Field Notes From an Amateur…
by Aimee Piper You may not know this about me… but I love love – in a charming (?) cart before the horse kind-of-way. Rest assured, however, that I will not be regaling you with full color playbacks of my daydreams. I have a heart, after all. Rather, I’m going to talk about friendship. I [...]
Grandeur: Cape Town, South Africa
A tourist remarks and reflects upon the grandeur of Cape Town’s Mountain Range and beach view at sunset. “Similarly the wise and reflecting soul will know of a certainty that this infinite universe with all its grandeur and perfect order could not have come to exist by itself.” Abdu’l-Baha, Tablet to August Forel.
Grandeur: Eilat, Israel
On the shore of the Red Sea in Eilat, Israel. “By Thy glory! Every time I lift up mine eyes unto Thy heaven, I call to mind Thy highness and Thy loftiness, and Thine incomparable glory and greatness; and every time I turn my gaze to Thine earth, I am made to recognize the [...]
Grandeur: Guam
Grandeur is relative to the size of the creature enjoying it. The tiny ants that live in the base of this hibiscus behold its grandeur every day. “The praise which hath dawned from Thy most august Self, and the glory which hath shone forth from Thy most effulgent Beauty, rest upon Thee, O Thou [...]
Grandeur: San Antonio, Texas
“What are the animals’ propensities? To eat, drink, wander about and sleep. The thoughts, the minds of the animals are confined to these. They are captives in the bonds of these desires. Man becomes a prisoner and slave to them when his ultimate desire is no higher than his welfare in this world of the senses. Consider how [...]
Grandeur: Northern Territory, Australia
“His grandeur immensely exceedeth every other manifestation of grandeur. Every light paleth before the radiance of His light…” - The Bab
Grandeur: Vancouver, Canada
“Throughout eternity Thou hast been, O my Lord, and wilt ever remain the One true God, while all else save Thee are needy and poor. Having clung tenaciously to Thy Cord, O my God, I have detached myself from all mankind, and having set my face towards the habitation of Thy tender mercy, I have [...]
Grandeur: London, England
The Grandeur of the Royal Naval College complex in Maritime Greenwich, built in 1696. “THE glory of Him Whom God shall make manifest is immeasurably above every other glory, and His majesty is far above every other majesty. His beauty excelleth every other embodiment of beauty, and His grandeur immensely exceedeth every other manifestation of [...]
Grandeur: Chicago, USA
Chicago is a beautiful city, and seeing it from the height of 1,000 feet in the air is breathtaking. Only a few miles away from where this photo was taken is the Art Institute, where the Baha’i Faith was first mentioned in America in 1893. “The East is illumined, the West is perfumed and [...]
Grandeur: Sydney, Australia
Now, in such a shining age when the realities have become manifest and the mysteries of the universe are disclosed, the morn of Truth has dawned and the world is illuminated Abdu’l-Baha, Letter to Martha Root
Grandeur: Cairo, Egypt
When i read the word Grandeur, that is what i remembered. This wall was used for delivering water to the royal family in Egypt ages ago and it was the only way for having water. and now its still standing and yet its used as a shelter for a lot of homeless and poor people. [...]
Grandeur: Oklahoma, USA
“O SON OF MAN! Rejoice in the gladness of thine heart, that thou mayest be worthy to meet Me and to mirror forth My beauty.” Bahá’u’lláh: Arabic Hidden Words, Page: 36
Grandeur: Ghana
A small barber shop is the last business open along a small side street in Accra, Ghana. Like most streets in Accra, this one filled with people, cars and motorcycles virtually from dawn until dusk, but as the sun sets, most business close for the day, leaving the streets suddenly quiet and empty… or at [...]
Grandeur: Brooklyn, New York
Watts 1977 “Of old it hath been revealed: “Love of one’s country is an element of the Faith of God.” The Tongue of Grandeur hath in the day of His manifestation proclaimed: “It is not his to boast who loveth his country, but it is his who loveth the world.” Through the power released by these exalted [...]
Grandeur: London
A grand church in London, singing for the distant and tiny Pacific island of Samoa, struck by tsunami last year. “O SON OF SPIRIT! Burst thy cage asunder, and even as the phoenix of love soar into the firmament of holiness. Renounce thyself and, filled with the spirit of mercy, abide in the realm of celestial [...]
Grandeur: Oklahoma City
9:03 a.m., The West Gate of Time. The Oklahoma City National Memorial is a place of beauty and serenity, built up in the space where the Alfred P. Murrah federal building once stood. It is not a place only for remembering death and destruction, but the hope and optimism that arose in the hours and days [...]
Grandeur: China
This burial mound of the ancient Kings of Xi-Xia was once the pride of its now vanished nation – a grand symbol of temporal power. It now lies ruined and stripped of its treasures – a tourist attraction. “Reflect, O people! What hath become of your bygone days, your lost centuries?”- Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the [...]
Grandeur: South Dakota, USA
Love and Grandeur in the Badlands of South Dakota. “The grandeur of human actions is measured by the inspiration from which they spring. Happy is he who bears a god within, and who obeys it.” -Louis Pasteur
Grandeur: Vancouver, Canada
God’s architecture. “All created things have borne witness unto that which the Tongue of Thy grandeur hath testified ere their creation”. – Baha’u’llah
Grandeur: Woodside, California
Chinese Fringe tree. Springtime at Filoli in Woodside, CA. “May He raise them up unto so lofty a station that neither the attractions of the world, nor the allurements of authority, may deflect them from gazing upon the Supreme Horizon ….” Summons of the Lord of Hosts, Bahá’u’lláh, p. 135.
