In this video, Janna gives you two questions you can ask: What do I need? What am I protecting? Have a listen and post your comments below. Janna Denton-Howes is a Marriage Coach whose passion is to help couples get unstuck and move powerfully towards the vision of true Baha’i marriage. If you liked this video, you can visit her site; read her blog and watch her other videos.
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How to De-escalate an Argument in 2 Minutes or Less
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Understanding Gossip and Backbiting
The Baha’i Writings are clear on this point – backbiting is the worst human quality and the “most great sin”. The worst human quality and the most great sin is backbiting. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Lights of Guidance, p. 88) So if there is one fault we need to most focus on, this would be a great place to start! But what about news reporting? Where does that fit? Recently one of my readers wrote: One topic of the Baha’i Faith that has really shown its power to me, is the concept of refraining from backbiting. Sometimes it can seem so innocent, but even so, look how much damage it can do! I am currently stuck on a topic that I find hard to understand. I’ll give an example. As you no doubt know, there was a Mayor of a large city who was videotaped doing crack cocaine. The local newspaper reported it; the story went viral and the city was made a laughing-stock! Of course it was true, but was it backbiting? After all, the Mayor did use drugs in his own private time, not during his duties as a mayor. But to most voters, a mayor isn’t someone who just […]
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Overcoming Backbiting – Changing our Behaviour
How do we overcome this cultural past-time? Just stop! As with many things, deeds not words are what is required: However, deprivation of voting rights is usually of little help in such circumstances and should be resorted to only after other remedies have been tried and failed . . . Rash action can dampen the zeal of the community, and this must be avoided at all costs. (Universal House of Justice, Lights of Guidance, p. 60) We’re asked to refrain from slander, abuse and whatever causes sadness in men: Verily I say, the tongue is for mentioning what is good, defile it not with unseemly talk. God hath forgiven what is past. Henceforward everyone should utter that which is meet and seemly, and should refrain from slander, abuse and whatever causeth sadness in men. Lofty is the station of man! (Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 219-220) A silent tongue is the safest: A silent tongue is the safest. Even good may be harmful, if spoken at the wrong time, or to the wrong person. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London, p. 125) If the situation is not serious, we should ignore it: Sometimes, however, the matter does not seem grave enough […]
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Study Guide to the Ridvan Message 2017
By a Reader of this Blog Please note: This Study has the paragraphs numbered, 1-4 and the sentences are numbered, highlights, bolding and dot formatting, have been added for the purpose of study and reflection only. Questions have been added for further study and to stimulate thought. When answering questions refer to the sentence number beside the question. THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE Ridván 2017 To the Bahá’ís of the World Paragraph One Dearly loved Friends, See how the community of the Greatest Name arises! With but one year elapsed since the inception of the new Plan, reports testify to the scale of what is being attempted and beginning to be accomplished. Bringing greater intensity to 5,000 programmes of growth is demanding a level of effort quite without precedent. With a firm grasp of the fundamentals of the Plan, large numbers of the friends are acting on its requirements, demonstrating rigour and sacrifice in the quality of their response As envisaged, some intensive programmes of growth that have been long sustained are becoming reservoirs of knowledge and resources, lending support to surrounding areas and facilitating the rapid dissemination of experience and insight. Centres of intense activity— those neighbourhoods and […]
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Taking Steps to Protect Children and Junior Youth
As Baha’i communities become more complex, the protection of children and junior youth becomes increasingly more important, especially in a world where sexual and physical abuse still prevails. The following guidelines have been developed by the Canadian NSA – they may not be applicable in your country. The protection of the youngest members of our communities depends upon the sustained capacity in individuals, communities, and institutions to cultivate safe environments where young people can grow and flourish: As the negative forces affecting children, junior youth and youth accelerate, and while new, previously-unimagined threats target the most vulnerable members of society, the protection of youth and children depends upon the sustained capacity in individuals, communities, and institutions to cultivate safe environments within which young people can grow and flourish. (NSA of the Bahá’ís of Canada, Framework and Guidelines for the Implementation of Child Protection Policies, July, 2012) Risk Management Different conditions and concerns are taken into account: The programs for children, junior youth and youth offered by the Bahá’í community in Canada range as to their degree of formality, size and scope, their relationships with other organizations and institutions, etc. Each degree along this spectrum gives rise to different conditions and […]
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Responding Helpfully to Those Who’ve Experienced Trauma
It can be difficult to know how to help a loved one who’s suffered a traumatic or distressing experience, but your support can be a crucial factor in their recovery. Everyone can become a “willing channel” for the health-giving power of the Holy Spirit: The work of healing the sick, however, is a matter that concerns not the patient and the practitioner only, but everyone. All must help, by sympathy and service, by right living and right thinking, and especially by prayer, for of all remedies prayer is the most potent. “Supplication and prayer on behalf of others,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “will surely be effective.” The friends of the patient have a special responsibility, for their influence, either for good or ill, is most direct and powerful. In how many cases of sickness the issue depends mainly on the ministrations of parents, friends or neighbors of the helpless sufferer! Even the members of the community at large have an influence in every case of sickness. In individual cases that influence may not appear great, yet in the mass the effect is potent. Everyone is affected by the social “atmosphere” in which he lives, by the general prevalence of faith or […]
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Ruhi Book 10 Themes for a Youth Gathering
In Ruhi Book 10.1, (Accompanying One Another on the Path of Service) page 86-87, we read the following: In the above episode, we begin to see how a rise in capacity to engage in meaningful conversation with youth in different settings is crucial to the continued expansion of the educational process the training institute sets in motion in a cluster. Here is an opportunity for you and the other members of your group to think together about the nature of this capacity and about the spiritual themes that, as the House of Justice notes, tap “the deepest springs of motivation”. As a first step, it should not be difficult for your group, bearing Enidia’s list in mind, and using sources readily available to you, to put together some passages on the themes she has identified. Once you have done so, you could undertake a thorough exploration of each theme. It may well take some time for your group to carry out these explorations, especially if you decide to go a step further and engage in a corresponding process of action and reflection. In that case, every member could actually hold a conversation with some youth on the proposed themes, […]
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How to De-escalate an Argument in 2 Minutes or Less
In this video, Janna gives you two questions you can ask: What do I need? What am I protecting? Have a listen and post your comments below. Janna Denton-Howes is a Marriage Coach whose passion is to help couples get unstuck and move powerfully towards the vision of true Baha’i marriage. If you liked this video, you can visit her site; read her blog and watch her other videos.
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Reflections on a Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program
Personal Reflections on Service, Education, Economy and Sacrifice By Rachel Perry Last week I hosted a gathering in my home for five youth between the ages of 11 – 15. My daughter helped prepare the space by cleaning and beautifying the area the night before. She worked so diligently to tidy, sort, clean and create such a warm and welcoming environment and I was so proud of her. We prepared snacks, made phone calls, and prepared activities for an evening themed on friendship. When the participants started to arrive it filled my heart with Joy to see them come together with a sense of playfulness and adventure. They filled our home with laughter and I can’t remember the last time I felt so happy. This JY Group calls themselves “Spirit Wings” and they have been gathering together weekly for nearly a year now. Their time together includes studying thought-provoking stories relevant for their age and discussing important themes with a global message. The exercises and discussion is designed to help develop critical-thinking skills as well as improving capacity for self-expression. In addition, building skills by doing service in the neighbourhood is an important component of the group. Ideas for the service […]
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Study Guide To The Letter On Economic Life
THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE 1 March 2017 To the Bahá’ís of the World Dearly loved Friends, Paragraph One In an increasingly interconnected world, more light is being cast on the social conditions of every people, giving greater visibility to their circumstances. While there are developments that give hope, there is much that should weigh heavy on the conscience of the human race. Inequity, discrimination, and exploitation blight the life of humanity, seemingly immune to the treatments applied by political schemes of every hue. The economic impact of these afflictions has resulted in the prolonged suffering of so many, as well as in deep-seated, structural defects in society. No one whose heart has been attracted to the teachings of the Blessed Beauty can remain unmoved by these consequences. “The world is in great turmoil,” Bahá’u’lláh observes in the Lawḥ-i-Dunyá, “and the minds of its people are in a state of utter confusion. We entreat the Almighty that He may graciously illuminate them with the glory of His Justice, and enable them to discover that which will be profitable unto them at all times and under all conditions.” As the Bahá’í community strives to contribute at the level of thought and […]
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Ideas for the Bicentenaries
Program Ideas: Click on the titles of the articles you want to read! Bicentenaries: Preparing for the Bicentenaries Twin Birthdays for Twin Manifestations Twin Holy Birthdays Days of Remembrance: A New Volume of Baha’i Writings Bicentennial Birthday Celebrations of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh Bicentennial Birthday Celebration Of Baha’u’llah And The Bab 200 Articles in 200 Days for Bahá’u’lláh’s 200th Anniversary Birth of the Bab: The Birth of the Bab – Holy Day Program A Dramatic Reading in Commemoration of the Birth of the Bab Stories from the Early Life of the Bab Selected Stories from the Life of the Bab prior to His Declaration The Bab: What was He Like? The Mystery of the Birth of the Bab What The Bab Taught Me (Unlocking The Gate) Did You Ever Wonder…A Story of the Báb As A Child Birth of Bahá’u’lláh: Birth of Baha’u’llah – Holy Day Program The Life of Bahá’u’lláh Silk and Satin – the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh Stories from the Early Life of Bahá’u’lláh The Birth of Bahá’u’lláh A Birthday Like No Other: The Birth of Baha’u’llah Bicentenary of Birth of Baha’u’llah 2017 Sharing Baha’u’llah’s Birthday With Our Children Stories from the life of Baha’u’llah, told by storyteller […]
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Understanding Gossip and Backbiting
The Baha’i Writings are clear on this point – backbiting is the worst human quality and the “most great sin”. The worst human quality and the most great sin is backbiting. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Lights of Guidance, p. 88) So if there is one fault we need to most focus on, this would be a great place to start! But what about news reporting? Where does that fit? Recently one of my readers wrote: One topic of the Baha’i Faith that has really shown its power to me, is the concept of refraining from backbiting. Sometimes it can seem so innocent, but even so, look how much damage it can do! I am currently stuck on a topic that I find hard to understand. I’ll give an example. As you no doubt know, there was a Mayor of a large city who was videotaped doing crack cocaine. The local newspaper reported it; the story went viral and the city was made a laughing-stock! Of course it was true, but was it backbiting? After all, the Mayor did use drugs in his own private time, not during his duties as a mayor. But to most voters, a mayor isn’t someone who just […]
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Overcoming Backbiting – Changing our Behaviour
How do we overcome this cultural past-time? Just stop! As with many things, deeds not words are what is required: However, deprivation of voting rights is usually of little help in such circumstances and should be resorted to only after other remedies have been tried and failed . . . Rash action can dampen the zeal of the community, and this must be avoided at all costs. (Universal House of Justice, Lights of Guidance, p. 60) We’re asked to refrain from slander, abuse and whatever causes sadness in men: Verily I say, the tongue is for mentioning what is good, defile it not with unseemly talk. God hath forgiven what is past. Henceforward everyone should utter that which is meet and seemly, and should refrain from slander, abuse and whatever causeth sadness in men. Lofty is the station of man! (Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 219-220) A silent tongue is the safest: A silent tongue is the safest. Even good may be harmful, if spoken at the wrong time, or to the wrong person. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London, p. 125) If the situation is not serious, we should ignore it: Sometimes, however, the matter does not seem grave enough […]
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Study Guide to the Ridvan Message 2017
By a Reader of this Blog Please note: This Study has the paragraphs numbered, 1-4 and the sentences are numbered, highlights, bolding and dot formatting, have been added for the purpose of study and reflection only. Questions have been added for further study and to stimulate thought. When answering questions refer to the sentence number beside the question. THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE Ridván 2017 To the Bahá’ís of the World Paragraph One Dearly loved Friends, See how the community of the Greatest Name arises! With but one year elapsed since the inception of the new Plan, reports testify to the scale of what is being attempted and beginning to be accomplished. Bringing greater intensity to 5,000 programmes of growth is demanding a level of effort quite without precedent. With a firm grasp of the fundamentals of the Plan, large numbers of the friends are acting on its requirements, demonstrating rigour and sacrifice in the quality of their response As envisaged, some intensive programmes of growth that have been long sustained are becoming reservoirs of knowledge and resources, lending support to surrounding areas and facilitating the rapid dissemination of experience and insight. Centres of intense activity— those neighbourhoods and […]
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Our Beloved Bahá’u’lláh
Our Beloved Bahá’u’lláh Remembrances of the Leaves of the Holy Family Part I – The Early Years (1817–1853) Monologues for Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of His Birthday on 22 October 2017 Marlene Macke August 2017 Cast Khadíjih Khánum The mother of Mírzá Husayn-‘Alí (Bahá’u’lláh) Ásíyih Khánum The Most Exalted Leaf, entitled Navváb, the wife of Mírzá Husayn-‘Alí (Bahá’u’lláh) Narrator Khadíjih Khánum I am Khadíjih Khánum, the mother of the One whom you call Bahá’u’lláh but whom I would always think of as my beloved son, Husayn-‘Alí. Let me tell you some stories of Him as a child and young man. My husband, Mírzá Buzurg, and I were both born in the region of Núr in Mázindarán. I was most fortunate to be wedded to Mírzá Buzurg because he was renowned for his character, charm and artistic and intellectual attainments. My husband came from an ancient and noble family and he held high positions in service to the Sháh. We were blessed with five children. Husayn-‘Alí, our third child, was born in Tihrán at the hour of dawn of October 22nd, 1817. In later years, the great chronicler, Nabíl, wrote that the world, while unaware of its […]
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Disaster Planning for Baha’i Communities
In many places in the world, our communities have faced sudden calamities, for which they weren’t prepared. The NSA in the USA has given us some good guidelines on how to prepare and how to respond, and I thought would be helpful to share with all my readers. Baha’i communities can be most effective when they are prepared for calamities and disasters, so they can best respond when they happen. In times of national disaster, National Assemblies have 2 major lines of action: Efforts at the national headquarters are, in time of crisis, divided between two major lines of action that operate from a broader perspective than regional or local levels of administration: Meeting current needs: creating infrastructure and mechanisms for information and funds flows, resolving regional problems and communicating with the Bahá’ís nationally and globally Thinking strategically: reaching out to non-Bahá’í sources for information, asking “what next” questions about recovery and future needs and assessing community and humanitarian resources for meeting them. (USA- NSA, Guidelines for Local Spiritual Assemblies, Chapter 14, p. 28) National member databases should be up to date: Community membership lists should be corrected and kept current in the National Membership Database at the Bahá’í National […]
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Calamities – Causing the Limbs of Mankind to Shake
There are 2 quotes, which, when taken together, tend to frighten many of us: The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight, that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its perversity will long continue. And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then, and only then, will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody. (Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 118) Know, verily, that an unforeseen calamity followeth you, and grievous retribution awaiteth you. (Baha’u’llah, The Persian Hidden Words 63) When I read about the Tanna (Vanuatu) community in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam in “Reflections on Growth”, and watched “The Resilience of the Tanna Baha’i Community” these two quotes came together. Background information on Tanna Tanna is one of 83 small islands in the country of Vanuatu, which is located in the South Pacific east of Australia and west of Fiji. It is 40 kilometres long and 19 kilometres wide, with a total area of 550 square […]
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How to Start Selflessly Serving Others
By Badi Shams In our community we had a soul-searching discussion about the role that service to humanity can play in teaching the Faith. That heart-felt consultation and realization that some friends wanted to do something but did not know where to start, encouraged me to write these few lines and make a list of possibilities of service open to us. As Baha’is, we are often struggling to balance our time among our own efforts at spiritual growth, our family life, our work, our commitments in the Baha’i community, and our core activities and teaching. And no thanks to technological advancement with so many gadgets that enable us to multi-task more and more, we have been transformed from human beings to human doings. Added to that is also the rampant spread of materialism that is consuming our spiritual growth and draining our energy. How can we have time for one more thing- one more social action, one more commitment? Though providing a service may sound like one more thing to fit into our already busy lives, in reality it does not necessarily need to become a big project. Any look, gesture, word or action that helps others is an act […]
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Tell the Rich of the Midnight Sighing of the Poor
One of my readers posted the following story as a comment on my blog posting about Disaster Planning but it was so poignant I wanted it to stand on its own. This is printed with her permission, and she has asked to be anonymous. There is another type of disaster that is in a different category than those caused by natural disasters. That is financial ruination and difficult for people with serious health handicaps. I can speak from personal experience. Our story is similar to the stories of most working middle class Americans whose lives have drastically change due to medical catastrophe or a serious illness in oneself or the family. We are Baha’is, and find that the Baha’is who are understandably not equipped to handle serious social/financial problems among the friends, but who also lack the knowledge to be resourceful in finding unconventional ways to be of assistance. So, I share my story with you, just to give one person’s narrative and efforts for solution. My husband and I do work and research from the home which means we have a huge library. We also inherited lovely furniture and china. Work involves his professional consulting, my returning […]
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Understanding Being vs Doing
A few years ago we started to see the House of Justice refer to “being and doing”, both words I thought I understood. Indeed the dictionary defines them as: Being: to exist or live Doing: to perform (an act, duty, role, etc.); to accomplish; finish; complete; to put forth; exert It seems to me that one is passive and the other is active. In a materialistic culture obsessed with “doing”, it is believed that as we “do” the correct things, success will follow. In fact who we are while “doing” is more important than “being”. I wondered: Is there a dangerous side of goal-setting, to-do lists, and being efficient? How much time do we need to spend in “doing” at the expense of just “being”? As a recovering workaholic and perfectionist, the concepts of being and doing are synonymous in my mind! Working is my form of play! It’s been pointed out by many people over the years that I need to slow down and take time for rest and recreation. They tell me that work and play are different and it’s hard for me to get my head around this concept. In fact Shoghi Effendi tells us: You should . . . force yourself to take time, and not only for prayer and […]
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