Archive for March 2008
Lessons on Teaching
O ye beloved of God and the maid-servants of the Merciful! Teaching and learning, according to the decisive texts of the Blessed Beauty, is a duty. Whosoever is indifferent therein depriveth himself of the great bounty.
Beware! Beware! that ye fail not in this matter. Endeavor with heart, with life, to train your children, especially the daughters. No excuse is acceptable in this matter.
Thus may eternal glory and everlasting supremacy, like unto the mid-day sun, shine forth in the assemblage of the people of Baha, and the heart of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá become happy and thankful (Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 399)
Alláh-u-abhá Reader/Friend,
I have five posts I should be working on for this blog and my personal blog, but instead I am writing this one! I get off-track very easily!
Today I attended my community’s quarterly “Cluster Reflection Meeting”. Our regional Auxiliary Board Member for Propagation (Ferris) was in attendance. He just returned from pilgrimage where he met with Continental Counselors, members of the International Teaching Center, and members of the Universal House of Justice. Ferris is always inspiring and full of great advice for our community, and we look forward to him coming to visit. He is the embodiment of “meekness”, and he has a lot to be proud of, if he were a prideful person. I was recently named his Assistant, and I am looking forward to getting to know him better and learn from him. Today he was full of post-pilgrimage fire, and I was really affected by some of what he had to say. His lessons were really important and I think other Bahá’í ought to hear them.
My notes were awful, but I am going to try and summarizes the things that affected me most. I apologize if my writing is rather sloppy.
Pilgrims are the lifeblood of the community
Ferris just returned from pilgrimage, and he was full of spiritual fire. He told us how the first American pilgrims to Haifa would return to American to do great things in terms of teaching the Faith, and they were so inspirational that the Master decided to visit America. Ferris explained that each pilgrim is filled with spiritual fire, and the other members of the community need to use that fire as inspiration and fuel for their own teaching endeavors.
Only a handful of dedicated teachers are needed
At our meetings we like to talk about numbers and goals, but Ferris wanted to make sure we knew, and Counselor Murphy wanted to make sure he knew, only a handful of dedicated teachers are needed. Goals and numbers are good, but if you have ten teachers who go out and devote themselves wholeheartedly, the community will grow. One Bahá’í chimed in with an example: When Ruhi was first introduced in Boise, only a few Bahá’ís understood what it was, but they devoted themselves to making sure the community got the message, and within weeks everyone in Boise was taking Ruhi courses. Another Bahá’í shared an example of a family of Bahá’ís who moved to a city with no Bahá’í community. As a family project, they taught the faith, and within a year they had a community of 23 active Bahá’ís. Numbers are far less important to teaching than dedication.
Fear and reluctance is natural, obedience takes work
Ferris shared the example of Shoghi Effendi: Soon after `Abdu’l-Bahá passed away, Shoghi Effendi received a letter from Him. Shoghi Effendi was expecting to be given the responsibility of setting up the Universal House of Justice, and was intimidated but willing to serve. When he learned he had been appointed Guardian, not only was he shocked and intimidated, but he was afraid. He ran away to the Alps and prayed and meditated, leaving his aunt, the Greatest Holy Leaf, in charge of the community. Eventually she called him back to Haifa and he took up the mantle of Guardianship. So even for the most dedicated believers, the responsibilities God asks us to take on can be terrifying, and that is natural. Obedience is never easy.
The Universal House of Justice is Bahá’u'lláh’s messenger
This reminded me of something Susan Maneck said, essentially that the House may not have propositional inerrancy, but that their decisions reflect the direction of action God wants us to take. When the House sends a directive, we must act as if Bahá’u'lláh had sent that directive.
Teaching the Faith is required by God
Here I am straying from what Ferris said and telling you what I feel, inspired by his words. In the Bahá’í Faith we have social principles we hope to use to fix the world’s problems, and we believe the Faith is the only solution to the injustices of the world. We also feel that the Faith leads to personal salvation and joy. If we really believe those things, and do not teach the faith, we are guilty of a gross abuse of human rights. We are denying others the opportunity of the personal salvation and joy we experience, and not allowing the force that can fix the world to grow. Thus, not teaching the faith is the same as encouraging slavery, sexism, racism, economic abuse, environmental abuse, etc.
Prioritize, Systematize, and Focus
Some of us don’t like how organized the Faith is, but when we worry about that we miss the point of the organization. Other religion have slowly built and organized themselves over millennia, yet we seek to do what they did in millennia in centuries. We want to build a religious community in a systematized, organized fashion so that we can use that community to fix the ills of the world. Thus organization is not for the religion itself; it is to allow the religion to carry out it’s ultimate goals. We also have to realize that success is a process, and there will be shortfalls. In the 70’s people smoked marijuana and drank alcohol while teaching the faith. We did not know that was unacceptable, now we do, so we don’t do it. Shortfalls, process, learning. So, we have to create a religious culture which is open to vulnerability and learning.
God Bless,
Gerald
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Blogroll
Likewise, when you meet those whose opinions differ from your own, do not turn away your face from them. All are seeking truth, and there are many roads leading thereto. Truth has many aspects, but it remains always and forever one.
Do not allow difference of opinion, or diversity of thought to separate you from your fellow-men, or to be the cause of dispute, hatred and strife in your hearts.
Rather, search diligently for the truth and make all men your friends.
Every edifice is made of many different stones, yet each depends on the other to such an extent that if one were displaced the whole building would suffer; if one is faulty the structure is imperfect. Bahá’u'lláh has drawn the circle of unity, He has made a design for the uniting of all the peoples, and for the gathering of them all under the shelter of the tent of universal unity. This is the work of the Divine Bounty, and we must all strive with heart and soul until we have the reality of unity in our midst, and as we work, so will strength be given unto us. Leave all thought of self, and strive only to be obedient and submissive to the Will of God. In this way only shall we become citizens of the Kingdom of God, and attain unto life everlasting. (`Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 53)
Alláh-u-abhá Reader/Friend, I have received some criticism for the names I include in my Blogroll. I want to clarify something: my linking to another blog does not imply endorsement of their thoughts or postings. If I enjoy reading someones blog, I find it interesting, intelligent and thought provoking, or the author similarly so, I link to that blog. I do not avoid linking to blog which voice views contrary to my own, or even critical of my views. I have removed people from my Blogroll because I found them to have a consistent pattern of negativity which was neither productive nor though-provoking. I will not remove someone from my Blogroll simply for disagreeing with me. What I might do is post a rebuttal – bloggers can do that and still remain friendly.
So if you see blogs on my list that seem contrary to my views, or your views, just wonder how boring the world would be if we ignored everyone who didn’t agree with us on everything.
I will not allow backbiting or rude criticisms of anyone on my Blogroll to appear on my blog in comment form. If anyone on my Blogroll is engaging in that sort of behavior on their own blogs, they can expect to be removed. Linking does not imply endorsement, but it does imply respect (Hopefully mutual).
God Bless, Gerald
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Idolatry
“does the bahai faith practice idolatry”
Alláh-u-abhá Reader/Friend,
Someone recently came to my blog my typing that query into Google. I always find it interesting the sort of things people search that lead them to my blog, but this one really interests me. I am going to dangerously assume that the searcher is a Christian, either a missionary or someone investigating missionary claims. This question seems silly to me, but there are websites out there teaching just that, so I think this warrants a response.
There are a few obvious ways one could accuse the Bahá’í Faith of “worshiping idols”.
In almost every Bahá’í home you will find a photograph of our Prophet/Founder’s son `Abdu’l-Bahá. We regard Him as the Perfect Exemplar of a Bahá’í life, and try to emulate Him in our own lives. When we pray, some of us may turn to Him spiritually as a guide to His Father or God, or even pray to Him in intercessory prayer (Asking Him to pray on our behalf). Now, to gaze at His photograph as a catalyst for meditation would not be forbidden, but to worship His photograph, or pray to God “through” the photograph would be. His photograph, and even His life, are not objects of worship, but contemplation. So, no idolatry there.
Next is intercessory prayer itself. Bahá’ís, like Catholics, believe you can pray to a deceased soul for guidance and prayer on your behalf. These deceased souls have real life in the next world, and are hopefully closer to God than we are. When we pray to them we do not ask for their help out of any power of their own, but that they may intercede on our behalf with God. So a Bahá’í might pray to the Virgin Mary, or `Amatu’l-Bahá Ruhiyyih Khánum. As we are not worshiping them, or attributing any Godly powers with them, we cannot be called guilty of shirk (Arabic: Joining partners with God).
Of course, we get the accusation that our Prophet/Founder is a false Prophet and by worshiping Him we are committing idolatry. This is wrong on so many counts. I won’t/can’t get into why Bahá’u'lláh isn’t a false Prophet in a post devoted to another topic entirely, but there are other aspects of this argument I can pick apart. Firstly, we do not worship Bahá’u'lláh. We do not believe Him to be God incarnate as Christians do Christ, but rather a Messenger of God. Thus, when we pray to Bahá’u'lláh, whether as a conduit to God or of His own power (Which He is granted by God to use to guide man toward God), we are not making idols out of flesh. All ultimate power in our belief system resides still with God. So, we may worship God through Bahá’u'lláh and His teachings, and revere Bahá’u'lláh as a sign of God, but this is actually less similar to idolatry than the Christian practice of worship. (How different from worshiping a cow made of gold is worshiping a man made of flesh? The followers of both made the same claims.) I am not accusing all trinitarian Christians of worshiping an idol, as subtle strains exist in Christian theology, however the argument could be made far more easily than to accuse Bahá’ís of idolatry with Bahá’u'lláh.
I think these three are the only accusations of idolatry than can be made about the Bahá’í Faith, and I think I have debunked them all satisfactorily. As with all religions, if you step into investigation with your mind already made up about your conclusions you can find plenty of “evidence” to take out of context. If you enter into religious investigation with an open mind however, you will find that most religions don’t fit so cleanly into our preconceived notions.
God Bless, Gerald
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