Sorry newsletters have been few and far between, of late. I've had some health issues that distracted me from writing much. However, I have had enforced time to sit and read and have been doing so. Always amazes me how much I can find in the Bahá'í Writings that inform and reassure. For instance, this instruction:

"Let there be no mistake. The principle of the Oneness of Mankind--the pivot round which all the teachings of Baha'u'llah revolve--is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope. Its appeal is not to be merely identified with a reawakening of the spirit of brotherhood and good-will among men, nor does it aim solely at the fostering of harmonious cooperation among individual peoples and nations. Its implications are deeper, its claims greater than any which the Prophets of old were allowed to advance. Its message is applicable not only to the individual, but concerns itself primarily with the nature of those essential relationships that must bind all the states and nations as members of one human family. It does not constitute merely the enunciation of an ideal, but stands inseparably associated with an institution adequate to embody its truth, demonstrate its validity, and perpetuate its influence. It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced. It constitutes a challenge, at once bold and universal, to outworn shibboleths of national creeds—creeds that have had their day and which must, in the ordinary course of events as shaped and controlled by Providence, give way to a new gospel, fundamentally different from, and infinitely superior to, what the world has already conceived. It calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarization of the whole civilized world—a world organically unified in all the essential aspects of its life, its political machinery, its spiritual aspiration, its trade and finance, its script and language, and yet infinite in the diversity of the national characteristics of its federated units." - Shoghi Effendi, __World Order of Bahá'u'lláh__ pp. 42-43

So that, I remind myself, is what Bahá'ís are anticipating and working for--not uniformity or fascism or ignorant conformity, but a unified, though endlessly diverse, whole.

Meanwhile, I did complete an online course with the Willamette Institute on Native American Spirituality which included a whole world of background historical information generally missing from US history texts. Here's the article from the Baha'i site at BellaOnline.com.

Indigenous Religion & the Bahá'í Faith
The core of all religions is seen by Bahá'ís as a unified and progressive whole, provided by a single loving God to humanity. Indigenous people's sense of the interrelationship of all of creation may be the most important contribution to the science and spirituality of the modern world.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art302739.asp

Do visit bahai.bellaonline.com for more articles on ways to change the world through improved parenting, education, and tools for character building, plus links to the sacred texts of the Bahá'í Faith. You don't have to rely on only my understanding, when you can go straight to the source!

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Cheryll Schuette, Baha'i Editor
http://bahai.bellaonline.com

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