold, with regular digital conferencing, for the time being. http://www.fwii.net

In the midst of the current turmoil, I have increasingly felt the need for these four posts, and for my center.  There is, I feel, a new society rising out of all that is happening, and all that remains to happen, in the foreseeable future.  Those who live their truth have little cause for alarm.

Views from A Deep Place

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

April 16, 2020-

The young girl read her poem  She thanked Coronvirusdisease2019, for bringing things to a halt, for making us take notice of one another and for showing us that we need to use our time more wisely.

I joined a Zoom call this morning, with people from Jordan to New Zealand, from Bolivia to Alaska, joining together in prayer, and a short series of Talking Circles, organized by the Four Worlds International Institute, a spiritual connectedness center, run by First Nations people, in Surrey, BC-south of Vancouver.

Most of the time was spent in prayer and thoughtful remarks.  The young girl and her father, Bedouins from Jordan, offered very cogent remarks about the state of the planet and fervent prayers for all humanity to recover fully, from the current crisis. They were followed, not long after, by an Israeli Jew, singing a prayer in Hebrew.

This session lasted two hours, and will be followed, on a daily basis, by a Mayan gentleman, offering  a prayer at sunrise.  It will be followed, on a weekly basis, each Thursday until May 21, by a similar prayers and Talking Circle format.

A Talking Circle, for those not familiar with it, is a small group of people talking from their hearts, one at a time.  Customarily, a Talking Stick is held by the person whose turn it is to speak.  No one else may speak until that person finishes.  A person may not have a second turn holding the stick, until everyone in the circle has had a chance to speak-though one with nothing to share may pass the stick to the next person.

In the current, digital format, the unmute button serves as Talking Stick. Everyone remains muted, except the person whose turn it is to speak.  Six of us, three from Arizona and others from as far away as Norway and Fiji, spoke briefly in introduction to one another.  I am sure the conversations will become deeper, as the weeks progress.

This sort of discourse will be where the ideas for spiritual regeneration come.

Point of the Arrow, Tip of the Spear

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Posted by on in collaborating, distraction issues, impediments, Personal Values, Spiritual, Striving

April 13-

My most cherished action figures in the entertainment world have been archers.  Their pursuit of quarry entails perfect accuracy.  The arrow and its manually-propelled cousin, the spear, must land on point, in order to be effective.  So must it be with those seeking justice.

In a matter that has drawn the attention of some who are investigating sex trafficking in  this country and in other parts of the world, an unsettled man has chosen a delicate moment to renew charges of cannibalism in the U.S. food supply, charges which were raised, and swiftly debunked, in 2014.  This is, simply put, a time when many have raw nerves.  Many want to believe the most lurid of charges, perhaps as a salve to their more concrete insecurities.

Baha’u’llah teaches us to investigate truth independently.  This is hard for human beings, especially those who crave approval.  It is hard for others, in a different way.  People who see things through a different lens than most, also need to have at least SOME others take their views seriously.  So, we see those who view life as to be lived independently, without a group determining what goes and what doesn’t, finding high crimes and misdemeanours as being committed exclusively by liberals and progressives.  Those who believe that life needs to be lived collectively, see conservatives and reactionaries as the villains.

What actually seems to be the case is that there are heroes, and villains, on both sides of the aisle.  Rather than ideology tripping up an individual, it is one’s view of self that brings a person down.  There are elitists and miscreants, galore, all along the political spectrum.  No ideology is a guarantor of sainthood.

My own view, such as it has evolved over the years, is that justice needs to not so much be blind, as to be laser-focused.  There are conspiracy tales afloat that have turned out to be true, debunkers who are fraudulent and vice versa.  Much in the mainstream is verifiable; other parts of it are sheep fodder.  Some of what seems insipid balderdash, turns out, upon closer examination, to merit a closer look.

In the past two weeks, I have listened to claims that, six months ago, I’d have dismissed out of hand. The Epstein affair changed a lot of how I view such matters, though there is still a smell test that needs passing.  The most odious behviour in the world is the sexual abuse of children and teenagers.  Close behind is sexual abuse, in general, followed by the practice that engineers both:  Human trafficking.

All three merit the most intense and unrelenting investigation and prosecution.  All three have no one, amongst their perpetrators, who is above the law.  The point of the arrow and the tip of the spear should find their way to any deserving target. ( I mean this figuratively, of course. As tempting as it is to put pedophiles and sex traffickers out of their misery, we must maintain the rule of law.)

He Is Risen, and Now It’s Our Turn

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

April 12, 2020-

When Jesus the Christ was slain on the cross, He did not give up the ghost and simply resurrect Himself, on the third day after His demise.  More importantly, He rekindled the Faith of His disciples and sent them forth to spread His Teachings, which alone were able to redirect a distracted and frightened world, as the Roman Empire was starting to witness the seeds of its hubris grow into the trees of destruction.

Millions around the world take solace, each Spring/Fall, in the knowledge that we are never left alone, by our Creator.  Buddhists have recently commemorated the Birth of Gautama Siddhartha.  For Jews, this comfort comes with Pesach(Passover).  Christians find it in today’s observance of Resurrection Sunday and next Sunday’s Pascha, the Day of Resurrection observed by Orthodox Christians. Muslims will begin Ramadan at the end of this month.  We Baha’is will observe Ridvan, the twelve day festival, commemorating Baha’u’llah’s first proclamation of His Station, from April 20-May 1, the time when He and His family were preparing for  exile from Baghdad to Istanbul (then still called Constantinople).

This sacred time, if we see with open eyes and hearts, blesses humanity, and our earthly home, as a whole.  Naturists and animists recognize the Divine Presence that comes around the time of the Vernal Equinox and which revisits us, in Autumn.  Thus has the Resurrection of Christ had implications for all humanity, from the day of its occurrence on forward.  God has blessed us with bounty and fertility, which are apparent to all who see with unclouded eyes.

It is now our turn to resurrect all that is sacred about life on Earth:  Compassion, listening with both ear and heart, a collective consciousness and plan of action, a workable and universal plan for distribution of the Earth’s bounty-so that none feel useless, starve or go without a measure of comfort. These cannot be accomplished from the top down, as some have suggested. Things which are forced on people, breed resentment and a desire for vengeance.  This is something that both “high” and “low” alike need to bear in mind.  It is essential that neither greed, nor a false sense of superiority, motivate the former.  It is also needful that neither envy nor despair compel the latter to act in ways that will bring everyone down further.  We need look no further than the French Revolution, or the rise and fall of the totalitarians of mid-20th Century Europe and Japan, to draw the necessary lessons.

Our resurrection, and that of Earth itself, will require heartfelt movement from both top and bottom.

A blessed season to all!

The Long and the Short of It

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 11, 2020-

There are an ebb and a flow of sentiments about the current state of affairs on our shared planet.  People I  respect and admire are basing their decisions about what should happen in their jurisdictions on what is happening on the ground-and on what their local health care advisers are seeing as projected peaks of infection and hospitalization, in those jurisdcitions.  For some, who acted early, there may be cause to gradually ease restrictions.  For others, who have proceeded with extreme caution, owing to concerns about constitutional rights, there is a slow move towards amping up restrictions.

In the short term, I will remain in place, not traveling out of my Quad Cities (Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt) area, and within it only to tend to such matters as basic purchases, some support of local restaurants and deliveries to needy families.  This, I see as necessary until at least May 31.  Others may be so stir crazy, that they break out and start moving around, after the end of April, but that’s their choice, not mine.

Longer term, I will be evaluating my choices, based on how things are on the ground, at the time.  I don’t plan on caving to any sort of pressure-whether to jump back into the old routines, as if nothing ever happened or to “get vaccinated, or else be confined to home, in perpetuity”.  This last is coming from those who have a lot to gain, financially, from a heavy schedule of vaccination (which MAY well contain such lovely elements as mercury, lead and arsenic).  There is also mention, from these same people, of the desirability of microchipping the citizenry, but that’s a fight that will be waged another day.  Any vaccination to which I agree will be safe, and limited in series.

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but neither am I a sheep.  In the days ahead, each of us will find ourselves more responsible than ever, in determining the course of our own lives.  Every premise on which our modern lives have been based, at least since the end of World War II, is now coming into question.  Some of our institutions will survive; others will not.  How well we arise and work together, regardless of ideology, creed or social status, will determine the long game’s outcome.

Pointing The Way

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Posted by on in Community, Matters of Faith, Social, Spiritual

April 10,2020-

“God works in mysterious ways.”  “Nothing happens until something moves”.  “_____________died for your sins.”

Today is Good Friday, the “good” part was explained to me, when I was a child, as being due to the sacrifice made by Jesus the Christ on that day; a sacrifice that showed God’s love for mankind and gave the human race another lease on the life of the spirit.  There is a great case to be made for the poswer of atonement.  For Christians, and all those who came after them-Muslims, Sikhs and Baha’is, that atonement includes recognizing the Divine Nature of Jesus.

I will not go into theology any further, here.  The most meaningful aspect of Good Friday, for me as a Baha’i, is that it serves as an ever present example, and presently the most universally well-known example, of God showing each of us how to face a situation of supreme, and supremely unjust, deprivation and suffering, and then turn it around to shower love upon all-even those who perpetrated the injustice.  It is God telling all men-“Even when you hurt Me, My love for you is undiminished.”

The life stories of all Messengers of God contain persistent and often misunderstood, elements of intense personal suffering.  The Passion of the Christ is the best known of these, and it’s well that His Crucifixion and Death serve to remind us of the supremacy of  the Creator’s eternal Love.  That Love would be further demonstrated,  three days later.

Open Letter to the Elites

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 9, 2020-

Dear souls:

I recently watched the final episode for Season 2, of a science fiction television series, called “Manifest”.  In one of the climactic scenes, a low-level physician confronts a senior intelligence operative, about her duty to share knowledge with those underneath her.  The operative haughtily refers to the doctor as “Little Girl”, and says that, as she is responsible for protecting the nation, such as the doctor are as “insects beneath my shoe”.

It is a cliche, but still true:  “With great power, comes great responsibility”.  We also see that with great power, comes great arrogance.  Common people, whether ruled by those of liberal philosophy or conservative philosophy, are historically seen as nuisances, especially when such commoners speak their peace.

This is as true in self-styled democracies and republics, as in monarchies or dictatorships.  I witnessed the arrogance of power, first hand, in July, 2007, when Federal agents, in three instances, browbeat ordinary citizens going about their business. One of these was my wheelchair-bound wife, ordered out of the area of an overhang, in the midst of a torrential downpour.  We made it to another, more-welcoming shelter, as is often the case, when functionaries overly assert their power-and the citizen must decide to protest or improvise.

I mention these matters, as now we are witnessing the idea phase of the Coronavirusdisease2019 health crisis.  Vaccines are being actively touted, and these could be as simple as the vaccines of the 1950’s-70’s, or as problematic as the heavy metals-laden cocktails of the past three decades.  The latter brings in the most revenue, of course, and so we see entrpreneurs, investors, with scant medical expertise, in the forefront of the research funding.  We also see medical professionals, some of whom are among your number, stating that we ought to prepare to shelter in place until the vaccines are ready for mass distribution-possibly as late as October, 2021.

We see some of the same entrepreneurs calling for microchipping of human beings-a cause celebre of those who wish to control the masses.  Finally, there is a push for 5th Generation (5G) technology, in the communications industry.  This last is deemed essential, for speeding up said communication.

May I ask: Why do we need communication sped up any further?  Where is everyone going, especially following the end of the COVID emergency?  To my mind, one of the lessons of this pandemic is that humanity needs to connect more honestly, more civilly and more slowly with one another.  I see also that we need to live far more in harmony with nature, than the robust technologies being spoonfed us will allow.

I sit at the laptop, and can only sit so long, using my highly magnetic computer mouse, before my hand starts tingling. Then, I know to massage that hand, and apply essential oils.  I know, too, that a more powerful cellular device or computer will aggravate my nerves and blood vessels that much further- and I am in good health.  What of those with underlying health issues?

Friends, we are entering an age of greater spiritual awareness and of a greater sense of individual responsibility.  Fewer people, especially among those born after 1980, are going to kowtow to the “experts” or the “elites”, regardless of how you see yourselves.  As Bob Dylan once wrote: “The old world is rapidly fading.  Get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand, for the times, they are a-changing.”  One of the features of that new world will be an increase in questioning decisions proferred from on high.

I look forward to that- and rest assured, I will be among those questioning your pronouncements.

May you choose peace and truth,

Gary