Moment of Peace

"The way I relate to peace is like breathing in and breathing out. If we allow ourselves to do that naturally, there's peace. If we resist, if we don't fully breathe in or we don't fully breathe out, then there's an unnecessary interruption in that process. We're now starting to disturb the peace that's naturally in our presence, in the present.

Peace is a natural state. It's an innate part of who we are to live in peace and be at peace. It is we who interrupt that process and separate from what leads to peace."

- John Morton, Spiritual Director, Institute for Individual and World Peace

A Healthy Liver Deserves Due Praise

O God! As my body has become purified and cleansed from physical impurities, in the same way purify and sanctify my spirit from the impurities of the world of nature, which are not worthy of the Threshold of Thy Unity! -'Abdu'l-Bahá

Post-Surgery, Reflections on Prayer

I want to extend my sincerest thanks to all who prayed for me on Friday when I had my surgery. Your prayers for my continued healing and for positive results are greatly appreciated.
I want also to reflect on part of that experience. Leading up to the surgery I had hoped to make lots of time for prayer to prepare myself for the surgery (prayers for tests, assistance and detachment) and prayers for healing after the surgery. The day before and the day of the surgery I found myself with little of this precious time. I was able to steal a couple of brief moments to myself here and there, to say some comforting bits of prayers to myself when I was lying down on the hospital bed (a good reason to try to memorize prayers) ... but not as much as I would have liked. I had wonderful, loving people around me, but sometimes that can be a distraction from prayer.

I discovered two things related to prayer as part of this experience:
1) that I now really crave prayer, feel how important it has become to me and feel its lack when I do not find the time to center in prayer. Friday night, when I had this realization, my heart was overwhelmed with gratitude.
2) I gathered great strength and comfort in knowing that others were praying for me. Tears came to my eyes in the evening when, around midnight on Friday, in my first moment of peace to myself, I read a healing prayer my beloved had emailed me. Somehow knowing that someone else had held that energy of prayer for me felt like I had been taken care of, even when I had personally not found all the time I would have liked to take care of myself in this way.

So let us pray for one another in our utmost sincerity!

On Service

"Service is prayer."
"Service to humanity is service to God."
both quotes by 'Abdu'l-Bahá; would love to hear your thoughts on the meaning of service.

The Most Unexpected of Glorious Days

I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow today, with its difficult physical test (which ended up going quite smoothly) became perhaps one of the most beautiful days of my life. I feel so overwhelmed by gratitude, by love, by comfort, blissful joy, and surprising certitude... this prayer captures it so much better than I can with my words.

Remove not, O Lord, the festal board that hath been spread in Thy Name, and extinguish not the burning flame that hath been kindled by Thine unquenchable fire. Withhold not from flowing that living water of Thine that murmureth with the melody of Thy glory and Thy remembrance, and deprive not Thy servants from the fragrance of Thy sweet savors breathing forth the perfume of Thy love.

Lord! Turn the distressing cares of Thy holy ones into ease, their hardship into comfort, their abasement into glory, their sorrow into blissful joy, O Thou that holdest in Thy grasp the reins of all mankind!

Thou art, verily, the One, the Single, the Mighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
-‘Abdu’l-Bahá

We Are the Resplendent Daystars...

I'd love to get a discussion going about the following Hidden Word:

O MY FRIEND! Thou art the daystar of the heavens of My holiness, let not the defilement of the world eclipse thy splendor. Rend asunder the veil of heedlessness, that from behind the clouds thou mayest emerge resplendent and array all things with the apparel of life.
-Baha'u'llah (The Hidden Words, from the Persian)

Points for reflection:
1) What is Baha'u'llah telling us here about our station as humans?
2) What does it mean to be a "daystar of the heavens of My holiness"? Merriam-Webster define "daystar" as a morning star, or the sun. We're obviously not the Sun (a.k.a. God) itself, so what does it mean for us to be the daystar of that heavenly Sun?
3) I am so moved by this line of not letting the defilement of the world eclipse our splendor! Indeed, how splendid each one of us is, should we but choose to release that light. This is something I often think about - the extent to which I allow myself to fully show my inner self, the brightness of my Being, and truly live from that deeper spiritual core. Does this struggle make sense to anyone else?
4) In what ways do we wear the veil of heedlessness and how do we live from a more conscious and considerate manner of Being? If we do this, we are promised that we have the capacity to emerge "resplendent".
5) How are we to understand "the apparel of life"?

El miedo nos traga,
nos asfixia.
El miedo no nos deja en paz.
El miedo es un ladrón – roba nuestra razón
y roba la inspiración.

El celos, igual.
Asimismo, el enojo.

October

October
-Robert Frost
(thanks 8&20 for awakening Frost in my heart this morning)

O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
one from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes' sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost--
For the grapes' sake along the all.

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You!

I just received in the mail today a beautiful, bright crisp new copy of Money Well Spent: A Strategic Plan for Smart Philanthropy, co-authored by Paul Brest and Hal Harvey (2008), on which I consulted on and off 2006-2008, developing examples (of successes and failures) and contributing writing and editing to various sections of the book. It was a massive undertaking to which a number of other people have contributed. Paul and Hal are two of the most well-respected experts on strategic philanthropy. I also had the privilege of working with them both as a fellow at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, where Paul is President and Hal was past Director of the environment program (he's now President of ClimateWorks Foundation). They are two brilliant minds and I have learned so much from them both, particularly from the opportunity I had to work on this book. The need for smart, strategic philanthropy is even more pressing in today's economy -- philanthropic dollars are society's discretionary capital and should be spent wisely to achieve the greatest positive social/environmental impact. If you are interested in philanthropy, strategy or the non-profit sector, there is much to be learnt from reading this book.

Do we do the best we can in any given moment?

Eternal Hug

one of my more recent poems... this week seems like a beautiful time to share this one publicly.

Eternal Hug

Today we began an eternal hug

of incandescent perfection.

Within this embrace

there is boundless space

to accommodate all our needs.

There is the deepest caring

and generous sharing

of all we have to give.

There is room to grow,

infinitely more to know

and eagerness to learn.

There is gentle warmth

and potentially sublime fire

a million points of contact

to creatively inspire.

We can step into this sanctuary

and cast off all our fears.

Here there is only beauty

even in our tears.

Here there is only light

as, heart to heart, we shine.

In these arms, we find wings

to soar unto the Divine.

i thank You God for most this amazing

How many times have I read this poem, but it resonates at a whole new level today. ¡Gracias a Dios para este amor!


i thank You God for most this amazing
-e.e. cummings

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

What is Best?

"What's new?" is an interesting and broadening eternal question, but one which, if pursued exclusively, results only in an endless parade of trivia and fashion, the silt of tomorrow. I would like, instead, to be concerned with the question "What is best?," a question which cuts deeply rather than broadly, a question whose answers tend to move the silt downstream.
-Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

On Seeking God

O servant, where dost thou seek Me?

Lo! I am beside thee.

I am neither in temple nor in mosque: I am neither in Kaaba nor

in Kailash:

Neither am I in rites and ceremonies, nor in Yoga and

renunciation.

If thou art a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me: thou shalt

meet Me in a moment of time.

Kabîr says, "O Sadhu! God is the breath of all breath."

-Kabir (from Songs of Kabir)

Fear of God?

The idea that we should fear God is something that I have never understood. This came up last night as we read in our Ruhi Book 3 about teaching children both love and fear of God, which caused me to ask the others why we ought to fear God. If God is All-Loving, All-Merciful, and All-Gracious, All-Forgiving, what does this fear of God mean? Should we really fear God?

I'd love to hear your thoughts, dear reader, on what this fear of God means in any religious tradition. I never really understood it from the Christian standpoint either.

My own answer is that it's not so much that we ought to fear God directly, but rather that we should fear our fears, which distance ourselves from receiving God's love (see the previous post). We always have choice to receive God's love, so we can choose not to receive it, thus depriving ourselves of that blessings and bounty of God's love in our own lives. It is this consequence that we should fear. To me, fear doesn't feel like the right word to explain this dynamic, but it is convenient because humans understand fear and it conveys the undesirable consequence of undesirable actions. It also seems important to note that this undesirable consequence (a.k.a. distance from God) is not static: it can be righted at any point with different actions, namely choosing to receive God's love ("Love Me, that I may Love thee") and follow His commandments, which we do for the sake of our love of God. In obeying His will, we hone our spiritual qualities and bring ourselves closer to God, which is conducive to our own happiness.

Love and Choice

O SON OF BEING!
Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.
Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words, from the Arabic

Last night at our Ruhi Book 3 study circle M gave a very useful metaphor that can be applied to this quote. Imagine that God's love is like rain, pouring down on all things. If we were to put up an umbrella, the rain would still be pouring down all around us, but the umbrella (like our fears and veils, which become barriers) would block us from directly receiving that love. But the love is always there should we but choose it.... which reminds me of part of a morning prayer I love:

"Thou disappointest no one who hath sought Thee, nor dost Thou keep back from Thee anyone who hath desired Thee." Bahá'u'lláh