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This evening marks the beginning of a Baha'i Holy Day honoring the Birth of the Bab. What's it like to celebrate such an event with the Baha'is? Last spring Meg attended a Baha'i Holy Day observance for the 12th Day of Ridvan. Here is her reflection. -gw
Last Tuesday I went to a Baha’i service in Bryan, Texas, and experienced firsthand the teaching of Baha’i lived out.
It is always a little intimidating to try and summarize the background of a religion that you have only begun to learn about. But in order to better understand my descriptions of the service in the next paragraph it will be helpful for me to summarize for you some of the history and background of the Baha’i faith from what I have read and seen. In a little less than one hundred and fifty years the Baha’i faith has grown from a small movement in the Middle East to the second most widespread of all the independent world religions. The Baha’i faith started in Iran in 1863 when a man named Siyyid Ali Muhammad said that a messenger would soon arrive from God. This messenger would be the latest in a line of prophets including Moses, Muhammad and Jesus Christ. The one promised by the Bab (Muhammad) was Mirza Husayn Ali, born in 1817. Mirza Husayn Ali would later be called Baha’u’llah which means “the glory of God,” in Arabic. Baha’i’s believe that Baha’u’llah is the most recent manifestation of God, and that he will not be the last. Progressive revelation is the key premise in understanding the Baha’i faith. They believe that all religions are relevant and worth studying because they are all attesting to the same God, but that the texts are different because of social conditions at the time whichever text was written. Progressive revelation means that God reveals himself at different times and in different ways, like Jesus Christ and Mohammed, but for the Baha’i, Baha’u’llah is the new manifestation. The Baha’i’s believe that there will be another messenger in the next 1000 years. But until then, they study the writings of Baha’u’llah’s. The main theme throughout his teachings is the unity of man. He promotes peace and oneness, Baha’i.
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The air of the center that houses Baha’i worship services and community gatherings was just as peaceful as the religion’s theme. Although it was a stormy night on Tuesday May 1, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. the atmosphere inside the Baha’i center was as pleasant as a day on the beach. Men and women quickly hurried inside to get out of the rain as I waited in my car trying to get a feel for the place. There were trees and small garden areas surrounding the building that looked like a home. There did not really seem to be a main entrance, people just went in the door closest to them. When I eventually went inside, I entered though a kitchen area and was immediately greeted with smiles, names, and handshakes.
Because of the storm, only about 15 people attended. I was told that they expected many more people to attend because this night was the last night of the celebration of Ridvan. Even with less than twenty people many different races were still represented there: Anglo-Americans, African Americans, and to my surprise, many Iranian-Americans. Only one child was in attendance and she, Isabel, stayed away from the adults most of the time. As questions were asked of me, I had the opportunity to get to know some of them. I found that the majority of them were highly educated, some even teaching at Blinn College and other technical schools. One woman, named Nina, is currently trying to earn her Ph. D.
Dress was casual and so was the conversation before the actual service started. We talked about majors and mutual acquaintances, most of whom were professors at Texas A&M University. We also talked about the weather and food. There was great food there. One woman named Deena told me she loved being a Baha’i because they always had great food.
After the conversation settled down, at 7:45 we all moved on into the main room which looked more like a living room. About 20 chairs were set up in a circle for us to sit in. There was no order in seating. More than that there actually was no real order in leadership. Deena, the woman who talked about the food, is an African- American woman in her fifties and was the leader of the service. Before the service started Deena passed out five pages of writing for people to read aloud. She handed them out to anyone who wanted to read, and even tried to give one to me, but I politely declined. Deena started the reading and three women and one man followed her in reading the typed pages. The words beautifully told the story of Ridvan, pronounced (Riz-wan.) Ridvan, the most celebrated of Baha’i festivals, remembers the anniversary of Baha’ullah entering the Najibiyyih Garden, now known as the garden of Ridvan where Baha’u’llah declared his mission that he was the promised one, spoken of by the Bab. Ridvan is a twelve day festival celebrating the things that Baha’u’llah did from April 21 through May 2. So, the service, which only consisted of reading summarized Ridvan, and then we read the Nightingale of Separation, also written by Baha’u’llah lamenting his parting from some of the believers in Baghdad as he set out on his mission. Finally we read some prayers that Baha’u’llah wrote. I still really cannot tell if they prayed as the prayers were read because only one person read them. No one else spoke or moved, they just sat. Were they praying?
The service was very short, about fifteen minutes, and when it was over a few people left but many stayed and chatted. They all seemed so comfortable and at ease. A lot of them were related, but even so, they all seemed just as comfortable with each other. One of the older ladies made me a piece of strawberry shortcake. There was one college student there named Amelia, who I talked to while eating my dessert. We talked about Baha’i some, and as soon as she sensed that I really was interested in learning, she and the woman named Nina, previously mentioned, showed me around the entire center. They explained all of the pictures and symbols, and the meaning of the number nine, as I have briefly tried to re-cap for you in the second paragraph. They told me all about awards they have won and people they know. They took so much time to talk to me. I was thrilled. We all spent so much more time talking before and after the service rather than in the service, and everyone seemed ok with that.
I learned much from studying the Baha’i faith and visiting their service. I learned about their religion but also about humanity in general. I think that above all, people just want to be accepted and loved. This faith exemplified that in so many ways. First, there are not very many Baha’i’s in this area, therefore they must be a community for each other. I saw them take care of each other and me while I was there. I think that they understand that all men need brothers and sisters. No one really wants to be alone in this world. They have created their support system. It is incredible to see a religion follow through with one of their main premises in everyday life.
Secondly, I think that people will buy into any set of beliefs so long as acceptance into a group is a result. In the Baha’i people I met, I saw people who longed to accept everyone, no matter what belief they have. The Baha’i faith is extremely pluralistic and all encompassing, creating a place for anyone to come, making it extremely attractive and non-threatening. If I didn’t believe with my whole heart that Jesus Christ is the only way to God, I would be a Baha’i. With that said, you should know that I was very challenged by them because I hope that Christians, people who claim to try to love their neighbor as themselves, would be just as welcoming as the Baha’i were to me. I was also challenged to understand better my own faith. If I did not understand why I believe Jesus is the only way to God, I would be doubting my faith very seriously right now, because the Baha’i faith makes so much philosophical and emotional sense.
I was inspired by the Baha’i love for people and hospitality. From their extreme equality within the leadership structure (even asking me to be a part of the service) to all the time they took to teach me, I hope that I can mirror some of these qualities that I saw in Nina, Deena, and Amelia.
As I left, they asked me if I wanted to take any food home. When I said no, they gave me a rose from the vase instead and told me to stay warm and dry.
Meg, "My Take on the Baha'i Faith," Grace upon Grace: One way of telling the world about my King...
[Re-posted with permission]+{Photo of Bryan is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic}
"Stairway to Heaven," Dolly Parton, 
