5 years ago today at 1:00 pm, my plane landed in Haifa, Israel. I was starting 18 months of service at the Baha’i World Center. I waited for 2 hours at the airport because the person who was picking me…
Category: Haifa
It happens every few weeks, or months. A reminder of what I left behind. It comes with a sudden warm, coastal wind, or a flower that I saw every day, or a friend’s smiling face. It sometimes sneaks up, like…
Arise, and proclaim unto the entire creation the tidings that He Who is the All-Merciful hath directed His steps towards the Ridvan and entered it. Guide, then, the people unto the garden of delight which God hath made the Throne…
This morning was a Haifa morning. I stepped outside and the air smelled like (home), like stone paths, the bay, flowers, and a breeze off the mountains and desert that lifts you up… Warm and cool, the kind of cool…
One year ago. We walked in the darkness, the glow of lights far away. The mosquitoes attacked if we sat too long, and so we walked. The night was damp, the seats surrounding Bahji covered in dew, the rocks less…
I worked. Did chores. Planted things in the garden. Crossing my fingers that they won’t die or get eaten by rabbits. Made chocolate covered strawberries and apricots. Another article that I wrote went up on Soulpancake. Enjoyed the tulips in…
for in your eyes a thousand stars stared down at me the world spun around the clouds in a perfect sky with a perfect sea and you all around me time slipped through, down and never existed time waited, stopped,…
Today is the First Day of Ridvan, and we celebrated by having some friends over for lunch. Now I am having a quiet afternoon, enjoying the silence, reflecting, and trying to recover from a cold. The Most Great Festival is,…
Today is the Baha’i new year, Naw Ruz. It has been one hundred years since the remains of The Bab were laid to rest in the Shrine on Mount Carmel. For one and a half years, I could see the…
(my last visit to Bahji at the end of my service) From amongst all mankind hath He chosen you, and your eyes have been opened to the light of guidance and your ears attuned to the music of the Company…
One day in February, a few friends decided to take a walk after lunch.  Two young men and three young women took the stairs down the mountain, with no particular goal in mind. February in Haifa is warm during the…
She held her breath far longer than she meant to. There was order and a certain sense of peace, but the ground was shaky under her feet. Reaching out did no good…the branches tore at her dress and snagged her…
I dreamed we were all standing on the shore staring across the bay and our feet felt the rocks beneath our shoes. There were clouds above and below in between our silent stares. We all gathered in an empty stone…
I am here, at 1:30 am, with so much in my heart and so few words. After 18 months in the Holy Land, I leave to go back to the United States in a few hours. Desperately finishing packing (a…
and so now the rain that refused to fall from the sky is falling down in memories of the never will be and I am slowly waking toward healing. in silence I stumble in these reflections, humbled in moments I…
“In this wondrous age, however, praised be God, the commandments of God are not delimited, not restricted to any one group of people, rather have all the friends been commanded to show forth fellowship and love, consideration and generosity and loving-kindness…
A brunch, as I usually do, with several dozen pancakes, bacon, eggs, potatoes, and the like. A quick run up the mountain to take a picture. An afternoon of discussion, ordering dinner to be eaten with chopsticks. An evening with…
Much like the accidental discoveries of Post-It notes or Superglue, I found that I have the recipe for a perfect evening. Forgive me if the measurements are not exact. 4 lovely women 1 baby gluten-free pasta salad/Persian rice/vegetable soup homemade…
This is where I have been for the last week or so: http://news.bahai.org/2008convention Baha’i World News Service is doing a great job of covering the International Baha’i Convention, and I highly recommend checking out their stories and pictures…it will give…
For the next week, I’ll be a little busy. Please forgive me if I don’t answer emails/messages/notes/phone calls/carrier pigeons/smoke signals.  🙂 “The light that is shed from the heaven of bounty, and the benediction that shineth from the dawning-place of…
The stinging, spicy aftermath of the largest salad she had ever eaten lingered on her lips and tongue. Blank pages stare at her hungrily. look around. One in the corner, with a calendar on her lap, the eraser end of…
2 months. 62 days. 1,488 hours. 89,280 minutes. <– My time remaining in the Holy Land. That is all there is to say about that, for the moment anyway. I’m busy working, over 60 hours a week now as things…
I walked around the gardens, and picked up a fallen flower to hold close to my heart. I ran down a path in darkness and silently shouted to the palm trees and sky, a promise and a blessing. …
I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that…
I remember I listened to this song when he died, about a car flipping on the turn, and about God and death and birth. and I remember I listened to live music through a CD, cleaning my house to the…
I stood on a tower with darkness and lights below and in our eyes I saw the doorways to the world To dwell on memories is the fastest way to go but our hearts will linger here, and in time…