“Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God! Thou beholdest what the tongue of no one except Thee can utter, and bearest witness unto things which no mouth can recount. The floods of afflictions are let loose, and the winds of Thy judgment have blown, and from the clouds rain down the darts of tests, and the heavens of Thy decree pour forth the arrows of trial.

Thou seest, O my Lord, how Thy servants, who have believed on Thee and acknowledged Thy signs, have fallen into the clutches of Thine enemies, how the doors of ease and comfort have been shut against them, how they languish in the Fortress wherein neither pleasantness nor hope can be found. They have suffered in Thy path what no man before them hath suffered. To this bear witness they who abide around Thy throne, and the dwellers of the earth, and the Concourse on high.

These, O my God, are Thy servants who, for love of Thy beauty, have forsaken their homes, and been so stirred up by the gentle winds of their desire for Thee that they have sundered every tie in Thy path. Such of Thy servants as dwell in Thy land and have transgressed against Thee have assailed them, and banished them from Thy cities, and made them captives, and delivered them into the hands of workers of iniquity among Thy people and the perverse amidst the wicked doers in Thy realm. And finally, they were made to abide in this place with which no other place, however loathsome, in all Thy dominion, can compare. They were seized with such trials that the clouds weep over them and the thunder groaneth by reason of the manifold tribulations that have afflicted them in their love for Thee and for the sake of Thy pleasure.

Thou knowest full well, O my God, that there is no one on Thine earth who can claim to be related to Thee except these, some of whom have suffered martyrdom for Thy sake, while the rest have been permitted to survive. Though for such as are like unto us, O my God, it beseemeth not to claim to be related to Thee, inasmuch as our misdeeds and our waywardness have hindered us from reaching the depths of the ocean of Thy oneness, and from immersing ourselves beneath the waters of Thy transcendent mercy, yet our tongues, O my God, bear witness, and our hearts testify, and our limbs confess that Thy mercy hath enveloped all created things and Thy compassion surpassed all that are in heaven and all that are on earth.   

I beseech Thee, by Thy Most Great Name, through which all created things were rent asunder and the whole creation was shaken, to send down from the clouds of Thy mercy that which will purge them from every ordeal and from whatever is hateful to Thee. Raise them up, then, to such heights that no amount of tribulation will keep them back from Thy wondrous remembrance, nor any trouble hinder them from turning toward the court of Thy transcendent oneness.”

 Baha’u’llah  

We remember in our thoughts and prayers the tests being endured by our beloved friends in Iran and other countries who are being set upon with such meanness and ignorance in the name, of all things, of God.

Photo: 10 Haparsim Street in Haifa, Israel, taken from the site of the Master’s House. It was originally built as the pilgrim house for Western pilgrims after a donation by an American pilgrim, William Randall. It served as the original Seat of the Universal House of Justice from 1963 to 1982, and then as the Seat of the International Teaching Centre until its permanent seat was completed on the Arc Path.

“I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee.”  Baha’u’llah

This, the opening line of the short obligatory prayer, tells us why we were created. This worship is expressed inwardly, in our hearts, by our gratitude, our thankfulness. It is expressed outwardly through our conduct, that is, in the manner in which we relate to others.

Baha’u’llah further shares this reality with us in the first of His “Hidden Words”:

“O Son of Spirit! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.”

We are spiritual beings, created by God. Here is our fundamental duty to our Father. Strive to possess a virtuous character, that is, to make our inner selves, our thoughts and motives, pure. Behave in a manner that displays these inner qualities, which is kindliness. Our inner qualities will reach the hearts of others, which is their reflection, and in turn create a positive effect on the thinking, emotions, and conduct of others.  

We are not the beasts of the field. Ours is a higher calling, an unavoidable obligation given us by our Creator, and which is ignored both to the detriment of one’s own soul and to the loss of humanity. Fulfilling this duty to our Father, which is entirely for our own benefit, requires our daily vigilence every day of our lives. This effort is one avenue that helps us come closer to God, in addition to other means given to us by our loving Creator, such as prayer and fasting.

Photo: from the Austalian production “Walking with Dinosaurs” at its United States debut in July 2007, in Tacoma, Washington

Praise be unto God, incomparable in majesty, power and beauty, peerless in glory, might and grandeur; too high is He for human imaginations to comprehend Him or for any peer or equal to be ascribed unto Him. He hath clearly set forth His straight Path in words and utterances of highest eloquence. Verily He is the All-Possessing, the Most Exalted. When He purposed to call the new creation into being, He sent forth the Manifest and Luminous Point from the horizon of His Will; it passed through every sign and manifested itself in every form until it reached the zenith, as bidden by God, the Lord of all men.   Baha’u’llah

The sword of a virtuous character and upright conduct is sharper than blades of steel.   Baha’u’llah

According to the words of the Old Testament God has said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” This indicates that man is of the image and likeness of God — that is to say, the perfections of God, the divine virtues, are reflected or revealed in the human reality. Just as the light and effulgence of the sun when cast upon a polished mirror are reflected fully, gloriously, so, likewise, the qualities and attributes of Divinity are radiated from the depths of a pure human heart. This is an evidence that man is the most noble of God’s creatures.   ‘Abdu’l-Baha

He is a true Bahá’í who strives by day and by night to progress and advance along the path of human endeavor, whose most cherished desire is so to live and act as to enrich and illuminate the world, whose source of inspiration is the essence of Divine virtue, whose aim in life is so to conduct himself as to be the cause of infinite progress. Only when he attains unto such perfect gifts can it be said of him that he is a true Bahá’í. For in this holy Dispensation, the crowning glory of bygone ages and cycles, true Faith is no mere acknowledgement of the Unity of God, but rather the living of a life that will manifest all the perfections and virtues implied in such belief….    Shoghi Effendi

Photo: Mount McKinley, Alaska, the tallest mountain in North America.

Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self.
Baha’u’llah

This is the hour when ye must associate with all the earth’s peoples in extreme kindliness and love, and be to them the signs and tokens of God’s great mercy.
‘Abdu’l-Baha

And for everyone it is now easy to travel to any land, to associate and exchange views with its peoples, and to become familiar, through publications, with the conditions, the religious beliefs and the thoughts of all men. In like manner all the members of the human family, whether peoples or governments, cities or villages, have become increasingly interdependent. For none is self-sufficiency any longer possible, inasmuch as political ties unite all peoples and nations, and the bonds of trade and industry, of agriculture and education, are being strengthened every day. Hence the unity of all mankind can in this day be achieved. Verily this is none other but one of the wonders of this wondrous age, this glorious century.
‘Abdu’l-Baha

Photo: L’Avenue des Champs Élysées, Paris, one of the great streets in one of the great cities of the world, as seen from atop the Arc de Triomphe.

H. Res. 1008

In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

August 1, 2008.
Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2006, Congress declared that it deplored the religious persecution by the Government of Iran of the Baha’i community and would hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all Iranian nationals, including members of the Baha’i faith;

Whereas on March 20, 2006, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir, revealed the existence of a confidential letter dated October 29, 2005, from the chairman of the command headquarters of Iran’s Armed Forces to the Ministry of Information, the Revolutionary Guard, and the police force, stating the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, instructed the command headquarters to identify members of the Baha’i faith in Iran and monitor their activities;

Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur expressed `grave concern and apprehension’ about the implications of this letter for the safety of the Baha’i community;

Whereas in May 2006, 54 Baha’is were arrested in Shiraz and held for several days without trial in the largest roundup of Baha’is since the 1980s;

Whereas in August 2006, the Iranian Ministry of the Interior ordered provincial officials to `cautiously and carefully monitor and manage’ all Baha’i social activities;

Whereas in 2006, the Central Security Office of Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology ordered 81 Iranian universities to expel any student discovered to be a Baha’i ;

Whereas in November 2006, a letter issued by Payame Noor University stated that it is Iranian policy to prevent Baha’is from enrolling in universities and to expel Baha’i upon discovery;

Whereas in 2007, more than two-thirds of the Baha’is enrolled in universities were expelled upon identification as a Baha’i ;

Whereas in February 2007, police in Tehran and surrounding towns entered Baha’i homes and businesses to collect details on family members;

Whereas in April 2007, the Iranian Public Intelligence and Security Force ordered 25 industries to deny business licences to Baha’is;

Whereas in 2006 and 2007, the Iranian Ministry of Information pressured employers to fire Baha’i employees and instructed banks to refuse to provide loans to Baha’i -owned businesses;

Whereas in July 2007, a Baha’i cemetery was destroyed by earthmoving equipment in Yazd, and in September 2007, a Baha’i cemetery was bulldozed outside of Najafabad, erasing the memory of those Iranian citizens;

Whereas in November 2007, the Iranian Ministry of Information in Shiraz detained Baha’is Ms. Raha Sabet, 33; Mr. Sasan Taqva, 32; and Ms. Haleh Roohi, 29, for educating underprivileged children;

Whereas Mr. Taqva reportedly was detained while suffering from an injured leg which required medical attention;

Whereas on January 23, 2008, the State Department released a statement urging the Iranian regime to release all individuals held without due process and a fair trial, including the 3 young Baha’is being held in an Iranian Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Shiraz;

Whereas in March and May of 2008, Iranian intelligence officials in Mashhad and Tehran arrested and imprisoned Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, the members of the coordinating group for the Baha’i community in Iran;

Whereas those seven individuals remain imprisoned without charge;

Whereas the Government of Iran is party to the International Covenants on Human Rights; and

Whereas in December 2007, the Iranian Parliament published a draft Islamic penal code, which violates Iran’s commitment under the International Covenants on Human Rights by requiring the death penalty for `apostates’, a term applied to Baha’is and any convert from Islam: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives–

(1) condemns the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of Baha’is, calls on the Government of Iran to immediately cease activities aimed at the repression of the Iranian Baha’i community, and continues to hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding all the rights of its nationals, including members of the Baha’i community;

(2) condemns the Government of Iran’s continued imprisonment of individuals without due process and a fair trial;

(3) calls on the Government of Iran to immediately release 10 Baha’is: Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, Ms. Haleh Roohi, Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm; and

(4) calls on the Government of Iran and the Iranian Parliament to reject a draft Islamic penal code, which violates Iran’s commitments under the International Covenants on Human Rights.
Attest:

Clerk.

********
For more information, please go to http://www.bahai.us/house-resolution.

Serenity is a quiet, solitary shore and a blue view to the horizon with a soft breeze on a warm, sunny day, a timeless view that you have all to yourself. True serenity, however, is something far more profound. It is having a solid sense of your moral center and those spiritual values that you have learned and practiced and instilled into your soul and that are reflected in your thinking and conduct. These values all have their origin in the Word of God that has been brought to mankind through God’s Messengers. Baha’is learn them through the priceless utterance of Baha’u’llah – the Word of God that He revealed to mankind during a ministry that lasted 40 years. Practicing them enables you to come closer to your true spiritual self, and on a practical level, demonstrating them can enable you to both enjoy the benefits of this earthly life and avoid making those poor decisions that result in undesirable consequences.

Photo: a 180 degree view to the south and southwest of Cook Inlet taken from Kincaid Park in Anchorage, Alaska. The entrance to Turnagain Arm is on the far left, and the entrance to Knik Arm is on the far right.