Fire and Light

An Exploration of My Faith in Bahá’u’lláh

Belief

God’s Praise

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O Thou Whose face is the object of my adoration, Whose beauty is my sanctuary, Whose habitation is my goal, Whose praise is my hope, Whose providence is my companion, Whose love is the cause of my being, Whose mention is my solace, Whose nearness is my desire, Whose presence is my dearest wish and highest aspiration,…

Bahá’u’lláh

I said this prayer this morning and “Whose praise is my hope” struck me. I never thought of getting praise from God before, even though I have said this prayer many, many times. The idea of God praising ME is hard for me to get my head around. What would praise FROM God look/sound like?

Of course, this is one of those tricky phrases whose meaning can be reversed. It is my HOPE to praise God, which makes more sense and until this morning, that is the way I understood it.

But the thought that God would praise me is interesting and unanswerable. I have no clue what form that praise would take. Would I even recognize it for what it was?

There is so much in just these few phrases that I quoted above. I will have to address some of it later.

Barbara Van Winkle

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I dropped out of the Faith for several years. Ok, several really means more than 20 years. And by dropped out, I don’t mean that I didn’t believe in Baha’u’llah or the Faith. I just didn’t do much. I was an isolated believer who made minimal attempts to participate in Baha’i activities in the communities around me.

For the last couple years, I have felt the pull to do more, to be a better Baha’i. I still haven’t been able to develop a daily prayer routine, let alone, two, one in the morning and one at night. I also haven’t developed a consistent habit of studying the Sacred Writings.

I have foundered. But now, I think I am beginning to see my way. I have started studying the letters and guidance on the Plans of the Faith. I really have not paid any attention in the last 20+ years to what has been going on in the Baha’i Faith.

I was watching a talk by Tom Price on the 5 Year Plan on Youtube and he pointed out the changes that have gone on. He said that if a Baha’i had been asleep, Rip van Winkle style, for the last 20 years, and woke up now (actually the talk was in 2011, I believe) they would be very confused because of all the terminology and the actions by the Baha’is themselves.

I recognized myself in that analogy. Even though I have been conscious, I have deliberately not paid attention to what was going on. “That’s for other places, not here. No one is interested in the Faith here.” That, at least, was my justification.

But now that I am reading the Plans, I understand that there is a structure or framework for action. There are concrete things I can do, actions I can take. I have a place to start.

When I became a Baha’i in 1986, the method of teaching the Faith was to invite people to Firesides, talk to them about the Faith, and if someone signed a card, that was great. Then…….it was up to them to deepen themselves in the Faith. There would be study sessions called “Deepenings” on various topics as someone felt moved to give them, but it wasn’t organized. New Baha’is could attend Firesides and learn more that way or buy books.

It worked, sort of, but the Universal House of Justice realized that it would not work for integrating large numbers of people into the Faith. “Entry by Troops” is the term used in the Baha’I writings to indicate large numbers of people joining the Faith.

The Ruhi Institute was established in Columbia, I believe in the 1980s. It’s purpose was to develop ways to educate and integrate new Baha’is. It developed a series of study books on spiritual topics: “Reflections on the Life of the Spirit,” “Arising to Serve,” and “Teaching Children’s Classes.”

One of the reasons I “checked out” was lack of access to Ruhi courses. Last week I was reading over an analysis by the International Teaching Committee written in April 2003, it reminded me of this. At the beginning of this great effort of growth and consolidation, the beginning of the process relied on believers going through the classes. Since I didn’t have access, there was no way for me to start or participate.

Now there is less emphasis on Ruhi classes to get a cluster started. It is still a part, but now I can start with devotional gatherings. I believe there is also a loosening of requirements for people to become tutors. Last I heard, once you have completed one course, you can tutor that and other courses.

Soooo, here I am re-awakened and ready to teach the Faith to others.

I Believe Because I Do

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I first heard about the Faith from Seals and Croft, the 70s duo. They talked about the Faith whenever they were on talk shows. Then, about 1982, I saw a table of information at the county fair and took some of the information and then I called the phone number on one of the pamphlets. I talked to some nice local Baha’is and went to meet them.

They gave me a copy of Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, a standard introduction to the Faith, and a copy of Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. I liked what I read in Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era. I liked the idea that all the religions are one religion and that the prophet-founders are human beings, separate from God. I was raised as a Catholic, but I could not get my head around the idea of a god in three pieces. I wanted to believe in one supreme being, not something sliced up like a pizza.

I was drawn to emphasis on one humanity and that we need to help each other. I was looking for a belief system where I didn’t look down on my mother for remaining a Catholic or anyone else for believing the way they did.

To be a Bahá’í simply means to love all the world; to love humanity and try to serve it; to work for universal peace and universal brotherhood.

~ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Hell is not a separate place where souls go after death in the Bahá’í Faith. You don’t get just one chance to get it right and go to heaven or fail and go to hell. I liked that a lot.

There was a lot more in the book that I liked, but what really convinced me about the truth of the Bahá’í Faith, was reading the word of Bahá’u’lláh. Sometimes the King James English can sound strange to our ears, but when I read His words, something inside me responded. Even if I didn’t agree or didn’t want to accept something, my heart still told me it was true for me.

When someone tries to convince me that I am wrong and that Bahá’u’lláh is wrong, it doesn’t have an affect on me because I didn’t become a follower of Bahá’u’lláh because of reasoned arguments or proofs. I started to follow Bahá’u’lláh because my heart told me to. I am crap at apologetics because I do not believe in God because of reason (see my post here) and I do not believe in Bahá’u’lláh because of reason.

I believe because I do.

Every so often I do question whether Bahá’u’lláh is who He says He is and if the Bahá’í Faith is true. I can’t find any argument against them and besides, even if they are wrong, I know that I am a better person because of my faith. I have been motivated to be nicer, to think of others, to good things for other people. I have also found great consolation in the writings and prayers. My problems may not be solved, but mind and soul are calmed.

I believe because I do.

 

 

 

Why I Believe in God

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Because I do. I always have. No one has been able to prove to me that He doesn’t exist.

Most importantly, I wasn’t taught to believe in God. If I had been taught, then I would still be a Roman Catholic. Truth is, my religious training was a bit weak.

My parents were not very devout. Actually, my mother was Catholic and my Dad was ??? We never discussed religion at home, but references to God and Jesus were common, just as they were in general public discussion. It is hard to remember that now when mention of God and Jesus elicit a wide range of reactions and so people don’t mention them much anymore.

When I was in elementary school, my sisters and I attended CCD/Catechism classes every Wednesday after school. I don’t remember much from those classes except being embarrassed once when I got Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr. mixed up (it was third grade).

When I was fourteen, I decided to find out what the difference was between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. My mother’s parents were from Russia and I wanted to know why they were separate churches. That is when I really started to learn about Roman Catholic theology. I also found out why I kept getting confused during mass.

Yes, I had heard about the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. But when I read about how they were considered of one essence, I couldn’t understand or believe in it. One God, I can understand. One God in three pieces, no. During mass I kept getting lost. Were we praying to God or Jesus? It seemed, to me, that it kept changing as we went through the mass. But, if they are one, then it makes sense. Not much to me, but I just can’t wrap my head around it.

Besides, to me that negates Christ’s death on the Cross. What does God or one-third of God care about being in this world? For an Eternal Being, thirty years of life on Earth is a snap. One day on a cross, even less. Actually, I would imagine He would be looking forward to getting back to the world of the spirit. Therefore, death would have no meaning for him and certainly would not be a sacrifice of any import.

When I was fourteen, I didn’t have anything to replace my religion, so I wondered around without a religion, but still believed in God. I thought that the various religions had bits and pieces that were very good and other bits that weren’t. I liked the Golden Rule parts, basically “treat everyone in the world decently.” I never liked the “non-believers will rot in hell” parts, especially if people had never been told about the religion in the first place. I never believed that God was as petty or as simple as most religions made Him out to be.

A God who could make this universe probably could handle a wide range of belief or non-belief. I also thought He could judge people on their character and what they did, rather than what they said they believed. After all, NONE of the religions that claim they are “the only way, everyone else is wrong,” is anywhere near being believed by a majority of people on earth. I figure, if there is only ONE correct religion, the chances of me being a believer is so small, that I am not going to worry about it.

I believe in one God. I believe He does love us and has infinite tolerance for the diversity of belief and behavior of mankind. And when we die, He will be able to judge for Himself where each of us belongs.