I got a lot of responses about my last post, in many different ways: email, chat, Twitter, Facebook, and, shockingly, real life. I had no idea that the subject would resonate so strongly. There were suggestions to delete/deactivate my Facebook…
Search Results for: thou
Facebook makes me unhappy. Let me explain that. In the last few months, I realized that the time I spend on the internet is split into two different categories. The first is social networking like Facebook & Twitter, random entertainment…
In looking for quotations about National Convention, I found this touching story.  I remember that a silk carpet was displayed in Foundation Hall when I was a child, but it is no longer hanging on the wall. I love this…
The other day I was searching for something random in the Baha’i Writings, and came across this passage from Baha’u’llah. It is just fascinating to me, and I thought I might share it with you. Baha’u’llah explains how language has…
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…
This is the Baha’i new year (167 B.E.). I am feeling…settled, at peace. I seek out peaceful things, spaces, and sometimes people these days. Other times, I want to be surrounded by crowds. The Naw-Ruz post for nineteen days is…
As I was reflecting on the Baha’i Fast, I remembered my time in Haifa, Israel. I was lucky enough to participate in two years of the fast while serving there. The photo below was taken from my flat one early…
Are you doing anything special this year to celebrate Ayyam-i-Ha? What things did you do as a kid, if you grew up as a Baha’i? If you don’t know about this time of charity, gift-giving, and celebration, what would you…
I have really bad luck when it comes to weather and moving. In the last 8 months I’ve moved 4 times, and each time there has been some sort of precipitation. Every. single. time. I went back to check the…
I wrote part of this about a year ago when I was still living at home. She read the story of two broken hearts , pausing every few minutes to sip her cup of hot milk (now a nightly routine). …
in knots the strings are slipping round we passed by the dreaming trees and the childhood things. stepping down from palaces in daylight the world is harsher the words we say are the way it is we’re in denial without…
Here is an update about the first day of the trial of the Baha’is in Iran. International pressure is increasing, but things are still very perilous for the believers there. In light of the situation in Iran and last night’s…
What if all you wanted to do was improve the lives of the people around you, assist with education of all people and obtain an education, and be able to worship without fear of persecution? We know these things to…
I love the idea that our dreams can transcend space and time. Baha’u’llah discusses this theme in a fascinating passage from Gleanings: “As to thy question concerning the worlds of God. Know thou of a truth that the worlds of…
For years I have railed against the end of summer, the beginning of autumn. September was always a month of conflict for me: it is my birth month, but also when school would start up again, and when the weather…
I haven’t really been home for 6 weeks. I stop here to sleep, do laundry, refill my suitcase, and off I go again! Travels are over for the time being, life continues to be busy but I’m glad it is…
This book “is the personal account of an interracial family’s struggle against pervasive racism in the U.S. and the horrors of the civil war that plagued Rwanda in 1994. Raised in the American Midwest, author Elizabeth Gatorano, who is White,…
“When we see the condition the world is in today, we must surely forget these utterly insignificant internal disturbances, and rush, unitedly, to the rescue of humanity. You should urge your fellow Bahá’Ãs to support you in a strong effort…
O army of God! Beware lest ye harm any soul, or make any heart to sorrow; lest ye wound any man with your words, be he known to you or a stranger, be he friend or foe. Pray ye for…
the best thing about walking through a crowd is the variety. to know all of their stories would be too much, we only see pieces of the parts of the person that they are. humans are so strange. we are…
“With aching hearts, Baha’is of the world focus on the events unfolding in Iran, the birthplace of their religion.” -Baha’i World News Service Every day I read the news. Whatever tragedy has happened in the world, the media is covering…
I wait in silence as they whisper a thousand shouting voices drowning out the sounds of every love they have ever known I wait in heartbeats as they plunder the only things of worth they have ever owned And in…
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,…
Last night I went salsa dancing for the first time in nearly 3 years. I couldn’t believe it has been that long. And then I stepped out on the dance floor, and it was painfully obvious that not only was…
I spent some time working on my blog last weekend. Even though it is April, it was still very much like winter here, and the idea of going outside was not very appealing. I’ve added a plugin called “Now Reading”,…
Dear teenagers, Leaving chewing gum on the floor of the dressing room where my new boots can step in it is not acceptable. Neither is leaving fifteen prom dresses in a crumpled heap on the floor, forcing me to pick…
My name is Sholeh Samadani Munion and I am a Baha’i. I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Management & Marketing in December 2005, and served as a volunteer at the Baha’i World Centre in Haifa, Israel from December 2006-June…
One day was filled with the white clouds the size of universes as we walked up (down) the hills. One day was seawater, digging toes in sand and smooth stones, not knowing how to speak to you. One day was…
First, and most importantly, is this amazing letter from the Baha’i International Community that was sent on March 4, 2009 to the Ayatollah. If you want a clear explanation of the situation of the Baha’is in Iran, distilled to a…