On Being Spiritual: A Blogger's Story

Image: a Ghanaian Adinkra symbol

My wife was in the habit of exploring other people's blogs long before she started her own blog. I was a daily commenter on her blog for seven months before I couldn't stand it anymore--I had to start a blog of my own. Only then did I really begin to check out other blogs.

Google's Blog Search and Technorati provide great vehicles for tuning in to see who else in the blog world has an interest in "Baha'i." Sometimes you are reading of a blogger's first discovery of the Baha'i Faith. For a Baha'i that can be something of a thrill. Sometimes the reference is only in passing. In any case, it feels good to be able to drop onto someone's site and say, "Hey, I'm glad you mentioned Baha'i."

There will be occasions when you find your comment is the first one posted on a new blog, which can also give you a good feeling. The blogging experience depends upon the idea that there is an audience out there somewhere. And, I believe, there always is.

Here is an excerpt from a great new blog with an unusual title: Funtunfunefu-Denkyemfunefu. The blogger, Chris Richards of Saskatoon, Canada, explains in his first entry: "Funtunfunefu-Denkyemfunefu [means] Siamese Crocodiles, [a reference to the] Ghanaian Adinkra Symbol of Democracy and Unity. The Siamese crocodiles share one stomach, yet they fight over food. This popular symbol is a remind that infighting and tribalism is harmful to all who engage in it." Chris is apparently not a Baha'i. Here is an excerpt from his post about attending a Baha'i marriage workshop.

The day went on with talks from the speakers and group discussions of Baha’i scripture. We would go through paragraphs from their writings and try to interpret what was being said. I really enjoyed this because the groups had a great diversity in age and background and each person contributed unique perspectives and stories from their lives. At one point an old woman was reading through the scripture and paused on the word 'spiritual.' She looked up, directly at me, and said with a puzzled tone, "Hmmm. You know, I’m really not sure what is meant by this sentence. What do you think it means here when it says 'to be spiritual'"?

Tough question to answer. What does it mean to be spiritual? The Dalai Lama says that “When I say spiritual I do not necessarily mean any kind of religious faith. When I use the word spiritual I mean basic human good qualities. These are human affection, a sense of involvement, discipline and human intelligence properly guided by good motivation."

I however am not the Dalai Lama and thus leaned back in my chair with a long deep exhale of breath and tried to come up with an answer. But before I could the middle-aged woman beside me jumped in and began, somehow very slowly yet at the same time excitedly, to try to explain to the old woman what it meant to be spiritual. The old woman just smiled, looked at her, and calmly said “I’m 85 years old. I know what being spiritual means to me. I asked because I wanted this young man to explain to me what he thought it meant. But now you’ve interrupted his thoughts.” With which she followed with a long cackling high pitched laugh and a deep long sigh. I really liked that old lady.

Chris Richards, "The Baha'i Marriage Worshop"