Category Archives: Spiritual

No Infantilization

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual

February 21, 2026- Hana was squalling about a break in the feeding action, until I came downstairs and reminded her, in a calm voice, that being burped was part of the feeding process. She stopped squalling, let herself be burped and went back to feeding.

I know all the warnings given to grandparents about not spoiling their little darlings. As loving as I am to her, though, I will never jive the little girl. Those cautions and that guidance which her parents have in place have my backing as well. I want her to succeed and to enjoy the best that life has to offer. Those things don’t come to someone who throws a fit, and that realization comes with the first sets of delays and procedures that an infant experiences.

I will not infantilize my granddaughter. Her feelings, and her language, when it comes, will be honoured with respect. I will hold her and comfort her as often as she needs; I will not, however, enable her intemperance. Calmly, but firmly, we are checking all reasons for any distress she is exhibiting, and she is most appreciative once the hunger, the gas pains or soiled diaper have been addressed. She already knows, after only two months, that she is being taken seriously by all three of her adults.

I learned a lot from the parents at Dharma Farm, in Paulden, AZ, about not babying infants. That does not mean skimping on nurturing. It means teaching patience, consideration and gentleness, from the time a child can recognize faces and voices. It will also mean being considerate of others, from the time Hana can walk and speak.

I look at the larger situation around our country today and see that there are far too many, even in positions of power, who have been infantilized and pampered, and who have learned to fulminate at critics; manipulating people and situations to their advantage, Whether this has come from a lack of spirituality or from overemphasis on the material side of life, it has laid low any society where people have become numbed to the machinations of the overindulged few.

While I shudder at some of the behaviour of people both in positions of authority and in positions of civic responsibility, I see where it started, and will do my small part to make sure a little girl coming up in the world doesn’t follow poor examples.

Cyclical

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 20, 2026- I heard a few days ago, and read this morning, that with Saturn and Neptune converging astrologically at O degrees Aries, a 6000 year cycle has come to an end and that a new one has begun. Savvier people than I, with regard to astrology, will have a clearer understanding of what that means,in that particular sense.

I do know, though, that there is, and has been, a unifying energy around the planet, released in 1844 by al-Bab and energized even more in 1863, by Baha’ullah. Like most such processes, it has been slow to unfold, even with two world wars, several civil wars in various nations (including the United States), a global economic depression, a global pandemic and various countries choosing to live-for a time-under authoritarian rule. The unity of the human race, however, is sure to be one of the processes that arise out of this new cycle. It cannot be imposed on us. We must choose it for ourselves. Truthfully, though, I don’t see that we have many other options.

It was said, two days ago, that many shopworn institutions will continue to collapse and fade away, with new institutions, more fitting for this day and age, rising up to take their place. We certainly are seeing that-and I am not talking about models of Artificial Intelligence whose main feature is the exacerbation of human greed. I am talking more about grassroots efforts at improving the quality of life-from language preservation activities, to experiments in backyard farming, to co-operative small groups of parents raising children across familial lines,to alliances of countries that are not being organized by one or more “major powers” .

I want to mention that in my own life, another sea change has taken place. Just as in 1981-82, I became a Baha’i. left the Roman Catholic faith, relinquished alcohol dependency and entered into wedlock; as in 1986-92, we left the United States and learned to live in the beautiful land and culture of South Korea, becoming parents to a beautiful little boy; as in 2011, I laid my beloved wife to rest, let go of a house and community in Phoenix and moved to Prescott, traveling widely and also devoting many hours to community service, so now has the call of grandparenthood been answered and a new community become my Home Base.

One cycle ends, indeed, and another begins.

Celebrations, Losses and Growth

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 17, 2026- Hana slept through the night,at least from her midnight feeding to 6:30. when we woke her for her breakfast feeding. She might have slept longer, but was very happy to get breakfast. She is growing at a steady pace and is awake more during the day, alternating between our developmental activities with her and gazing up at a revolving mobile, talking to the animals in her soft voice-which gets loud when she needs something from us.

Today was a day of two celebrations: Mardi Gras and Lunar New Year (The Year of the Fire Horse begins today,) Mardi Gras is not such a big deal here, though many Texans, like Arizonans, will tell you “It’s Fat Tuesday, because we speak English in America”. Still, there are some Cajun and Creole places here. We observed Mardi Gras with a simple Cajun chicken salad for dinner. We don’t go out much at night, so costumes were not on the agenda. The Year of the Fire Horse will see us celebrating a bit more, over the next fifteen days. Penny was born during a Year of the Horse (1954). Hana’s birthday came at the end of the Year of the Snake, and she definitely has some Fire Horse qualities, especially being assertive and outspoken-like her grandmother was.

We lost two noteworthy people, yesterday and today. Robert Duvall was another of the greats of cinema to leave our midst. His roles, especially in “Apocalypse Now”, “The Godfather” and the television series. “Lonesome Dove”, showed characters of steel and velvet. He famously objected to the cutting of a scene in “Apocalypse Now”, in which his hard-nosed character saves the life of a Vietnamese child. He was in life, a man of integrity and conviction.

So, too, was Jesse Jackson. I recall his first run for the Democratic Presidential nomination, in 1984. Many who were disturbed by the Iran-Contra matter and who were equally put off by the “business-as-usual” nomination of Walter Mondale, gravitated towards the Reverend from South Carolina and Chicago. He made a respectable showing that Spring, and maintained a presence on the national scene for decades afterward, before a neurological disease ended his mobility and, today, his life. Jesse Jackson extended the reach of the Civil Rights movement- pointing out that “all means all”. Regardless of how uncomfortable that made many feel sometimes, he did not flinch.

Lastly, my heart goes to the family of a woman of whom many had never heard before today. Linda Davis was a highly-regarded Special Education teacher in Savannah, She was killed, while on her way to work, when an undocumented migrant from Guatemala panicked during an ICE traffic stop, and fled the scene, ran a red light and made a u-turn, before crashing into Dr. Davis’ car. It is unclear as to whether officers were “chasing” him, but what is clear is that Dr. Linda Davis died unnecessarily. My heart goes to her family, colleagues and students, whoby all accounts, loved and cherished her.

Growth, celebration and loss are inextricably intertwined.

Freyja and Thirteen

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Entertainment, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 13, 2026- Friday is named for Freyja, the Norse goddess of just about everything earthy. She is given the portfolios of love and war, among other matters, thus making her job pretty much impossible. It is said by some that she was a child born of siblings, which would seem to make just about any task impossible for her to perform, though what do I know about supernatural genetics? She had a husband who was always off doing his own thing, leaving her to raise two daughters alone. We thus honour her by naming many people’s favourite day of the week in her honour.

Friday is, for people in business, a day to wrap things up for the week and to set sights on the following Monday. For teachers and office workers, it’s an afternoon and evening of unwinding. For many in tight-knit neighbourhoods, it’s another day to gather at the corner bar. For me, it was a night to catch live music at the Raven or Rafter 11, when I lived in Prescott and for going to a coffee shop for the same, when Penny and I were in Flagstaff or Phoenix.

Nowadays, Friday is another day of being with my granddaughter and all the snuggling, playing a little game of “Stand-Up, Sit Down” (for which she loves being praised for standing up, straightening her legs, with my support and then sitting back down) and helping with her personal care and feeding. There are no special things that distinguish one day from another, save that her father is off work on Saturday and Sunday. This is new for me, and likely is only a temporary state of affairs. (The world will inject itself into our lives again, soon enough.)

Friday the 13th, depending on one’s point of view, is either a day to revel in the joys provided by feminine energy or a day to stay home and hide under the covers. I can’t stand to stay in bed after 6 or 7, and my time with Hana begins at 5, so the second option has about as much appeal as a root canal. I’ve always loved women and girls, so the first choice has been easy to go with. To date, I have not had any bad experiences on Friday the Thirteenth. If anything, it’s been a fairly good day, over the years.

Freyja, wherever she is, must be smiling on our little Hana.

Our Better Nature

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

February 12, 2026- Abraham Lincoln closed his first Inaugural Address with:
“I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

He struck a conciliatory tone to the slaveholders of the Southern and Border states, in a last ditch effort to avoid the outbreak of hostilities. Some became emboldened, and it didn’t work. We are warned, in Scripture, not to encourage those who lie, steal or engage in selfish behaviour. Lincoln thought he could convince those he regarded as “friends and neighbours” to retreat from their threats of secession. He would have done best to have heeded Christ:

“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” – Matthew 7:6

“Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.” – Titus 3:10

When I was a teenager, I was warned by elders who have since passed, but who I respect to this day, to not give in to bullies. I stood my ground a few times, enough so that the kids backed off and some eventually became friends. Had I not stood up for myself, it was clear that they would have become emboldened.

It is also clear that, in the days when confrontation, and going after “the low-hanging fruit” are practices being substituted for reasoned policy-making and public discourse, the angels of our better nature require standing ground by sticking to facts, orienting self and avoiding the temptation to fall back on self-propelled fantasy. They require listening, certainly, and they require discernment, in evaluating what one has heard.

In-Laws

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

February 11, 2026- My mother-in-law would have turned 100 today. I look back on her contributions to our family life with a lot more gratitude than I might have shown as a thirty something and forty something work in progress. She had another term for it: “piece of work”, but she knew I was doing the best I could with what I had.

In-laws work together, coming from different generations, life experiences and perspectives. Hers was a more Victorian, adult-centric view, and she spoke of how her own childhood found her often shoved to the sidelines, by elders more concerned with “important issues”, in which children had no say. That lesson came hard to her, and I got the feeling that she wished she could be more tolerant of little ones. That aside, she raised Penny to be a caring and responsible woman; that gave me a wonderful helpmate, and Aram, a marvelous mother.

Now, it is my turn to be an in-law. I think the world of Yunhee, and get along well with her parents. She is hands down the best wife Aram could want and an exemplary mother to Hana. What I learned from Norm and Bunny is that there is a fine line between showing concern for the well-being of the family and getting in between husband and wife. I have a good situation now, in which Aram and Yunhee will invite my assistance, while I give them space to raise Hana as they see fit, and to consult me if they have issues, for which answers elude them.

I can sense the folks, and my parents, are with Penny, looking on with delight at seeing our son and daughter-in-law raising an exceptional child of their own.

Super

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Family, impediments, Personal Values, Spiritual, Striving

February 8,2026- Today is Super Bowl Sunday, with many eyes on the actual game, some eyes on the advertisements and a fair number watching and listening to the half-time messages. Though I have my preference, as to the winner of the game, we are not watching the festivities. Other things take priority.

There have been many movies, podcasts and other media presentations dealing with “superpowers”, which each of these ascribe to one ordinary person or another. Superpower has thus largely lost its heft, and become a cliched word.

My daughter-in-law, however, is deserving of super status. I sometimes wonder if, and when, she sleeps. Though we men split shifts watching Hana, her mother is constantly present, and maintains an active schedule during the day, as well. She is constantly in motion, largely tending to matters pertaining to Hana’s feeding, bathing and grooming. We do our share of bottle feeding, diaper changing and playing with the child, but Yunhee’s hand is in all of these, as well.

Through it all, there is only a sunny face, with a determined air about her. There has been no task from which she has shied away. She reminds me of a few other supermoms: My maternal grandmother, my mom, my sister and a mother of five, who lives in Chandler, AZ. Children with supermoms are lucky for life-I know this firsthand, and am glad to see it is so for my granddaughter.

Supermoms don’t wait until the second Sunday in February.

Composed

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, impediments, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 7, 2026- Hana has decided she likes her bath. It helps that the weather has moderated and the bathroom does not have any draft coming in through the window. She is a warm weather girl, and is also very appreciative of being clean. She was happy through the bath tonight, and even more so for the feeding that came afterward. Food, at least the kind that comes with infancy, is definitely a big winner with Hana.

I hear that my own composed demeanour is rubbing off on her. After 75 years, I simply don’t see anything about which to lose composure. There are plenty of bad actors who’d like nothing better than to rattle everyone’s cage. I think it’s best that those folks just go back and get their own houses in order, especially if they wield power. We need not give them the satisfaction of keeping us unbalanced.

I was fortunate to have met several members of the Plano Baha’i Community, who are a cross section of generations. All but one of them is of Persian descent, all but one having come here after the Islamic Republic was established. The ongoing persecution of the Baha’is in Iran is also designed to take attention away from the thievery and self-aggrandizement of a relatively small class of people, who happen to be well-connected clerics, paramilitary and sycophants to the first two. Increasingly, though, the common folk are not buying the deception, especially if they happen to know Baha’is personally.

The vast majority of the Baha’is still in Iran are likewise composed, law-abiding citizens of that country, who have broken no laws, save the dictum that everyone should be Muslim, or certain approved Christian or Jewish organizations. Perhaps our composure comes from the realization that our physical lives are not the entirety of our existence-and that those who spend their physical power capital on the temporary control of the masses will come to rue the day they crossed certain lines.

I know I’ve lived a good life, by and large, and have learned from my mistakes, That alone justifies my composure.

Firmness

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

February 6,2026- The gentleman introduced himself and grasped my hand firmly in his. He then asked, “How old do you think I am?” He looked to be about 80, so that was my guess. He said that he is 89. His mind is as keen as his handshake is firm. Thus, I have another role model to guide me through the next fourteen years of this life, God willing and the creek doesn’t rise.

I attended my Baha’i sector group’s observance of the Feast of Mulk (Dominion), making my first visit with members of my new Faith Community. We gather in the homes of those who have the space and wherewithal to host our spiritual Feasts (prayers, administrative reporting & consultation, and social fellowship). Holy Days, and the coming Ayyam-i-Ha (Intercalary Days), February 25=March 1, are celebrated in the Plano Baha’i Center, which I last visited three weeks ago.

Firmness in body is best matched by firmness in spirit and faith. Fervent Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and adherents to Indigenous beliefs know this, as well. I am confident that humanity will continue to trend towards wider applications of both cogent, proven health practices and a more broad-based view of the Divine Plan for our planet. Contrived regimens, in either area, are appealing, especially to those who are skeptical of spiritual traditions and/or established health practices. A firm command of reality, however, calls for us to be discerning, yet open-minded, in investigating these matters. Charlatans are all too eager to lead people astray, by playing on fears.

Back at the house, I found that Hana and her mother were staying firm in their routine, and I settled in to help with the little angel’s night routine, while her father is at a monthly Reserve Drill.

Clear Vision

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Family, impediments, Personal goals, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 4, 2026- Hana was upset, and the cause didn’t quite seem clear to her parents, so Papa went down and took her. She wanted me to let her sit on my knees and then calmed down. I spoke to her about what might be troubling- maybe a little stomach upset or she needed a blanket. Prelingual doesn’t mean not intuitive. She calmed down, and after a bit, she was glad to rest her head on my shoulder, and we repaired to the little rocking chair.

Having time with fewer demands from the outside world, I can see things with a bit more clarity. I don’t worry anymore about who might think what of me, or of what I might have done to offend someone. Words and actions just come more carefully, by default. I guess part of that is the catalog of experiences. Another part is deepening in spiritual teachings and integrating them into my daily life. My main goal now is to give this little person a solid emotional foundation.

A wise man, now gone on, once said there were two types of people he trusted unconditionally: Children under the age of ten and senior citizens, over 65, who have all their faculties. I can honestly say that my faculties are sharper now than they were at the age of 25, or 55.