Fidál, 02 Bahá (Splendor), 179 B.E

Seen

Another beautiful sunrise …

Done

Today, I took the opportunity presented by an email exchange with colleagues to state where I am with the purpose, framework, processes, and platforms that compel me to act on a daily basis.

First, our current efforts to distribute the “How’s The Weather?” letter plays into a pre-existing “network” of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of “nodes” — some explicit and most not so much — made up of individuals and organizations with varying degrees of interest in particular causes of climate change that seemingly can be prevented and reversed.

Second, each of us — EVERYONE IN THE WORLD— belongs to a “human network” / “human family” of 8 billion “nodes” / “members” wherein each of us responds EVERY DAY to the CONSEQUENCES of climate change. For a growing number worldwide those consequences mean being deprived of their basic needs and no clear path forward in response. And that, as we all know, quickly becomes a matter of life or death.

Third, our broader “Global Rebirth” initiative, in which the “How’s The Weather?” letter distribution is a part, focuses on being of service to the global human family. In so doing, we CONNECT ourselves with others to share our experiences in adapting to climate change, learn from one another about what works and what doesn’t, build our collective competence and confidence in our “portfolio of approaches,” and transfer resources from those among us who can spare them to those who don’t have them so that the basic needs of all are met. Over time we and subsequent generations will develop an entirely NEW SYSTEM that leads to the emergence of a human race that exemplifies all those latent, positive characteristics we only see sporadically today.

Fourth, through this month I’ve been developing a framework for action that facilitates our participation in our “Global Rebirth” initiative:

This framework offers several ways we and others who resonate with our cause can participate / connect / network. Easiest and most effective, though, is to join any or all of these social networking platforms — Facebook, Twitter, Mastodon, Micro.blog, WT.Social, and “follow” / “like” what we are posting to them and / or forward / retweet those postings to folks in your contact lists. If you run across the name of an organization / individual who does not appear on our “Resource Connections” table, forward it to me and I’ll add it.

Fifth, I suggest that the initial phase of letter distribution by email to your contacts is drawing to a close. The energy now needs to go into “feeding” the network through the framework we have set up. The letter remains an integral part of the framework but it doesn’t require us to do one-on-one communication with individuals who more than likely don’t have the time, energy, or know-how to pick up the banner of Global Rebirth and run with it. PLEASE “join,” “like,” “follow” as appropriate what we’re posting EVERY DAY to the aforementioned social networking platforms. CONNECT with your friends and kindred spirits on those platforms so the network grows and the exchanges of information and flows of resources increases.

In addition, I suggest you look at the articles referenced in the Daily Bookmarks to GAVNet News so you see the breadth of scope we’re opening up as we connect nodes in a global network. See how the topics raised by those articles relate to being of service to humanity by finding ways to meet the basic needs of those impacted by the consequences of climate change. I think you’ll find them really on point.

And I echo the statement made by others: “Onward towards Global Rebirth!”

Noted

Astral Prospecting on Instagram and Astral Prospecting on Facebook

Marc Bosserman on Instagram Marc Bosserman on Facebook, and Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

Quoted

Most appropriately conceived in terms of a spectrum, social action can range from fairly informal efforts of limited duration undertaken by individuals or small groups of friends to programmes of social and economic development with a high level of complexity and sophistication implemented by Bahá’í-inspired organizations. Irrespective of its scope and scale, all social action seeks to apply the teachings and principles of the Faith to improve some aspect of the social or economic life of a population, however modestly. Such endeavours are distinguished, then, by their stated purpose to promote the material well-being of the population, in addition to its spiritual welfare. That the world civilization now on humanity’s horizon must achieve a dynamic coherence between the material and spiritual requirements of life is central to the Bahá’í teachings. Clearly this ideal has profound implications for the nature of any social action pursued by Bahá’ís, whatever its scope and range of influence. Though conditions will vary from country to country, and perhaps from cluster to cluster, eliciting from the friends a variety of endeavours, there are certain fundamental concepts that all should bear in mind. One is the centrality of knowledge to social existence. The perpetuation of ignorance is a most grievous form of oppression; it reinforces the many walls of prejudice that stand as barriers to the realization of the oneness of humankind, at once the goal and operating principle of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation. Access to knowledge is the right of every human being, and participation in its generation, application and diffusion a responsibility that all must shoulder in the great enterprise of building a prosperous world civilization—each individual according to his or her talents and abilities. Justice demands universal participation. Thus, while social action may involve the provision of goods and services in some form, its primary concern must be to build capacity within a given population to participate in creating a better world. Social change is not a project that one group of people carries out for the benefit of another. The scope and complexity of social action must be commensurate with the human resources available in a village or neighbourhood to carry it forward. Efforts best begin, then, on a modest scale and grow organically as capacity within the population develops. Capacity rises to new levels, of course, as the protagonists of social change learn to apply with increasing effectiveness elements of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, together with the contents and methods of science, to their social reality. This reality they must strive to read in a manner consistent with His teachings—seeing in their fellow human beings gems of inestimable value and recognizing the effects of the dual process of integration and disintegration on both hearts and minds, as well as on social structures. 1

  1. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2010 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library, 21 Apr. 2010, https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20100421_001/1#977686651. [return]