There are so many stories. Too many words. There are literally dozens of emails that I have not replied to.  I want to, but am unable to write at the moment. I am having so much fun. Grandparents, family,…
When I was booking my plane tickets from Haifa to Chicago, I decided that I wanted to stop for two days in Turkey for sightseeing and pilgrimage. So…I did. Go here for the entire set of pictures. I arrived in…
Just a quick post to let everyone know I am home in Chicago. Turkey was beautiful, and I will write more about it later. I just walked in the door and I want to spend time with my family. Much…
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…
It is that odd little vegetable that most people don’t seem to know what to do with. In the southeastern United States, we put it in gumbo or breaded and fried. As a kid, I loved going to restaurants in…
This past weekend was a long one, as it was the Ascension of Baha’u’llah, and we had 3 days in a row off of work. A lucky group of 13 (5 guys and 8 girls) took a road trip down…
“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…
more than my molten eyes and sudden smile there are years behind what you see I am more than your assumption of me I am images across a screen I am scraped knees and willow trees I am dirt paths…
Yesterday I felt sort of miserable. And then last night it morphed into a full-blown virus of some kind.  These are a few anecdotes for you to enjoy: 1. I watched Season 6 of Scrubs. And half of Season 7….
I am sensing silence from you maybe I am too sensitive maybe you are too far gone. I dreamed of you last night there was no music playing behind us underneath campfire skies. I was told that you wanted to…
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…
your words came to me at exactly the right moment. I hovered in silence, in pain and confusion, all earthly attachments. your words…I had no response. we are none of us innocent and yet, and yet… we are souls, our…
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…
I am tasting colors, writing blind my fingertips touch and stretch we’re running so fast maybe I’ll tie me to you… If only we could see through these eyes faint little heaps of shredded tires and left-over green grass from…
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 not a superstitious person, but recently things have been a little crazy around here…and now I am looking over my shoulder… On Saturday my flatmates and I were washing our balcony (spring cleaning!). We have a faucet on…
She stood precariously, one foot on the rocks and one in the sea, bare feet with tips of red, gripping earth and sand. She could only wait for so long, could only stand between worlds for as long as a…
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…
Sleeping/reading in the sun homemade flan old stones and large spaces balconies the mix of roses and jasmine at night doorways silence at the right moments orange blossoms conversations with people at least twice my age details Naw-Rúz (the…
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…
…dawn prayers, with the sun warming me as I looked out over the city, this drowsy and noisy place that is home. 4 hours sleep, but my soul was so alive that it was worth it. I’ve learned a lot…
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…
It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the current election in the USA, but I feel that it is important to be very clear about how I, as a Baha’i, discuss these matters. I decided to…