Yeah, no kidding! But it has been a good year nonetheless. -gw
Uploaded on December 2, 2006 by beachblogger42 on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Why no peace? Is it because every religion has its own God, and these gods don't want it? Are there many deities, or only one God? Is it the gods who are the problem, or God who is behind our difficulty? Or is the culprit humankind? -gw
Maybe We Don't Have Religious Peace Because Each Deity Requires Exclusive Worship
Listed are a few of the scriptures and their religions concerning peace.
Christianity: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."
Confucianism: "Seek to be in harmony with all your neighbors ... live in peace with your brethren."
Buddhism: "There is no happiness greater than peace."
Hinduism: "Without meditation, where is peace? Without peace, where is happiness?"
Islam: "God will guide men to peace. If they will heed Him, he will lead them from the darkness of war to the light of peace."
Taoism: "The wise esteem peace and quiet above all else."
Sikhism: "Only in the name of the Lord, do we find our peace."
Judaism: "When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh even His enemies to be at peace with Him."
Jainism: "All men should live in peace with their fellows. This is the Lord's desire."
Zoroastrianism: "I will sacrifice to peace, whose breath is friendly."
Baha'i: "War is death while peace is life."
Shinto: "Let the earth be free from trouble and men live at peace under the protection of the Divine."
A bit of irony here. These religions have striking differences on the outside and in the eyes of others, but in their spirit they carry the same message.
Ester Davis, United Press International.
Re-posted by Zardoz X: Hope you're well, happy and prospering.
Received this email today. -gw
dear friends, although of all Egyptian Baha'i suffering, we dedicated to the world this lovely baha'i arabic & english translated song about baha'i principles.. please forword it to ur frineds & till them it is a massage of peace to the world from Egyptian Baha'is in the new year & we still hve hope to take our rights. - basma
The heavens do indeed declare the Glory of God (Baha'u'llah), and science and religion go hand-in- hand. From gordon on my del.icio.us network I learn of this site and page. -gw
Francis Collins, the former head of the Human Genome Project, has written a book presenting his case for belief in theism. ... At some point in the process (Collins identifies it as occurring ~100,000 years ago) God put a soul into a group of hominids, creating modern humans. 
New Baha'i music from Louisiana. Thanks to nevin on my del.icio.us network, I learned of this group today. -gw
The Sherlock Holmes Review Vol 3, No. 1, is up for bid on eBay. One of the articles: "Sherlock Holmes and the Baha'i Faith."
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I do a keywork search to find out more on this relationship and come up with this. -gw
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The following is a script by a young Baha'i Ben Roskams, a 12 year old (in 1995) from Cardiff, Wales, UK. It was the first prize in his schools drama competition and was performed, with Ben as Holmes, in front of his school and visitors.
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http://bahai-library.org/fiction/sailors.problem.html
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NARRATOR: The characters in this play are completely fictional, but the Prisoner of Akka is real. He lived between 1817 and 1892.
An excerpt from a post about a Baha'i philosopher in Greek. It just seems all so appropriate somehow. -gw
Ας επανέλθουμε όμως στον Dr. Hatcher, ο οποίος παρουσίασε τις σκέψεις του για τον Θεό σε μια σειρά συζητήσεων-διαλέξεων που οργάνωσε ο εκπαιδευτικός οργανισμός Baha'i, στην Columbia των Η.Π.Α.
Εκεί λοιπόν, ο κ. Hatcher, ο οποίος δηλώνει «πλατωνιστής» παρουσίασε τη δικιά του μαθηματική απόδειξη της ύπαρξης του Θεού. Ο ίδιος δήλωσε ότι βασίστηκε κατά κύριο λόγο στην λογική του Αβικέννα για τις σχέσεις μεταξύ των αντικειμένων, παρά στην αριστοτελική που βασίζεται στην μελέτη των ιδιοτήτων τους.
Seagull, Μια μαθηματική απόδειξη της ύπαρξης του Θεού, Daily Bugle
From bahaindex.com I learn of great Baha'i reseources, many of which are totally new to me, such as 
. -gw
Kevin makes a trip to Israel and is using his blog as a way to keep his friends and family informed. He visits Haifa. -gw
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The Baha'i are a 100-some year old religion that is supposedly the most dispersed religion in the world. I don't know much about their practices, but they believe in a universal oneness, respecting of all religions, universal education, equality of the sexes, and much more. They have these gardens in Haifa, which is the center of their religion, that include 18 well-groomed terraces and a huge Shrine in the middle. Located on top of a hill, the gardens overlook the city of Haifa and into the Mediterranean Sea. The gardens are beautiful and peaceful and if anyone is in Haifa I would highly suggest seeing them.
Kevin, "Chofesh Part 1," Israel
Found on Mininova, whatever that is. Songs by, yup! you guessed it. -gw
Description:
Seals & Crofts - Greatest Hits (1975) [ccc-Mixed]
One of the most popular singing and songwriting partnerships in pop music history, Jimmy Seals and Dash Crofts, two musicians from Texas, recorded a string of chart-topping hits from the years 1972 to 1975. Their songs are still honored today for their hits. Seals and Crofts Greatest Hits chronicles 10 of the duo's best known songs, including their smash hits "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond girl". Their unique pop/rock sound was made famous by their incredible vocal harmony, songwriting and musicianship. Their music was also distinctive for their spiritual lyrics and themes, inspired by the teachings of the Baha'i faith. Songs for baby boomers, and anybody that believes in True Love and True Justice.
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http://www.mininova.org/tor/1074553
How many of us take our shoes off when entering someone's home? I know it is cultural. My friend Polin from Cambodia does it everytimes he comes to our home. I do it everytime I go to the home of one of the Persian friends. Taking off one's shoes is a way of showing respect. -gw 
We found 17,222 results for photos matching Baha'i
The Good Eye Doctor, David Khorram, writes a fascinating blog from an intriguing island. He is running a series of posts on presentations at the recent Marianas International Baha'i Winter School. -gw
Found on Math Help Forum, an online math help forum with the fastest response time on the net, this post. -gw
"Jeremiah in the well, from a 19th Century Bible" 
Uploaded on October 22, 2006 by seriykotik1970 on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
NORMAN — Farhad Rohani has been collecting books for more than 40 years. His 1,500-volume collection includes a set of rare Victorian-era Bibles. ...Dear soul Child of Africa has two meaty posts up with pictures on the recent SED conference. -gw
Baha'i social and economic development conference 2007
Erica Toussaint and the unity of humankind
The Orlando Socio-Economic Development Conference, one of the most learning intensive Baha'i Conferences, takes place annually in December. Baha'is involved in development, or those who are interested in learning about the application of Baha'i principles to the 'revitalization of the fortunes of mankind' attend and learn from each other. This set includes pics from the last 4 conferences. The 2007 conference once again did not disappoint, and our experience was enhanced by 
um, ducked out and ran for the fountain in the lobby. He didn't quite make it. The Duck Herder, not breaking a sweat, rounded him up within seconds of his would-be escape. -- Baha'i Social and Economic Development Conference, 2007 Noted on http://bahai.us/bahai-multimedia, a link to
One Light, Many Lamps, columns by Phyllis Edgerly Ring. -gw
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Here's more on Baha'is and Christmas. So Merry Snippets, starting with Sean in Malaysia. -gw
Today, on Christmas Day, I joined the youths again in their outing to the Malacca Zoo since Saphira wanted to see the zoo before she leaves. Haha. It's easy to spot the Baha'i youths because everyone wore a red shirt over there including me. Really cool.
Put teaching in your life. New from YouTube. -gw
Erica Toussaint at SED conference 2007
Mahendran finds success with Anna's PresentationEnding the disparity between rich and poor is a goal towards which Baha'is are committed. -gw
For Alice Thomas, there was no contradiction between the apparent glamour and luxury of fashion shows and the grim penury of the lives of the women and children which she tried so hard to change. She believed in a better life, not for some but for all and devoted her energy among the richer class to the benefit of the poorer. It was this same interplay that led her from narrow Guyanese patriotism to the broader love of humanity by being a citizen of Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean. It also led her away from the ritualism of Anglicanism to what she saw as the universalism of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i community, which she served as Secretary.
http://guygenbiosociety.blogspot.com/2007/12/alice-mathilda-jane-thomas-nee-miller.html
http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_archive?id=47543008
“Witness how the world is being afflicted with a fresh calamity every day”, Bahá’u’lláh warns. “Its sickness is approaching the stage of utter hopelessness, inasmuch as the true Physician is debarred from administering the remedy, whilst unskilled practitioners are regarded with favour, and are accorded full freedom to act.”
One Common Faith
Author: Bahá’í World Centre * Source: Bahá’í World Centre, 2005 edition * Page: 11. Quoted from Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1983), section XVI.
More on apocalyptic thinking. The blogger on Ninth's Place has written a post outlining his speculation regarding a calamity in 2012. He cited Abdu'l-Baha.
"my growing interest in Baha'i has led me to learn of Abdu'l-Baha's prediction of a calamity such as 'to make the limbs of men quake' that must be endured before a new age of unity and peace can begin."
As I commented on the blogger's site, World Wars I and II, Vietnam, Iraq, and many other conflicts in the past 100 years qualify as "calamitous." No need to postulate some extraordinary catastrophic event a la some Hollywood sci-fi thriller. Abdul-Baha's predictions have already come true again and again.
The Baha'i view on this matter of calamity is nuanced. There are two processes at work on the face of the planet, a process of disintegration and a process of integration. Every day both catastrophe and sublimity are lived experience for the homo sapiens on this planet. The human drama playing out is real and not a movie.
I did a quick search on Baha'i Reference Library, searching for "calamity." There are 177 references. http://reference.bahai.org/search?max=10&lang=&first=11&query=Calamity. Here is a well-known passage by Shoghi Effendi. -gw
This great retributive calamity, for which the world’s supreme leaders, both secular and religious, are to be regarded as primarily answerable, as testified by Bahá’u’lláh, should not, if we would correctly appraise it, be regarded solely as a punishment meted out by God to a world that has, for a hundred years, persisted in its refusal to embrace the truth of the redemptive Message proffered to it by the supreme Messenger of God in this day. It should be viewed also, though to a lesser degree, in the light of a divine retribution for the perversity of the human race in general, in casting itself adrift from those elementary principles which must, at all times, govern, and can alone safeguard, the life and progress of mankind. Humanity has, alas, with increasing insistence, preferred, instead of acknowledging and adoring the Spirit of God as embodied in His religion in this day, to worship those false idols, untruths and half-truths, which are obscuring its religions, corrupting its spiritual life, convulsing its political institutions, corroding its social fabric, and shattering its economic structure.
Not only have the peoples of the earth ignored, and some of them even assailed, a Faith which is at once the essence, the promise, the reconciler, and the unifier of all religions, but they have drifted away from their own religions, and set up on their subverted altars other gods wholly alien not only to the spirit but to the traditional forms of their ancient faiths.
The Promised Day Is Come
Author: Shoghi Effendi * Source: US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1980 revised edition * Page 112
"Wilmette, Illinois," uploaded on March 29, 2006 by Paul-W on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Joe
Chicago, IL, United States
I like to play Ultimate and bike around town.
Logan Square Times
During a three-month stay in Germany I posted to a blog to let people know what I was up to. To my surprise I found that I enjoyed writing, and being back in Chicago, I couldn't simply continue with the old blog. Enjoy the new one!
"Three Wise Men at Nativity Portal"
Uploaded on October 5, 2006 by Carlos Lorenzo on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic
Carol-lee visits with her local newspaper reporter. -gw
I recognize in the Christmas story the appearance of the three wise men and the birth of Christ as the fulfillment of a wonderful prophecy. A lot of religions forecast the return of a prophet. Zoroaster predicted his return with some celestial certainty. The manifestations of God always predict their return. They always give clues. I have a deep and abiding love of Christ. But I believe Baha'u'llah (who founded the Baha'i faith in 1863) is the most recent manifestation of God. To look further back could be counterproductive. It would be looking backward. I want to look forward. Dad was a lay leader of the church; Mom was queen of the choir. They were central to their congregation and they set a wonderful example of commitment. I grew up seeing religion as a very real thing in the world. I needed something more; something that let me be a thinking person and a woman with my integrity intact. I believe Baha'u'llah is the return of Christ. Baha'is who grew up as Buddhists might think he's the fifth Buddha. Zoroastrians might have another explanation. My family makes a very big deal about Christmas and a lot of other holy days. We always have a Christmas tree. We do the whole Christmas thing, with a pageant. Who can resist? Especially if you're really psyched about the three wise men.
http://www.thothweb.com/article6180.html, original source: Burlington Free Press.com
Posted by Snow Dancer at 11:04 PM on Cloud Dancer ~ Blog with a purpose... Giving life to all... Photo: Flitzy Phoebie 
Leila and Shaun are in the right front in this photo taken in our home. They have been married for two years, as this incredibly beautiful, photo-filled post celebrates. Do click over. -gw
I haven't seen the 2006 movie Apocalypto, and probably never will, but Keyvan has and liked it, writing about it on Baha'i Library Forum. -gw 
So I just watched the Mel Gibson movie Apocalypto, and for anyone who has seen it, its clear that the movie's themes are very parallel to Baha'i teachings. That is, the whole emphasis of Apocalypse meaning the coming of a new beginning, led by mankind's self-destruction, and not a supernatural "end of the world," which is the dogmatic understanding. I found this interesting considering Mel Gibson is known for being a devout Christian and thus one would assume he would more likely illustrate the dogmatic understanding of apocalypse - a total end.
Apocalypto / Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 11:26 pm, by Keyvan / Joined: 25 Sep 2005 / Posts: 152 / Location: Los Angeles. Keyvan is on Mypace at http:/www.myspace.com/keyvan
S
ee on YouTube:
Mayan Indian prophecies fulfilled
Video made in the Maya Mountains, Cayo district, Belize, Central America. This is a discussion done in the Mayan language between two Mayan Indian Baha'is about Baha'u'llah and the Baha'i Faith as the fulfillment of both the Mayan prophecies and the Bible prophecies. For more info go to http://bci.org/prophecy-fulfilled/chilam.htm
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There's Mel Gibson's movie Apocalypto, and then there is Jimmy Buffett's song "Apocalypso," which treats the "dogmatic understanding" of the apocalypse satirically. Who said everything is serious here on Baha'i Views? -gw
Apocalypso Lyrics (Jimmy Buffett)Here is a Christmas collage of blog mentions of "Baha'i". Christmas-time brings up a lot of feelings for a lot of people, both Christian and Baha'i. -gw
I can’t believe how many churches there are in Renton! A quick count brought me to about ninety. Ninety! Well, now I’m beyond thinking about sitting and singing hymns and hearing a great message of hope and renewal. Now I’m on to thinking “ninety churches”! How many people does that represent? I know it’s a huge number of people who probably attend church on a somewhat regular basis. And that doesn’t even count the people who attend another house of worship; folks who are Muslim, or Buddhist, or Jewish, or Sikh or who follow the Baha’i faith, or any of the other people who follow their own brand of living a good life. It makes me think what if we all, all of us from all of those churches and all of those houses of worship and all of us who don’t get to GO to church but live lives committed to love and compassion, if all of us took the spirit of Christmas to heart. We could change our city, and our whole world to be a place of care, and compassion where no one ever went hungry and no one was ever old and alone. 
I asked my Baha'i friend how he celebrated the season. He laughed "Mostly meeting the expectations of our non-Baha'i family members". In other words, while Dec. 25 is not a focal point in his religious calendar, sharing in family celebrations in the spirit of joy, hope and peace is perfectly in keeping with his faith. Those who struggle with the over-commercialization of the holiday would be particularly comfortable with the Baha'i value of avoiding excessive materialism and greed. One Baha'i description of God's design is "to give and be generous are attributes of Mine". Like many people, I've started giving the kind of Christmas presents that can't be wrapped up - donations that provide something to people I've never met in the name of people I love. I try to fit the gift to the recipient. This year in my book-loving sister's name I am giving a solar panel and light so that someone in the Costa Rican rainforest can read at night without the dangers of an open kerosene lamp. My Baha'i friend, living out his faith, will be taking these lights personally to Costa Rica. He'll be training local indigenous people on maintenance and micro-finance to help make this economic development project truly self-sustainable. I think my sister will approve. 
I had said Ya Baha'u'l'Abha at work a little while back (shortest Baha'i prayer) and he was wondering what it meant and how to say it. Well, he passed out Christmas cards this morning and mine says: Merry Hullabullub Kilikiwa. I was laughing for a good 5 minutes. 
and is set aglow with the fire of God’s love, calling unto responsive listeners. I supplicate God to heal thee from all troubles and diseases and make thee a sign of guidance and a standard of the Supreme Concourse in those regions and particularly at Green Acre. 
"View of The Rosen Centre Hotel from the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando Florida," uploaded on May 9, 2007 by dasroofless on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 GenericApparently a recent blog entry, namely, the one about Mutale and Jarrett, was grist for the mill for my friend Tim. It got him thinking about a Naw Ruz celebration a few years back. Gritty story. -gw
George -
Wow, I have to hand it to those cute/scary puppets at Disneyland 
: It really is a small world after all. I read on your fascinating blog about a Zambian woman 
finding a mill in Pickens, SC, which provides good quality coarsely-ground corn, also known as grits. Well, George, my dear friend (I'm curious to see how much you edit this. That's right, I'm curious, George 
.) you have eaten those very grits! It was at my home on March 21, 2004, at our annual Naw Ruz breakfast 
. It seems that a guitar-making acquaintance of mine was volunteering at the Hagood Mill in Pickens, SC, at that time, demonstrating instrument making 
and other traditional crafts. The mill is operated in conjunction with the local museum. He sent me a package of their grits, which are indeed excellent. I attach a photo of Harold at the mill as well as one of me serving the grits and one of you singing "Zipidee-Do-Dah."
Indeed, it was a memorable "grit-together."
- Tim
{Photos in order: "small world hyenas," uploaded on March 22, 2005 by pamusc93 on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic; Mutale and Jarrett at the mill, http://mutsal.blogspot.com/2007/12/year-in-big-usa.html; "curious george," uploaded on April 24, 2007by youngdoo on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic; rest of the photos are from Friend Tim, of the Guild of American Luthiers - that's Tim serving the grits.}
[I will amend this post with these comments received by email today 12/27/07. -gw
Dear George,
My father and Jack Folger started restoring Hagood Mill in 1973. The Folger family had given the mill to Pickens County in the hopes that it would get Pickens away from the Civil War and into the world community. I promised Mister Folger and my dad I would do my best to keep their dream going. Well, it sure does get frustrating sometimes, but every once in a great while I accidentally come across something that seems to make all the trouble worth while.
My dad told me that the only thing he accomplished in WWII was helping to kill a quarter million old men, women, and Children. He believed his hands had to be good for something that would bring peace to this world. I am glad he succeeded. Hagood Mill is one of the few places in Pickens County where people of all races and religions are welcome, and it has been a long hard road getting it open to the public.
Glad there are people out there enjoying the grits of our labor.
Harold Wayne Turner
P.S. It is truly a small world with two kinds of people good and bad. Thank our creator for the good and the bad. He gave them the mind to think for themselves if they only would. ]
An email from Marc (in white shirt in photo) from China and a hot tip on some great music and a new website by Elika Mahoney. -gw
http://elikamahony.com. In her email to me she says.. 
"Gold and cartonage funerary mask 
of an Alexandrian Man Ptolemaic Period Egypt," photographed at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, California, uploaded on September 29, 2006 by mharrsch on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.
I am a great admirer of locle999 on del.icio.us. I don't know who he or she is. The bookmark sharing site del.icio.us doesn't provide identifying information about its users. Only if the user self-identifies via chosen name can you tell. dragfyre on del.icio.us is dragfyre of Doberman Pizza blog fame, who is dan jones of Buzznet, for example -- an old site for him, I know, but it's still up there.
Wiliam is Buddhist. It is important to him to be able to practice his Buddhist meditation everywhere he can. -gw
The blogger of Ninth's Place is torn between a devotional path and the occult, but he knows what suits his teacher who is a Baha'i. -gw
On a side note, Abdu'l-Baha wrote in A Traveler's Narrative that Baha'u'llah was suspected of being involved in the occult. -gw
trying to get there.... trying to get there... trying to get there. im at a Baha'i conference in Orlando Florlda... hoping to soak up the spirituality like a sponge of some sort. Perhaps you see the common theme. It is to do with the shorelessness, the unlimited nature of the Transcendent.
"Barney Leith, "Shoreless oceans of incorruptible wealth," Barnabas quotidianus
I just read with great interest Barney's post "Shoreless oceans of incorruptible weath." Like Barney and his wife, my wife and I are doing a Ruhi Book 1 in our home and are also in the third section, "Life and Death." Like Barney with a study circle participant, I've gotten into "some pretty deep stuff" with Rashid, a man I am currently doing home-visits with. Rashid lost his wife several years ago, an event that has influenced his spiritual journey profoundly and has come up frequently in our conversations. I will share Barney's post both with Rashid and our circle participants here. I am sure they will find the several sources he has drawn together of great interest, too. His reference to Baha'u'llah's "shoreless oceans of incorruptible weath" brings up this quote for me. -gw
"The Concourse of the Birds," painted by Habib Allah.
This is the book my wife is currently reading in preparation for our pilgrimage in ... 2009. And here is the author's blog. -gw
Around this time in millions of homes in this country Christmas letters arrive looking back at the events of the year. Here is a lovely Livin' in the USA Baha'i version of this venerable tradition. -gw
I have seen seasons come and go... and yes, I have experienced the four seasons (winter, spring, summer, autumn/fall) in that order, and for the first time have seen snow:)... My favorite seasons, I think are spring and fall, and I like winter only when it snows:) I have enjoyed visits to different places, mountains, falls, beaches - so beautiful.
I love and miss my family back home and I manage to call them at least twice a month. We have figured a cheaper way of calling Zambia and it works well for us. ...Have you checked out Bahainine for the best of Baha'i blogs, photos, and videos lately? It is up and running at full speed. Bahainine is a blog aggregator, which provides links to Baha’i blogs from around the world. Click over anytime and have 9 immediate choices of interesting blog posts in 6 different categories: News stories, news, core activities, reflections, music & culture, and life, plus 9 choices of both photos and videos. Wow! -gw
Best Baha'i Blogs, Photos and Videos 
on Bahainine
Bahainine is an initiative that a group of us started in 2006. The goal of Project Bahainine is to increase awareness of the Baha'i blogosphere and to facilitate the creation and discovery of the Baha'i inspired content. As part of this project, visitors of this site can browse, search, discover and rate their favorite blogs, photos , videos and podcasts and view the most popular content.
Tonight's new Baha'i video on YouTube. -gw
"A back alley church, Bas Congo,"Uploaded on February 23, 2006 by FredR on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 GenericThese site offerings by Larry Stevens ("I'm a welder by trade") have been up on the net since 2001 or before. -gw
I found this on my del.icio.us network. -gw
P
lanet Baha'i #8526.1
save this
by locle999 to Choice ... 3 hours ago
I found The Book of Certitude on one of my software programs and read a quarter of it on a Saturday afternoon. I returned to it around midnight or so on Sunday morning and finished the remaining three quarters in about four hours. Needless to say, a whole slew of emotions overwhelmed me. I felt a strong spiritual presence that was better than drugs. At the same time, there was depression, anxiety, fear, excitement, strength and courage, cowardliness, etc, etc.
http://forums.delphiforums.com/planetbahai/messages/?msg=8526
Very Mery links. -gw
Thank you Marco for finding this story within a story and sharing it with us. Marco's marvelous blog is the Portuguese-language Povo de Baha. -gw
You probably read the news about the draft resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the UN. It was published yesterday on BWNS 
On the web page of the Department of Public Information of the UN General Assembly I found this:http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/gashc3909.doc.htm
This is an interesting thing in a sense that Brazil avoided political games around the Council of Human Rights (and reaffirmed if wanted to work properly). But at the same time, that did not stop them from censoring Iran about the situation of the Baha’is.
Posted to YouTube during the past 24 hours. -gw
La Fe Baha'i : Latinos in the Baha'i Faith Pt. 3
La Fe Baha'i : Latinos in the Baha'i Faith Pt. 2
La Fe Baha'i : Latinos in the Baha'i Faith Pt. 1
Presentation video of fellow Latino Baha'is and the Baha'i Faith
BahaiNationalCenter
07:01, 09:47, 09:44
Mother Temple of the West ~ A Meditation
of the House of Worship in Wilmette, IL, set to a Native American flute soundtrack
BahaiNationalCenter
05:50
If I Could Be Where You Are
A memorial tribute to 15 gentle and blameless souls who were among the first to be executed by the Islamic authorities after Iran's 1979 revolution for serving their Faith. They were the dearly loved "spiritual cream" of Iran's Baha'i community, serving as their duly-elected governing leaders and their loss A memorial tribute to 15 gentle and blameless souls who were among the first to be executed by the Islamic authorities after Iran's 1979 revolution for serving their Faith. They were the dearly loved "spiritual cream" of Iran's Baha'i community, serving as their duly-elected governing leaders and their loss is deeply mourned to this day.
yunanimuse
05:20
Here is the previous quote in the thread. What is the Baha'i's response? -gw
Quote: "So again, as you know, I have studied the Baha'i faith quite seriously, but I still don't see how this world can united without all peoples converting to your faith."
Life is often a struggle. Hanging around the Baha'is can be a real pick-me-up. -gw
I've been talking with an acquaintance of mine from the Red Tub, JB, about the baha'i faith. Awhile back, I did a little research on universalists and baha'i and figured both would be worth checking out.
I'll probably try and force myself to go to the slam tonight. I may swing by and hang out with some baha'i folks before hand. 
When I became a Christian, nobody told me I'd be implying support for this. I knew I should have gone with those nice Baha'i people.Interesting observation, this. -gw
I am not aware of Buddhist crusades or Baha’i suicide bombers.
ORU
ORU SCANDAL HIGHLIGHTS HYPOCRISY OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Opinion Column Portfolio of Munim Deen
Online archive of opinion columns that have been published in "The Oklahoma Daily" student newspaper of the University of Oklahoma
grover173 on 
ljbahai expressed his desire to learn a Baha'i Obligatory prayer in Arabic or Farsi. 
metal8011 came through with some links. Now we all can learn it. -gw
here's a video of the Short Obligatory Prayer, in English and Arabic: http://www.bahai-videos.com/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&id=204
and here it is in the original Arabic: http://www.bahai-site.org/writings/saghir.html
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http://community.livejournal.com/ljbahai/468776.html
Her heart is touched. -gw
I am still in a good mood. I may be tired and in dire need of a nap, but I don't feel miserable. Sometimes I can still feel that feeling creeping around the cornors of this not-so-familiar bliss that i'm feeling, but I am not going to let it invade the bubble i'm in right now.Góðan daginn Baha'i Views!
Now you know how to greet people in Icelandic!
Over the last thirteen years, I have developed a new concept of psychotherapy and self-education which has been developed from a transcultural point of view. In Germany when you meet someone the greeting ceremony begins with the question: "How are you?" The answer: "Thank you, very well" means, if I am healthy and I am well everything is alright. In the same situation in the Orient one asks: "How are you, how is your wife and your children?" It means, if my family is well everything is well, and I feel well. In Kenya when they meet, the Masai greet each other with the words: "I hope your cattle are well." In Germany usually people have depressions because of their isolation and lack of contact. In the Orient people become sick and depressive because they have excessive contact. 
Award-winning fire dancer, Hogan Toomalatai, performing at the 2004 Baha'i jubilee festivities in Samoa. Look who is in Africa. -gw
I realized recently that I moved from New Mexico, the flag of which has a red sun on it, to Malawi, which also has a red sun on its flag. In some twisted way, this now means I have to go to Japan. Am I missing any others? Help me out, my freakish geography geek friends. ... I learned a bunch of new Baha'i kids songs this week. They're fun!
Snow 
I talked with Astrid this morning (the Baha'i lady who is coming to visit me) the roads are still pretty bad. We decided on tomorrow at 11AM. Yeah, she was so sweet we were both giggling like school girls. I instantly liked her. So tomorrow is the big day for me. Signing my declaration card is the last and first step into the Baha'i Faith.
The Baha'i House of Worhsip is referred to as "the Silent Teacher." The same can be said, it seems to me, for Bahai.org on the Internet. There are so many blog mentions of the Faith these days by people whose knowledge of the Faith has come from the internet rather than knowing a Baha'i personally. -gw
Seriously, Baha'i may be the best religion... I mean one of its main tenets is making sure that children are educated—not about the religion, but just in general. http://www.bahai.org/ for their own words on the topic.
But mainly, I was just looking through this little book of Baha'i prayers that I picked up, and there's one in it which is really great, and I'm not sure if any other religion really has an equivalent: "O God! refresh and gladden my spirit. ..."
I think I might be a Baha'i
[17 Dec 200708:22pm]
http://dangr.livejournal.com/66170.html
As a Baha'i, I am taught / I believe two key concepts:
1. Statements must be validated by my own independent investigation, and
2. Faith and Science must agree. ...
What really smacked me around about this article, though, was the quote that said "false propositions may actually disgust us."
http://nolangjohnsonpdx.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!5F152A870BEA8A1A!1201.entry
This is a great post of commentary on: 
1. "What Your Brain Looks Like on Faith" in TIME/CNN online, and
2. The blogger's Mother-in-Law [MiL]
-gw
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I spent part of yesterday (Saturday) with another Baha’i friend, following up with some people we met during the Varqa Teaching Project in November. it was a really moving experience—we were visiting a neighbour of mine who seemed to be very receptive to the Message of Bahá’u'lláh and very open to learning more about it through further home visits and Ruhi Book 1. I felt blown away and humbled by the experience. Again, I’ll write more about that later on as things continue to progress; needless to say, it’s the first time I’ve felt so confirmed while teaching the Faith.
Here is the ultimate Friend Wheel. Sholeh is uniting the world one Facebook Friend at a time. As the comsummate Baha'i blogger, Sholeh has authored thousands of blog posts over the past six years making her a noteworthy contributor towards world peace in this way as well. You go, girl!
http://sholeh.calmstorm.net/blog
Tags: Tacoma Ruston Way Waterfront, uploaded on October 24, 2006 by ranzel on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 GenericThe Bahá’í Faith is a world religion whose
purpose is to unite all the races and peoples in
one universal Cause and one common Faith.
Bahá’is are the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, Who
they believe is the Promised One of all Ages.
As you know, the traditions of almost every
people include the promise of a future when
peace and harmony will be established on earth
and humankind will live in prosperity. We
believe that the promised hour has come and
that Bahá’u’lláh is the great Personage Whose
Teachings will enable humanity to build a new
world. In one of His Writings, Bahá’u’lláh says:
"That which the Lord hath ordained as the
sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument
for the healing of all the world is the union
of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one
common Faith.
So begins Anna's resentation. My presentation was in my own words, but Anna's provided the model for me, as I had the chance to teach the Faith to two dear souls, a mother and her adult son, who happened upon me in the park today.
I had used Anna's presentation a week ago. Counting the partial presentation I had done with M and the full presentation I did to R last week, this made the third time I have drawn upon it with true seekers.
After the devotional meeting at Tim and Deb's this morning, Bonita and I were all set to go hiking up near Seabeck. The intensive was all but over. I had done some heavy-duty teaching with Tim yesterday, making two home visits to R's home, for a total of about 2 and 1/2 hours. I was thinking, oh, that's enough.
R was one of the seekers I did my Anna's presentation "practice" on last Saturday night, although, I must say, it didn't feel like practice. It was real teaching, real connecting, and real satisfying,and not merely going through the motions. It was surely one of the my most exciting teaching experiences ever.
I have had four stand-in-the-doorway home visits to R's home total, including the one yesterday, and two sit-on-the-coach home visits during this intensive campaign, for a total of 4 hours with R this campaign alone. Yesterday he was laughing about being ready to "convert." I made sure to extend the invitation to him during my presentation last week. He definately knows the welcome mat is out.
Tim and I had invited him to the devotions this morning, but R had to attend to his children and couldn't make it. Leaving Tim's I was all set to go hiking with Bonita on a nice covered forest trail I know of, when I noticed that it wasn't raining. Yes, it was overcast and quite cold, but despite the forecast of rain, there was none at the moment, and nor did there look like any in the immediate future.
I thought, I really I should go park teaching, as I have posted about before, instead of the hike. The intensive campaign really isn't over until sunset, I thought. There are a few hours left. And it's not raining. My wife encouraged me to go on down to Ruston Way. I'm glad she did.
It didn't take me look to gather the necessary items ready. The shepards hooks were in the closet. The banner was in the garage. I had my ipod and ipod-dock speakers. I had my teaching box at the ready. It was all systems go.
The park didn't have much foot traffic. I sized up quickly a place to put up the banner. I figured the best place for me was on a strip of park next to the old fireboat between two of the more popular waterfront restaurants. Here are some pictures on Flickr of the spot. I set up and waited.
I studied my teaching materials, keeping an eye out. I was thoroughly enjoying listening to my "park teaching mix" via the speakers. What good musical choices they are, I thought. I looked at the pairs of Goldeneyes on the water.
I had exchanged glances with many of the passers-by over the course of an hour, but had had no actual converstations until one called out to me from the sidewalk. "What's this all about?" she asked. "The Baha'i Faith," I answered. She said, "Oooh, I'd better come back." And she did a few minutes later. With her son.
I gave them George's version of Anna's presentation for the third time around. It felt so good.
They had never heard of the Faith before. The mother said all she knew was Jesus. During my presentation she was picking out specific passages from the quotes and reading out-loud, her son nodding in agreement. "This sounds like Jesus," she said. I told her how Baha'u'llah came in fulfillment of Christian prophecy.
I gave them the invitation. I asked for their name and number. She said she wanted to go the website and read more. She asked for my name and number instead. I gave her a teaching card with that, the day and time of our devotional, and our address.
I was in the park for all of an hour and three-quarters. I left before the rains came. What a great way to end the weekend and the intensive!
"London Aerial View Close Up," 
Uploaded on May 1, 2006 by Bobcatnorth on flickr licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Thanks to Danakin78, pictures are in from the first intensive campaign in London since their designation as an A-cluster. -gwAs noted in a previous post, a new video on YouTube is called Sounds of the Pacific. It was a music and dance presentation at an annual event, Sounds of the World, at the Baha'i World Center involvng the talent of the volunteers working there. This was what it was like last year, according to previous coverage on these pages. According to the bloggers below, it was incredible again this year. -gw
Gore is sounding quite Baha'i-like with these statements. -gw 
"When you get four opinions and they all say the same thing, you act," said Gore, who has long been campaigning for global actions on climate change. "We are one people on one planet with one destiny," he said.
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Feature: "We are one people on one planet with one destiny"
http://www.chinaview.cn/index.htm 2007-12-14 05:05:13
I am a print-oriented guy. However, I must, like the rest of the world, acknowledge the power of video to convey the nature of the Baha'i Faith and Community that has grown up in its name in an extraordinary way. YouTube is a phenom. There are more than 1400 videos dealing with some aspect or another of the Faith on it. Here are some of the most recently posted. -gw
My sister and nieces singing a Baha'i prayer in Chinese in Michigan, August 2007. "O God, guide me, protect me, make of me a shining lamp and a brilliant star. Thou art the Mighty and Powerful."—Abdu'l-Baha
An introductory presentation for a devotional meeting on the importance of teaching. The presentation begins with some beautiful Baha'i quotes, then shows the clip of a single candle - intended for 3 readers to stand up, each holding a candle and read a Teaching prayer by Baha'u'llah.This Teaching presentation was done at Brisbane's recent Cluster Reflection Meeting. 
This is a slide show of a gathering of junior youth at the Baha'i Center in Durham, NC on December 1, 2007
بيگانگان يکديگر را مبينيد ، همه بار يک داريد و برگيک شاخسار. "حضرت بهاءالله" 
The Shores of the Pacific
Available on DVD Jan/2008 - Soothing New Age sights and sounds accompany the Baha'i Writings on meditation, beautifully recorded by Susan Lewis Wright from her cd "Bird". The harmony of science and religion is essential to our understanding if we are to find solutions to the problems threatening our survival and sustainability on this planet. Added: December 13, 2007Mormans and Baha'is are sometimes tossed in the same basket, by Baptists, at least. And Baptists in Africa are apparently surprised to find Baha'is there. -gw
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December 14, 2007
Weekly Round-Up: Baha’i in Uganda, Mormonism
Here is this week's (brief) weekly round-up:1) "Spreading oneness" and "Being a Baha’i faithful" in the Sunday Vision newspaper (Uganda). It's true--the Baha'i are in Uganda. Make sure to read these, learning more about their beliefs and local history!
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http://africacfar.blogspot.com/2007/12/weekly-round-up-bahai-in-uganda.html
To quote the blogger, "So, in other words, holy moly, thank you Baha'u'llah. Goodness." Here are her comments on the Long Obligatory Prayer. -gw
Let him then raise his hands in supplication toward God—blessed and exalted be He—and say: Oh God!
Further, he said, everything that exists does so because of some cause, and the "principle of sufficient reason" states that every phenomenon is either caused by something external or caused by itself, but never both. "Everything that exists has to have a reason for existing," he said.
Working from these principles, Hatcher first defined what he called "the minimum criteria for Godhood," and then set about trying to prove the existence of a phenomenon to fit those criteria. God, he said, must exist and be unique, and must be self-caused as well as being the cause of everything else. "Every existing phenomenon is the end effect of a causal chain of possibly infinite length, starting with God," he said.
From:
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/?q=node/14073
In:
http://opan-agm.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!41F9C93E07A93CA8!631.entry?wa=wsignin1.0
Her husband said this. Wise husband. Beautiful post. -gw
http://where-i-am-right-now.blogspot.com/Tags: Bahá'í * World Centre * gardens * illustration * israel
התחלת רקע של הגנים הבהאים on Flickr - Photo Sharing! 
A great post for the Christmas season, Christ being, after all, "the reason for the season," as I have heard my Christian friends and relatives say. -gw
Turning away from dogma, so many are turning to the light. -gw
It is funny because it is suppose to turn you away from the Baha'i faith but for me only confirmed my convictions that the Baha'i faith is the faith for this time.
Baha'i and Christianity Comparison 2
Are you on Facebook yet? It's not just for youth. It's also a place for communities. -gw
Baha'i FacebookReal money and lots of fun. You know about social networking. Have you heard about social commerce? Bounty Up is working with some of the best loved Baha'i musicians currently on an interesting project. -gw
Social commerce is a subset of e-commerce in which the active participation of customers and their personal relationships are at the forefront. The main element is the involvement of a customer in the marketing of products being sold. e.g. recommendations and comments from customers. ... However, the term has been expanded to include a variety of collaborative commerce activities, where the social participation may extend beyond recommendation to collaborative purchasing, such as BountyUp, or fundraising (ChipIn, Crowdfunder, Causes on Facebook).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_commerce
BountyUp Blog
Exploring the possibilities of social commerce
Create a video for "God Sufficeth" by Badasht, post it on Youtube and get 25,000 plays and you will win $1,000.00.
1 Contest for Badasht Video
$ 1,000.00 amityrecords created this contract on Dec 3, 2007
Lyrical content is from the Bahai Writings so the video must have spiritual-related content. Though a lot of things may apply to "spiritual-related" content, there are clearly some things that do not. If you have any questions please feel free to post a comment on this Bounty site and we'll respond.You can download the song "God Sufficeth" here for free from Amity Records. Have fun everyone!
http://www.bountyup.com/bounty/Contest+for+Badasht+Video
Produce a high-quality recording of African-American Spirituals by Eric Dozier and sung by the One Human Family Gospel Choir
1 One Human Family Gospel Choir RecordingUploaded on March 15, 2007 by keepps 
on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
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"Yay Hooray! calender illustration. I did this calender project and I got January (2006). Janus is the Roman god of doorways, gates, beginnings and endings, (for which January was named after), usually depicted as two faces, (representing sun and moon) and a key. " Uploaded on July 12, 2007 by Jen Chan on flickr.
In its spiritual evolution humankind has gone from multiple gods to attributes of God. -gw
Blessed Are The Curious: The Baha'i Year
Each of the 19 months is named after an attribute of God. Whereas in English several of the months' names are taken from the names of ancient gods.
Blessed Are The Curious: Mirza Husayn-Ali
In 1853 Baha'u'llah left Persia for Baghdad. Baha'u'llah ultimately claimed to be the promised one of all religions.
to
Blessed Are The Curious
Watch, listen, read, write, learn something new each day
Wendi isn't the only Baha'i in the world to have a strong association between a certain holy place and this song. Add me to the list. And give me exercise. -gw
The holding of devotions and study circles constitute two of the core activities of Baha'i life. Here is what they look look in one community. -gw
Uploaded on January 6, 2007 by mortox on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic
Forward this youtube URL to other Baha'is you know so they too may be inspired by Gloria's successes.
pleasant hill cemetery - pleasant hill, or on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
"the hidden words"
"learnings," uploaded on September 13, 2007 by ali_kat_xx on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic 
http://www.ruhiresources.org/index.php?src=news&refno=669&category=Book%25
"templo del loto ," Uploaded on June 6, 2007 by Heart Industry on flickr
licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic
A quiet place is good to find. -gw
Uploaded on June 30, 2007 by vafelu on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
"Baha'i Marriage workshops for Stratford, London and Kitchener by Nahed and Rae; Feb 2007" Uploaded on January 27, 2007 by Dr Phil on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
HA, a B for adaptive living- technology! I seriously thought that I was going to fail that paper. But oh so relieved I didn't. ... Now I just wish that the other lecturer would hurry up and post up the results of the social anthroplogy paper- the one I did on the Baha'i Faith.
'Tis the season. RicArdO explains. -gw
BAHAI CHRISTMAS VIEWS ********* [photo]
Baha'i christmas ornament
This is the news story buzzing around our cluster via email of the events of the first weekend of the current Expansion Phase of intensive teaching, as chronicled by one dear soul. -gw
We started off with a bang on Saturday as 26 friends (including 3 friends from outside the cluster) gathered in the home of one of the believers for a Direct Teaching Training led by an experienced facilitator. She led us through "Anna's presentation" from Ruhi Book 6, analizing the concepts in each section. There was lively and focused discussion around each concept. She shared an outline of the presentation for the friends to use, and beautiful cards with the quotations that are shared during the presentation. The participants enthusiastically practiced giving the presentation, and then 20 friends were able to go out in teams on Saturday afternoon to 11 home visits with 14 seekers or friends who were willing to listen. (And there were more visits using Anna's presentation on Sunday.) Here are gleanings from the stories of a few of those visits:
"Do not let anyone......look down on you because you are young... This is the banner my mom made for me in the summer. It's finally been hung on the wall. So far, it hasn't fallen. It's the verse 1 Timothy 4:12 " Uploaded on September 28, 2007 by covs97 on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic
It happened in the time of Christ, and it is happening today. We are experiencing the Divine Springtime.
Spring, summer, fall, and winter. Then spring again. God never leaves mankind without guidance. Depite consternation among the followers of the earlier Manifestations, the religion of God is refreshed with the arrival of the newest Manfestation of God for the age. -gw
The reason for the link about Baha'i World Faith is that there are some Baha'i movements in the Jefferson County, Wisconsin area. Since one of the visions that God has prompted me to do is to plant churches in the rural towns in Jefferson County, Wisconsin... it is of utmost importance that local Christian believers truly understand how to defend their faith and thus witness to followers of Baha'i.
http://1timothythree4-5.blogspot.com/2007/12/there-are-many-many-blogs-webpages-and.html
What's mine is yours and what's yours in mine on Flickr, "almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world." -gw
Your photos
Baha'i core activities and community life
Baha'i firesides, feasts, and conventions
"toast with honey," uploaded on March 15, 2007 by gisarah on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Ipod honey for the buttery toast of Baha'i life. -gw
Thanks to our creative design team, our eNewsletter and website have a new look.
+ http://www.bahai.us//newsletter/issue20.htm
...the Baha'i view [is] that the traditional division between "believers" and "unbelievers" is a misunderstanding of the Divine purpose and an impediment to human progress. Whether a spiritual seeker is led to become a Baha'i is a matter of individual conscience and a decision to be respected by others.This is moving. -gw
I was a little bit nervous, yes I was - before I left work to visit Brian, who was hospitalized in Xiehe after appendix surgery (Appendectomy, to be medically more precise). It'd been almost a year (if not more) since last time I got to see him when attended one of his studying circles of Baha'i belief. He had always been a source of encouragement and to some extent comfort to me and to a whole lot of other people. Hard to imagine he'd act out a patient yet he did, painfully.
He struggled in pajamas to sit up when I entered the top-class room he stayed. It hurt me shockingly that he could barely move or laugh or basically do anything that usually pleases him (basketball, for an instance).
He said I was being squeenish and I argued I wasn't at all. I'd take the pain or suffering easily if those had fallen upon my own self but I am incapable of witnessing the others' misery while having no remedy to help.
He said he had prayed to take some of his friends' suffering and God - in his own words - replied to his altruistic wish. He joked about becoming fully aware of women's greatness of giving birth (dude...a baby out from vagina plus nine months in pregnancy in comparison with teeny weeny appendix from belly with one clear cut, I don't think so - but yeah I got his point).
In response to his habitual optimism I did nothing but remained speechless, so bewildered as touched. I regret now that some heartless jokes of mine had made him laugh and consequently in sharp pain. (Ouch)
But it was as usual great to see him and listen to his high-spirited words of a devoted missioner. Thus I was sad and happy, at his suffering and our re-encounter in life.
http://mycoldaugust.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!19D1FA7F9DA071D6!4380.entry
12/10/07 A Look at the Mystery of SacrificeFound posted on my new Facebook friend Sam's FunWall:
"The world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male and the female. So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the bird will not fly." The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912, p. 375. Photo uploaded on October 8, 2006 by aaardvaark on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic
Oris Dizzy Gillespie Limited Edition Automatic Watch
