Tag Archives: bahai

Last week’s commentary “for non-Jews on Judaism” by Hyphen Parent caught my interest. I’m not Jewish. Never was. I was raised Episcopalian, embraced agnosticism for more than a decade and settled into the Baha’i Faith for the last half-century. Along the way I’ve always admired the rich cultural heritage of my many Jewish friends.

In our zero-sum political system, winners take all. It pays to invest in politicians who further our own interests, often at the expense of others. Ironically, our system of governance is among the world’s finest. For a couple of centuries it’s set the gold standard for emerging democracies worldwide. And that’s what’s scary. We can, we must, do better.

Besides symbolizing God’s eternal promise, the rainbow’s physical and spiritual beauty can be viewed as a metaphor for how we humans age. As we go through life, we admire rainbows from afar, pure light scattering myriad hues through crystal prisms of raindrops. The naked eye detects only bright colors, distinct yet inseparable.

To invite us to this relationship with Him, God has raised up messengers from among all peoples around the globe throughout history who have called us to worship our one Creator with sincerity and love and cultivate relationships with others characterized by kindness, compassion and honesty.

This past weekend I joined millions of fellow Baha’is in observing one of our principal holy days, the Declaration of the Bab.

Having known and worked with Iranian Baha’is over decades, I’ve been fascinated by stories of injustices suffered in their home country. Their lack of bitterness as they tell those stories is impressive. An Iranian-American doctor in Medical Lake described how she was able to complete medical school in Iran. She was at the top of her class, and her professors wanted her to finish because there was a shortage of doctors.