Guest Author - Lisa Schaffer-Harris

Last Saturday, March 1st was the last day of Ayyam-i-ha. The Baha’i Children of Okinawa, and their friends all had a “Harry Potter” themed party at our house. They played games and enjoyed eachother’s company. During the party, we decided on a project. The kid’s named a bear that they would send on a journey with a Baha’i pilgrim and this bear would convey Baha’u’llah’s message of love and unity to those he would meet. Our friend Kaivon was on his way to Haifa for pilgrimage so he volunteered to take Shanti Bear with him. Shanti Bear has his own Facebook site and email, shanti.bear @yahoo.com. We made him a little travel pack with all his pertinent information, so that if he gets lost, someone will find him and keep him on his quest. Shanti Bear will visit the Holiest Baha’i Shrines in Israel and take with him the blessings of this pilgrimage as he brings the healing message of peace to the world.

Shanti was given his name because we wanted his name to mean peace. Shanti is peace in Hindi. Several other names were considered: “Heiwa,” “Pax” and “Pace,” but Shanti just was the favorite. The children just liked the sound of Shanti, and it seemed to fit our little brown fuzzy friend.

If you happen to be in an airport anywhere in the world and someone offers you a cute little brown bear with a red bowtie, it may be Shanti. Shanti will be given to someone in Haifa so that he can continue his journey; we will upload pictures of Shanti and you can see whom he meets and where he goes. Shanti may get his picture taken at the Eiffel Tower or at the Parthenon; he may go to the White House or Buckingham Palace. He may meet members of the Universal House of Justice, or he may meet one of my best friends who lives in Haifa. He might someday brush his furry self near very prominent people, or a little girl or boy on a long plane ride may just cuddle him. We do not know where he will go or who he will meet. We do know that the love and good wishes that the Baha’i Children of Okinawa sent with him will continue to spread with his travels throughout the world.

“So powerful is the light of unity that it can illumine the whole earth.” -Baha’u’llah

To see Shanti’s Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1134627903&ref=ts