Last weekend Payam and I drove down to Los Angeles to take part in a series of 41 conferences taking place literally all across the world.
In what strikes me as a powerful display of global unity within extremely diverse local contexts, Baha’is are gathering in Abidjan, Accra, Almaty, Antofagasta, Atlanta, Auckland, Baku, Bangalore, Bangui, Battambang, Bologna, Bukavu, Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt, Guadalajara, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Kiev, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Lae, London, Los Angeles, Lubumbashi, Lusaka, Madrid, Managua, Manila, Nakuru, New Delhi, Portland, Quito, Sao Paulo, Stamford, Sydney, Toronto, Ulaanbaatar, Vancouver, and Yaoundé.
How many can you place on a map? I’ve been following the reports and was particularly moved by news of a gathering in the DRC which brought people to a war-struck community to deliberate on how they could best serve their friends, families, neighbors, and colleagues. I also love the perspective of this nine year-old in NYC who believes her friends really do question and care about “spiritual” ideas.
After our own conference concluded, Payam and I had the fortune of spending a few days with friends and of visiting the resting place of Thornton Chase, the first American Baha’i.¹ As we stood aside his grave and gazed out across hundreds of others within the Inglewood cemetery, we offered a prayer for the progress of these souls.
I also thought about how often friends and colleagues have asked me what Baha’is think about life after death, the concept of heaven/hell, prayer, the nature of the soul, the purpose of life, and similar topics. Well, I can say with total confidence that if you happen to be curious about these topics, no matter where on the planet you might live, you would be welcome to explore them with people in your own neighborhood. Email me and I’ll be happy to connect you.
¹Here is a link to one of my favorite prayers, which was revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for Thornton Chase.
