Unbroken Chain

UNBROKEN CHAIN

When a person hath lived

For many years

Accumulating joys and tears

Facing challenges

Overcoming fears

 

It stands to reason

Through many a season

A wisdom hath grown

A way can be shown

By drinking deeply

Of that knowledge gained

From those elders

 Who have remained

 

For on any path well worn

Someone previous to us born

Hath tread along ahead

And with what they’ve seen

We can but hope to glean

 

Within that elder we doth see

An unbroken chain of eternity

For generations hath come to rest

Briefly in that revered guest

And in our own turn it shall become

When those who follow

To us will come

-Shiidon, ‘Alá’  165 BE, March 2009

The thoughts of our elders has come to me often recently.  I noted the anniversary of the passing of my Grandfather in Iran this past month.  The sadness that my one time of seeing his resting place would be my last as the fanatics in Iran destroyed the Bahá'í Cemetary he was buried in.  In some ways it is a joy to know that even in that form of dust he would still be giving to the Faith he loved so much.

Each day I drive to work and home I pass by the homes of three of the elders of our community in this area.  It is almost without exception that I am not praying as I pass their homes and reflect on them and what they have meant to my growth as an individual.  I am in many ways the person that I am having been influenced by them.  Foye and Yvonne Justice who stand as two of the early believers in Texas.  They were able to spend time and know the very first Bahá'í from Texas who is buried not more than a mile from my house.  Mr. Moshref, who I will forever see as a link to the times past when Bahá'u'lláh's daughter was still alive and so many were still living who had met 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of Bahá'u'lláh.  Whenever I am with Mr. Moshref I am transported in time to a place I long to go and see but will have to wait for that journey that is to come.

Those who precede us are treasures of knowledge and wisdom that are not always fully taken advantage of.  The computer is a great and powerful tool, yet sometimes we are confused that we gain knowledge from them.  They are carriers of information.  It is those who have lived and experienced life that have knowledge that has led to wisdom.  May we remember to take advantage of this wisdom and hopefully build upon it and in our time pass it on to those who follow.