28 June 2006

Fireside 1 - Gail Whalen

Gail Whalen of Henderson, Nevada talks about the Baha'i principles particularly the education of children and the removal of prejudice. Linda Long and Robert Riley of Florida's Emerald Coast join the discussion.

Materials on Baha'i Principles are available here and here.

We're working on several more firesides using different speakers and attendees. Hopefully there'll be another one early next week.

Sandy is working on a podcast for the two of us to discuss the spiritual education of children. We'll try to get that posted next week also.

On a completely unrelated note -- I just bought a biofeedback game called The Journey to Wild Divine. It was created in cooperation with Deepak Chopra and uses biofeedback technology (that's included with the game) to control the events of the game. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to explore using meditation and breath techniques to improve one's life. The price is very reasonable -- about $160.

Love,

Sandy and Ron

16 June 2006

Podcast News

I wanted to let you know what's going on with our podcast; we're working on some great new podcasts that's taking a little time to line up all the participants so I appreciate your patience. We're going to have some group discussions that I think will be fun to listen to.

In the meanwhile, I want to tell you first about the blog that we started; it's called the Emerald Coast Baha'i Podcast Blog. You can find it at ecbp.blogspot.com. We'll provide a post to the blog for each podcast so if you don't catch some information during a podcast, you can find it on the blog.

While you waiting for our next podcast, you may want to listen to two of the other Baha'i podcasts:

On "Ask a Baha'i," Bill Dvorak interviews Ron Hershel, the author of the lecture series "The Evolution of Human Spirituality." This is a really fascinating interview for Baha'is and Christians.

Also on "Ask a Baha'i," there's an interview in two parts with Ravi Sinha, who was not a religious person but became a Baha'i through a very unusual experience.

On "A Baha'i Perspective," Warren Odess-Gillett interviews Ray Estes, a born-again Christian and Bible-scholar who describes his adventure that led him to the Baha'i Faith.

You can find "Ask a Baha'i" at: http://www.bahaicommunity.org/podcast/index.php?channel_id=2

You can find "A Baha'i Perspective" at: http://www.bahaicommunity.org/podcast/index.php?channel_id=1

If you check out the blog there's links along the left side to those podcasts.

That's all for now.

Remember, you're welcome to join us at any time.

Ron

08 June 2006

The Attitude of Prayer

Doing a podcast on the Attitude of Prayer was Sandy's idea. It's great to have an extra brain when you run out of podcast ideas!

Here's some of the quotes we used:

O my God! O my God! Unite the hearts of Thy servants, and reveal to them Thy great purpose. May they follow Thy commandments and abide in Thy law. Help them, O God, in their endeavor, and grant them strength to serve Thee. O God! Leave them not to themselves, but guide their steps by the light of Thy knowledge, and cheer their hearts by Thy love. Verily, Thou art their Helper and their Lord. - Bahá'u'lláh
(Compilations, Baha'i Prayers, p. 203)

Create in me a pure heart, O my God, and renew a tranquil conscience within me, O my Hope! Through the spirit of power confirm Thou me in Thy Cause, O my Best-Beloved, and by the light of Thy glory reveal unto me Thy path, O Thou the Goal of my desire! Through the power of Thy transcendent might lift me up unto the heaven of Thy holiness, O Source of my being, and by the breezes of Thine eternity gladden me, O Thou Who art my God! Let Thine everlasting melodies breathe tranquillity on me, O my Companion, and let the riches of Thine ancient countenance deliver me from all except Thee, O my Master, and let the tidings of the revelation of Thine incorruptible Essence bring me joy, O Thou Who art the most manifest of the manifest and the most hidden of the hidden!
(Compilations, Baha'i Prayers, p. 141)

Most of the short quotes about the attitude of prayer can be found in http://info.bahai.org/article-1-4-7-1.html

Other stuff that you might be interested in:

To learn more about the Baha'i Faith:
www.bahai.org
www.bahai.us

Our Emerald Coast Florida site:
www.EmeraldCoastBahais.org

Call 1-800-22-UNITE to talk to a human.
To leave us a voice mail, call 866-590-4545.

Other Great Baha'i Podcasts:
A Baha'i Perspective: http://www.bahaicommunity.org/podcast/index.php?channel_id=2
Ask a Baha'i: http://www.bahaicommunity.org/podcast/index.php?channel_id=1

I particularly ask my Christian audience to listen to the interviews with Ray Estes in "A Baha'i Perspective." Mr. Estes was a born-again Christian who became a Baha'i. Also listen to the interview with Ron Hershel in "Ask a Baha'i." Dr. Hershel teaches a course in comparative religion and provides an interesting perspective on the relationship between the religions.

Remember, you're welcome to join us at any time!

Ron