We have had to shift things around due to family visits, guest visits, and Peggy heading off to Disney World with our Daughter in law for a week with Micky. There is a lot of family stuff. This entire family unity thing appears to be quite important in this religious dispensation.
The Baha’i Faith, along with most other revealed religions in the world and throughout history, points to the family as the building block of a society. The nature of a family is to provide a nest of love, kindness, compassion, and helpfulness to people in their own homes, and while children are growing. This requires that people develop the virtues of patience, truthfulness, loyalty, empathy and personal honesty to succeed.
I’m not saying one has to be perfect in these virtues, but should at least be making efforts. Even a half-hearted attempt is good, kind of like not following your diet plan perfectly but at least not putting ice-cream on your apple pie.
Virtues themselves have a profound effect on one’s life and view of others. Virtues also influence how others see you and your family. If your family life is harmonious and loving, it can assist others in understanding how a selfless attitude contrasts with a purely selfish, angry, and materialistic point of view. An inconsiderate and self-centered life often includes unhappiness, envy, divorce, lawsuits, ulcers, angry slamming doors, and generally not having a good time on vacations.
The Baha’i Faith promotes the unity of the family, the society, the nations, and the world. This all inclusive unity among people refuses to be dimmed by the ancient superstitions of racial superiority, fanatical nationalism, class distinctions, economic differences, or even if you prefer Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip. This last is a BIG thing in my wife’s family, but they have maintained unity for a long time. (Just don’t be in the kitchen at a family reunion when they are making sandwiches!)
A central purpose of all religious faiths is toward treating other people as you would like them to treat you. (Sound familiar?) This is not an accident. When people make war or get violent in the name of religion it is a sure sign that they never really understood the spiritual messages at the heart of their holy literature. This has been going on a long time (Remember the Spanish Inquisition - everyone forgets the Spanish Inquisition), so we cannot blame Facebook, Twitter, or even the Internet.
The spirit of religion has been working hard from the beginning of life on this planet to drive a strangely stubborn generation of humanity toward spiritual maturity, mutual love, and justice. Why people resist this so hard is a question best asked to somebody much smarter than me. (Maybe my uncle Mel, he went to Princeton and actually bumped into Professor Einstein in the hallway once.)
So, if you can make it to the Baha’i Book Study on Feb 18 around 7:30, we will read and discuss The Advent of Divine Justice for about an hour. We look up words and discuss its thoughts and ideas. Then around 8:30 we break for tea and continue to discuss it but over some sweet dessert (to go with the tea of course). We leave at 9:30 as a kindness to those of us who are rising at dawn to greet the day for some reason.
Hope you can come the 18th. We also hope to get on schedule in March, but no promises.
Best regards,
Peggy & David