Country Collection
This blog doesn't really get MANY visitors (about two per day), but they come from spread out over the world. As up to today I've got a collection of 20 nationalities: Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Faroe-Islands, Finland, France, India, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Surinam, United Kingdom, USA: more than 10% of the world's 193 countries! If you want to read about Bahá'í in your own language you can look here.
Bahá'í: a religion without priests or leaders
was the title of my column in the local newspaper published one week ago. It's wonderful how a few millions of people of all backgrounds are bound together and cooperate worldwide, just by the love for Bahá'u'lláh, while the administration is taken care of by assemblies of 9, by election, chosen Bahá'ís.Here you can read the article (if you understand Swedish).
Naw Ruz: the party!
Our family had two wonderful guests from our area, with whom we read the Naw Ruz prayer, listened to some music and enjoyed a meal together. During the meal we talked about the change of the Bahá'í community while it matures. Nice to be part of that!Happy Naw Ruz!
Today, the 21st of March Bahá'ís celebrate Naw-Ruz (New Year) after having accompished a 19-day fastingperiod. Naw Ruz is a day of great happiness, a new start and enjoying each others company, which we will do this afternoon. If you like you can watch a 4-minute Naw-Ruz video here.Why do people become Bahá'í
Watch and listen.The Rock of Faith
The Rock of Faith is a wonderful story I found on the blog of Praveen, an Indian Bahá'í.The Bahá'í Fast
Right now the Bahá'ís have a Fastingperiod of 19 days. We don't eat nor drink during the light hours of the day. Being religious means that sometimes you do things because God wants you to do it, which is healing in itself. Fasting is not easy, nor is it extremely difficult. I compare it with walking with a stone in your shoe: it gives some discomfort but you can still walk. Being hungry/thursty the second part of the day doesn't make life impossible either. Children, elderly, pregnant and nursing women, etc. are not bound to fast.Guests from China!
Regional convention
We just came back from Gothenburg, where we participated in the regional baháí convention, where we voted for delegates who later on chose the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Sweden. Bahá'í voting is always done with secret votes and without any form of campaign or so.Tablet of Ahmad
I often thought I had no time to pray. The reasons were many: small children, illness in the family, moving, etc. etc. So the daily obligation of prayer was done quickly and half unconscious of fatigue.Our pilgrimage to the Holy Land is coming closer. We've waited five years for our turn and now we have too little money on the bank (due to the same reasons). Out of desperation I started to pray a long prayer daily (the Tablet of Ahmad). And whofff: I found a website that finds the cheapest flights for you; the dollar went down so the flights became cheaper, but most unbelievably on top of that the company that owns the website offered me translationwork I've drowned myself into lately. The website is called Openjet/Travelstart by the way.
Country collection
This blog doesn't really get MANY visitors (one or two per day), but they come from spread out over the world. As up to today I've got a collection of 17 nationalities: Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Faroe-Island, Finland, France, India, Israel, Malaysia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Surinam, United Kingdom, USA. If you want to read more about the Bahá'í faith in your own language you can see whether your country is on this list.
