The Birth of Baha'u'llah

 Today Baha'is around the world celebrate the Birth of Baha'u'llah, the Prophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith and the Promised One of all the worlds great religions. There are usually commemorations, prayers, celebrations and picnics. We missed our community's event last night because of Maryam's tummy bug. I think we might have made up for that though. The kids and I had the best Holy Day. Ever. Everything was done very last minute as we had originally planned a picnic at the park with prayers and cake and friends, but because Maryam was still not 100 percent (not vomiting, but not 100 percent) we decided to cancel.  Here is what we did instead (and I think we may have a new tradition on our hands): I got a do-it-yourself-helium-kit from Spotlight, I inflated 19 balloons (there were 30 in the pack and I let the kids inflate the extras after breakfast) and attached them to "pearls" made from scrapbooking paper.

I used a hole punch to cut out a heart shape and used contrasting paper as a backdrop.

 I printed out 19 short quotes from Baha'u'llah, cut them out, rolled them up and tucked one inside each little heart pocket. When the kids woke up the first thing they saw was a room was filled with helium balloons.

  Instead of our traditional morning prayers I explained that because today was such a special day we were doing something a little different and that part of Baha'u'llah's mission was to give us words to live by, 'pearls of wisdom' if you will. I showed the kids the pearls on the end of each balloon and said that in the heart of each pearl lies some of  His (Baha'u'llah's) teachings, some of the wisdom that He has given us to help guide our lives. The kids then took turns reading aloud these pearls of wisdom.

Here are a few of my favourites:

“Dedicate the precious days of your lives to the betterment of the world”   ~Baha'u'llah

Man's merit lieth in service and virtue and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches.”  ~Baha'u'llah

“The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds”  ~Baha'u'llah
 

“Be patient under all conditions and place your whole trust and confidence in God.” ~Baha'u'llah
 

“The country is the world of the soul, the city is the world of bodies.”  ~Baha'u'llah
 

“Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself.”  ~Baha'u'llah (Yeah, I made sure Anisa read that one.)

 

“A thankful person is thankful under all circumstances. A complaining soul complains even in paradise.”  ~Baha'u'llah (I love that.)

 

“Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humility.”    ~Baha'u'llah  (This one I divided into three.)

We brought the balloons with us to the dining room to enjoy a festive breakfast. And then got to work on the big plan for the day. Random Acts of Service for Baha'u'llah. This is based on something that a Baha'i blogger drew my attention to a couple of months ago (thanks Leanna) I think it is a brilliant idea and thought it might be a nice way to commemorate Baha'u'llah's birthday. While the kids ate I began reading them the book Not Every Sea Hath Pearls and was pleasantly surprised by how well a certain individual listed and clued in to the chapter. We then talked about what ways we might be able to offer service on behalf of Baha'u'llah in honor of His birthday, Ruhi compiled a list and here is what we did.

1). The kids unanimously decided that we should donate all of the balloons to the hospital. They quickly changed our pearls into Get well soon or I hope you're feeling better tags. These were distributed to sick kids in the pediatric ward.

While Ruhi and Anisa were busy making cards and paper flowers Bayan took control in the kitchen. 2). We made a chocolate cake to take to the nurses who are doing such a super job looking after all of those sick kids as well as a Thank You card to articulate what we were doing and why.

3). Anisa wanted to donate her Indian flowers to the play centre at the hospital to brighten things up a bit, so we  took those in too.

4). Bayan also helped bake chocolate chip cookies to take to the local police station as a thank you to the police officers who help keep our community safe. This too included a written Thank You card explaining the importance of today.

5). While we were there the children each donated a stuffed animal to be given to the interrogation room so that kids who have to be there can have something soft and cuddly to hold onto.

6). We took paper flowers and  hand crafted cards to a lovely lady in our community who is very sick with cancer. We left these on her doorstep as I wasn't taking any chances with Maryam getting near her. A tummy bug, of any sort, is the last thing she needs right now.

7). We stopped by the cemetery to say prayers and bring flowers for sweet Sachi (a beautiful Baha'i girl whose love for Baha'ullah inspired countless people during her 2 year battle with leukemia) as well as some other friends who are buried there and the kids took it upon themselves to tidy up other graves as well, picking up flowers that had fallen over and ornaments knocked down by the wind.

8). We stopped by the library to donate a couple of Baha'i books, including the Kitab-i-Igan (The Book of Certitude).

9). Baha'u'llah was also known as The Father of the Poor so we donated two bags of stuff: clothes, games, books, etc. to the Salvation Army charity bins.

10). We took a basket of fruit and veg. to an elderly couple that doesn't get out much and stayed for a visit.

11). We bought  a photo album for someone who had been embarrassed to show the children their photos because they were kept in a shoebox instead of an album.

Baha'u'llah loved animals and we had hoped to make it to the animal shelter as well, but we ran out of time. Maybe tomorrow.


Over dinner Bayan asked what my best moment of the day was. I love that because I used to always ask them that question and I haven't done it in a while. I love that he remembered. While we ate we talked about some of the highlights, like seeing the appreciation on the nurses faces when they saw all the balloons and read the little tags for the kids, the huge smile that spread across one police officer's face when he saw that big plate of cookies come into the precinct, the gushing gratitude over a simple photo album and watching Maryam give Sachi's photo a kiss. I hope that's not creepy. The kids had just finished singing some prayers and her spontaneous kiss just seemed super endearing.

We ended the meal on a sweet note with ice cream and cake and are wishing everyone a perfectly wonderful Birth of Baha'u'llah.

One

Maryam is one. One. Where did that go? Much like her first year her first birthday came and went so quickly, so quietly. No big parties. No fan fare. Simple. Sweet. Like her. Love that girl. The neighbours came for cake and she opened gifts from her siblings (with help of course). We had a sleep-out on the new trampoline which the kids adored, though I must admit I did not completely enjoy it, especially as I was the heaviest (lowest) point and by morning everyone was either squished into or on top of me, plus it was cold for January. Cold. But at least there were no mosquitoes.
Anisa is the black lump that Bayan is trying to coax out of the covers. It was probably too early for the the camera but I had to capture the moment.

Because I'm slack

and couldn't get myself organized beforehand we had our Naw-Ruz treasure hunt and new years pyjamas tonight instead of like...two months ago.

I put the quote: "Love is the light that guideth in darkness..." and a clue on a little card and attached it to a flashlight that I left on the dining room table. We talked about what the quote meant and how love and light can guide us and illumine the world around us, how through the light of love we are able to see, how God loves us and guides us and of course about how much we love them (the kids). They then took turns hunting through the darkened front rooms for a love filled Naw-Ruz (ahem) package of mostly handmade things. I only managed to sew one pair of pyjamas, but at least I made all the wheat bags. I also tucked in an organic, chocolate, egg for good measure. I couldn't get a good picture of all the kids in their New Year P.J.'s because somebody was unhappy that she was not the first person to hold Maryam. It didn't matter that everyone got a turn to hold the little darling, there was still a scandalous amount of nagging and tears... So, here they are in all their splendour - pouts and all.

The Countdown has begun

Well I didn't quite get my act together in terms of finishing off the decorations for our advent calendar, but at least I organized the pockets this year and I have been keeping on top of things since day one. (Yeah - I know we're only on day four - but I promise you that's an achievement.)I've thought a lot about the whole mentality we started last year about giving them a little something each day as opposed to the more spiritual route of tucking a quote into each pocket - something that I was seriously considering. For now I have decided to go with a combination of the two as Ayyam-i-Ha is the season of gift giving, even though it is not officially Ayyam-i-Ha yet. (We live next door to lovely neighbours who do Christmas in grand style - lights, parties, decorations and PRESENTS, lots of them, under the tree. There have been many comparisons between their traditions and ours. Which is not something that I especially like, but it currently seems inevitable. For us I want to keep Ayyam-i-Ha from being too materialistic, I want to develop special traditions that they will love and look forward to and that I will be able to maintain.) That being said some of the advent calendar "gifts" will be activities that I plan to do based around quotes. Like this: "Love is the light that guideth in darkness..." accompanied by mini flash-light tag in the backyard or with friends at a local park. One day there might be a few new scrapbooking supplies so that we can make Ayyam-i-Ha cards for people. One surprise will be an extra trip to the swimming pool, but many of the pockets will contain a little surprise, like last year. In an effort to combat raging materialism I have mostly chosen useful things or things that they need. Like pencils (we never seem to have enough of these), insulated sandwich bags, certain items of clothing, hair ties (for the girls) chapstick (they love this one) and new tooth brushes. Just the fact of getting a little something seems to be very crucial to certain individuals.Today's surprise was pencils - and yes there is one for Maryam too. She just won't be using hers right away. Since our trip back to the States the kids have really loved gum. But I can't quite get past all the rubbish they use to make it. So, once a year (for our advent calendar) I turn the other cheek, look the other way and buy one pack of Hubba Bubba (gag!) for each of them. I am really looking forward to doing more of the quote based surprises with them. I hope they'll work out and will keep you posted on how it all goes.

Gingerbread house

We've started on our annual gingerbread house preparations. We left it a bit late and so I skipped a couple of steps. I figured it really wouldn't make much difference if I didn't leave the dough in the refrigerator for the recommended couple of hours so we just rolled it out, cut it to shape and popped it in the oven. Despite waiting over 24 hours for the baked pieces to harden the front of the house cracked and the roof broke in two. Not good. But we've trudged ahead anyway using lots of royal icing to hold things in place and have at least a standing structure, slightly dilapidated, but standing. We're giving it another day to harden up before I let the kids loose with decorating. And they wanted to make a Gingerbread Taj Mahal. Thank goodness we just went with a simple house. We'll save the Taj Mahal for next year.