Tag Archives: Phoenix Baha’i Center

The Road to Diamond, Day 156: Heroes, Super and Otherwise

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Entertainment, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

May 3, 2025, Phoenix- The comforter on the bed I am borrowing for the evening is Superhero-themed. I am now safe from anything that could threaten the well-being of a six-year-old boy. Since he’s away, this seventy-four-year-old, overgrown kid can expect the same. Monsters and villains, be gone!

Heroes, in real life, come in many shapes, sizes and guises. The people who seem to stand in our way, and keep us from what what we think we might want, will sometimes turn out to be our best friends-and unlikely heroes in our lives. Remember the tale of Majnoon, searching for his beloved Layli (Layla, of the Eric Clapton song). His path was blocked by one or another watchman, until he vaulted himself over a wall-and found her looking fr a ring she had lost.

Heroes can be full of bravado, or they can be ordinary people (as in the Dave Grohl song). They can be constantly in action, in the limelight or just be around-for one day (as in the David Bowie song). Yes, we have been celebrating our deliverers and saviors from time immemorial. From the Epic of Gilgamesh, to the Iliad and Odyssey, the Tales of Hiawatha, Icelandic sagas and stories of the Samurai, all the way to the Marvel and DC characters, we derive much comfort in the idea that someone has our backs.

It is best, though, that we are our own, and one another’s champions. Acting in the interests of each person in our world-starting with ourselves, but not stopping there, can be challenging. The alternative, though, is to let someone else determine the entirety of our existence. That may seem easier, but recall the fates of those who acquiesced to tyrants, throughout history. Were they happier, in the fullness of time? Were their needs met?

Today, in conference with many of my fellow Baha’is, at the Center where Penny and I spent many happy hours, in the often troubled 2000s, I was reminded that “heroism” is hard work and that it is often not intentional, but the result of just putting oneself out there, on behalf of humanity-and of all creation. It most often involves teamwork, and always involves discernment and fortitude.

After our long day of consultation, my host and I joined several old friends, and many youth, in honouring a hard-working college graduate. It was a joy to see people I haven’t seen in fifteen years and to witness how several of them have grown from childhood and become successful adults, in various fields.

Heroes-some of them “super” come in all forms.

The Road to 65, Mile 85: Auctions

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Posted by on in Social

February 21, 2015, Phoenix-

I headed down here, this morning, to assist in the set-up for a major fund-raising auction at the Phoenix Baha’i Center, which was our primary spiritual gathering place from 2001-2011.  It’s been renovated, in a big way, from the rather woeful state into which it was falling, during the time of Penny’s own physical decline.  Still, it was a special place and we made do with what was available, in terms of facilities.

Now, there is a shine to the building, and a sense of new purpose.  The auction will help repay some of the costs associated with the renovation:  Ceramic tile flooring, larger and handicapped-accessible restrooms and the library moved to its own building.

Auctions are labour-intensive, energy-intensive.  I admire the record-keeping skills and cross-coordination that went into today’s planning session.  Two hours after we started hauling stuff in and setting up chairs and tables, every single item had a number, specific spot and minimum bid recorded, on the tag and in the Master Ledger, which is in pen and ink.  It is also put in digital copy, for posterity.

My hosts and I went back to their apartment for a vegetarian lunch, short siesta and a round-the-table resolution of various social ills.  At four o’clock, it was showtime, and we went back to the Center, for the intense bidding and good-natured haggling that accompanies a free-wheeling auction.  It appears a tidy sum was raised- maybe not a Sotheby’s, Christie’s or Barrett-Jackson level, but an encouraging amount.  Besides, we had a fabulous table of Persian cuisine, to accent the evening.  Anyone who has never tried the exquisite noodle dish, known as Ash Resteh, would do well to put it on the bucket list.