Rob Weinberg spoke on Social Activism in the Early European Bahá'í Community at the school on 27 February.
At the end of the nineteenth century there were many changes taking place. Britain had became open to these: thanks to the conquests of the British Empire many eastern religions were being made known to the West; women were beginning to come out from under the shadow of men, and science was challenging traditional Christian belief. The early British Bahá'ís tended to see themselves less as members of a new religion than of a movement. Many of them were involved in other movements in society: the women’s suffrage campaign, the extension of education, promoting national health care.... They were looking for change.
When Abdu'l-Bahá visited the West, he didn't insist on the laws, He was very gentle and hugely encouraged them to do the best in what they were engaged in because they were so new to the Faith. There was also very little literature at the time.When Shoghi Effendi became the Guardian, he began to move the loose movement of Bahá'ís who dearly loved Abdu'l-Bahá to the understanding that this is a new world religion. The shift was to create a new Baha'i administration throughout the world.
Lesley Taherzadeh O’Mara spoke about Life in Haifa on 6 March and shared a number of interesting facts.
Itis the first time in history that spiritual and administrative centres are located side by side on Mount. Camel. It was on this mount that the Tablet of Carmel was revealed in Arabic as Bahá'u'lláh chanted it. He called it the Qiblih of Nations, the heart of the world. The German Templers left their homes and moved to Haifa and Jerusalem to await the coming of Christ. Even though Bahá'u'lláh revealed a tablet to their leader, their veils prevented them from recognizing Him. The Templers left and went back home and others went to Australia. We now know that some of their descendents became Bahá'ís in Australia.
Marianne Crossle spoke on Life After Death on 13 March. She explained how Bahá'u'lláh has told us that our purpose in life is to bear witness unto Him and to promote an ever advancing civilization.He also says that the nature of life after death remains a mystery. We are told that human nature is fundamentally spiritual. She touched on the soul and its progress (using the metaphor of the baby in womb, infancy, youth, maturity into adulthood, old age). Several moving anecdotes were shared by the guest speaker and members of the audience. Marianne highly recommended the book Light After Death by Alan Bryson.
NEW TERM
After the Easter break the new term will start on 10 April with A Storyteller - Stories from the Faith by Gemma Halligan.
AHZ
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