Eternal Paradise

ETERNAL PARADISE

On a night, so long ago

To where my heart, longs to go

A gathering took place

Of momentous grace

 

The smell of roses filled the air

Removing from many

All worries and care

Of loftier things

All were made aware

 

The nightingales sing

Their dulcet tones ring

A joy to all hearts

They doth bring

 

To that garden of paradise

My heart doth travel

It must suffice

 

One day it is clear

That I will draw near

To that blessed place

That I hold so dear

 

As I sit and pray

meditate each day

 my soul doth hold sway

 

in that realm that knows no time

I travel to that garden

So blessed, sublime

 

My heart soars

I contemplate

The events that night

Their portent, their weight

 

It was there that night

The first of twelve

Towards a new unity

We were all to delve

A new day hath dawned

For all to see

with growing influence

setting all free

showing mankind

how we are meant to be

and a most great unity

our destiny

-Shiidon, Azamat 166 BE, May, 2009

I sit here today, the anniversary of the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh, and meditate on much in my life.  I have had the bounty of being at Bahjí, near Acca in Israel, twice for the commemoration of this most holy day in the Bahá'í Faith.  Though my mind and thoughts are in remembrance of those two unforgettable nights, and the events that this day commemorates, I am yet drawn to the events that brought about the proclamation of the Bahá'í Faith in the Garden of Ridvan in Baghdad.  It was here that Bahá'u'lláh proclaimed Himself publicly to be the Promised One of all ages.  He did so over a period of twelve days and it was an event of immense and yet unrealized proportions.  The brief description of those days stands out in my mind when I think about those times.  The nightingales singing, the piles of rose petals so high that people could not see others on the other side.  The joy that was felt and the grief at the same time as it marked the ending of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad as he was summoned and exiled yet again, this time to Constantinople.  

While this world is in turmoil and tests and difficulties surround us all on an increasing and seemingly unbearable severity, I am certain that it is these "growing pains" of mankind that are the signs of the birth in the not too distant future of the Golden Age of Mankind, promised by all the Manifestations of God.  If we contemplate on the root of the problems that we are facing much of it can be laid on the doorstep of archaic ways of thought and governance.  Materialism running unchecked has begun to show its cost to a surprised humanity.  Yet the solutions that are being suggested are pale compared to the challenges we are facing.  We must each do our part to better mankind in the ways that are within our power.  We are not, individually, capable of making much change when it comes to international, national and even to some degree local problems.  The sphere of influence that we have control over and the place where we can make an impact is our immediate surroundings, our neighborhood, friends and family.

When we focus on these areas we find that we are able to be of service and make a difference.  The dark, gloomy and impossible are swept away by the joy, love and changeable in our sphere of friends family and neighbors.  Optimism overcomes pessimism in this realm.  Multiply that for each of us and in the end we shall change the world.