A Calm Storm

The blog of Sholeh Samadani Munion

Category: Baha’i

Some definitions for you.

(from Dictionary.com) honesty: 1. the quality or fact of being honest; uprightness and fairness. 2. truthfulness, sincerity, or frankness. 3. freedom from deceit or fraud. trust: 1. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing;…

Arrival

I am in Haifa. It is wonderful. It has been so warm (compared to Chicago, I guess), nights are a little chillier. Barely jetlagged (yay!), and I haven’t had time to really catch up on everything. My roommates are wonderful…

The traveling dress

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…

2 weeks.

I leave in exactly 2 weeks. To go here. To work in this building: wow. It has been an interesting process, the last few weeks of packing and saying goodbyes. I am trying to not become a hermit (which is…

On the nature of the soul.

I was reading the latest issue of Discover magazine tonight, which had an article called “The God Experiments”. (Sorry, you have to be a subscriber to read the whole article.) They highlight different attempts at researching religion and religious experiences…

When will we learn?

“O Son of Man! Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner. Shouldst thou transgress this command, accursed wouldst thou be, and to this I bear witness.” (Baha’u’llah, The Hidden Words) Are we so…

How do we reach God?

Adam L pointed out this article to me about an art piece called a “Prayer Antenna” by Paul Davies. This started me thinking about why people of all faiths (or of no faith in particular) pray. Wikipedia has a good…

Searching

Last night at the Junior Youth Animator training we read the following quotation from the Baha’i Writings: “The more we search for ourselves, the less likely we are to find ourselves; and the more we search for God, and to…

A prayer

O my God! O Thou forgiver of sins, bestower of gifts, dispeller of afflictions! Verily, I beseech Thee to forgive the sins of such as have abandoned the physical garment and have ascended to the spiritual world. O my Lord!…

Tabula Rasa

On one of the Baha’i web forums I am on, someone posted about Tabula Rasa, a new Baha’i arts magazine. I just read through the entire premiere issue, and it is professional, well-written, and informative. From the site: Tabula Rasa,…

The Fast

“Well is it with you, as you have followed the Law of God and arisen to observe the Fast during these blessed days, for this physical fast is a symbol of the spiritual fast. This Fast leadeth to the cleansing…

Inspiration

“O maidservant of God! Thy letter dated 9 December 1918 was received. Its contents were noted. Never lose thy trust in God. Be thou ever hopeful, for the bounties of God never cease to flow upon man. If viewed from…

http://denial.bahai.org Read this. Whether you’re a Baha’i or not…if you’ve ever had access to higher education, even if you didn’t take advantage of it…you’re luckier than the Baha’i youth in Iran. The government has used a very simple mechanism to…

Uplifted

I’m a question mark Walking talking question mark But what is the question again… Life may sometimes be sad But it’s always beautiful… – “Whats the Use”, Jamie Lidell I watched a shadow of the Milky Way twist beyond the…

Teaching

I’m still working on reading Child of the Covenant, which is definitely one of my favorite books now. There is a chapter on the subject of teaching the Faith which I really enjoyed, and wanted to share some of the…

July 3rd

The questions are leaping ahead of answers, right now. I keep writing to stay in the game, or maybe just to stay sane. ———————————– I have two days of the year that are my favorites. The first is Naw-Ruz (the…

Fountain

This is the first time that I truly understood this. I sit back in wonder, my face lit by the computer screen and I’m aware of everything, sensing the truth innately. When I pray, it is beyond form reaching out…

Service

We did service at the Chicago Baha’i Center today. It was a small group (remarkably smaller than the group that shows up at say….beach volleyball). But we ended up having a good time, ate food, and took care of the…

Naw-Ruz

It is the Baha’i New Year, Naw-Ruz. It is also the Persian New Year. When I went home last night I was greeted with a haft-sin table, which included a lot of very cute goldfish swimming merrily in a bowl….

True friendship

Sometimes, my friends, it is easy to get caught up in things. Inspiration and guidance is always found in the Writings. We are here on this planet for a reason. 😉 —————————— The advent of the prophets and the revelation…

Books!

Finished in the last 48 hours: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress : A Novel, by Dai Sejie Funny in Farsi : A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America, by Firoozeh Dumas Currently Reading: Memories of Nine Years in…

A Prayer

O Lord, my God and my Haven in my distress! My Shield and my Shelter in my woes! My Asylum and Refuge in time of need and in my loneliness my Companion! In my anguish my Solace, and in my…

Power Outage

Classes are canceled! *does a happy dance* Some kind of flood that messed with the electricity. I have the whole day to catch up on classes, nap, clean the house, and just relax. YAY! Yesterday was overwhelming, today is bright,…

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