April 2011
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October 2010
1 post
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THE HOPE OF LOVING
What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure? I think it is the hope of loving, or being loved. I heard a fable once about the sun going on a journey to find its source, and how the moon wept without her lover’s warm gaze. We weep when light does not reach our hearts. We wither like fields if someone close does not rain their kindness upon us.
~Meister Eckhart
September 2010
6 posts
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WatchSufjan Stevens, you amaze me.
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"Autumn" by Rainer Maria Rilke
The leaves are falling, falling as from afar, as though above were withering farthest gardens; they fall with denying gestures. And night by night, down into solitude, the heavy earth falls far from every star.
We are all falling. This hand’s falling too— all have this falling-sickness none withstands. And yet there is One whose gently-holding hands this universal falling...
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"The Rules for Being Human" - A Revamped Version
A friend of mine sent me “If Life is a Game, These are the Rules” by Cherie Carter-Scott, a life coach by profession. Like so many of the “life coaches” out there, the recipes and short-cuts to enjoying and getting the most out of your life are focused on building a person’s self-confidence. While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to inspire and encourage others to feel a sense of purpose and...
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August 2010
1 post
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Mama Tita
It’s a funny thing not growing up near grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins and the like. My family moved to the United States before my two sisters and I started school. Part of the deal with this move, probably as much for our parents’ sake as our own, was that we frequently spent our summers back in Mexico, each time discovering that we had more cousins and aunts and uncles and second...
June 2010
3 posts
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Another fine book: "A Love Which Does Not Wait"
By Janet Ruhe Schoen
These are the stories of the early American pioneers who traveled across the globe with such fervor and devotion, I teared up at every chapter.
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May 2010
4 posts
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April 2010
3 posts
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WatchI saw this film last night with some friends which was showing as part of the DC filmfest. Friends, if you ask me, it’s a must-own.
A New Found Talent
jryouthart:
During the weekday one or a few of the junior youth stop by to visit me at home after school. They typically come for a little while have a snack and talk about their school day and their interests and goals. Overtime the spontaneous visits inspired more formal planed outings with one or two of the youth outside of our programmed time. The purpose of these formal visits is to focus...
February 2010
7 posts
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“The world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male and the female. So...”
– Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i Writings
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“Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of...”
– Baha’u’llah, The Baha’i Writings
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WatchGradually, more and more people are becoming aware of the plight of the largest religious minority in Iran - the Baha’is. Prominent Iranians throughout the world have voiced their dismay at the persecution of a group of people who believe in peaceful and progressive principles, such as the oneness of humankind, the equality of women and men, universal education, the harmony of science and...
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“Where there is love, nothing is too much trouble and there is always time.”
– Abdu’l-Baha
January 2010
6 posts
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Peace Prayer
“Now I say to you in conclusion, life is hard, at times as hard as crucible steel. It has its bleak and difficult moments. Like the ever-flowing waters of the river, life has its moments of drought and its moments of flood. Like the ever-changing cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of its summers and the piercing chill of its winters. But if one will hold on, he will...
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A Prayer for Haiti and her loved ones abroad...
Dispel my grief by Thy bounty and Thy generosity, O God, my God, and banish mine anguish through Thy sovereignty and Thy might. Thou seest me, O my God, with my face set towards Thee at a time when sorrows have compassed me on every side. I implore Thee, O Thou Who art the Lord of all being, and overshadowest all things visible and invisible, by Thy Name whereby Thou hast subdued the hearts and...
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“In the name of Allah,
the beneficent, the merciful.
Praise be to the Lord of...”
– Islamic Prayer for Peace
December 2009
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At the heart of Social and Economic Development
Recently I attended the Baha’i Social and Economic Development Conference in Orlando, Florida. The theme was “Baha’i Inspired Development and the Growth Process: Partners in Transforming Society”. A co-worker and I had the honor of presenting the work of the Tahirih Justice Center and share the history and learnings of the organization to two very captive audiences. The...
November 2009
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Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation
1863
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the...
September 2009
4 posts
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“Let us be united;
let us speak in harmony;
let our minds apprehend alike....”
– Hindu peace prayer
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July 2009
1 post
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“Grandfather,
Look at our brokenness.
We know that in all creation
Only the...”
– Native American Tradition, Ojibway
June 2009
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“raw, unencumbered capitalism is a wonderful...
A few days ago, I saw a film about immigrant workers called “Made in L.A.” The story followed the lives of three women working low-wage jobs in a garment factory, struggling for an opportunity to improve their lives and to provide for the most basic needs of their families. In this particular case the apparel company, Forever 21, contracted sewing manufacturers to produce garments for as little as...
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civil society communicates -- in spite of the... →
“First Facebook and then a number of other sites were being blocked by Iran. It isn’t exactly an atypical action by a regime who has done so before on a number of instances. This time something was different though. Twitter became the unlikely hero of a large group of individuals who were calling for a vote recount and regardless of the outcome were furthering a movement. What’s becoming...
May 2009
2 posts
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“If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If...”
– Lao-Tse, Chinese Philosopher
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hi, i'm still here.
i promise. my thoughts have come back to this blog every now and then. i start to feel a little guilty even— as if somehow this thing has started suffering from feelings of remote loneliness, and i am ultimately the one to blame. i guess i can take some refuge in my intention to keep it alive. yes, i still care. and to prove it, here’s a list of things i should have written about...
April 2009
2 posts
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Baha'is commemorate Baha'u'llah's public...
Yesterday marked the first day of a twelve day festival commemorated by Baha’is throughout the world. It is known as the period of Ridvan, named after the garden where Baha’u’llah publicly declared Himself as the Messenger of God for this Day in age. The article below sums it up well and is taken from the US Baha’i website:
In a garden of Paradise, the Baha’i Faith...
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“The present time is not an economic revolution but a spiritual revolution. We,...”
– Hendrick Van Loon. “To Have or to Be.”
March 2009
8 posts
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