Reflection

Over the course of three successive epochs, the Baha’i community has succeeded in establishing a pattern of life that promotes the spiritual development of the individual and channels the collective energies of its members toward the spiritual revival of society. Aja shares how a community of Baha’is mirrored what she wanted out of life in this story of her declaration.

I moved to New Jersey and started to foster a closer relationship with my Aunt Evelyn. Evelyn introduced me to the Faith and from the beginning I noticed the lives of the Baha’is in the community mirrored what I wanted out of my life. I attended all the events that I was able to; I could not imagine giving up that part of my life that the Baha’i Faith filled. The values and principles of the Baha'i Faith just felt natural to me. I already understood all the beliefs, because they made sense to me.

One night I was speaking with a community member and she asked if I was planning on declaring. It was that night that I decided to declare, but when was the question. It was the night before my aunt's birthday and I decided that the best surprise I could give to the person that introduced me to the Faith was to declare on her birthday. She not only introduced me to the Faith, but she is the person that I most try to emulate, the person that I try to be. My Aunt Evelyn is the on the Local Spiritual Assembly and she would see my declaration come through the National Spiritual Assembly.

That night I was frantically searching for a way to declare by the next day. I could not find any way to declare online that would guarantee that my declaration would go through by the next day. At that point I almost gave up, but I was contacted by another Bahai. After hearing my story, she was so excited for me and loved the idea of surprising my aunt so much, that she made sure my declaration card was registered that night. With her help I was able to declare on my aunt’s birthday, December 21st.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Evelyn, Aja and Nat