Five Year Plan

FIVE YEAR PLAN

I sit here, thinking of You

Wondering what it is,

I am meant to do

I move along each and every day

Serving as best as I can

In every way

Never knowing if my focus is right

Am I distracted or did I stray

 

I look for signs to lead aright

Morning, noon and night

Knowing in my heart

That I must do my part

In serving my fellow man

Single, family and clan

 

In my soul I know it clearly

That of which I search so dearly

Will become evident when I’ve moved on

To that world above and beyond

 

In this world of dust

It takes faith for one to trust

That our efforts and actions

Fulfill a plan

Leading mankind

Over a time, long span

The end results of our action

Though but a fraction

Are part of a whole

Helping to fulfill the goal

That is destined to be

The unity

Of humanity

-Shiidon, March 2009

It is March second,  almost a month since my last posting.  I sit here on the eve of the Bahá'í Fast contemplating much in life.  For one thing, this is my daughter Shahdi's first fast as she is now fifteen.  From sunrise to sunset I will, along with others across the globe will abstain from food or drink.  That is but the physical aspect of the fast.  What comes with it is the sharpening of focus on the more important things in life.  Over the last month work has been busy if not steady.  However, I have had an increasing number of people who have recently lost their jobs come in for work to be done on their cars.  What is interesting to see is the return of focus on the things in life that have no monetary value but are priceless, that of the pursuit of virtues and the re-orienteering of our attention to family and friends.  The focus on money and its pursuit are very much part of the troubles that we find ourselves in and amazingly enough people are still equating what is happening to numbers.  How much money spent here or there.  What needs to be remembered is the human cost.  We are human beings and not numbers.  Each and every day of this fast I will continue to pray for all of us, since no one is truly spared.  Some people may think that this approach is overly empathetic, so be it.  What we are learning more clearly now than ever before is how much we all depend on each other in this small little planet we were all born on.

Today I was finishing grading my last papers of the term for the students in Iran that I am working with.  As I was doing so I was listening to my classical music enhanced by the sound many birds outside my window and the laughter of the youth in the other room having a great time.  It is easy to focus on the pain, suffering and sorrow that encroaches on us all, but there is much to celebrate and enjoy in life.  I sat by the lake today before sunset and saw a body of water, not half empty from a drought, but a place where boats were speeding, dogs were running, children were playing and food was cooking.  Spring is anon, and the signs are everywhere.  This poem is the result of my meditations today.