Mom and I got to hang out tonight and catch up on things while I made necklaces (one of my hobbies). Surrounded by my suitcases, she told me that one of the dresses that is in the “undecided” pile of clothing has seen a lot of the world. It went from Germany to Iran, back to Germany, then to Wyoming, USA (all in 1978). That put it in the suitcase, just because I want to wear something that has traveled the world as much as I have, and that is older than me. I always vaguely knew it was a well-traveled dress, but the specific story did it for me. 🙂
‘What is the purpose of our lives?’‘Abdu’l-Baha– ‘To acquire virtues. We come from the earth; why were we transferred from the mineral to the vegetable kingdom — from the plant to the animal kingdom? So that we may attain perfection in each of these kingdoms, that we may possess the best qualities of the mineral, that we may acquire the power of growing as in the plant, that we may be adorned with the instincts of the animal and possess the faculties of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste, until from the animal kingdom we step into the world of humanity and are gifted with reason, the power of invention, and the forces of the spirit.’(Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 176)
Wert thou to consider this world, and realize how fleeting are the things that pertain unto it, thou wouldst choose to tread no path except the path of service to the Cause of thy Lord. None would have the power to deter thee from celebrating His praise, though all men should arise to oppose thee.
(Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 314)
