When Sleeping Women Wake, Mountains Move: Marking the 30th anniversary of the execution of ten Baha’i women

Source: Justice for Iran

To create a piece specifically to mark the 30th anniversary of the execution of ten Baha’i women, Ms Barbaro and I collaborated on an installation entitled “10 Martyrs of Shiraz” partly consisting of ten torn-out journals representing the lost potential of these women. Iranian artist Shohreh Ghanbary travelled from North America to exhibit acrylic and oil figurative paintings and collages, as well as two stunning pieces of needlework created out of prison scraps and odd threads. Leila Barbaro displayed photographic collages created specifically for the symposium based on accounts of horrific prison abuses recorded in J4I’s recent publication, Crime and Impunity. The combined effect of the varied works worked surprisingly well, sparking deep conversations and giving rise to a palpable feeling that all of us, organisers, volunteers, speakers and participants (even unconnected lenders of equipment!) had somehow become deeply aligned and collusive with the forces of change and renewal.

http://thisevanescentsoul.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/when-sleeping-women-wake-mountains-move/#more-1135

Art can move mountains, too. -gw

On Seeing Why Haifa's Baha'i Gardens Draw 3/4 Million Visitors a Year: Breathtaking

See why the breathtaking garden jewel of Haifa gets 750,000 visitors every year.

http://israel21c.org/social-action-2/a-walk-through-the-bahai-gardens-on-mount-carmel/

I see. -gw

On With What Should We Busy Ourselves: Toward the open world

O people of God! Do not busy yourselves in your own concerns; let your thoughts be fixed upon that which will rehabilitate the fortunes of mankind and sanctify the hearts and souls of men. This can best be achieved through pure and holy deeds, through a virtuous life and a goodly behaviour. Valiant acts will ensure the triumph of this Cause, and a saintly character will reinforce its power. Cleave unto righteousness, O people of Bahá! This, verily, is the commandment which this Wronged One hath given unto you, and the first choice of His unrestrained Will for every one of you.

Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas

What does it mean to be spiritual in this day. With what should we busy ourselves? A collage on what it means to be "busy" ... -gw

Busy back room

Busy streets, Haifa

Prayers in a busy household

In this Day, however, let them give up the life of seclusion and direct their steps towards the open world and busy themselves with that which will profit themselves and others. 

  Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas

Pretty busy bee

On Outfoxing the Fox: Some games are innocent

Nobody wants to be eaten. Better run.-gw

Can you outfox the fox?

What Time Is It, Mrs. Fox?

... some games are innocent, and if pursued for pastime there is no harm. ... [R]ecreation which may improve the bodily powers, as exercise, is desirable.

Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era

On In the Midst of the Forest of Mazindaran: Their eyes instantly recognised the face which they had longed to behold

In the midst of the forest of Mázindarán, their eyes instantly recognised the face which they had longed to behold.

The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation

My photographic attempt to illustrate this moment in Nabil's narrative. -gw

In the midst of the forest of Mázindarán, their eyes instantly recognised the face which they had longed to behold, a set on Flickr.

On We Work Together to Transform Our Communities: We don't distinguish between who'is a Baha'i and who isn't

We don't distinguish between who'is a Baha'i and who isn't. We work together. Through all the activities we carry out, the idea is that we work together, and there aren't any differences between us, that as a community we can work and bring forth an ever-advancing civilization.

http://www.bahai.org/frontiers/

Working together on Tacoma's Eastside, we can transform our community and ourselves. -gw

The Eastside Reflection Meeting complete, a set on Flickr.

On Professional Assistance For Personal Problems: Baha'i-inspired life coaching

Hi George, I just found your article on Bahá'í Views and wanted to say how excited I was to see someone link anxiety with sin! This is such a profound insight, which healed me from a lifetime of anxiety and PTSD! I found when it was called “anxiety”, it became medicalized; but when I thought of it as fear and sin, it was liberating and within my power to choose something different. I culled the Writings for ideas, which coalesced into a series of 20+ blog postings, starting at:

http://susangammage.com/what-is-fear-one-bahais-perspective

I’ve also pulled it together into an ebook, which I’d be happy to share if you would find it helpful.

Much love, Susan

www.susangammage.com * www.facebook.com/SusanGammage1 * www.twitter.com/SusanGammage1

A llife coach is "a person whose job is to improve the quality of his or her client's life, by offering advice on professional and personal matters," according to the dictionary  Susan Grammage is a Baha'i-inspired life coach with an online practice. She has created a wealth of resource material that is just a click away, incredibly rich and well-organized. How vast is this wealth? Take a look. -gw

• Abuse and Violence
• Addictions
• Anger
• Anxiety
• Be-ing
• Bitterness
• BNASAA
• Calendar
• Chastity
• Confidence
• Core Activities
• Creativity
• Crisis and Victory
• Cults
• Death
• Depression

On Baha'i Evolution Over 40 Years: Rip Van Winkles, beware!

Source: http://www.seattlebahais.org/history

I remember Ruhiyyih Khanum speaking at a conference, perhaps one of the youth conferences in my day as a youth, saying something to the effect that what we have today as Baha'is is not what we will have in the future. In other words, the Faith will change over time. It evolves -- like everything else in creation.

That was sure evident at the youth conference held in Tacoma this last weekend, one of the 114 being held in the world this summer called for by the Universal House of Justice. Youth raised in the Faith but who have not been participating in the core activities that characterize Baha'i life today may have had difficulty even relating to the conference had they attended. Yet non-Baha'i youth in attendance, exposed to the Baha'i-inspired community building efforts in their neighborhoods over the course of just a few weeks or months, felt right at home.

The Faith has not remained the same. It is not what it was back in the late 60's and early 70's, as wonderful as those days were for the growth of the Faith. The Faith entered a whole new phase after 1996, incorporating the early experiences of places like Norte de Bolivar, Columbia, featured in Frontiers of Learning, which has been at its community-building process for 20 years. -gw

Remembering the late 60's and early 70's...



Today in Tacoma ...

Preparations underway, Part 1, a set on Flickr.