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| Oxnard-Ventura Bahá'í |
Newsletter of the Oxnard and Ventura Bahá’í
Communities
March 2006 |
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“Beautify
your tongues, O people, with truthfulness, and adorn your souls with the
ornament of honesty.” ~ Bahá’u’llah |
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The purpose of the
Oxnard-Ventura Bahá'í News is to provide information about the Bahá'í Faith
and activities of the Bahá'í’s to those who wish to learn more or attend Bahá'í
devotional gatherings. If you have comments or do not want to receive the Bahá'í
News, write PO Box 7344, Oxnard, CA 93031, call 648-1222. No donations requested
or accepted. Informational
Talks A
brief talk on a general topic about the Bahá'í Faith is followed by
discussion. A time to bring up any question in your heart about spiritual
topics. Saturday, March 4, 7;30 pm Pete and Dayna Quick’s, 1889 Montgomery Ave Ventura;
659-4660 Bring your thoughts and questions to a lively and musical
presentation by Darrel Metcalf. Issues
to be discussed range from the oneness of mankind to the equality of men and
women to science and religion. Fillmore’s
22nd Annual NAW-RÚZ Celebration! Monday, March 20th 6pm. Fillmore Memorial Bldg, 511 Second
St, Fillmore. Pot Luck (bring a dish or 2 to share) & live entertainment! Recharging Our
Spiritual Batteries By
Dale E. Lehman The
Bahá'í Fast starts on March 2nd. Different
religions have different customs and rules regarding fasting. Perhaps the
best-known fasts are Yom Kippur, a 25 hour fast observed by Jews, and the Muslim
fast, which occupies the month of Ramadan (30 days). Christians
sometimes fast, too, although Jesus neither prescribed a set time for fasting
nor bound it by any rules except that of sincerity (Matthew 6:16-18). |
The Bahá'í Fast is in some ways similar to the Muslim
Fast, occupying a specific month of the year and being governed by a set of
rules. The rules themselves are not identical, however, nor is the duration of
the fast. The Bahá'í calendar is a solar calendar composed of 19 months each
containing 19 days. The extra days (four in non-leap years and five in leap
years) comprise Ayyám-i-Há and are placed between the 18th and 19th months.
The 19th month, 'Ala' (Loftiness), is the month of fasting. During that month,
Bahá’í’s aged 15 to 70 abstain from food and drink between the hours of
sunrise and sunset. However, those who are ill or traveling, anyone engaged in
heavy labor, and women who are pregnant, nursing or menstruating are exempt from
the Fast. But
why would anyone want to engage in this kind of behavior year after year, even
if only for 19 days out of 365? Going for about 12 hours without food or drink,
while not debilitating for most of us, is still not the most pleasant of ways to
spend a day. Is there some health benefit to be gained from this sacrifice? Does
it strengthen character? Does it purchase absolution from sins? All of these
ideas have been put forward throughout history as reasons to fast, but 'Abdúl-Bahá's
answer is rather different:
"...this
material fast is an outer token of the spiritual fast; it is a symbol of
self-restraint, the withholding of oneself from all appetites of the self,
taking on the characteristics of the spirit, being carried away by the
breathings of heaven and catching fire from the love of God." Selections
from the Writings of 'Abdúl-Bahá, p70 Themes
of detachment and self-denial run throughout Bahá’u’llah’s Writings. He
teaches that all the attributes of God exist within us as potentialities, but
that these perfections can only be developed through a conscious effort to
detach ourselves from all save God. |
Material
food and drink is turned down in favor of spiritual food and drink, calling to
mind a prayer penned by Bahá’u’llah: "O
my Lord! Make Thy beauty to be my food, and Thy presence my drink, and Thy
pleasure my hope, and praise of Thee my action, and remembrance of Thee my
companion, and the power of Thy sovereignty my succorer, and Thy habitation my
home, and my dwelling-place the seat Thou hast sanctified from the limitations
imposed upon them who are shut out as by a veil from Thee. Thou art, verily, the
Almighty, the All-Glorious, the Most Powerful." Bahá'í
Prayers, pp144-5 So
my trepidation at the approach of March stems only from the physical prospect of
fasting. Spiritually, I and my fellow Bahá’í’s look forward to this
opportunity to recharge our spiritual batteries. The Universal House of Justice
has in the past referred to the "spiritual energies unleashed by the
Fast." These energies, real and potent, propel us forward into the new year
that dawns with Naw-Rúz at the close of the Fast.
Reprinted with permission from Bahá’i Planet.org All
Faiths Public Gathering for Prayer and Devotions Fillmore CommUnity 1st Saturday of the Month, March 4th Call Luanne
at 524-0683 for details Oxnard CommUnity 1st Sunday of the Month, March 5th 10:30 AM.
Locations May vary. Call Barbara at 984-4390 Camarillo CommUnity 3rd Sunday of the Month, March 19th Call Renee at
383-3904 for details. Dawn Prayers |
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