Bahá'í Blog

Like many children who grow up in Baha’i families, I was raised on stories from The Dawn-Breakers (also known as Nabil’s Narrative). All through my childhood and youth stories about the lives of the first individuals to declare their belief in the Bab were shared with me to illustrate the spiritual characteristics that I was encouraged to acquire and perfect in my daily life and service. The fidelity and fierce courage of Quddus; the faith of Tahirih; the fearlessness of Badi…while the stories of these heroic souls are deeply moving, I’ve always been a bit overwhelmed and intimidated by the volume, which is 668 pages long (not including the introduction) and is filled with an endless number of Iranian names, places, and dates.

It has been deeply moving to feature books on Baha'i Blog that were published posthumously; to spotlight the dedicated efforts of friends and family who have recognize the importances of the manuscripts and who worked tirelessly to bring them into the hands of readers. Sarah Jane Farmer: Champion of Peace is one such book. It is written by Bahiyyih Randall Winckler and its recent publication is due to the love of Anne Perry. I am grateful to Anne for sharing with us all about this new biography:

"Where are you on your journey of reconciliation?" a newfound Indigenous friend kindly and gently asked me. It's a question that lingers, that echos, and that I come back to time and time again. Where am I?

When I was growing up on the island of Cyprus we used handcrafted items regularly in daily life. Our laundry hamper and the container we stored clothes pegs in were both handmade baskets; hanging baskets were used in the kitchen to keep rodents and insects away from baked goods; and all the carpets and blankets in our home were hand-made. My Cypriot friends were taught the art of crocheting and knitting from a young age. Handmade bedspreads and tablecloths adorned many homes, and I don’t think anyone in my family owned a winter scarf that wasn’t made by someone we knew. Crafts were so seamlessly integrated into daily life that, until very recently, my perception of them was that most people engaged in crafts as a hobby, but I didn’t see them a full-time profession. So I admit that when I learned that Abdu’l-Baha claimed “mat weaver” as His profession on His U.S. customs declaration form, I was surprised.

Back in 2016, we were thrilled to announce a new resource for sharing Baha'i Choral Music online. Now we’re delighted to learn that the site has been completely and beautifully revamped to make it infinitely more useful.

This past month we shared two very different videos that both deal with the deaths of loved ones.

Singer-songwriter Michaela Smith has released a new album called Kitchen Table. It's poetic that Michaela, who is the mother in a very musical family, has crafted songs that sound like an invitation into her home and into the folds of her family. With devotional pieces as well as those that are Baha'i-inspired, Kitchen Table is a warm and loving musical embrace. It's been a delight to hear from Michaela all about it!

Some people exude a natural tendency to be self-confident. They seem to coast through life achieving success in whatever they do. They appear not to be hindered by any fear whatsoever. Other people, like me, seem to come into this life struggling with insecurity. We find it tremendously challenging to trust our abilities and are often overpowered by self-consciousness and doubt. Having spent a lifetime grappling with this unfair reality, I have come to understand that both tendencies often lead to an undesirable outcome. While the latter may lead to underdeveloped potential, the former may result in an exaggerated sense of self-worth. Interestingly, these outcomes stem from a common source: the ego.

Moments of Truth: Stories About Nights When the Light Gets In is a book by veteran journalist and writer Keith McDonald. It's about ordinary people dealing with moral dilemmas and it contains short stories and personal essays all about searching for a moral compass in times of difficulty.

Everywhere I turn lately, people are talking about light. A few weeks ago a total solar eclipse drew millions across the world outside to observe just how powerful the light of the sun really is. This was followed by the dramatic and unusual appearance of auroras (Northern and Southern Lights) in places where they are not typically visible and long after the time of year when they are normally at their peak. Earlier this week I came across a wonderful article by Maria Popova about the recently released book The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth. And a few days ago, Baha’i communities around the world celebrated the inauguration of the Baha’i House of Worship in Papua New Guinea—a structure that was called a “beacon of hope and light” by Confucius Ikoirere, Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Papua New Guinea.

I love seeing Baha'i-inspired musical initiatives share more and more of their work online for everyone to enjoy. It's been a thrill to enjoy the music of the Edinburgh Sessions, to partake of their singles when they became Nightingales, and to now know that they have released a whole album titled Waves. Band member Payam Beint kindly agreed to tell us all about it!

As humans we appear to be unique. As far as we know, we are the only creatures on this earth with rationality and the ability to consciously direct our lives. In other words, we have free-will. But of course, despite our ability to make conscious decisions, in another real sense, we are at the mercy of the world. Even when it comes to our own beings, we are constrained by our physical and psychological makeup. This makes me wonder, to what extent is our spiritual transformation in our “own hands”?

Roya Akhavan has written a book about Tahirih that shares never-before seen excerpts from her discourse. It is called The Trumpet Blast: Removing the Veil from the Advent of the Promised One. I will readily admit; I knew very little about Tahirih other than a handful of facts and one particular oft-quoted translated poem. Roya’s book is thrilling in what it uncovers and shares, and her process of putting the book together is exciting in its own right. We are very grateful to hear from Roya about the import of this new publication and how it came to be:

Next week Baha'is and their friends all over the world will celebrate the Declaration of the Bab. There is something sublimely magnificent about this historic anniversary that commemorates what happened in those quiet hours of the night in Shiraz in 1844. My mind can't take in the magnitude of what being in the presence of the Bab and receiving His Message might have been like; attempting to comprehend it is like trying to look directly at the sun and study it.

Dear mothers, I struggle. I struggle with deepening my understanding and carrying out my sacred role as a mother, without allowing feelings of guilt, inadequacy, or pressure to get the better of me.

Linda Ahdieh Grant is always cooking up wonderful projects! Her most recent work is a book published by Palabra Press about Mulla Husayn and about becoming a youth and reaching the spiritual age of maturity. It's titled Zia's Search: Learning from Mulla Husayn. My kiddos and I really love when historical stories and Baha'i concepts are presented through the eyes and questioning minds of contemporary protagonists -- for example, we love Linda's book about Fujita called Sometimes I Made Him Laugh. I'm thrilled Linda was able to share with us all about her latest book!

I often feel overwhelmed by how much change is required for transforming both myself and society. Reflecting further on the Universal House of Justice’s guidance, it becomes evident that these dual transformative responsibilities are inseparable. A cell cannot separate its impact from the rest of the human body. So being as a cell, I understand this to mean that I cannot do or be whatever selfishly suits my ego and expect the matrix of the world to become a better place. I am accountable at every moment for what is in my heart and the actions that come through my volition. I must be willing to sacrifice whatever is of me that is harmful to anyone or anything else in order for the world to prosper and be transformed through this cell’s life.

I know I am not the only one who considers Grant Hindin Miller to be musically legendary. I remember when I mentioned to a fellow youth that I hadn't heard of him before and they replied, "You haven't heard of Grant Hindin Miller?!" His soulful acoustic sounds have accompanied my life ever since. It's a joy to hear from Grant about his latest album called Ten Angels, released during this historic 40th anniversary of the execution of ten Baha'i women in Shiraz.

Baha’i Blog produced a short documentary film about the life of Effie Baker just as I was preparing to write this newsletter. Learning more about her life has helped me to become more conscious about how I can more intentionally reflect the perfection of the natural world through my creative work, and how striving to acquire spiritual virtues can magnify the beauty of the divine, so I wanted to share a little about what the film has taught me.

Anise Vance, a biracial Baha'i living in the United States, has written a debut novel about racial justice. Hush Habor was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and was listed as a "Most Anticipated Book" in The Rumpus as well as a "Most Anticipated Crime Fiction Book of Fall 2023" in CrimeReads. Published by Harper Collins, this book explores issues of resistance, belonging, and justice in the context of police violence on black bodies.