Boy Am I In Trouble

Today in the Baha'i Conference I was listening to one of the inspiring talks, probably one from the person representing the Universal House of Justice, and some thoughts sprang into my mind; as usual, unstoppable. I realized there are some actions I need to take in my spiritual journey into teaching [not preaching] the Faith; actions so far out of my comfort zone I may as well set myself afire. Since we are supposed to be on fire with the love of God, that's not so far out after all.

The first one is unusual, but bearable. I have an egregious habit of backbiting which I have had trouble restraining. Backbiting is absolutely forbidden in the Baha'i Faith, possibly the worst sin of all. So a new employee was listening to one of these discussions at work and with one slice of the verbal sword, cut us all off at the knees. She said: "What do people say about ME when I'm not here?" So I've realized that God has probably put us together to help me stop backbiting. My action that occurred to me is to give her a dozen roses, probably with a note thanking her for assisting me.

The next action which occurred to me is much scarier. One employee I have gotten close to as a friend, although she now rarely works where I do but spends most of her hours at a facility closer to her home, named Colleen: she stated her husband wants to move back to Montana, due to the disintegration of society all around the world. The trigger for him was the attacks in Mumbai.

What I need to do is connect with Colleen, who does know I'm a Baha'i but not much about it, in an appropriate way to let her know that she is seeing half of the picture. "Soon you will see the old world order rolled up and a new one rolled out in its stead." ~ Baha'u'llah. The world is coming apart like an unbalance Wankel engine, tearing itself apart as it spins out of control. The world is also being created anew, the new world civilization brought by Baha'u'llah being built by the Baha'is with His blueprints, brick by brick. I need to let Colleen know this but I'm afraid of being clumsy and turning her off. The idea occurred to me to offer to host a devotional meeting in her home with prayers and writings from various faiths addressing the problems that concern her family. Contacting her about this is scary.

Most frightening of all is the notion I got this afternoon when I heard the story of a Baha'i working in a hospital in a very high-stress environment. She obtained permission to hold an ecumenical devotional meeting in the hospital. It was amazingly well-received. So instantly this was obviously applicable to the SNF where I work. I feel I must request permission to host devotional meetings for the staff. I realized this might go over better with the invitation for people to bring prayers and writings from their religious traditions.

I may as well set myself on fire.

Boy am I in trouble.