Golriz Lucina ©

“This is the Day whereon naught can be seen except the splendors of the Light that shineth from the face of Thy Lord, the Gracious, the Most Bountiful. Verily, We have caused every soul to expire by virtue of Our irresistible and all-subduing sovereignty.” -Baha’u'llah

(previous post, “Rethink”)

e·go  (g, gn. pl. e·go)
1. The self, especially as distinct from the world and other selves
2. In psychoanalysis, the division of the psyche that is conscious, most immediately controls thought and behavior, and is most in touch with external reality
3 a. An exaggerated sense of self-importance; conceit
b. Appropriate pride in oneself; self-esteem
[New Latin, from Latin, I; see eg in Indo-European roots. Sense 2, translation of German Ich, a special use of ich, I, as a psychoanalytic term.]

The individual units that make up society, each one of us, play a concrete role in how our social reality is shaped. If we buy organic, even the Wal-Marts of the world take notice and change or add to what they stock up on. If we respond to large banks’ taking advantage of people through exorbitant charges by moving your business to local banks and credit unions, the Bank of Americas of the world will trip over themselves to change some long-standing policies. In so many areas of social reality, each individual’s decision makes a difference, and the differences that I’ve thus far described are only economic. Companies like Google have designed a different kind of workplace environment from many companies of their size to improve the creative atmosphere for those doing the innovating, rather than stuffing their employees into bland cell-like cubicles. All this demonstrated to me the power of the individual to shape reality.

The other side of this reality for the individual, though, is what I’ve heard described as “unfettered individualism”, which I understand to be closely related to ideas like “survival of the fittest” and “may the best man win”…a mindset that sees “my driveway”, “my yard”, “my job”, “my space” and the like. In short, ways that we’ve managed to teach ourselves and each other in this country to think of ourselves as “separate” from the next person to us. I say “in this country” meaning the US, because I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but I’d be very interested in hearing what my family from other parts of the world have to offer for perspective.

So, unfettered individualism…the celebration of the self, the pursuit of pleasures for pleasure’s sake and regardless of the cost to others…the thought in one’s mind that says, “I got mine, why can’t you get yours?” We see it in the lines and parking lots of malls during holiday seasons, with people adopting cutthroat tactics to consume the most goods. We see it in political discourse when public figures ,who may have never known poverty flippantly mention that the poor are “lazy” or “leeches” because they can’t arise to the economic standard they consider the norm. We see it in advertising, where we’re constantly bombarded with messages telling us to buy more or the newest version, even as we endure job insecurity and a general level of personal comfort not shared by many in the rest of the world. We see it in the rise of the use of mobile devices that can have a room full of people not at all present to each other…

Many people who have settled here from other countries with a strong community culture (where grandma and grandpa are cherished for their experience) have assimilated within one or two generations into a pattern of exclusivity, and putting one’s parents or grandparents in a home for the elderly when they can no longer produce. Many of us have gotten used to “plugging in” to our technology at most possible moments, texting and checking social media through mobile devices, thus solidifying a new barrier to building new relationships in the public spaces we share. I see trends like these, and I ask, “for what?” Do we find ourselves happier simply because we have put ourselves into more comfortable material circumstances? Are we really being connected i meaningful ways through the technology we have ample access to now? Many who I speak to say emphatically “no”.

I’m not trippin’ either…I’m no monk. I buy stuff, play video games, engage in social media and waste time like so many of my peers, but I am working actively to reconsider my behavior in light of the understanding that these things won’t bring about a sense of contentment that I get when I am working closely with my friends, family and coworkers to build something different. Something new.

What does our society look like when the powerful individuals that I described above begin to value different things? What happens to the systems and markets as they are when we value the sharing resources over each individual unit consuming one, two or three of everything? What happens when the people of a neighborhood begin to retake, or “occupy”, the task of educating and nurturing children in that neighborhood or town? Will they be weaker because of it, or might they be building a new type of social security?…A security based upon mutualism and cooperation, not an economic model designed to take the decision-making power away from its people. A community with the capacity to learn from each other in a spirit of generosity and justice, not an expectation of taking advantage or manipulation from the next man.

The trick is: we have to try it. What I am describing is not some time-travel journey to something done in the past, but something entirely new. This new thing requires that all are at the table…not just a few. Only when voices from all backgrounds and experiences are at the table is the meal destined to be complete…and delicious.

With that, what communal or shared experiences do you have with the people in your immediate vicinity? Do you know them by name? Do you connect with the kids in your local area? What have you learned from their experience and through their eyes? Do you plug in to a cell phone or ipod when you’re in public spaces, rather than being available for connecting with those around you? I’d like to hear what experiences or thoughts exist around this idea…

By the way, I have in NO way exhausted this theme, so we will likely need to talk about this more in future posts…

Chad Mauger ©

Unlike these footprints, which were washed away by a wave immediately after I took this photo, the sovereignty of God is everlasting.

“The cessation of the bestowals of God at any time would be equivalent to the cessation of the sovereignty of God. The sun is the sun because of its ray and heat; it is the sun because of its bestowal; but if at any time its effulgence, splendor and radiance should cease to emanate, it would no longer be the sun. Consequently, it is inconceivable that the bounties of Divinity should cease, for the attributes of Divinity are everexistent. God has ever been divine; He hath ever exercised His sovereignty and still possesses everlasting divinity and sovereignty. He is like the sun, which has ever had its splendor, heat and radiance and will continue to possess these bounties and attributes.” -‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 313

Lauren Herrmann ©

“The sovereignty of God is eternal. There has been no beginning; there will be no end. This is as evident as the sun at midday, even to one endowed with limited reason.”

“We cannot limit God to a boundary. Man is limited, but the world of Divinity is unlimited. Prescribing limitation to God is human ignorance. God is the Ancient, the Almighty; His attributes are infinite. He is God because His light, His sovereignty, is infinite. If He can be limited to human ideas, He is not God.” -Abdu’l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, pgs 272 & 274

Alisa Mappes ©

On a Chinese chess set, the red general, or shuai is guarded. There is no “king” piece because China’s past rulers objected to  the royal name being given to a game piece.

“Could there be a king without country, subjects and armies? If we conceive of a time when there were no creatures, no servants, no subjects of divine lordship we dethrone God and predicate a time when God was not. It would be as if He had been recently appointed and man had given these names to Him. The divine sovereignty is ancient, eternal. God from everlasting was love, justice, power, creator, provider, the omniscient, the bountiful.” -Abdu’l Baha

Kat Eghdamian ©

“The doors of the Kingdom are opened. The lights of the Sun of Truth are shining. The clouds of divine mercy are raining down their priceless jewels. The zephyrs of a new and divine springtime are wafting their fragrant breaths from the invisible world. Know ye then the value of these days.” -’Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 9

Fiona Gohari ©

Birdcage, birdcage, birdcage…hanging between the concrete walls, you stand so poignant, but your vessels are empty.  Only the echoes of your melody can be heard siphoning through the air.

“Thus doth the Nightingale utter His call unto you from this prison.  He hath but to deliver this clear message.  Whosoever
desireth, let him turn aside from this counsel and whosoever desireth let him choose the path to his Lord.” -Baha’u'llah

Sarah Johnson ©

“The highest praise is due to men who devote their energies to science, and the noblest center is a center wherein the sciences and arts are taught and studied. Science ever tends to the illumination of the world of humanity. It is the cause of eternal honor to man, and its sovereignty is far greater than the sovereignty of kings. The dominion of kings has an ending; the king himself may be dethroned; but the sovereignty of science is everlasting and without end.”   -’Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 348

Sholeh Loehle ©

The canal next to the House of Worship is frozen over, which makes it look a lot more majestic than the rest of the year, when it is a terrible green color.

“All majesty and glory, O my God, and all dominion and light and grandeur and splendour be unto Thee. Thou bestowest sovereignty on whom Thou willest and dost withhold it from whom Thou desirest. No God is there but Thee, the All-Possessing, the Most Exalted. Thou art He Who createth from naught the universe and all that dwell therein. There is nothing worthy of Thee except Thyself, while all else but Thee are as outcasts in Thy holy presence and are as nothing when compared to the glory of Thine Own Being.” -the Báb

In 1850 Iran, Pari Jan Khanoum, at the young age of 22, witnessed the murder of her husband and father. Soon after, all her property and possessions were wrested from her by those same incited mobs directed by religious and civil leaders which had deprived her of her family.

Her great-granddaughter, Ruhi Hiebert, tucked away in Alabama, a world and two life-times away, remembers the story of her life, the pain and tests she endured, her steadfastness and radiance.

Listen to her story below:

Her story references an historic period of unrest in Iran characterized by extreme levels of violence and oppression upon adherents of the emerging Babi and Baha’i Faiths, as well as the personage of Abdu’l Baha who was the son of the founder of the Baha’i Faith, Baha’u'llah.

To learn more about the continued persecution of Baha’is in Iran:

• Cultural Cleansing in Iran, The Baha’i Question
• Education Under Fire