"The Most Wise And Rational Ideology Of All”

Stories coming in from all over the country show that the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith make sense to a lot of people who were raised in other traditions.

A Bahá’í reports on a seeker from North Carolina:

“____ was raised southern Baptist, and at a young age started questioning what he was learning.  He spent time trying to figure out what he believed.  During this process he met Bahá’ís in his area and started attending activities, reading and learning more about the Faith and Bahá’u’lláh.  He felt that the Faith was exactly what he had been looking for.”

A new believer in Texas says:

“Since I was born, I was always interested in religion and spirituality.  I would always ask questions about God, and often had religious experiences, but after a while I lost touch with my spiritual side.

“When I was about 12 years old, I started reading the Bible and became interested in religion again.  As I learned more and more, it was obvious to me that I didn’t agree with mainstream Christianity.  So I investigated a number of religions like Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, but I didn’t completely agree with any.  During this time, I learned of the Bahá’í Faith and agreed with everything I read or heard about it.

“After doing a lot more research into the Faith, I made it official right after my 15th birthday.”

A seeker in Florida writes to a Bahá’í who has been teaching him:

“I have many questions regarding the Bahá’í Faith.  Only recently have I discovered this faith.  Being raised as a Christian, I have always questioned the dogma.  I am a free thinker, but always have been a strong believer in the God of Abraham.  I recently have returned from India on a University study abroad program and have seen the peaceful ways of the eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hindusim….  What I admire most about the Bahá’í Faith is that it gives credence to various messengers of God from many Religions.  At the core, I have always maintained the belief that most religions have a message of peace and for the advancement of civilization and mankind.  However, I am not a pacifist and I believe in self defense, security, law, liberty, peace, and justice for everyone regardless of race, gender or creed.  I would like to learn more about the evolution of the Abrahamic religions from Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb and the teachings of the Bahá’u’lláh.  I find it to be the most wise and rational ideology of all.”

Community Building Initiatives

"Project Ruhullah" participants, upstate New York.

In localities all over the world, Bahá’ís are striving in very specific ways to contribute to a process of community building that seeks to involve all interested members of a given neighborhood.

Among other activities, they are implementing moral education classes for children, and spiritual empowerment programs for junior youth.  They freely offer these activities to friends, neighbors, and anyone else that would like to participate.  They seek to train others to conduct the activities and to multiply their number, so that ever-increasing populations can benefit from them.

The goal is to improve oneself, and to help create a better society.

During the summer months when many school-aged children and college students were on vacation, various Bahá’í communities hosted seminars (like Project Ruhullah, photo above) designed to train youth to carry out such programs.

This video link will take you to an 11-minute clip highlighting relevant experiences of some Bahá’ís in Fort Collins, Colorado.

"They Had Me At Progressive Revelation"

A new believer from the South Central region shares her story of coming to the Faith:

This time last August, I was settling in at my parents’ house.  I was pretty distraught about going from College Graduate to Boomerang Kid so swiftly, but I was trying to stay optimistic.  I held on to the hope that it was a temporary arrangement.  There was a job waiting for me in January.  All I had to do was wait it out, contemplating the kind of future I was (one day soon) going to shape for myself.  It was only a few weeks later that a possible future I never considered became a very daunting reality.  My mother, at the bright age of fifty-two, was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor.  Since I was living at home, I was able to be there for her from the moment she was diagnosed until her last night with us in this world.

It’s still quite difficult to put into words how those last two months with her affected me.  Every time I try to distill the experience, the words seem…inadequate. Suffice it to say my life was permanently changed.

It didn’t take very long for me to lose patience with fear.  There was no sense in not living the way I wanted to live.  I want to live my life in a way that I can do some good in the world.  And I wanted a faith that will help me achieve that because of everything it stands for, because of the community it creates.  Not despite it.

Idea turned into action when one night I sat down at my computer and sought information from the only Bahá’í I had ever known.

Quickly I met the most wonderful, welcoming people I could have hoped to encounter.  No one ever pressured me into anything, and everyone was open to questions and discussions.  I’ve met plenty of people who put on their faith like a Sunday hat, but I didn’t see that with any of the Bahá’ís that I met.  I felt like I could ask anyone about some aspect of the Faith, and the conversation would flow just as easily as if I had asked what they had done over the weekend.

I jokingly told a friend, “They had me at progressive revelation.”  Which is partly true.  I love progressive revelation.  And unity.  And equality.  I love that the answers I found validated beliefs I was used to keeping as a secret.  I love that I was encouraged to keep asking questions.  After three months of exploration, I decided to declare.  Why wait?  I knew deep down I had already made my decision.

Recently I was introduced to someone as “a new Bahá’í.”  The man I was meeting shook my hand and said to me, “You’ll never graduate from this school.”  I smiled and thought, thank goodness.  I know the search isn’t over.  But I finally feel like I’m headed in the right direction.

Establishing Neighborhood Connections

The East San Diego County cluster reports that a number of individuals and teaching teams have gained experience forging connections between neighbors:

Informal gatherings in the home to foster friendship and community building have been effective.  The themes are many and varied.  Members of one teaching team invited neighbors to a neighborhood dessert, a Race Unity Day barbecue, a World Cup Final potluck, and a financial workshop.  One Bahá’í couple hosts neighborhood potluck evenings that take place four times a year; 25 to 30 neighbors participate, and one or two Bahá’í couples are invited to each potluck.  Another team has begun gatherings that are spiritual conversations about mental health.  At each meeting, readings from scriptures or a book are discussed.  Service to others, such as prayers and visits to the sick, was mentioned as an important element of community building.  The ______ teaching team has initiated seasonal (spring, summer, autumn, winter) neighborhood gatherings that have proved successful.

A neighbor of a Baha'i family in the ______ area sends a thank you card after attending a dinner at the home of the Baha'is and says, “I admire how you've moved into the neighborhood and met us all and have gotten us all talking.”

After a successful gathering in a ______ neighborhood with about 14 neighbors, the Bahá’ís of the neighborhood have already started planning follow-up visits to reinforce new relationships, dinners with families in smaller groups to get to know them better, and look for new ways of rendering service to their neighborhood.

Another ______ neighborhood just had their first gathering.  Over 16 neighbors attended and got to know each other.  One couple asked the host family about the Greatest Name above their door.  The first step as planned by the host family was to get to know their neighbors, then comes building friendships and finding paths of service to enrich their lives.

After a successful first gathering last cycle in a ______ neighborhood, a Health and Healing devotional was held this cycle.  At least one person from every household on the street attended the devotional with a total of nine neighbors and friends, and three Baha'is including the host family.  Each person read a prayer or writing on the topic of Health and Healing.  One of the neighbors commented later that perhaps we should have some discussion after each reading next time and said “...the energy was invigorating and joyous... brought the whole neighborhood together into a cohesive loving group”.  The Baha'i hosts are planning to continue this devotional for their neighborhood and their next step is to have a mini Ruhi-style question and answer format for discussion to see if there is interest in starting a study circle.

Online Registration System

Many people who do not have Bahá’í friends or associates come across the teachings of the Faith via the internet.  The online registration system at www.bahai.us enables them to join the community and get connected:

J. (from an “A” cluster in the Northeastern region) registered her declaration online.  She received a follow-up call from a Bahá’í, who reported that J. was crying with joy.  The local Assembly was informed, as well as the cluster core team who identified someone to accompany J. on her new path of learning and service.

B. (from a “C” stage cluster) had been a fan of Rainn Wilson for many years.  He started following Rainn on Twitter, and discovered Rainn is a Bahá’í.  From there, B. investigated the Faith online, making stops at www.soulpancake.com in addition to Wikipedia and various Bahá’í websites.  B. registered his declaration online, and soon a Bahá’í met with him to present the fundamental verities of the Faith.  His wife is open to his newly found Faith, and they are parents of an infant.

In registering online, Z. said: “I am excited to finally declare myself a member of the Bahá’í Faith.”  Before making this decision, he had read Bahá’í literature on the internet, and gained a good understanding of the Central Figures of the Faith.  Z. attends _____ university where he plans to join the Bahá’í club (or form one, if none currently exists).

F. (age 17, from the Southeastern region) was raised by a Presbyterian mother and an atheist father, has a Jewish grandmother, and attended Catholic school.  He is very interested in religion.  Through learning about the Bahá’í Faith online, F. has understood the importance of studying the sacred Writings, and saying the Obligatory Prayers.  He registered to join the community via the link at www.bahai.us, and is sharing all about his newly found Faith at his school.  With the enrolment of F., his cluster has been shifted from the “D” stage (no Bahá’ís) to “C” stage -- he is the first Bahá’í in his cluster!

3 adults and 4 children in my neighborhood were enrolled into our Beloved Cause!

More exciting news is shared by the friends in Bloomington Indiana (A-stage cluser):

Weekly devotions proved to work better on Thursday afternoons; and it is through these devotions that the enrollments occurred. By being exposed to the Word of God at these devotions and through the book, "Healing the Soul" that they took home, a married couple in my neighborhood responded with earnest and asked me to please teach them more about Baha'u'llah. So, the following week, I went through Anna's presentation. They were so overwhelmed that they called a close friend of theirs to come and hear the presentation because this friend had been something of a spiritual mentor for them. He came and listened and said, "This is the truth. This is what I have been preparing you for." They stayed a total of 6 hours; and left with books. They also received other reading material a couple of days later from another believer who had started to accompany me in the process. The following week (June 25th), they were both very excited and said that they believed in Baha'u'llah, but still had some residual doubts resulting from their continued attachment to some of the teachings in Islam. After this gathering, I started daily home visits with the friend (spiritual mentor). My thought was that he might be the one to guide them. At one point during the first home visit, I was inspired to share with him the fact that an entire world community existed that shared these ideals. He was not alone (as he thought). He did not seem to respond to this, but the following day he said that he had been thinking about this and told me that he knew in his heart that there had to be such a community, but he didn't know where they were, and he never thought he would be blessed enough to see the day. The following day (yesterday, July 1st), he arrived first at the devotions and said that he and his friends knew that they had found the truth and were overwhelmed by the joy they felt. When the married couple entered a few minutes later, the husband said was, "I have been guided my whole life to this point. I cannot deny this truth. My heart knows this is true. Where do I sign?" I went to get three enrollment cards, and all three enrolled. The four children will also be enrolled as soon as I sit down with the mom to get this done.

This overwhelming experience of the past couple of months is proof beyond any words that anyone could tell me that by following the guidance of our Supreme Institutions, we will have the success that we long for in our hearts.

There is still much work to be done, and more fruit to gather. Hopefully I will write with more joyous news as the weeks and months unfold.

The Bahai Faith is the religion for me--because it teaches the things I've believed my whole life!

This is a story told by a recently enrolled 15-year-old who learned about the Bahai Faith from someone who was studying the Faith too.  His hope now that he is a Bahai is that his friend finds her way to the Faith as well.

Last year in November, I met my girlfriend for the first time when I went to my cousin's house for the holiday. It turns out that she and my cousin were almost absolute best friends, so I ended up talking with the two of them . . . when we got to the subject of religion, she said she wanted to be a Bahai, which peaked my interest. Now it wasn't until a month later when I started dating her that I began to study the Bahai religion. A half a year later, I confirmed with my inner self that the Bahai religion was the religion for me, not because it was my girlfriend's religion, but because it is the religion that teaches the things I've believed in my whole life--the things that stopped me from believing the religion I was raised on. I had been searching for almost seven years for a religion. Every day since I confirmed my faith within myself as a Bahai, I have prayed that my girlfriend receives the ability soon to convert to the Bahai religion. I hope that her parents see the error of their ways in retaining her to their beliefs instead of allowing her to choose her own path in the beautiful world. The Bahai religion has made my life feel so much more sensible and I can only hope that it does the same for many more.