Week 2 - How May We Be of Service?

Day 8 – Home Front Pioneer Post, Central Alberta, Canada

Walk With a Purpose

German Shepard

On Wednesday, April 12, 2017, we took an alternate route to explore our neighbourhood. There are many large homes great distances apart on huge acreages. We walk a steady pace and with a purpose bring one of the dogs we are caring for - a German Shepard.  She is an amazing ice breaker.

As we hike along the gravel road, we see a man working in his yard and we wave at him. He hollers hello and saunters toward us. As he gets closer he compliments us on the dog. We thank him and introduce her and ourselves. He gives us his name and asks us where we are from. Our lengthy conversation at the side of the road reveals how he and his wife moved to this location three years ago. We share a bit of our background and with his encouragement agree to meet him at the upcoming community gathering at his neighbour’s house. We walk away and I pull out my notepad to record his name.

Names are an important key to what a society values. Anthropologists recognise naming as 'one of the chief methods for imposing order on perception.' ~David S. Slawson

Day 9 – Home Front Pioneer Post, Central Alberta, Canada

Storms Keep Us Cozy

Alberta Winter Wonderland

We used the dynamic snowfall and harsh blowing winds as a great way for us to claim our Thursday reading assignments. We’re reworking Ruhi Book 6 ~ Teaching the Cause. The purpose of the first unit, ‘The Spiritual Nature of Teaching’, is our purpose.

To understand that teaching is an act of particular spiritual significance. To appreciate that effective teaching involves both “being” and “doing” – attention to one’s inner condition as well as constant activity.

Our interpretation of the being dimension is to strive to be ready, willing and able to teach the Cause. Our understanding of doing is to attend with others in this Cluster as they teach the Faith.

“Teach ye the Cause of God, O people of Baha, for God hath prescribed unto every one the duty of proclaiming His Message, and regardeth it as the most meritorious of all deeds.” ~ Baha’u’llah

Ruhi Book 6

Day 10 – Home Front Pioneer Post, Central Alberta, Canada

The Importance of Referrals

Today we spoke with the Central Alberta Institute Coordinator and she advised us that she will be going away for two weeks. Sadly, she did not provide us with the names and numbers of others who might assist us in our homefront pioneer assignment in her absence. We took the liberty of contacting the Red Deer Local Spiritual Assembly and are awaiting their response.

We also connected with a Baha’i who is living nearby and she’s invited us to her home, next week, to say prayers.

We continue our community walks.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: Those who are working alone are like ants, but when they are united they will become as eagles. Those who work singly are as drops, but, when united, they will become a vast river carrying the cleansing water of life into the barren desert places of the world. Before the power of its rushing flood, neither misery, nor sorrow, nor any grief will be able to stand. Be united! It is rather dangerous to be an isolated drop. It might be spilled or blown away.
(Lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway, p. 171)

Day 11 – Home Front Pioneer Post, Central Alberta, Canada

Connect With Friends

Welcome to Rimbey

Posted Week 1 – Our Response to Abdu’l-Baha’s Urging journal to the Baha’is of Campbell River website with permission from our liaise from the Alberta Baha’i Council. The response from the readers included enthusiastic offers of prayer and a message from a Facebook friend who told us that her grandfather built the Anglican Church in Rimbey in the early 1900’s. It is now a historical site. His name appears on a plaque at the entrance. We’ll share our further exploration of Rimbey in future posts.

So far, two readers of our week one post asked for our help. A Baha’i from Calgary asked us to provide him with our contact information so that he can pass it along to his work colleague who lives in the nearby town of Winfield. We look forward to being contacted by that friend of the Faith. Also, a friend who Frank and I met in Grand Forks, BC, contacted us to ask for clarity on the quote we provided in our first story: Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world’s afflictions can in no wise alarm me.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, p. 208)

We’ve contacted the friends in Grand Forks and have asked to consult with them. We feel it is a tremendous step forward to be asked open-ended questions about the Faith. We hope that this practical application of teaching the Faith will unlock the gates to the city of the human heart.

A fundamental redefinition of human relationships is called for. Present-day conceptions of what is natural and appropriate in relationships—among human beings themselves, between human beings and nature, between the individual and society, and between the members of society and its institutions—reflect levels of understanding arrived at by the human race during earlier and less mature stages in its development. If humanity is indeed coming of age, if all the inhabitants of the planet constitute a single people, if justice is to be the ruling principle of social organization—then existing conceptions that were born out of ignorance of these emerging realities have to be recast…Movement in this direction has barely begun.
(Bahá’í International Community, 1995 Mar 03, The Prosperity of Humankind)

Day 12 – Home Front Pioneer Post, Central Alberta, Canada

Being of Service

Hello, hello.

Our visit over the phone with the homeowner’s father was our only act of service today - at least to someone outside this home. The severe winds blew one of the windshield wiper blades from the car and we are not able to travel until the wiper gets replaced. The elderly man was happy to hear our voices and it didn’t take long for him to explain what he’d eaten for breakfast and lunch. He explained that the weather had an impact on most folks being cared for at the facility and he could hear complaints about the wind and snow from the nurses and attendants. We ended our conversation with a promise of a face-to-face visit next week.

An act, however infinitesimal, is, when viewed in the mirror of the knowledge of God, mightier than a mountain. Every drop proffered in His path is as the sea in that mirror.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Quickeners of Mankind, p. 4)

Day 13 – Home Front Pioneer Post, Central Alberta, Canada

Connecting Through Technology

Eostre, Eastre, Easter

Today, Monday, April 17, Frank spent most of his day with a mechanic and our Ural motorcycle at the repair shop. I spent the day connecting with friends and family by phone and the Internet. A great many of my conversations included “Happy Easter”. By some, I was asked how Frank and I celebrate Easter and I explained that we’ve been studying a book called Some Answered Questions by Abdu’l-Baha and my take away from it on the resurrection of Christ, was that it was the resurrection of the Manifestation of God and not the body. Sometimes the conversation would flow from there while some chose not to stay on that path. Using today’s outstanding technology to connect with people is a provision provided us by the forward movement of science.

…a notable number of friends find themselves ready to enter into conversation with people of varied backgrounds and interests and to undertake with them an exploration of reality that gives rise to a shared understanding of the exigencies of this period in human history and the means for addressing them. (The Universal House of Justice, 28 Dec. 2010, message to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)

Day 14 – Home Front Pioneer Post, Central Alberta, Canada

Connecting Through Uplifting Conversations

Wow! We met nine strangers today and had first-time conversations that were filled with enthusiastic information exchanges, handshakes, and sincere ‘hope to see you again’ sentiments. It began with our taking the vehicle on loan to us from the homeowners to the dealership in Rimbey. There, we spoke with the parts man and during our conversation let him know that we are new to the community as house and pet sitters and Baha’is.

What’s Baha’i? Frank explained that it’s a Faith based in unity. The man smiled and set his eyes on the computer screen in front of him. We left and Frank dropped me off at the famous Rimbey four-way stop. Frank drove down to the car parts store and I strolled toward the Town Administration Office. At the front desk, I was approached by an employee who asked how she could help. I introduced myself as a newcomer and a Baha’i and asked for a community directory. She provided it along with a large carry bag filled with community gifts.

She asked What’s Baha’i? I used Frank’s one-sentence explanation and added, “Are there any Baha’is in this community?” She answered she didn’t know but stated there are a lot of churches here in Rimbey and the outlying communities. I let her know that Frank and I are certified English as Second Language teachers and that we’re looking to volunteer our services. She smiled and wrote the names of several sources for us to approach. I left her with a happy heart.

Welcome to the library

Next, I stepped into the library. I was greeted by several employees and registered for a card. They asked about my being in Rimbey and I explained that Frank and I are house and pet sitters and also Baha’is looking to meet as many folks as we can. The head librarian knew about Baha’is and said that she has a great Baha’i friend living in Stony Plain, east of Edmonton. All four of us talked enthusiastically about the Faith and how its focus on unity, justice and women’s equality were admirable foundations. I met up later with Frank and he had invited a stranger into a café for coffee and cake. We drove home with our hearts overflowing with joy.

Blessed Is The Spot