Saturday I had the opportunity to give a ride to a sweet soul going to the Fireside at Gig Harbor. There was a wonderful talk and it was a great evening.
Yesterday, Mother's Day, I drove to Olympia and spent time with my daughter. We walked to Safeway for supplies, which was invigorating for me, and she made gingerbread from a recipe I had found on the Internet. This recipe was so good, that a taste of the batter elicited a small sound of pleasure from each of us. It turned out wonderfully.
The recipe is at: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/black-sticky-gingerbread-recipe.html
While the gingerbread baked, we watched Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and agreed that it was a very good movie.
I drove home while it was light, and later listened to the Sunday evening Compline Service on KING FM.
Monday, May 13, 2013
About the Remover of Difficulties
Is there any Remover of difficulties save God? Say: Praised be God! He is God! All are His servants, and all abide by His bidding!
~ The Bab
This is a famous prayer in the Baha'i Faith, one which has been said by many people in many circumstances, usually during times of tests. It has been put to a multitude of melodies, and is often chanted in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed. Originally it was revealed by the Bab for His wife, as a comfort for her during the time He was persecuted, imprisoned, and later executed with 750 bullets in Tabriz.
I have heard people snort in derision at the notion of standing by the road with a flat tire, saying the Remover of Difficulties; what needs to be done is remove the tire.
Angus Cowan, a Counselor in Canada, pointed out in one of his talks that he didn't care for the Remover of Difficulties, as he figured it would turn out that he was probably the difficulty and would be removed.
At one time 'Abdu'l-Baha, Center of the Covenant, was trying to purchase land next to the site of the Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel, to facilitate construction there, and the enemies of the Faith were blocking the sale. He spent a night chanting 500 Remover of Difficulties. The next day, the owner of the property offered it to him for free; of course, He gave a fair price for the property.
I used to really be puzzled about the statement that "All are His servants, and all abide by His bidding!" This is like one of those koans in Buddhism: if this is true, how can this other thing be true? How can it be said that everyone is doing the Will of God? But that is a literal interpretation of the prayer. It recently occurred to me that this is a statement that God is in charge, and the role of humankind is to obey.
Lately my attitude in saying the prayer has been to try to do the Will of God, and hope my internal difficulties will be removed.
~ The Bab
This is a famous prayer in the Baha'i Faith, one which has been said by many people in many circumstances, usually during times of tests. It has been put to a multitude of melodies, and is often chanted in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed. Originally it was revealed by the Bab for His wife, as a comfort for her during the time He was persecuted, imprisoned, and later executed with 750 bullets in Tabriz.
I have heard people snort in derision at the notion of standing by the road with a flat tire, saying the Remover of Difficulties; what needs to be done is remove the tire.
Angus Cowan, a Counselor in Canada, pointed out in one of his talks that he didn't care for the Remover of Difficulties, as he figured it would turn out that he was probably the difficulty and would be removed.
At one time 'Abdu'l-Baha, Center of the Covenant, was trying to purchase land next to the site of the Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel, to facilitate construction there, and the enemies of the Faith were blocking the sale. He spent a night chanting 500 Remover of Difficulties. The next day, the owner of the property offered it to him for free; of course, He gave a fair price for the property.
I used to really be puzzled about the statement that "All are His servants, and all abide by His bidding!" This is like one of those koans in Buddhism: if this is true, how can this other thing be true? How can it be said that everyone is doing the Will of God? But that is a literal interpretation of the prayer. It recently occurred to me that this is a statement that God is in charge, and the role of humankind is to obey.
Lately my attitude in saying the prayer has been to try to do the Will of God, and hope my internal difficulties will be removed.
The Lady Or the Tiger
Towards the end of April I reached the conclusion that I was about to run out of UI benefits, based on info from the claims page that extensions would not run past April 2013, so I was heading over a cliff. I began to make plans to live in a spare room in Eatonville on my husband's property and thought about selling my furniture. As it turns out, that was not the case. My benefits will be extended.
A couple of weeks ago I had a decent interview with someone at a Tacoma skilled nursing facility and had a pretty good feeling I might get the job. Lots of prayers, 500 "Remover of Difficulties", during the week. I was supposed to hear back on May 3, which came and went with no phone call. Meanwhile, I arranged for another interview at a state facility in Buckley, which felt pretty good. More Remover of Difficulties. At the end of the day I had that interview, I was called in the evening and offered the Tacoma job, which, of course, I accepted.
Oh, dear. Then, last Thursday, I received a call from Buckley: was I still interested, and if so, he would run my background check and phone references and proceed with the hiring procedure. Wednesday I had filled out hiring paperwork and submitted to a drug test, and was invited to a Nurses Week Tea at Tacoma. Friday I attended the Tea, which was wonderful, feeling horrible guilt because I really want to take the State job and it will feel like a betrayal to abandon the Tacoma job when they have been so nice to me--even applauding us newly-hired nurses.
Funny thing about the drug test: in every facility where I have had a drug test, it has been necessary to obtain a urine specimen. So I and another newly-hired nurse arrived prepared to submit a test. Which means that we filled out paperwork for two hours with full bladders, only to discover that they were using a new oral-swab type test.
Today is Monday the 13, and Wednesday I am supposed to attend a general orientation at Tacoma. Friday I had a call from Western State Hospital offering a time, Wednesday, of course, to interview with them. The same thing occurred with my last job; the offer of an interview at WSH the very day I was orienting with the new job.
I am hoping to hear from Buckley very soon. Meanwhile my prayers are that I make a wise choice, not knowing behind which door is the Lady and which door is the Tiger.
A couple of weeks ago I had a decent interview with someone at a Tacoma skilled nursing facility and had a pretty good feeling I might get the job. Lots of prayers, 500 "Remover of Difficulties", during the week. I was supposed to hear back on May 3, which came and went with no phone call. Meanwhile, I arranged for another interview at a state facility in Buckley, which felt pretty good. More Remover of Difficulties. At the end of the day I had that interview, I was called in the evening and offered the Tacoma job, which, of course, I accepted.
Oh, dear. Then, last Thursday, I received a call from Buckley: was I still interested, and if so, he would run my background check and phone references and proceed with the hiring procedure. Wednesday I had filled out hiring paperwork and submitted to a drug test, and was invited to a Nurses Week Tea at Tacoma. Friday I attended the Tea, which was wonderful, feeling horrible guilt because I really want to take the State job and it will feel like a betrayal to abandon the Tacoma job when they have been so nice to me--even applauding us newly-hired nurses.
Funny thing about the drug test: in every facility where I have had a drug test, it has been necessary to obtain a urine specimen. So I and another newly-hired nurse arrived prepared to submit a test. Which means that we filled out paperwork for two hours with full bladders, only to discover that they were using a new oral-swab type test.
Today is Monday the 13, and Wednesday I am supposed to attend a general orientation at Tacoma. Friday I had a call from Western State Hospital offering a time, Wednesday, of course, to interview with them. The same thing occurred with my last job; the offer of an interview at WSH the very day I was orienting with the new job.
I am hoping to hear from Buckley very soon. Meanwhile my prayers are that I make a wise choice, not knowing behind which door is the Lady and which door is the Tiger.
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