The Essence of Who I Am

Happy Birthday Mommy! You are the song of my soul and the radiance that unites our family and draws us ever closer together! I hope you know how deeply and profoundly you are loved!

The Gift of Childhood

Forever

Today, 03 June 2014, will be 5 years I have been blessed to serve here in Haifa, Israel. I wrote this song in March of 2010 after I had been here about 9 months and it is as true now as it was then.

Adele Dodds is playing the piano.



I wanted to pick one photo for each year to share with you.... But that was impossible.... Here's the best I could do :)

Five years in Haifa:

August 2009 - Shrine of Baha'u'llah

December 2009 - The Negev

March 2010 - The Seat of the Universal House of Justice

June 2010 - Ben Gurion Avenue (photo taken by Adib Roy)

June 2010 - Baha'u'llah's Prison Cell Window in Akka

June 2010 - Paths of Stone

December 2010 - Sunset on a Haifa beach during the Carmel Forest Fires

April 2011 - Bahji Visitor's Centre through the flowers

June 2011 - Monument of Bahiyyih Khanum

June 2011 - Pilgrimage

January 2012 - Staff Entrance to the Seat of the Universal House of Justice
I had the amazing bounty of serving in this building for over 4 years. 

May 2012 - Flowers on the Hillel Stairs
(I lived on these stairs for 4 years) 

June 2012 - Mazra'ih 

July 2012 - Archives Building and the Shrine of the Bab

November 2012 - A bird cloud and Haifa Bay

March 2013 - The Shrine of the Bab from a view point behind the Seat

May 2013 - The Shrine of Baha'u'llah on Ascension night

October 2013 - Bahji at sunset

March 2014 - The Shrine of the Bab

May 2014 - House of Abdu'llah Pasha in Akka

May 2014 - Bahji

May 2014 - Bahji

You Are Light

This isn't exactly a poem, but I've been writing music for the last four or five years. I don't have that many songs to my name, but I thought maybe it is time I share some of my songs on my blog :) I wrote this one last night. It is very poorly recorded (haha my first experience using Garage Band), no idea what I did to make it so echo-y, but you get the idea :)


(I wrote this to myself, but I think it's what we should all tell ourselves and each other)

A Martyr's Gift

27 years ago today, on June 10th, 1986, the day that I was born, a man named Farid Bihmardi was martyred in Iran. He was imprisoned for 22 months, 9 of which were spent in solitary confinement, he was not allowed access to his family or friends, was tortured, kept in horrible conditions and brutally murdered simply because he was a member of the Baha'i Faith and was serving at the time on a body of nine individuals charged with keeping track of the administrative affairs of the community of believers in Iran. 

His martyrdom though an immensely important event in my own life, was not a singular occurrence, since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 the Baha'is of Iran have been intensely persecuted. There are currently over 100 Baha'is imprisoned in Iran, some because they were striving to provide education to the Baha'i Youth in Iran who are being systematically kept from obtaining university degrees, some because of their efforts to be a part of the social transformation of their communities, and seven individuals for doing exactly the same thing that Farid was martyred for - for administering the social and religious affairs of the Baha'i Community in Iran. 

These seven individuals were imprisoned five years ago and two years later were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. The longest sentence of any prisoners of conscience currently held in Iranian prisons. 

I am inspired by their strength and perseverance, and I pray with all my heart that their trials and tribulations be lifted soon. And I pray that they know that their sacrifices have not been for nothing, that their strength and courage have inspired millions of people around the world, of which I am just one. 

I wrote the following song to honor a man, whom I have never met, a man who brought joy and radiance to his fellow prisoners, who was a light and a beacon of love and Faith to all who met him. A man who has impacted my life in ways far beyond the range that my small song can express. 

A Martyr’s Gift

[verse 1]

As a baby I was taken to His shrine

On the threshold I was lain as a silent prayer

A prayer that His protection would be mine

That His guidance and love would always be there

And it has been all through my life

For you have always been with me

A calming strength in times of strife

A guide and friend endlessly

[chorus 1]

O Farid, O Farid

Your selflessness and grace

Has brought me to this place

You’ve been my light in the darkest night

My eyes when I had lost my sight

You gave me strength to do what was right

With the love you released as your soul took flight

[verse 2]

Walking down the path tonight

You take each step as I do

All that has passed and all that might

Has been and will be done for you

As your joyous soul was set free

On that radiant and blessed morn

It forever connected you and me

For that was the day that I was born

[chorus 2]

O Farid, O Farid

Your selflessness and grace

Has brought me to this place

You’ve been my light in the darkest night

My eyes when I had lost my sight

You gave me strength to do what was right

For I was born as your soul took flight

[bridge]

Taken before your time was through

For His Cause you lived and died

My life and death I give to you

O Martyr, watching from on High

[chorus 2]

Here are a few links in relation to the persecution of Baha'is in Iran and specifically in relation to Farid Bihmardi:

http://www.iranpresswatch.org/

http://www.iranhrdc.org/english/publications/reports/3149-a-faith-denied-the-persecution-of-the-baha-is-of-iran.html?p=29#.UbJXkPaY__Q

http://foadmanshadi.wordpress.com/category/bahai-human-rights-news/page/2/

Thank you to Sepher Fanaeian for playing the flute in the song.

All the pictures in the video are mine, except for the two with captions which are from the Baha'i World News Service website (http://news.bahai.org/human-rights/iran/iran-update/) and the last one (http://www.iranrights.org/english/memorial-case-15312.php).