On the Impressions Baha'is Give: John-John Visits Heidelberg After Edinburgh and Thinks of His Future

Thanks to Google's Blog Search and other engines it continues to be easy to find mentions of the Baha'i Faith in the blogosphere. Sometimes the mentions are just that --in passing and brief. Consider John-John's personal travels overview "Part I, Europe." Thousands of words, several dozen paragraphs, one of which mentions a conversation he had with a Baha'i. He even spells the name of the Founder of our Faith and His Most Holy Book correctly. -gw

Heidelberg was yet another great city that I spent far too little time in. I stayed with Andreas, a friend of the family, and got the chance to meet his wife and kids. Andreas talked to me at length about the mixed feelings of Germans about the rising national pride (due to their hosting of the World Cup); I had a good chat with Andreas' wife about Baha'i, having discovered that their guest room also served as a prayer room, with a portrait of Baha'u'llah and a copy of the Kitab-I-Aqdas on the bedside table; I played a little "game" of soccer/football with their 5-year-old, Connor, after numerous requests; and their 15-year-old son Jonas (who talks and acts like he's 25, it's uncanny) took me around town and attempted to teach me some proper German pronunciation.

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John-John, "Part 1, Europe" LiveJournal

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speed ceilidhing in the mcewan hall, edinburgh university, uploaded on March 27, 2005 by hisprincess on flickr

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John-John is a long-time blogger, having posted his first entry on LiveJournal when he was 16 years-old, as he writes in his "5th Anniversary Post," an overview of his life to date written while he was living in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is from Seattle, Washington. -gw

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Five years have seen my idealism shrink and cynicism rise, only to have my inner cynic once again overshadowed by his idealist counterpart. I quit my long-standing job at the radio station and took a break from school to work, applied to the University of Edinburgh, and decided to study religion rather than classics. ...

Back in autumn 2004 I'd hit rock bottom, and I decided that I needed to take charge and do something. When I decided to take time off school and apply for a year abroad, it was supposed to be about having control over my future. Yesterday, I realized that the future has been on my mind constantly, but not as a worry, not a source of stress, but as an exciting unknown gleaming with optimism, because it's my own, and I have faith that I can make something good out of it.

Edinburgh, uploaded on April 22, 2006 by dhansak79 on flickr

I've only barely begun to make something out of it, of course; a year of study in Edinburgh is hardly 'one giant leap for mankind.' But I have made a decision. For a long time now, I've been thinking, deliberating, and idly talking about joining the Peace Corps or a similar organization.

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John-John, "You've come a long way, baby," LiveJournal
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Sounds like an interesting guy. Thank God for these souls who see the future as "an exciting unknown gleaming with optimism." -gw