Haifa, Israel
“The purpose of man’s creation is, therefore, unity and harmony, not discord and separateness. If the atoms which compose the kingdom of the minerals were without affinity for each other, the earth would never have been formed, the universe could not have been created. Because they have affinity for each other, the power of life is able to manifest itself, and the organisms of the phenomenal world become possible. When this attraction or atomic affinity is destroyed, the power of life ceases to manifest; death and nonexistence result.” -Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace
____________________________________________________________________________________
St. Peter, USA
“Every lasting glory, honor, grace and beauty which comes to man comes through nearness to God.” –‘Abdu’l-Bahá
____________________________________________________________________________________
Blue Mountains, Australia
There is nothing nicer than sitting in the breath of those that bloom.
“The first stirrings of the spring of Thy grace have appeared and clothed Thine earth with verdure. The clouds of the heaven of Thy bounty have rained their rain on this City within whose walls is imprisoned Him Whose desire is the salvation of Thy creatures. Through it the soil of this City hath been decked forth, and its trees clothed with foliage, and its inhabitants gladdened.” -Baha’u’llah
____________________________________________________________________________________
Wilmette, USA
Silence reigns on the golf course near the Baha’i House of Worship, the trees muffled by their blanket of the first snow of winter.
“O thou believer in the oneness of God! Know thou that nothing profiteth a soul save the love of the All-Merciful, nothing lighteth up a heart save the splendour that shineth from the realm of the Lord.
Forsake thou every other concern, let oblivion overtake the memory of all else. Confine thy thoughts to whatever will lift up the human soul to the Paradise of heavenly grace, and make every bird of the Kingdom wing its way unto the Supreme Horizon, the central point of everlasting honour in this contingent world.” -‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
____________________________________________________________________________________
Adelaide, Australia
____________________________________________________________________________________
Blue Mountains, Australia
A sun setting at the Blue Mountains
Colorado, USA
“Today the seed is sown, the grain falls upon the earth, but behold the day will come when it shall rise a glorious tree and the branches thereof shall be laden with fruit. Rejoice and be glad that this day has dawned, try to realize its power, for it is indeed wonderful!” -‘Abdu’l-Baha
____________________________________________________________________________________
Vancouver, Canada
“Alas! Alas! O Lovers Of Worldly Desire! Even as the swiftness of lightning ye have passed by the Beloved One, and have set your hearts on satanic fancies. Ye bow the knee before your vain imagining, and call it truth. Ye turn your eyes towards the thorn, and name it a flower. Not a pure breath have ye breathed, nor hath the breeze of detachment been wafted from the meadows of your hearts. Ye have cast to the winds the loving counsels of the Beloved and have effaced them utterly from the tablet of your hearts, and even as the beasts of the field, ye move and have your being within the pastures of desire and passion.” –Baha’u’llah