Yesterday I got a pleasant surprise when the apartment building’s manager — a very sweet young woman from Yemen who grew up in Germany — sent me an email that she would like to come to the Prayer Station. I was so overjoyed! In case you wonder why, and to put things in perspective, she’s been on my weekly invitation list since… June 2008. And even though on many occasions she had asked me to pray for her, it was the first time that she decided to join me…

When she arrived, she asked me if I knew why she came this time after all these invitations — I had no idea but she explained…

The previous week, she had contacted me to remind me that I need to clear up my apartment for carpet replacement. I had totally missed the message during my recent trip to Bulgaria so I had to take last Monday’s afternoon off from work to be able to move all the stuff to the balcony, kitchen and restroom — the only places not covered with carpeting. Then on Tuesday morning she called me to tell me that a mistake had been made and that in fact my carpet is not old enough and it will not be replaced. My reply was… “Oh, OK, no problem”. She felt badly about the mistake and offered to have the carpet cleaned to which I gratefully agreed.

So, yesterday she explained to me that she  was so surprised that I did not get mad at her as she was anticipating, that she decided to come to the prayer meeting to find out what makes me who I am. I hope this is not a post to brag about how calm I can be, so in full honesty I don’t know if I would have gotten mad on another more regular day but that day in particular I was most certainly very impacted by the passing of Joe Pagano which, putting everything else in perspective, had reminded me how fragile and precious life is,  and by the beginning of the Fast.

One way or another, she came to join the prayer meeting and a group of  five other souls — four Baha’is and a young woman of Catholic background — and we all had great time reading and praying for the equality of women and men.

I am so grateful for this confirmation, this glimpse into the power of the positive impact we all can have on each other, for the reminder that we all are indeed rippling waves of one sea, passing energy into the universe and onto each other…

O Lord! Cause our souls to depend upon the signs of Thy Oneness, our hearts to be dilated with the bounties of Thy Singleness, so that we may become united as are ripples on a waving sea; become harmonized as are the rays which shine forth from a brilliant light; so that our thoughts, opinions and feelings become as one reality from which the spirit of accord may be diffused throughout all regions.

Verily Thou art the Beneficent, the Bestower! Verily Thou art the Giver, the Mighty, the Loving, the Merciful!

(Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v1, p. 3)

Know thou, O handmaid, that in the sight of Baha, women are accounted the same as men, and God hath created all humankind in His own image, and after His own likeness. That is, men and women alike are the revealers of His names and attributes, and from the spiritual viewpoint there is no difference between them.
(Baha’i Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 79)

Dear friends!

We’ll also say prayers for anyone in need, so if you can’t join us and would like to request prayers please contact me.

‘Abdu’l-Baha, Selections From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha  Pp. 11-12.

This morning however, I got Jim Sterne’s newsletter, Sterne Measures, and read in horror the following:

So Long Joe, You Will Be Missed

Last month, we lost Joe Pagano, a vibrant member of our community. Joe was the digital media project coordinator
in the Office of Strategic Initiatives at the Library of Congress where he led the Library’s Web site analytics
program. He worked in web metrics for the last eight years, was co-chair of the Web Manager’s Advisory Council Web
Metrics Task Group and was very active in the Web Analytics Association. Rest well, Joe.

31. O SON OF BEING!
Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning; for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds.

(Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)

Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
(Christianity, Holy Bible, Ephesians, 6:2-3)

Thy Lord hath commanded that ye worship none, besides Him; and that ye shew kindness unto your parents, whether the one of them, or both of them attain to old age with thee.
(Islam, Holy Qur’an, 17:23)

Say, O My people! Show honour to your parents and pay homage to them. This will cause blessings to descend upon you from the clouds of the bounty of your Lord, the Exalted, the Great.
(Baha’i Faith, Bahá’u'lláh, from a Tablet-translated from the Arabic)

Dear friends!

What nurtures your soul? What makes your heart tender? Prayer, music, fellowship, food cooked with love, tea poured in peace, cake shared with smile? Whatever the answer might be, sharing prayers with friends gets us all closer to the Creator and recharges us for the week ahead.

This Monday, February 22nd, I invite you and your loves ones to the interfaith Prayer Station in Arlington on the theme of “Honoring one’s parents“. We’ll start at 7:30 pm with light refreshments followed by reading, at 8:00 pm, of selected Holy Writings and Prayers. I have many books of prayers from different faith traditions but if you wish, feel free to bring your own prayer. We’ll also uplift and refresh our souls with music, and we’ll conclude with tea and sweets.

We’ll also say prayers for anyone in need, so if you can’t join us and would like to request prayers please contact me.

These days the world seems stuck. And badly needs unstucking…

In Iran, the 7 Baha’i leaders are stuck in a jail, falsely accused of crimes they never committed and we all fear for their lives. Please pray for them!

I will not even comment on the insanity of the battle in which I am stuck in my attempts to be a father…

All of this while Washington, DC, is stuck under record amounts of snow.

This morning on my way to pick my baby sitter, my car got stuck on her street as I was driving back towards the cleared road. It took me an hour and a half trying so many different ways to get unstuck. I pushed, I pulled, I tried forward, I tried backward. A nice lady let me borrow her shovel on three occasions, each attempt getting me closer to the goal but never actually enabling me to be free. What a metaphor for my life these past years! The harder I was trying, the deeper I was getting into the snow. At some point I asked for help from some Pakistani men. They came and tried to help to no avail. Then I decided to walk to the store to buy some sand (the idea of buying sand sounds insane to me but on a snowy day you do not have much choice). They did not carry sand but they had cat litter crystals so I tried that — again, to no avail. Finally I asked a group of young men from Nicaragua to help me and after a good wait during which they uncovered somebody else’s car, they came to my rescue and off I went…

So, I’ve been thinking to myself about the connection between stuckness and unstuckness, freedom and detachment.

Like water on a lotus leaf, like a mustard seed on the point of a pin, he who is not stuck to the senses – that is what I
call a brahmin.
(Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha)

The Virtues cards I peruse each day give good insights and suggestions. The one on peacefulness suggests giving up the love of power for the power of love. A beautiful friend send me today this quote to reflect on as I was sharing about my difficulties:

The more difficulties one sees in the world the more perfect one becomes. The more you plough and dig the ground the more fertile it becomes. The more you cut the branches of a tree the higher and stronger it grows. The more you put the gold in the fire, the purer it becomes. The more you sharpen the steel by grinding …the better it cuts. Therefore, the more sorrows one sees the more perfect one becomes. That is why, in all times, the Prophets of God have had tribulations and difficulties to withstand. The more often the captain of a ship is in the tempest and difficult sailing the more greater his knowledge becomes. Therefore I am happy that you have had great tribulations and difficulties . . .

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

So, all these tests and tribulations are a good sign that God indeed loves me! Much to be grateful for! So, I decided to be grateful and I baked two banana breads this afternoon to take to the people who helped me in my attempts to unstuck my car from the snow. The Pakistani men were not at home but two shy yet kind ladies opened the door and while giving them the freshly baked banana bread, I told them of my gratitude for the help I received from strangers. The American lady who gave me a shovel was very kind as well and I gave her also a Baha’i prayer for peace — we both agreed that the world needs more helping strangers, shovels, banana bread and prayers

So, for every one who is stuck in this world, let’s give them a spiritual push. And a prayer:

Thou knowest full well, O my God, that tribulations have showered upon me from all directions and that no one can dispel or transmute them except Thee.  I know of a certainty, by virtue of my love for Thee, that Thou wilt never cause tribulations to befall any soul unless Thou desirest to exalt his station in Thy celestial Paradise and to buttress his heart in this earthly life with the bulwark of Thine all-compelling power, that it may not become inclined toward the vanities of this world.  Indeed Thou art well aware that under all conditions I would cherish the remembrance of Thee far more than the ownership of all that is in the heavens and on the earth.

Strengthen my heart, O my God, in Thine obedience and in Thy love, and grant that I may be clear of the entire company of Thine adversaries.  Verily, I swear by Thy glory that I yearn for naught besides Thyself, nor do I desire anything except Thy mercy, nor am I apprehensive of aught save Thy justice.  I beg Thee to forgive me as well as those whom Thou lovest, howsoever Thou pleasest.  Verily, Thou art the Almighty, the Bountiful.

Immensely exalted art Thou, O Lord of the heavens and earth, above the praise of all men, and may peace be upon Thy faithful servants and glory be unto God, the Lord of all the worlds.

The Báb

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
(Judaism / Christianity, Holy Bible, Joel, 2:32)

O LORD! Thou art the Remover of every anguish and the Dispeller of every affliction. Thou art He Who banisheth every sorrow and setteth free every slave, the Redeemer of every soul. O Lord! Grant deliverance through Thy mercy and reckon me among such servants of Thine as have gained salvation.
(Baha’i Faith, The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 193)

Dear friends!

We’ll also say prayers for anyone in need, so if you can’t join us and would like to request prayers please contact me.

I love this song! For the beauty of the Bulgarian melody and its charming singers, for the joyful rhythm, for the promise of a more beautiful future. The song received two awards at the prestigious festival of children songs Zecchino d’Oro held annually in Bologna, Italy — it was voted number one by the children and the jury in the TV studio on the first day of the televised competition, and won the TV viewer’s award, Telezecchino.

But beyond the awards, what truly touched me was seeing the sincere joy and beautiful innocence of these talented young singers. In a world where most things are scripted for the media, this home video of the song is truly touching:

Now, since most of my readers are not Bulgarian, I would like to explain what is so special about this song. It is in fact a very clever mix of three very beautiful Bulgarian folk songs — one from the Rhodope Mountain and two from the Pirin Mountain regions of Bulgaria.

The first one is in fact a very sad songs, “Rufinka Bolna Legnala” — the story of a young woman Rufinka who is sick and talks to her mother about the sadness of dying at a time when the spring is about to bring everything in nature into bloom:

Transforming sadness into joy is one of the brilliant touches of those who produced the children song “La Danza di Rosinka”.

The other two songs are very traditional sang at any family celebration in the southwest of Bulgaria where I come from — “Kitchitse” about a no-none-sense young woman who pokes fun at the young men of her village, and “Ai Da Idem Yano” about a young woman who is invited by her future husband to shop for her wedding gift.

Here is a video of very typical performance of “Kitchitse” on the town square of Melnik:

And here is a video of “Ay Da Idem Yano”, the song my father used to sing every time he was trying to put my firstborn to bed when she was a baby:

And to complete this post rich of videos and memories, here is a throwback to the first time Bulgarian singers performed a Bulgarian song “Rainbow” (in a very typical for Bulgarian traditional music 7/8 measure) translated in Italian “Arcobaleno” at Zecchino d’Oro, back in 1984:

All that is in Heaven and all that is in Earth is God’s! God is a sufficient protector!
(Islam, The Holy Qur’an, Sura   4 – Women)

We must consider all as the leaves, branches and fruit of one tree, children of one household; for all are the progeny of Adam. We are waves of one sea, grass of the same meadow, stars in the same heaven; and we find shelter in the universal divine Protector.
(Baha’i Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 174)

Dear friends!

We’ll also say prayers for anyone in need, so if you can’t join us and would like to request prayers please contact me.

O ye close and dear friends of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá!
In the Orient scatter perfumes,
And shed splendours on the West.
Carry light unto the Bulgar,
And the Slav with life invest.
(Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 270)

It was so nourishing — and just fun — to share a Bulgarian dinner with these friends and reminisce about our similar paths, sharing the types of jokes you would get only if you had lived in that part of the world, in those days of human history. And then to share prayers and discuss the Baha’i Faith — with all the things we think we understand about it, and those that seem at least at first as insurmountable obstacles. And then to acknowledge humbly that we might not actually get it but hope that the heart would one day know:

O servant! Warn thou the servants of God not to reject that which they do not comprehend. Say, implore God to open to your hearts the portals of true understanding that ye may be apprised of that of which no one is apprised. Verily, He is the Giver, the Forgiving, the Compassionate.
(Baha’u'llah, Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 188)

Life is a journey and I could not have asked for a better “new beginning” of the next chapter of my life than spending an evening at the Prayer Station with new friends from the Old World.