On the Signficance of "Twin" for Baha'is: A meditation at Nisqually
Greatly enhanced international endowments in Holy Land in twin cities of Acre and Haifa, now include twin Holy Shrines situated on plain of Acre and slope of Mount Carmel; twin Mansions of Bahjí and Mazra’ih, twin historic Houses inhabited by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; twin International Archives adjoining the Báb’s Sepulcher and the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf; twin Pilgrim Houses, constructed for Oriental and Occidental pilgrims; twin Gardens of Riḍván and Firdaws, associated with the memory of the Author of the Bahá’í Dispensation. -- Shoghi Effendi, 1951
http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/MBW/mbw-6.html
There are 130 passages in which the word "twin" is used in the Baha'i Writings, starting with, of course, reference to the Twin Manifestations of God, the Bab and Baha'u'llah.
On our walk today I was admiring twin barns that are the most distinctive man-made feature of the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, the subjects of many a photograph, including my own today, and I thought of the significance of "twins" for Baha'is.
The air was crisp, the sun was out for a while, but faint, and there was still thick frost in the shadows late in the afternoon. Bird-life was in abundance at Nisqually today, as it is a wintering over-spot for dozens of varieties of birds. -gw
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