Tag Archives: Baha’i

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 17

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 7, 2026- Hana has now taken to crawling on me and “wrestling”, while I am lying down on the play pen mat. Her main focus is still very much practicing standing up with my support. She also likes to take two or three steps, while I am helping her stand. The girl is not about wasting time.

The pest control guy came today, and sprayed all areas where it will not affect Hana. He also recommended putting a capful of bleach in each sink drain. This will, he said, destroy any pheromones which the insects leave for those who come after them. Yes, cockroaches are social insects. I have seen them travel in pairs. Now, hopefully, they will travel somewhere else.

I have a car seat for the KIA now, so my next visit to the chiropractor will be with Hana along. The office is family friendly, so having her in the stroller will not interfere with the adjustment, which takes five minutes, tops. I will also be able to take her to the library. She has a special affinity for books, and loves to study the pictures-and the print, for several minutes at a time.

HANA’S NOTE- When I see Papa lying down on the mat, that is a cue for me to crawl over to him and grab his nose and ears. He laughs when I do that.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1990 We were pretty much in a solid routine at Jeju. I would take Aram to student plays, but I’d have to take him out, because he would laugh or call out, once he heard an echo. Nonetheless, our family was well-liked by many people on the island. Aram loved being held by pretty women and was already playing with other toddlers in our compound. We went to the Korean mainland regularly, particularly for Baha’i gatherings. We also went hiking, up Halla-san and on Songsanilchubong, with Aram in a carrier on my back. The Korean slang for a man doing what was seen as women’s work is ujima. I was called that several times, but didn’t care. My boy was my treasure.

Classes were proceeding quite nicely. I also served as editor of The Islander, an English-language student newspaper. The staff wrote several well-researched articles, which I usually proofread in my office. Penny had a strict rule that no one was to intrude on our family time. This irritated some aggressive parents of students, who wanted private tutoring for their children. Again, I marched to my own drummer. I worked well with my colleagues, but on my terms. (i.e., I didn’t drink alcohol, to which the professors were accustomed, having had several Baha’is on staff, before me.

The Hana Chronicles:Month 7, Day 15

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

August 5, 2026- Hana’s Daddy was home for most of the day, as he had some personal business to complete, away from work. While we were in the playpen, and Aram was standing just outside it, Hana took his hand in hers, then took my thumb in her other hand. She is always thinking about inclusion, togetherness. Her happiest moments are when all four of us are together. She is ever joyful when one of us is playing with her in the pen.

Hana has established a reliable communication with me, when she needs a diaper change. I have passed this on to her parents. It is a precursor to what I see as a looming early toilet training. She is only 2-3 months away from walking with assistance, as well. This girl has things she wants to do in life, for sure.

HANA’S NOTE- I saw that Faddy was worried about the thing he was working on, so I gave him a big hug. He said that helped.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1988 It is said that when a man becomes a father, he begins to turn into his father. In July, our son, Aram, came into the world. I held him in my arms, 20 minutes after he was born, then held him up to the window and told him what a big and beautiful world he was now in. I named his middle name after my father, Ferdinand, Dad had been gone for two years, and I missed the guidance he would have given me, but I drew on what I remembered of all he had said and done, over the course of our thirty six years together. I would delight in many of the things Aram said and did, growing up and would correct him, in the way a given situation warranted. I would be ferocious in defending him, even from family members (only was needed once) and from my fellows in faith (maybe necessary a half dozen times, over the years.)

When Penny was six months pregnant, we went on a Baha’i teaching trip to Taiwan, spending two weeks there. We spent most of the time in a small central Taiwan town, Tsaotun. There, we met with university students late at night, repaired a brick walkway, promoted a large gathering that was organized by other Americans (no one showed up) and met with a few venerable Baha’i teachers. I would return there, along with another Baha’i from Korea, later that Fall, for a three-day conference.

For three weeks or so after Aram’s birth, we had help from Penny’s parents. Her Dad went with me to the U.S. Consulate in Busan, where we secured Aram’s American birth certificate and his passport. A well-meaning Korean Immigration officer, new to the job, had told me that the baby would be deported, unless his passport was completed post haste. His superior, overhearing that, corrected him, but cautioned that prompt action was in order. So, prompt action was taken.

Aram was only the second American child ever born on Jeju, and he was the first Caucasian child thus born, so he became a celebrity, fawned over by most of the people. That love made a place in his heart for the country and the people, which has had an outsized effect on his life. We would live three more years in Korea, but his heart remained there.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 11

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

August 1, 2026- Hana starts her active day with exercises: Stretches, push-ups, cross-body reaches and even a plank or two. She does this on her own, with our expressions of approval and pride following the session’s end. Another thing she likes to do on her own is wiping the play mat with a cloth. This is her way of cleaning her play space.

She has had a good day with her parents, joining them on a food shopping trip, being carried in a sling by her Daddy. Hana takes well to stores and restaurants now. A few months ago, she was more sensitive to crowds and noise. Now, she takes a lot in stride.

My granddaughter notices everything that I bring into the house, wanting to know what’s in the bag or box that I’m carrying. Today, I brought bagels from Saved by the Bagel, after I got a haircut nearby. She looks longingly at such items, but realizes they are still something not suited for a person with only four front teeth. I tell her that her day will come.

HANA’S NOTE- I want to keep my space clean, so I wipe the mat, just like Mommy and Papa do.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1984 We lost a neighbour and a contemporary-Gordon Tong, at only 38, in the heat of the monsoons of August. I made three trips back and forth, from Tuba City to the Native American Baha’i Institute, where the Baha’i friends gathered for Gordon’s services. I had to get Penny, another Anglo friend and three Navajo elders.The funeral and burial were punctuated by the intense rain, almost fortuitously. I have rarely experienced such a dramatic send-off.

The year saw us on the road-and in the air, quite often. We drove up to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, spending ten days offering the Baha’i message to Lakota people, in Wanblee and Pine Ridge town, as well as various ethnic groups in Martin, a town in between Pine Ridge and Rosebud. On our second anniversary, Penny and I visited Wall, a tourist town northwest of Pine Ridge and drove around Badlands National Park. We pitched a tent in Badlands, only to get good and soaked that night. We were too tired to worry and were no worse for the wear, the next day.

We flew to Guyana, in July, spending three weeks in the small South American country, again teaching the Baha’i message to Black,South Asian and Wayana First Nations people. Penny was in her glory, teaching groups of small children and young ladies. I went around with a couple of local men, in each of the villages we stayed. As we passed a “parlour” (bar), near noon one day, a voice yelled out: “Hey, white man”, from inside the parlour. A one finger salute accompanied the “greeting”. My friend wanted to leave the area, but something told me to go inside. A table of four young men was the source of the message. When we approached, their demeanur changed, and they bade us sit. We chatted with the men for nearly an hour-not pushing the Baha’i message directly, but establishing a decidedly more congenial atmosphere than had initially greeted us. Similar experiences followed, in each of the next two villages.

When Penny and I returned to the U.S., we stayed a few days with a family near Houston, then drove north, visiting friends in Oklahoma, then going up to Macy, Nebraska, on the Omaha Reservation, where another sizable Indigenous Baha’i community was having a gathering. We went to one dignitary’s house, and it turned out that he was a cousin of one of my co-workers back in Tuba City.

1984 was not as harrowing as the novel of the same name. The challenges we did face only made us stronger as a couple.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 28

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, distraction issues, Family, Historical, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

July 19,2026- “I want this!”- So said my granddaughter, as she sat on my lap, while I was reading my Baha’i prayer book, this morning. I let her touch the cover and the pages, but not pull on them. She understood, after I explained the reason, a second time. It is nice that she wants to hold such a comforting book.

We went to Costco, as a family, this afternoon. Hana is not yet curious about stuff. She basically looks at what people are doing-especially other children teasing their parents. She had no reaction today, at a little boy trying to keep things away from his mother. On other occasions, she has babbled at another child, in a scolding tone. Today, she was in a more pensive mood.

In the evening, we had Hana in a swim vest, and she kicked her legs several times, in forward motion, in a half full bathtub. With a full protective suit and three of us hovering, she was perfectly safe and felt more relaxed.

HANA’S NOTE- I like to handle things-and put my mouth on them. My grown-ups won’t let me “eat” some things. I try to do that anyway. Books taste yucky!

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1971 My first experience with the Pacific Northwest=11 different forms of weather, in 24 hours, at Fort Lewis, WA. My first experience with Japan- Yokota Air Force Base was a miserable place, with bad weather and miserable American civilians, who disdained us grunts. My experiences with VietNam- Mostly kind, gentle locals worked on the bases at Long Binh and at Cholon. I was seen as a “newbie”, at Long Binh, especially by those who had come in from combat units, in the back country. One of them changed his tune, after I defended him from the unit’s self-styled alpha male, while I was assistant Charge of Quarters, overnight. I managed the Accountable Mail cage,both at Long Bin and at Cholon. Long Binh was touch and go. I was there from March until July.

When said alpha male threatened me, for having embarrassed him before the unit, I was transferred to Cholon, a small unit in Saigon’s Chinatown. There was no word on what happened to him. Sergeant First Class Hobson, the operations sergeant, just thought I’d be better off at Cholon. I was, as it happened. I had good friends there-Bill, Arnie, Richie, Roger. At Long Binh, I had been mostly an outsider.

I spent four days in Sydney, on a Rest & Rehabilitation leave, in September and spent much of that time with two sisters, who my buddy Bill had met, on his R&R, earlier. I was rather a rube, during those days, but I did enjoy my time with them and a visit to Tauranga Park. I also visited Vung Tau, a beach town, southeast of Saigon. We were told that the Viet Cong also used Vung Tau as a resort, but I basically stayed with a small group of other soldiers and met no trouble that day. Once, while I was still at Long Binh, my cousin Johnny came by, as he was stationed in the Mekong Delta and had an errand to run on the base. That was one of the best days in a rather miserable place.

In November, right after the guys threw a surprise party for my 21st birthday, I was given the chance to apply for early release, to return to college. I put in for it, got approval and my time in VietNam came to an end, with the new year.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 22

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, Education, Family, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Striving

July 13, 2026- When Aram is interrupted, while saying something he deems important, he will raise his voice and slow his cadence. He makes sure than he finishes what he has to say. Hana showed the same assertiveness, this morning. When she was talking, after having had a mildly hard adjustment to a new form of medication, I began to re-assure her that all was well. She wasn’t finished, and raised her voice to complete her vocal thought.

I’m proud of her for stepping up so early in life. Her sounds have a cadence to them that indicate clear thought, and they are interspersed with English and Korean words that fit the context of the situation. She was quite clearly processing her feelings about her experience.

As the day wore on, she was very much irritated with her slowly emerging top incisors. I can see them poking through the inside of her gums. There is no wondrous magic that helps a child deal with teething- from the first incisors to the misnamed “Wisdom Teeth”, of early adolescence. Only love and patience see us all through.

I left this evening, to help co-ordinate a Baha’i Spiritual Feast. When I got back, Aram and Yunhee said Hana had gone to sleep with only a minimum of fuss.She must have run out of steam. During the day, she is quite loud, when speaking, seemingly about a variety of subjects. I look forward to her “discourses” on whatever comes into her mind.

HANA’S NOTE- I have seen my Daddy insist on being able to finish his sentences. I am going to do the same. I think a lot about things and my thoughts can be put into words-even if grown-ups think I’m just babbling.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1965 This was the year I really started to build up my LP collection. I had a cheap record player, that I kept for ten years. I even brought the machine to college-where it was jokingly known to everyone in my dorm as “The Set”. I didn’t care; the old device fit my needs. It played all my LPs., from The Beatles and Stones to Andy Williams and Neil Diamond. It, along with my transistor radio. was my ticket to another world.

I got through every class in my Freshman year, except Algebra I. It would take me two more tries to pass the subject- my Sophomore regular year and Summer School, thereafter. Mr, John Quinlan finally made the light shine-and I moved up the math ladder.

My Sophomore Year’s teachers were a significant improvement over the Grade 9 crew. Biology, English Grammar and World History all were crystal clear. I still write under Miss Kochakian’s rules of punctuation and style. French, under Mme. Jeanne Gorton, was all the more so. The damage done by her predecessor was largely cleared up, with Madame Gorton’s Parisian flair and discipline. Algebra I remained a cipher, until Mr. Quinlan tied everything together, the following summer.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 19

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

July 10, 2026- Today was the Commemoration of the Martyrdom of al-Bab, a Baha’i Holy Day. On this day, in 1850, al-Bab, the Herald of the Baha’i Dispensation, was executed by firing squad, along with a personal assistant. Baha’is generally gather to say prayers and readings associated with al-Bab, Whose name means “The Gate”, in English. His Teachings were the gate to understanding those of Baha’ullah, Who came after Him.

As Hana is too young to attend such events, I said my own Tablet of Visitation here at the house. Hana sat in the playpen, right in front of me, and listened quietly as I prayed. She does the same when I say my daily morning prayers, each day. I sense that this practice is having an orienting influence on her.

This evening, Yunhee remarked that Hana is much more composed now. She sleeps through the night and only gets irritable when she is hungry. While Yunhee is at work, Hana and I have the feeding routine pretty much down. If she is napping before her medication, she wakes herself on time to receive it. Her lunch meal and bottle feeding are on schedule, as she is awake then and happily watches me prepare the items. I also have her watch me prepare the mid-afternoo0n bottle. After Yunhee gives her the evening feeding, she is ready for a good night’s sleep.

HANA’S NOTE- Papa and I watched some workers take our old sidewalk from in front of the house. Papa says they will put a new one in, next week. Since we also saw them putting in new sidewalks at the end of the street, I know he’s right.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE- 1962 It was a year of transition. I finished Grade 6. Boys began teasing one another about things of which I had no idea. One of the “faster” kids in my neighbourhood noticed my naivete and talked to me about some of it. My father also gave me “The Talk”, before I entered Grade 7.

I had my share of friends in my immediate neighbourhood. Eddie and Allan were the closest, of the boys. After Ellen moved, I would go by her old house and hang out with the Geotis kids, whose father let me stomp grapes for his homemade wine. I got a glass or two of grape juice, that their mother set aside from the batch that was to be fermented. A group of us boys played touch football, in the middle of the street. Some men driving home from work would go around us. Others demanded we stop and make a hole for them. I was probably the worst of the players, but some of the boys felt it was a good thing to include even a klutz like me.

Grade 7, Junior High School, brought the concept of rotating between classes. I had a good Math teacher, Mr. Anzalone, a large man with a booming voice and quick temper, who also had a keen sense of humour and a heart of gold. My Social Studies and Science teachers were also competent. Mr. Anzalone talked with us about current affairs, during our home room time. This was the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and President Kennedy took a firm stance with the Soviet Union. We froze our missiles in Turkey and they, their missiles in Cuba. Thus, did cool heads walk back from the brink of nuclear war.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 3

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

June 24, 2026- “I love” is the sweetest phrase, especially coming from a six-month old. I don’t expect my granddaughter to speak, but she does so and from her heart. Many times, Hana us repeating what she has heard us say, over and over. Sometimes, as with the comment, two days ago, about the beef, she speaks as her brain has told her, perhaps from having heard others speak, here and there. Her words of love, though, are definitely a reflection of how each of us feels about her. When she said it, this afternoon, it made my day.

I have a new role in my Faith community: Moderating consultation during our Sector’s (neighbourhood group’s) Spiritual Feasts. Tonight was my first time doing this, and I felt it crucial to ask for people to translate from English to Persian, at several points, as 98% of the group is Persian-speaking, and not all of these folks are fluent in English. It is Baha’i practice to provide believers with translation into their preferred language, and not to demand that they learn English for the convenience of native speakers of English. People should learn a language for their own progress or convenience, not for that of others.

Hana is being raised speaking English and Korean. I am also introducing numbers and a few key phrases in French and Spanish also. I have heard her speak English, here and there. She probably speaks a few Korean words to her mother. One needs to listen carefully, though, to the soft, high-pitched voice. As I said earlier, her words tend to come from the heart.

There is much to be learned from a little one, though, in discerning what matters most.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 5, Day 28

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

June 18, 2026- My granddaughter has a cue for me to wait just a bit, before giving her the next spoonful of food, at her lunch time feeding. With a twinkle in her eye, she sticks her thumb in her mouth. A few seconds later, she is ready for the next bite, and the thumb comes out. There is a method to many of the things that my Capricorn, Solstice-born delight of the heart does, in her feeding and in her playpen activities.

She carefully takes books and small plush toys out of a woven basket, and pushes them to one side, save the item she wants to manipulate and whose texture she wants to embrace. She will look at a book, also taking in its texture, shape and size, before pushing it to the edge of the pen. Then she will pick up a plush animal and hold it close, talking to the toy, in sweet tones.

She reminds me of Penny, her paternal grandmother, in her sweeter, gentler state of being. She also reminds me, of a friend who left this world last Saturday night. Annie was always present with a smile, encouraging words, and, if she knew and trusted someone, a hug. She and her husband, Dave, made their home available for gatherings of our Faith community, as often as their health and family needs allowed. There was always a comfortable meeting space, and afterwards, we all sat at the long dining table, enjoying fellowship and plentiful refreshments. Dave and Annie hosted Game Night, on occasion. My daughter-in-law, Yunhee, still remembers one such evening, when she was visiting me and went along. She was delighted by the warm reception she got, giving her a fine first impression of our Faith community.

That was what Annie and Dave knew best-making strangers into friends. Barbara Ann Lovell’s spirit will look upon her family, her community, those of us farther afield who enjoyed her friendship-and most of all, upon her husband. They were one another’s rock, as solidly-connected couples ever are.

May her voice echo in the activities of Prescott’s Baha’is and the city’s Peacebuilders, and Coalition for Compassion and Justice. Rest in Paradise, dear friend.

The Hana Chronicles, Month 5, Day 15

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

June 5, 2026- Granddaughter reveled, in eating pureed cabbage, this morning. She seems to revel in eating just about everything so far. (Zucchini being a question mark.) Hana is definitely a member of the Clean Plate Club, without being coaxed. If this persists through toddlerhood and the Fussy Eater years, so much the better.

Our day went well, with lots of independent play time in the pen, as well as Papa being in there, for the sake of reassurance and companionship. We explored a horseshoe-shaped side street, Chester Drive, which starts one block north and curves around to the east, behind our cul-de-sac. A young couple had just come back from Friday prayers, clad, head-to-toe in black. Otherwise, the street was quiet and empty. Hana didn’t mind the quietude.

As she napped, this afternoon, I read a piece about the Dutch director, Wim Wenders, who expressed regret for having depicted a certain actress in the nude, when she was only thirteen. He has removed the objectionable scenes from all versions of that film. The actress in question, now in her 60s, recently expressed how painful it has been, all these years, to have been so depicted in that film, and in two others a year, and three years, later. One hopes that the other two films may also be expunged of the tawdry scenes.

Many men, myself included for many years, gave scant thought to how it must have felt to girls and women baring all, in films, and even in glossy magazines. I knew better, by the time I was thirty, and Hana’s paternal grandmother had come into my life, along with the Baha’i teachings, which stress the dignity and worth of all human beings. Before that, there was always the double standard: A man’s (or boy’s) female relatives were held high above the world of sensuality. We respected our friends’ sisters and mothers also. There was a friend zone, which included a measure of respect, for the girls around us. Somehow, that did not extend to the world of “entertainment”.

More’s the pity. I started to take exception to the cavalier treatment of teenaged female actors, when very young girls were presented to audiences, in various states of deshabille. I did not watch any of those films, more out of shame over my past private thoughts and cavalier attitude. Then came Penny, our shared Faith and my career in education, which included the protection and guidance of girls and boys alike. There was no longer a double standard.

What this has to do with Hana is that, from Day One, her father and I are all the more committed to her well-being and development of her entire person. She is a sharp-eyed, intuitive person, making it all the more imperative for us to eschew any semblance of a double standard. Besides which, the old attitudes are just rotten for any man’s soul.

We are all so much more than eye candy.

“A Space of Quiet Promise”

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

May 28, 2026- I am now halfway through my diamond year. Much has changed, since my 75th birthday, and much, at least inside me, has remained the same.

I have left a mountain community, with many acts of service in the course of a week. There was also much in the way of natural beauty, in which I could become refreshed, even at the risk of encountering an apex predator. I left a solid community of friends, of all Faiths, though a good many of my interactions were with my fellow Baha’is; Friends were also from all points on the political spectrum; as apt to be women as men; many were older than 60, and many were younger. I finally mastered the art of teaching, just in time to retire.

I came to a place of quiet promise. (The phrase is borrowed from blogger Cynthia Ward’s essay, “Who I Used To Be”.)* I left a one-bedroom apartment and came into a two-story house, with three bedrooms and two offices that could convert to bedrooms. The kitchen and living room, alone, are the size of what I left behind. I came to live with family, as an active contributor, rather than as a dependent. My educational skills now go towards the development of my infant granddaughter. My Red Cross volunteering is strictly on weekends, and my Baha’i activities are on evenings and weekends. I have not changed my American Legion post, as yet. There is no activity at the nearest post, save gatherings centered on drinking and smoking, neither of which interest me, nor would they suit my coming home to a nursing mother and a little girl. As time goes on, Slow Food Dallas-Fort Worth could draw me into its activities.

Health-wise, I have found a fine, competent VA doctor, dentist and chiropractor. I go to a Planet Fitness, about ten minutes from here. There are plenty of parks nearby and several safe neighbourhoods in which to walk, day or night. I can still do a plank for 1 1/2-2 minutes. I can still walk 3-5 miles. (It’s mostly flat here, but the humidity makes up for the lack of elevation changes).

I have several bounties here: A loving son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter; a large and supportive Baha’i community; a quiet neighbourhood connected with the outside world by well-ordered streets and roads; and, for the next few months at least, a reliable supply network for what we need. This house, this community, are places of quiet promise.

  • “Who I Used to Be”, Still Amazed, Cynthia Ward May 25,2026