On Bearing Witness To Our Powerlessness: Simillarities between 12-step programs and Baha'i

"Thou Art the Mighty and Powerful"

+
This post, excerpted below, explores the similarities in the spirituality of the 12-Step Program and the Baha'i Faith. -gw

As a twelve-stepper myself, I’ve found many similarities between the Baha’i Faith and twelve-step programs. For example, both encourage spiritual growth through self-knowledge, and both have what I would call an open-ended understanding of God. Twelve-step meetings welcome people of all faiths, rely on the program’s literature for guidance, and encourage members to find a Higher Power they can turn to for help. 

Baha’is also welcome members of all religions (or no religion at all) to meetings, and the Baha’i Writings refer to God as an “unknowable essence” Who loves us and provides us with guidance through sacred Scripture. The First Step of Alcoholics Anonymous states that, “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.” Similarly, Baha’is admit powerlessness each day with a short prayer ...  

I bear witness, O my God, that Thou has created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth… – Baha’i Prayers, p. 133.

http://bahaiteachings.org/calling-all-12-steppers

On Shattering the Status Quo: A sleepy farm town in Persia awakens

Nayriz was a sleepy farm town in Fars province Persia, where people grew dates and pomegranates and lived peaceful lives. But it was a stifling peace without hope, where the future was merely a continuation of the past. On May 27, 1850, the status quo was shattered. Vahíd proclaimed the message of the Báb from the pulpit of the Jumih mosque in Nayriz, and Nayriz would never be able to return to the way it was before. It had been jolted into the painful throes of awakening. 

 http://www.awakeningnayriz.org/template.php

The history of the Baha'i Faith is rich and inspiring, as the story of Naryriz exemplifies. -gw

Awakening: A History of the Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths in Nayriz by Dr. Hussein Ahdieh and Hillary Chapman brings to life in words and images the heroism and sacrifice of the early believers in Nayriz. The book recounts in vivid detail Vahid's mission to Nayriz and the upheavals of 1850, 1853 and 1909. Awakening Awakening also describes the growth and evolution of that city's flourishing Bahá'í community.

This video describes the heroism and suffering of the Bábí and Bahá'í women of Nayriz through three violent upheavals in 1850, 1853, and 1909.

Babi Women of Nayriz from Nayriz.Org on Vimeo.

View the historical web page of Nayriz and story of Vahid :
http://www.Nayriz.or

On Seeing Green: Through eyes that aren't jaded

At first the infant finds it very difficult to reconcile itself to its new existence. It cries as if not wishing to be separated from its narrow abode and imagining that life is restricted to that limited space. It is reluctant to leave its home, but nature forces it into this world. Having come into its new conditions, it finds that it has passed from darkness into a sphere of radiance; from gloomy and restricted surroundings it has been transferred to a spacious and delightful environment. ... Its new life is filled with brightness and beauty; it looks with wonder and delight upon the mountains, meadows and fields of green, the rivers and fountains, the wonderful stars; it breathes the life-quickening atmosphere; and then it praises God for its release from the confinement of its former condition and attainment to the freedom of a new realm.

`Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace

A path to Sinlehekin Creen (in natural green), a set on Flickr.

Vs.

A path to Sinlehekin Creek (Boost edit)

I love green, but sometimes green isn't good. Photo editing is fun and easy with all the incredible software available. But sometimes the end result isn't  ... real. Natural is better. Seeing through the eyes of an infant is better than the seeing through supposedly mature eyes, if those eyes require neon colors.

So we take a trip to Eastern Washington. E WA can be brown in summer. But in the spring it can still be the green I like. It was still green in the Sinlehekin this last weekend.

I loved our walk of discovery down to the banks of Sinlehekin Creek. Took lots of pictures. Processed them. Posted 'em. But Bonita didn't like 'em. "I don't like the greens," she said. "Doesn't look real. Authentic color is what I like."

OK, so here is the re-edit using only "I'm feeling lucky" -- yeah, that's really a setting on Google's Picasa photo editing -- but no "Boost" for authentic green. -gw

On Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest: Instructive encounters

http://pnwwildlife.blogspot.com/?view=magazine
http://pnwwildlife.blogspot.com/

New blog. A total amateur's photographic encounter with wildlife while canoeing and camping in the great Pacific Northwest. There is so much we can learn contemplating the life of birds and animals. -gw

...with nearly all animals—there is a kind of justice and equality. Thus equality exists in a shepherd’s flock and in a herd of deer in the country. Likewise, among the birds of the prairie, of the plain, of the hills or of the orchard, and among every kind of animal some kind of equality prevails.

Some Answered Questions

Author: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

On Visiting the Oldest Designated Wildlife Area in Washigton State: Canoeing Fish Lake

Fish Lake, Okanogon, a set on Flickr.

Overcast from the outset, windy soon after we rounded the first bend, Fish Lake was thrilling to revisit after a few years away. The Sinlahekin Wildlife Area will always be a favorite. -gw

 Thou hast led those with parched lips to the fountain of guidance; Thou hast suffered the thirsty fish to reach the ocean of reality; and Thou hast invited the wandering birds to the rose garden of grace.

Abdu’l-Bahá 

On the Question Answered After Prayers: What's in their hearts?

What's in their hearts, a set on Flickr.

This was how the friends gathered for devotions at Matt and Christy's last week answered the question "What's in your heart?" after rounds of prayers. -gw