Tacoma Baha’i

Friday, January 9

To the Baha’i Friends in Cluster 19:

The 10-day expansion phase of the 14th cycle of our Intensive Program of Growth begins tomorrow. For the next 10 days we will be making extra efforts to share the Message of Baha’u’llah in a direct way with our friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers. And we will have collective door-to-door teaching projects on the weekends in Lakewood and Sumner. As part of this effort, we are hoping that all the Friends will join a collective prayer effort by saying the Prayer for the Western States every day. We will also be sending a prayer and a quote from the Writings to you every day during the expansion phase. Our hope is that each of us will say the prayer and focus on the quote each day, and that through this participation, our hearts will be united every day of the 10 days of expansion. Who can predict what the effect of this effort will be? Let’s find out!

With warmest Baha’i greetings,

Your Cluster 19 Core Team

(Area Teaching Committee, Cluster Institute Coordinator, Auxiliary Board Members)

Say: Teach ye the Cause of God, O people of Bahá, for God hath prescribed unto every one the duty of proclaiming His Message, and regardeth it as the most meritorious of all deeds.

Bahá’u’lláh

‘Abdu’l-Bahá is the Center of the Covenant and the Perfect Examplar, the embodiment of service to Bahá’u’lláh. The Master’s house in Haifa, Israel, is shown in the picture above just below the middle of the photo. The rooms in the upper floor were the personal quarters of Shoghi Effendi and his wife, Ruhiyyih Khanum. The garden to the left is the resting place of Hand of the Cause ‘Amatu’l-Bahá Ruhiyyih Khanum, who lived in this house for more than 60 years.

Whoso ariseth to teach Our Cause must needs detach himself from all earthly things, and regard, at all times, the triumph of Our Faith as his supreme objective.

Bahá’u’lláh

Beginning this weekend, Saturday, January 10th, for ten days, Bahá’ís will have the opportunity to place into practice their own devotion through a focused effort to bring the Faith to our neighbors in Pierce County.  We will offer to present the Faith to interested persons. Prayers will be said for their success, and some friends will offer their homes as centers for gathering.

For were men to abide by and observe the divine teachings, every trace of evil would be banished from the face of the earth.

Bahá’u’lláh

We will be providing information about this every day during the ten days. Contact Bahá’ís in your area to volunteer!

If they arise to teach My Cause, they must let the breath of Him Who is the Unconstrained, stir them and must spread it abroad on the earth with high resolve, with minds that are wholly centered in Him, and with hearts that are completely detached from and independent of all things, and with souls that are sanctified from the world and its vanities. It behoveth them to choose as the best provision for their journey reliance upon God, and to clothe themselves with the love of their Lord, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious. If they do so, their words shall influence their hearers.

 Bahá’u’lláh

Some of the best things that have ever happened are because the people and governments of the world met together in unity to solve their common problems. In the middle of the 19th Century every country had to enter into a separate agreement with every other country in order for its residents to send mail there to be received and delivered to its intended destination. There were no uniform rules and rates varied wildly. This disorganization hindered business by U.S. companies.  Montgomery Blair, head of the United States Postal Service, suggested an international conference with a view to establishing a treaty to provide uniform rules and rates, and it was held in Paris in 1863. Under the auspices of Germany, another conference was held in Bern, Switzerland in 1874 and a treaty was concluded. Today, it is called the Universal Postal Union and is still headquartered in Bern as an organ of the United Nations. There are 191 member countries. This treaty is the reason that you can pay postage at a standard rate in your own country and your mail will be delivered to its intended address virtually anywhere in the world.

Unity works!

They that are endued with sincerity and faithfulness should associate with all the peoples and kindreds of the earth with joy and radiance, inasmuch as consorting with people hath promoted and will continue to promote unity and concord, which in turn are conducive to the maintenance of order in the world and to the regeneration of nations. Blessed are such as hold fast to the cord of kindliness and tender mercy and are free from animosity and hatred.

Bahá’u’lláh

 

I pray Thee, O Thou Who causest the dawn to appear, by Thy Name through Which Thou hast subjected the winds, and sent down Thy Tablets, that Thou wilt grant that we may draw near unto what Thou didst destine for us by Thy favor and bounty, and to be far removed from whatsoever may be repugnant unto Thee. Give us, then, to drink from the hands of Thy grace every day and every moment of our lives of the waters that are life indeed, O Thou Who art the Most Merciful! Make us, then, to be of them who helped Thee when fallen into the hands of those Thine enemies who are numbered with the rebellious among Thy creatures and the wicked amidst Thy people. Write down, then, for us the recompense ordained for him that hath attained Thy presence,  and gazed on Thy beauty, and supply us with every good thing ordained in Thy Book for such of Thy creatures as enjoy near access to Thee.

Brighten our hearts, O my Lord, with the splendor of Thy knowledge, and illumine our sight with the light of such eyes as are fixed upon the horizon of Thy grace and the Day-Spring of Thy glory. Preserve us, then, by Thy Most Great Name, Which Thou didst cause to overshadow such nations as lay claim to what Thou hast forbidden in Thy Book. This, verily, is what Thou didst announce unto us in Thy Scriptures and Thy Tablets.

Cause us, then, to be so steadfast in our love towards Thee that we will turn to none except Thee, and will be reckoned amongst them that are brought nigh to Thee, and acknowledge Thee as One Who is exalted above every comparison and is holy beyond all likeness, and will lift up our voices amongst Thy servants and cry aloud that He is the one God, the Incomparable, the Ever-Abiding, the Most Powerful, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise.

 Bahá’u’lláh, from Prayers and Meditations

“Ordain for me, O my Lord, what Thou hast ordained for them that love Thee, and write down for me what Thou hast written down for Thy chosen ones. My gaze hath, at all times, been fixed on the horizon of Thy gracious providence, and mine eyes bent upon the court of Thy tender mercies. Do with  me as beseemeth Thee. No God is there but Thee, the God of power, the God of glory, Whose help is implored by all men.”

 

 

 

“Enable, then, Thy servants, O my God, to recognize the Day-Star that hath shone forth above the horizon of Thine irrevocable decree and purpose, and suffer them not to be deprived of the Paradise which Thou, by Thy name, the All-Glorious, hast called into  being in the heavens of Thine exalted omnipotence. Cause them, moreover, O my God, to hearken to Thy most sweet voice, that they may all hasten to recognize Thy unity and acknowledge Thy oneness, O Thou Who art the Beloved of the hearts of all that yearn after Thee, and the Object of the adoration of such as have known Thee!”

 

 

 

 

“Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! I implore Thee by the onrushing winds of Thy grace, and by them Who are the Day-Springs of Thy purpose and the Dawning-Places of Thine inspiration, to send down upon me and upon all that have sought Thy face that which beseemeth Thy generosity and bountiful grace, and is worthy of Thy bestowals and favors. Poor and desolate I am, O my Lord! Immerse me in the ocean of Thy wealth; athirst, suffer me to drink from the living waters of Thy loving-kindness.”

 

 

“I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by Thy mercy that hath surpassed the entire creation, and Thy generosity that hath embraced all created things, to cause me to turn my face wholly towards Thee, and to seek Thy shelter, and to be steadfast in my love for Thee. Write down, then, for me what Thou didst ordain for them who love Thee. Powerful art Thou to do what Thou pleasest. No God is there beside Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Bountiful.”

 

 

Selections are from Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh

Photos by the Webmaster

Reality precedes formality in Tacoma this year. December 21st is the official beginning of winter, but several inches of crunchy snow are already on the ground throughout the Puget Sound area.  A lot of snow is atypical here. Most years there will be a brief snowfall that will be gone after two or three days and that will be “winter”. This year has had prolonged, colder temperatures than usual, and so snow has been here a week and will last for a few more days.

 

“Give ear, O King, unto the Voice that calleth from the Fire which burneth in this verdant Tree, on this Sinai which hath been raised above the hallowed and snow-white Spot, beyond the Everlasting City; ‘Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful!’ We, in truth, have sent Him Whom We aided with the Holy Spirit (Jesus Christ) that He may announce unto you this Light that hath shone forth from the horizon of the will of your Lord, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, and Whose signs have been revealed in the West. Set your faces towards Him (Bahá’u’lláh), on this Day which God hath exalted above all other days, and whereon the All-Merciful hath shed the splendor of His effulgent glory upon all who are in heaven and all who are on earth. Arise thou to serve God and help His Cause. He, verily, will assist thee with the hosts of the seen and unseen, and will set thee king over all that whereon the sun riseth. Thy Lord, in truth, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty. ” 

Bahá’u’lláh 

 

 

Verily, the wayfarer who journeyeth unto God, unto the Crimson Pillar in the snow-white path, will never reach unto his heavenly goal unless he abandoneth all that men possess: “And if he feareth not God, God will make him to fear all things; whereas all things fear him who feareth God.”

 Bahá’u’lláh