On the Dead Won't Mind: Making Changes for the Sake of the Plan

Photo: Flitzy Phoebie

I have so many impressions swirling through my mind after one thrilling day participating in Seattle's Intensive Program of Growth. I am struck by how history is being made with each passing day of this precious plan as Baha'is make the changes to get their priorities straight.

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This morning I was reading the newest copy of the American Baha'i. I was struck by ample evidence of a change that is occurring in the Baha'i National Community. Never has their been such a focus on growth and unity of purpose around strategies for growth, today those inherent in the Institute Process.

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I thought of the youthful believer who was up from Sacramento to participate in Seattle's directing teaching. Why? Because Sacramento has its IPG coming up soon and this friend wanted to be ready with the requisite skills.

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Looking at the Baha'i tabloid in my lap, I noted on almost every page evidence of a resolve to win the goals of this plan. From the teaching stories on the front page, to the announcement about the teaching blog http://teaching.bahai.us, to the side bar reminder of what are the service practices associated with each of the RuhiBooks, to the description of the home visits taking place in South Carolina in the vicinity of the Gregory Institute, to the fact that the National Spiritual Assembly appointed the members of the Regional Council of the Central States this year to ensure there would be expertise relevant to the current plan, to the changes that are occuring in the American Baha'i newspaper itself. -gw

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As part of efforts to intensify the printed edition's focus on winning the goals of the Five Year Plan, full-length obituaries in the future will be printed in only rare and selected circumstances.

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The American Baha'i, Jan/Feb 2008, p. 23.

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I don't think those Baha'is who have passed on to the next world will mind.

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Yesterday I dropped by seeker Rashid's home to invite him to go with our family to the Tacoma Dome for the annual Martin Luther King Celebration. I brought with him my son's copy of the American Baha'i to give him. He looked at the front page and noted the article about the teaching work in Savannah, Georgia. He said that is where his friend who told him about the Faith is from, the friend who is now a Baha'i, thanks to the Institute Process. -gw