Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at 2:02am
Join the circle
Column: Life at First Sight
As summer shifts into autumn each year, I instinctively begin the necessary hunkering in that precedes New England winters. I get a little nesty, as well as reflective on where the year has brought me this far.
As I draw my attention closer to home in this personal spiritual harvest, I grow more conscious of the neighborly small-town life I'm blessed to have. When I lived in China's second largest city for just four short months, I certainly experienced some of the most exciting days of my life, but I also developed a spiritual homesickness that I thought I might never get over.
While my hometown's no longer the kind where I'd leave my car running when I pop into a store, it's still the sort of place where you can dial a wrong number and end up having an awfully nice chat with whoever's on the other end. The bonds you form in a place like this are true friendships that have absolutely nothing to do with life's outer appearances and everything to do with that inner light that glimmers in each life. They are soul connections, as important to genuine life and survival as clean air and water.
I recently saw how hungry people are for them when I was in a small nearby city. My husband and I were having dinner with friends at a sidewalk café when an endless parade of fire engines began screaming past. After the first 10 minutes, the trucks began to show the names of various surrounding towns and we thought, Is the world coming to an end? What has happened? The sense of urgency alone had a galvanizing effect that began to draw people's attention together, as such developments often do.
The fire, it turns out, was at a house right around the corner, tucked down a narrow drive behind other houses, which made it very difficult for the fire engines to reach. The neighborhood's crooked little side streets were filled with onlookers. People weren't oogling so much as watching the firefighters' systematic efforts with admiration and support. They brought them drinks and cheered them on, or comforted the family who, with all its pets, at least had gotten out of the inferno safely.
As I looked around, it seemed that everybody was engaged in conversation with someone else, nobody in a hurry to rush off to something. And every single one of those dozens of people was hands-free of any electronic personal device. Some of those conversations were still going on long after the last truck drove away. It was as though, in the midst of all that smoke and heat, we'd all found a spring of connection and association we'd been thirsting for.
"The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men," Baha'u'llah wrote.
The unity of the human race is a tall order, of course, but a spirit of love and fellowship is something we can each play a part in advancing on the local and neighborhood level.
This is just what Baha'is around the country are endeavouring to do. They're inviting their friends, neighbors, coworkers and family members to sit together face-to-face and take that first step in building ties of fellowship — getting to actually know each other. They're reflecting together on life, in particular, the life of the spirit, the one from which love and fellowship tend to flow.
They're also seeking to help fortify each other's spiritual foundation and identity in an increasingly material world, and support each other to act on their God-given talents and capacities. No matter what the participants' religious background, or lack of it, they're experiencing the unifying spirit of collective worship and study and are pondering together such big questions as: What is life's purpose? What is the nature of the soul and how does it progress? What is the significance and effect of our deeds?
The circle is wide, and welcomes anyone seeking spiritual nourishment. Our own little circle begins again this week. If you'd like to find a Baha'i Study Circle near you, call 1-800-22-UNITE.
— — —
Phyllis Edgerly Ring, mother of two, is a writer and editor. Her current book project addresses how adults can recognize and nurture children's spiritual nature. She is a former program director at Green Acre Baha'i School in Eliot, Maine, and has been a member of the Baha'i Faith for more than 30 years. Email her at {email columns@bahai.us}columns@bahai.us{/email}. See the website of the Baha'is of the United States for more information. © Copyright 2007 by Phyllis Edgerly Ring.
As I draw my attention closer to home in this personal spiritual harvest, I grow more conscious of the neighborly small-town life I'm blessed to have. When I lived in China's second largest city for just four short months, I certainly experienced some of the most exciting days of my life, but I also developed a spiritual homesickness that I thought I might never get over.
While my hometown's no longer the kind where I'd leave my car running when I pop into a store, it's still the sort of place where you can dial a wrong number and end up having an awfully nice chat with whoever's on the other end. The bonds you form in a place like this are true friendships that have absolutely nothing to do with life's outer appearances and everything to do with that inner light that glimmers in each life. They are soul connections, as important to genuine life and survival as clean air and water.
I recently saw how hungry people are for them when I was in a small nearby city. My husband and I were having dinner with friends at a sidewalk café when an endless parade of fire engines began screaming past. After the first 10 minutes, the trucks began to show the names of various surrounding towns and we thought, Is the world coming to an end? What has happened? The sense of urgency alone had a galvanizing effect that began to draw people's attention together, as such developments often do.
The fire, it turns out, was at a house right around the corner, tucked down a narrow drive behind other houses, which made it very difficult for the fire engines to reach. The neighborhood's crooked little side streets were filled with onlookers. People weren't oogling so much as watching the firefighters' systematic efforts with admiration and support. They brought them drinks and cheered them on, or comforted the family who, with all its pets, at least had gotten out of the inferno safely.
As I looked around, it seemed that everybody was engaged in conversation with someone else, nobody in a hurry to rush off to something. And every single one of those dozens of people was hands-free of any electronic personal device. Some of those conversations were still going on long after the last truck drove away. It was as though, in the midst of all that smoke and heat, we'd all found a spring of connection and association we'd been thirsting for.
"The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men," Baha'u'llah wrote.
The unity of the human race is a tall order, of course, but a spirit of love and fellowship is something we can each play a part in advancing on the local and neighborhood level.
This is just what Baha'is around the country are endeavouring to do. They're inviting their friends, neighbors, coworkers and family members to sit together face-to-face and take that first step in building ties of fellowship — getting to actually know each other. They're reflecting together on life, in particular, the life of the spirit, the one from which love and fellowship tend to flow.
They're also seeking to help fortify each other's spiritual foundation and identity in an increasingly material world, and support each other to act on their God-given talents and capacities. No matter what the participants' religious background, or lack of it, they're experiencing the unifying spirit of collective worship and study and are pondering together such big questions as: What is life's purpose? What is the nature of the soul and how does it progress? What is the significance and effect of our deeds?
The circle is wide, and welcomes anyone seeking spiritual nourishment. Our own little circle begins again this week. If you'd like to find a Baha'i Study Circle near you, call 1-800-22-UNITE.
— — —
Phyllis Edgerly Ring, mother of two, is a writer and editor. Her current book project addresses how adults can recognize and nurture children's spiritual nature. She is a former program director at Green Acre Baha'i School in Eliot, Maine, and has been a member of the Baha'i Faith for more than 30 years. Email her at {email columns@bahai.us}columns@bahai.us{/email}. See the website of the Baha'is of the United States for more information. © Copyright 2007 by Phyllis Edgerly Ring.