100 Years of Freedom

'Abdu'l-Baha spent 40 years in prison. On July 24th, 1908 after the Young Turk revolt religious and political prisoners were ordered released. It still took until September to release 'Abdu'l-Baha as His jailors weren't sure if he was included.

This anniversary deserves to be celebrated with a local teaching campaign everywhere. 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote

O that I could travel, even though on foot and in the utmost poverty, to these regions, and, raising the call of "Ya Baha'u'l-Abha" in cities, villages, mountains, deserts and oceans, promote the divine teachings! This, alas, I cannot do. How intensely I deplore it! Please God, ye may achieve it.

For Americans this date is close to our Independence Day celebration, and linking these events with an explanation of how this allowed 'Abdu'l-Baha to come to here and share the Faith, and the current situation of the Iranian believers, and the Prayer for America should interest many reporters. Pass the idea on to your Local Spiritual Assembly Public Information Officer.

Food for Body & Soul

For every thing, however, God has created a sign and symbol, and established standards and tests by which it may be known. -Abdu'l-Baha (The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 33)

Know thou that every created thing is a sign of the revelation of God. Each, according to its capacity, is, and will ever remain, a token of the Almighty. Inasmuch as He, the sovereign Lord of all, hath willed to reveal His sovereignty in the kingdom of names and attributes, each and every created thing hath, through the act of the Divine Will, been made a sign of His glory. So pervasive and general is this revelation that nothing whatsoever in the whole universe can be discovered that doth not reflect His splendor. Under such conditions every consideration of proximity and remoteness is obliterated.... Were the Hand of Divine power to divest of this high endowment all created things, the entire universe would become desolate and void. -Baha'u'llah (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 184)

Adib Taherzadeh in his The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v 3 wrote:

In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá'u'lláh states that there is no merit in reading His words when tired. He says that to read a few lines with a spirit of joy and fragrance is better than to read a whole book when depressed and weary. This commandment is very much tune with the law of nature which advocates that a person eat his food only when he is hungry. Another similarity is that in nature one must eat food regularly every day. To eat once in a lifetime is not sufficient. It is the same with reading the Words of God, which is the food for the spirit. To read the Holy Writings once in a while is not enough. As ordained by Bahá'u'lláh, the individual must, if he is to grow spiritually, read His words which are recorded in His Tablets twice every day. These words with all their vivifying forces must then be allowed to penetrate the heart and to strengthen one's faith.

Basically, I think he's saying that nourishing our bodies is representative of nourishing our souls. For us this means reading the writings at least twice daily.

It's interesting to note the Christian custom of saying Grace is somewhat parallel -inasmuch as during most of that dispensation most Christians could not read and didn't possess a copy of their scriptures, praying mostly with one's own words had to suffice. And if you think of prayer as a conversation with God; I suspect really effective pray-ers do more listening then talking anyway. Somewhat off the subject, people who tell me that they don't need religion -that they pray directly to God remind me a bit of talking to a child who's talking to you with their fingers in their ears so they don't have to hear what your saying.

Back to the topic. How do you eat? Mindfully? Joyfully?

I find the whole vegetarian thing makes me very mindful of what I'm eating, particularly when I'm counting calories/nutrients -which for me means eating very healthy foods while trying to gain weight. I could do to gain some weight spiritually you know too. So, I intend to work the system a little backwards eating physically in a regimental way because it's good for me, all the while using the outward sign to prompt the spiritual eating and take care of guilt issues.

Guilt issues? you say! Well all those repetitions of "Clean your plate there are children starving in India/China ." (Depending on whether my mom or my grandma [blame Pearl S. Buck here-thanks NPR for this insight] was speaking -on the news at the time it was Ethiopia that had a famine.) Well instead of making me want to eat more food I wasn't hungry for, I had even less of an appetite thinking of those who didn't have enough to eat.

So I hereby, resolve not to feel guilty about eating my vegetarian diet, and transfer all my guilt to my reading of the Writings -after all more people go without reading from them than without food. I've really gotta teach more.

Best Fortune Cookie Ever

I ate out tonight, and had Thai at a Chinese restaurant in town. I love the peanut-butter sauce hot; had it over veggies and tofu. I can't believe I almost forgot to take the best fortune cookie ever. It said, "You are a lover of words, someday you will write a book." I'm actually keeping it -I put it in my wallet. I intend on making this one come true.

What is [now] hidden behind the veil of destiny will in the future become manifest.
-The Blessed Beauty as quoted by the Master in a Traveler's Narrative. (I'm quoting it out of context, but it's applicable nevertheless.)