Re-Engaging Youth During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This week I had an email from a reader in Pakistan, asking me to reflect on these four subjects: 1) What have we learned from the COVID-19 ?? 2) Our youths are sleeping until noon/afternoon and are active on social media (cell phone) during the whole night. Any...
Praying for Ourselves as Well as Our Oppressors
Cleanse them, then, O my God, from all idle fancies and vain imaginations, that they may inhale the fragrances of sanctity from the robe of Thy Revelation and Thy commandment, that haply they may cease to inflict upon me what will deprive their souls of the fragrances...
Caroline Lehmann – First Baha’i in Our Cluster from 1916-1940
By Heidi Lakshman Presentation on the 25th Anniversary of the Gravenhurst Bahá'í Community, 25 March 2000 There are different milestones in the evolution of a Bahá'í community, and today we remember the arrival 25 years ago of the first Bahá'í pioneer, Francis Cowan,...
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?
What is true love? The essence of love is for man to turn his heart to the Beloved One, and sever himself from all else but Him, and desire naught save that which is the desire of his Lord. (Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 155) The real and great love is the...
Children Learn First to Obey their Parents, and then to Obey God
Parents must exert every effort to rear their offspring to be religious, for should the children not attain this greatest of adornments, they will not obey their parents, which in a certain sense means that they will not obey God. (Bahá’u’lláh, Bahá’í Education, p. 6)...
A Problem That Can’t be Easily or Immediately Resolved
It is difficult for the friends always to remember that in matter[s] where race enters, a hundred times more consideration and wisdom in handling situations is necessary than when an issue is not complicated by this factor. (Shoghi Effendi, Pupil of the Eye, p. 87) A...
How Bad is Lying?
If the sum of all sins were to be weighed in the balance, falsehood would, on its own, countervail them; nay its evils would even outweigh them and its detriment prove greater. It were better for thee that thou shouldst be a blasphemer and tell the truth than that...
White Privilege in the Face of Injustice
Let the white make a supreme effort in their resolve to contribute their share to the solution of this problem, to abandon once for all their usually inherent and at times subconscious sense of superiority, to correct their tendency towards revealing a patronizing...
Service May Look Different if You’re an Introvert
A unity in diversity of actions is called for, a condition in which different individuals will concentrate on different activities, appreciating the salutary effect of the aggregate on the growth and development of the Faith, because each person cannot do everything...
The Power of God’s Healing
Thy name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy. Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my companion. Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succor in both this world and the world to come. Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful, the...
Baha’i Inheritance Laws
In a previous article, Taking Care of your Will and Testament, I failed to mention the laws of inheritance outlined in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and I’m grateful to the reader who pointed it out. Rather than add it to that article, I decided it deserved a posting all of its...
Funeral Prayers and Readings
At times of death, in the midst of grief, many people are at a loss about what prayers and readings they want to have said for their loved one. They don't have the mental wherewithal to be able to search the Writings for their favorite quotes to uplift those who...
Living Wills and Assisted Death
During this COVID-19 pandemic, many people are wondering “what if?”. Now might be a good time to think about what’s really important in terms of a living will or euthanasia. Many people have asked me for a copy of what I’ve written to use as a model, and I’m happy...
Putting Your Affairs in Order
In these days of uncertainty, with the COVID-19 death toll rising daily, many people are wondering about how to put their affairs in order “just in case”. Although there is no relevant guidance to consider from the Baha’i Writings, making our final wishes known is a...