Greater Things

2

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.

Turnarounds

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April 16, 2024- The nine-year-old said, matterfactly, that he had stopped himself, twice today, from acting out and engaging in negative actions. He started to misbehave, then decided it would be better to act as a leader. He is the oldest child in his classroom, and it was also important that a girl, who is his friend in another classroom, does not approve of acting out.

I routinely think of my own actions and speech. Do they fit what is becoming of someone in a leadership role? Would my spirit guides approve? Would the woman I love the most, to say nothing of my dear friends, be happy or would they be dismayed? It is of the utmost importance, to hold oneself to a gold standard.

There are all manner of turnarounds that are occurring in this time of transition. Some can be attributed to climatic change, to El Nino or La Nina. Deserts, from Death Valley, California to the Arabian Peninsula and the Dasht-e-Lut, of Iran, are experiencing intense rain that has not been seen in modern times. The United Arab Emirates and Oman are virtually shut down, from the flooding that has ensued. These desert countries are not alone. Rainfall has intensified in Central Asia and western Siberia, as well, and the Cone of South America, especially Argentina and Uruguay, had an extraordinarily wet summer (December-January). Conversely, the islands of Southeast Asia are experiencing a drought, as the tail-end of El Nino runs its course.

Transitions and turnarounds are apt to continue for at least the next fifteen months, both in a climatic sense and in our daily lives, as the solar maximum plays out, between now and September, 2025. Nothing really surprises me, anymore.