Hump Day !!

It is Day 10 – so at noon, I’ll be in the last half of this year’s fast.

I decided to catch you up today on what I’ve been doing with the fast this year; it is very different from anything I’ve tried in the past. This year I set myself a collection of tasks to take a bite out of every day to see if I could make some progress. Why did I not try this before?

KEANU’S QUILT

I won’t get the whole thing done during the fast, but I’ll make enough progress that it will be finished before I go traveling in June. Got Nicole (mum) to draw a design – a firetruck, a building with flames coming out the window, a fire hydrant with a hose — and Austin added hills. Did dimensions. Bought cloth. Sewed road to background. Laid the cloth down to see how it works.

The red cloth for truck is too pale, the building needs its cloth reworked, hose needs to be black instead of gray, we want to change the road cloth,. Etc.

Yesterday, I got the building and windows done. Today I sew it to the background.

CHILDREN’S CLASS

We don’t have any children’s classes going, and I was feeling guilty about Kiki. I got his cooperation and started telling him one story from Baha’i history every afternoon. (I put these stories together for Martin years ago.) Once I started just telling the stories instead of reading them, Kiki started liking them. I’m hoping after the fast, we can continue, but once a week instead of every day.

OLD FAMILY PHOTOS

This is the killer project: all our old family photos we haven’t dealt with for decades. My strategy is just to spend some time every day numbering the envelope that the photos are in and putting a brief description in a word doc. Then making a folder with that number and taking a digital photo of each photo to put in that folder.

This is the 20 envelopes I’ve done so far. Total of 635 photos.

This is how many I have left. Yep. But I am getting better at it, and I have hope.

Meanwhile, here are two of the many treasures that have turned up:

Finding Guy in Haifa in 2008.

The kids all whooping it up, Pohnpei. circa 1992.

SPECIFIC PRAYER

Actually this is the one thing that I have tried in years past, but this year my prayer is for a “loving and tender heart” – and this seems almost measurable.

Yesterday when a couple of folks came by hoping to see the farm, I went out and visited with them instead of just hiding in my room.

And when our yard ladies came today with their kids to clean the pool and harvest the tilapia, I really wanted to give every kid a big hug. So maybe the prayer is working?

CONCLUSION

On the quilt, the stories, and the photos I am seeing real progress by this little daily effort approach. Why did I never give it a serious before?

Kam kam, rooz beh rooz. Little by little, day by day.

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Oh – DUH! Another daily effort I set myself is to get this blog written every day (though this is a task I’ve taken on a few times already.) Nine more days on this journey.

The difference is that at the end I hope to restart my weekly farm blog. If the photo project doesn’t kill me. Ha ha.

Have a happy day, everybody!

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The Art of Showing Up

I mentioned in “The Power of Saying Yes” that I would have more to say about Baha’u’llah’s injunction:

Whensoever ye be invited to a banquet or festive occasion, respond with joy and gladness…

Getting any benefit by going was not even on my radar: my first thought about that guidance was that it was given for the purpose of sparing people’s feelings.

Who among us has never planned some kind of event while worrying that people were not going to come?  From childhood I remember this anxiety.  Even though usually some people turned up, the cloud of doubt infected my every effort at being a hostess …. until I had lived here at the farm for a few years.

In this Indian settlement, People Show Up!

They showed up for our Ayyam’i’Ha party.

They show up for weddings.  They show up for anniversary parties.  They show up for birthday extravaganzas.

They show up for funerals. 

They also show up when someone is sick in the hospital, or when there’s been a house fire, or any other need or occasion you can think of.

I LOVE MY COMMUNITY !!!

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Day 9 – About five years ago I took a course on Inclusive Leadership (ILC) online with about 20 diverse folks around the globe.  The main thing I remember after all this time is that the first step is Building Bridges, and the first act of that is SHOWING UP.   Showing up is THAT basic.  

My dear friend Linda is the author of the course and was the facilitator.  Here is a link to the ILC site: https://inclusiveleadershipco-op.org/

And also, big thanks again to Linda, who was also present for the party and who organized the fun game we were playing in the photo above. 🙂

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Getting my IRISH up

I heard this for the first time yesterday.

Is this a private fight, or can anyone join in?

traditional Irish saying

I chuckled for ten minutes. I couldn’t understand why it tickled me so much. I mean, I’m a Baha’i ! I don’t fight, I consult – or try to. So why is this so funny and appealing to me?

Finally I decided that the saying represents Spunk, and spunk is ok.

The falcon preyeth not on a dead mouse. 

persian mystic poem

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Day 8 – Kiki is in his first Scout Uniform – and happy to be fierce.

The “falcon” verse was quoted by Baha’u’llah, thus putting it on my radar. Irish pub crawlers and Persian mystics were making the same point: Are we going to get in the game and play, or not?

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Two Ears, One Mouth

Yesterday evening I had the joy of joining seven other armchair philosophers in an on-going conversation known as Socrates Cafe.

— keen minds who aren’t afraid to examine a question from a thousand different angles.

Chris Phillips, Founder, International Socrates Cafe 

I’d missed the week before when the topic had been “predestination.” The host asked if we wanted to continue with the topic. There was a pause as everyone thought about it. You can guess who put her hand up. Oh yeah. I already had a big pressing idea and wondered if they had considered predestination from that angle that the week before. They hadn’t. It sparked about ten minutes of discussion. The problem is … I CAN’T REMEMBER MOST OF THAT DISCUSSION AT ALL

We moved on to the next topic: “What is the best way to train people to see the gradients in the world around them instead of just a simplistic ‘this is good, that is wrong’ view of the world?” The first person to speak up asked, “Is it our job to change how someone else thinks?” The second person responded, “Isn’t that the purpose of education?” The third comment was, “If education is only to change how people think, then I wouldn’t want to send my kids to that school.” And on it went. You can imagine how interesting it was, and how happy I am to be able to recall almost all of it. I hardly added two peeps to that topic.

Which brings me to today’s subject: it is Very Hard to both speak and listen.

(But I have to try.)

The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds…

baha’u’llah

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Day 7 – I’ll try being Gracious 🙂 Your Turn! If you have anything you’d like to say, please speak up!

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Beats Me !

This photo is from 2014. Ladies were making puri, a traditional flatbread. I had no idea what to do. Not-knowing is my way of life.

That’s why the third phrase I learn in any language, just after “hello” and “thank you” is “I DON’T KNOW.”

French: Je ne sais pas.

Spanish: No sé.

Chuukese: U se sinei.

Fijian: Au sega ni kila.

Hindi: Patanee.

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Day 6 – Hoping to provide a smile, but I don’t know if I should confess this one or not.

Some cheeky Persian boys primed me for a prank that I pulled multiple times many decades ago. I’d tell an older Persian that I knew a chant. They would respectfully sit as I chanted, “Hovallah, man nimitalinam Farsi sot bat ko nam.” which translates as “O my God, I don’t speak Persian.” (Somewhere in there is “I don’t know”) The poor victims would not know if I had just been pranked myself. Awkward ….

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Pardon us for the things we have done…

the bab

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A Dangerous Topic

I recently saw a podcast where two internet personalities were discussing a survey.  The gent introduced it: a hundred or so young people were asked “if you could have the guarantee of a great career or the guarantee of a great marriage, and the other would be possible but only one is guaranteed, which would you choose?”  He went on to say that the majority of respondents, male and female, chose the guaranteed great career.  The female presenter then piped up: she would choose the great career, too.

Are you CRAZY?. I thought.

Here is why this topic is dangerous.  Let me acknowledge that there are some people who have no interest in marriage, i.e. life partnerships, ever.  That is certainly a valid path, and I am not thinking they are crazy.  But…

To me, anyone who has any idea of wanting a family and/or romance that is more than a fling – not choosing a guaranteed great marriage is insane.  Do people realize how disruptive to everything relationship strife is?  (I’ll paste a quote at the bottom that spells it out plainly).

If you have a stable, happy homelife, you are more likely to be able to achieve a successful career – you have someone in your corner.  And if illness or other disasters come, you have a friend and a helper.   If you have a great career, you have respect and money, but that does not translate directly into supporting a stable homelife (from my observations anyway). 

It seems to me that the virtues called forth in creating a harmonious homelife scale up and are also helpful for building a harmonious community (learning to compromise, learning to work together for a common vision, etc.)  On the other hand, the virtues needed to create a successful career might be a more limited skill set.  An actor with a guaranteed box-office draw might be a personal disaster.  An entrepreneur with great ideas and a guaranteed market might be a tyrant.   Respect and prosperity are wonderful conditions – I just feel that securing a happy homelife first is the more sustainable route.

this was free clip art

We can agree to disagree, if need be. 

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Here is that quote I promised regarding spouses:

They are two helpmates, two intimate friends, who should be concerned about the welfare of each other.

If they live thus, they will pass through this world with perfect contentment, bliss, and peace of heart, and become the object of divine grace and favour in the Kingdom of heaven. But if they do other than this, they will live out their lives in great bitterness, longing at every moment for death, and will be shamefaced in the heavenly realm.

abdul-baha

The promise and the threat.

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Day 5 of 19. I hope this is still entertaining everyone. Writing the posts certainly helps the time go faster.

Hope you have a happy day.

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City

When we lived in Pohnpei in the 80’s, almost every restaurant had “view” in its name:  Harbor View, Green Bay View, etc.  Here in Fiji it is very popular to have a business name that includes “city.”

Car City, outside Nadi.

Why City?

In the Bible Enoch built a city as soon as folks were evicted from the Garden.  And the City of David — Wow! What a history. Cities are mentioned in Hindu Scriptures and in the Quran.

Sports City, Suva

But it probably isn’t religious significance that is making “city” so appealing here.

Tappoo City, downtown Suva (photographed from a moving car)

My best guess is that the appeal of the city is the same reason that cities appealed to humankind from the earliest days: an escape from the grind of subsistence living and a promise of civilization.

Value City, in beautiful Sigatoka :)

CITY life must have tremendous appeal to Fijians — with 59% of our population packed into urban areas, mostly Suva and environs.

Reversing urban drift is Teitei Livelihoods’ mission, and we are swimming against the tide.

I’d like to see a catchy new tag for business names that makes country-living sound sexy. How about “country”? Car Country, Sports Country, Value Country. Any chance that could catch on? Would it give the sense of “countryside”?

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Day 4 – Wishing you all a peaceful and joyous day, whether in city or country or anywhere in-between.

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Open, O people, the city of the human heart with the key of your utterance.

baha’u’llah

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Really?

Today I shall give a few thoughts on Terraforming.  It was conceived in science fiction and recently got into the news because a famous billionaire is talking about terraforming Mars.  His idea includes nuclear blasts at the north and south poles in order to jump-start the creation of more atmosphere or a thicker atmosphere or somehow make the water liquid, or…. OK, I did not understand it at all.  Also, whoever wrote the article was skeptical that any gains would be retained.  But still people dream.

After the terraforming Mars idea got into the news, some bright person said, “If we can try to terraform another planet, why not terraform Earth?  It has more going for it already.”   That’s pretty obvious, right?

This lead to my next thought:  Why are dreamers and insanely-wealthy entrepreneurs even thinking of terraforming another planet?  

I think they think: Terraforming Another Planet is EASIER than Getting Folks on Earth to Cooperate for Sustainability on This Planet.

If I am right, then that is pretty crazy.  The Terraformers will bring along the habits of thought that got Earth into trouble in the first place.  Even if they have unity of vision, they will not have mastered the art of finding a solution with the disagreeable. And how long does it take before somebody gets seriously disagreeable?

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So here is the big question: Is UNITY actually possible?   Abdu’l-Baha says YES. ( I am fond of his analogy.)

It is possible…for all to become unified through one spirit, just as all may receive light from one sun.

So why not give this our best effort?!

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Day 3 – I had a lot of questions today, didn’t I? If you find yourself with questions today, I hope you find happy, fruitful answers.

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Sincerity

Be ye sincerely kind, not in appearance only.

– abdu’l-baha

Several decades ago I was teaching Health to a class of seniors at the Modekngei School in Palau (in Micronesia). When studying sanitation, I asked them to write down the three most important things to them about a toilet.

Before I tell you their answer, take a second to think about it. Virtually every Westerner I asked named “clean” as their top answer, followed by things like “pleasant” or “comfortable.”

My students led off with variations of “safe” as the most important quality of a toilet and “available.” My own list, because I’d already traveled a LOT, was 1) culturally appropriate, 2) safe, 3) private.

I mention all this because a few months ago we were going to another island. When we waited for our boat at Bau Landing and I needed to go, a safe and private toilet would have been very welcome.   And restrooms were provided! Oh Boy!

oh boy……So it was off to the culturally acceptable, safe and private bushes for me.

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DAY 2 – May we all give and receive some sincere kindnesses today.

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Infinity

Last year, when he was nine, my grandson Keith (“Kiki”) made up a joke-riddle that I thought was a real kicker. Here it is:

QUESTION: What do you get if you add one infinity to one infinity?

ANSWER: Two infinity… and beyond :)

Bringing me to —-

Recently I listened to this podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp570S6Plt8…. a mathematician explaining infinity to five levels of difficulty. I maxed out at high school level.  

What I GOT was that some “infintites” all just add up to infinity.  All the counting numbers = infinity.  All the counting numbers plus zero and all negative integers (whole numbers) still add up to the same infinity.   All those plus (I think) all fractions written as fractions still add up to the same infinity.  BUT… all that infinite space between zero and one, and between any other two consecutive numbers,  THOSE are some kind of “infinity plus.” It is a bigger infinity than just infinity.  Beyond that, my mind was scrambled. Confession: I did not even finish watching it.

And when the infinity of numbers seems too much, then seriously contemplating God ??? !!! ….   Well, this is what Scripture has to say about it:

O CHILDREN OF THE DIVINE AND INVISIBLE ESSENCE!  Ye shall be hindered from loving Me and souls shall be perturbed as they make mention of Me. For minds cannot grasp Me nor hearts contain Me.

the Arabic hidden words, #3

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I wish you all INFINITE JOY.

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DAY 1: This is the first post of this year’s Fast – with luck I’ll post 19 days in a row.

See you tomorrow. (I hope.)

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