19 July 2022

Fidál, 07 Kalimát (Words), 179 B.E

Seen

Cleaned up the geraniums after the torrential rains over the weekend. Their blooms really took a beating so I had to remove most of them. But they’ll be back with more…

Done

Prepped future posts on Frameworks for Understanding the World about the world conference themes. My “Daily Log” entry on 16 May 2022 showed my “experiment” with the first theme. It actually turned out good enough that I’m going to follow suit with the other four. As an example, here’s the second theme:

Theme 2: Distance Traversed

Three brief years remain until the centenary of the Master’s passing, when Bahá’ís the world over will gather and take account of the distance traversed over the first century of the Formative Age. May His loved ones, individually and collectively, little by little and day by day, increasingly embody His counsels: to be united in the Cause and firm in the Covenant; to avoid calumny and never speak ill of others; to see no strangers but regard all as members of one family; to set aside divergent theories and conflicting views and pursue a single purpose and common goal; to ensure that the love of Bahá’u’lláh has so mastered every organ, part, and limb as to leave no effect from the promptings of the human world; to arise with heart and soul and in one accord to teach the Cause; to march in serried lines, pressed together, each supporting the others; to cultivate good character, perseverance, strength, and determination; to know the value of this precious Faith, obey its teachings, walk in this road that is drawn straight, and show this way to the people.

Glimpses of a Hundred Years of Endeavour

• Reflect on the endeavours of the Bahá’í community over the last one hundred years

• After watching the film “Glimpses of a Hundred Years of Endeavour”, spend time reflecting on what messages the film conveys and also on the journey the Bahá’í community has traversed, and the progress achieved.

Small Group Discussion

• Reflect on the development of the community and society in your local area

• Reflect on the distance traversed in your local area over the years in the context of the endeavours of members of the Bahá’í community and their friends. This should include a sense of the current state of the community and a vision for the coming years.

• Different people should be encouraged to share their experiences of how the community as well as the different processes and activities within it have advanced. The families and individuals participating should consult on where they want to go from here and identify the necessary next steps. The use of the arts here could be a way to engage all the participants.

Will have them all done and online by the end of the week.

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

Still another cause of disagreement and dissension has been the formation of religious sects and denominations. Bahá’u’lláh said that God has sent religion for the purpose of establishing fellowship among humankind and not to create strife and discord, for all religion is founded upon the love of humanity. Abraham promulgated this principle, Moses summoned all to its recognition, Christ established it, and Muḥammad directed mankind to its standard. This is the reality of religion. If we abandon hearsay and investigate the reality and inner significance of the heavenly teachings, we will find the same divine foundation of love for humanity. The purport is that religion is intended to be the cause of unity, love and fellowship and not discord, enmity and estrangement. Man has forsaken the foundation of divine religion and adhered to blind imitations. Each nation has clung to its own imitations, and because these are at variance, warfare, bloodshed and destruction of the foundation of humanity have resulted. True religion is based upon love and agreement. Bahá’u’lláh has said, “If religion and faith are the causes of enmity and sedition, it is far better to be nonreligious, and the absence of religion would be preferable; for we desire religion to be the cause of amity and fellowship. If enmity and hatred exist, irreligion is preferable.” Therefore, the removal of this dissension has been specialized in Bahá’u’lláh, for religion is the divine remedy for human antagonism and discord. But when we make the remedy the cause of the disease, it would be better to do without the remedy. ¹