The Day of Majesty

12 Asma 163 B.E. – August 31, 2006

Today is Istulal, the day of Majesty. Majesty is an attribute of God. As with the other attributes, an individual can reflect majesty. We do this by respecting our own dignity and that of other people. When we demonstrate self-respect, we are reflecting the spiritual attribute of majesty. We show self-respect when we think for ourselves, ask for assistance when we need it, and accept responsibility for our actions.

The Day of Justice

11 Asma 163 B.E. – August 30, 2006 A.D.

Today is ‘Idal, the Day of Justice. This is another attribute of God, which we humans can reflect. How does the individual demonstrate justice? This is a good question; we often think and talk about justice on larger scales than that of the individual. However, it is possible to practice justice the level of the individual.

There are six ways we can practice justice as individuals. First, we can think for ourselves and learn to ask questions even about our own opinions. Second, we can refuse to gossip. Third, we can avoid prejudices of any type. Fourth, we can admit our own mistakes and assume the consequences. Fifth, we can share. Seventh, we can stand up for our rights and everyone else’s.

The Day of Grace

10 Asma 163 B.E. – August 29, 2006 A.D.

Today is Fidal, the day of Grace. Grace is another attribute of God, which humans reflect either to a greater or to a lesser degree. When I meditate on grace, all sorts of connections come to mind. The most important thing that comes to mind is forgiveness. Forgiveness is bond to grace in a spiritual sense. I cannot think of one without contemplating the other.

An old nursery rhyme that says, “Tuesday's child is full of grace,” when this line is read the first images that come to mind are of physical attributes such as elegance, loveliness, refinement, polish, style, poise and charm. There are other attributes implied by grace as well. However, the other attributes or abilities are more spiritual than physical. These are kindness, kindliness, decency, favor, mercy, mercifulness, charity, benevolence, clemency, and leniency. Other concepts that come to mind are blessing, prayer, thanks, thanksgiving, adorn, embellish, enhance, beautify, decorate, ornament, dignify, honor, favor, and distinguish.

Grace is an intriguing attribute, with lots of connotations. Grace is a spiritual attribute possessed by human being. We just have to look for it, not only in other people, but also in ourselves.

The Day of Perfection

9 Asma 163 B.E. – August 28, 2006 A.D.

Today is Kamal, the day of Perfection. Now that is a rather intriguing title especially if it is the title of a poem. However, I am not discussing poems, but days of the week. In this case the second day of the week, so rather than thinking of today as Monday, think of it as Perfection.

Perfection is an attribute of God, one that humans can reflect to a certain degree. Another interesting thought, degrees of perfection, we perfect skills by practicing them, but how does a human ascend the degrees of perfection. A person does by practicing spiritual attributes, by praying, meditating, and passing tests. Tests and difficulties are those situations in life that come between a person and God or a goal.

Most people do not think of God as a goal, but knowledge of God is the goal of the human soul. The purpose of the individual is to know and worship God, the purpose of humanity is to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. Achieving both of these purposes or of goals is possible through reflecting and practicing the attributes of God. This we do by degrees.

The Day of Beauty

8 Asma 163 B.E. – August 27, 2006 A.D.

Today is Jamal, the day of Beauty. It last from sundown on Saturday to sundown on Sunday. Beauty, the first day of the week, is an attribute of God. Today the sun is shining, a breeze is blowing and there are no clouds in the sky.

The nice weather doesn’t necessarily make the day beautiful. It would be a beautiful day no mater what the weather. Beauty is in the mind of the beholder, we see a rose or a cloud and think it is beautiful. The definition for the beauty of anything is in a person’s mind and soul. We perceive with our eyes, but we truly see with our minds and souls.

There is beauty in every human being, sometimes that beauty hid from the human mind, but the beauty is there. It is a matter of training oneself to see the inner beauty of another person, rather than the outer physical appearance. Once we start seeing the beauty in other people than we will see beauty in ourselves.

Every created thing in the universe can reflect one of the attributes of God. Human beings can reflect all the attributes of God, it takes practice to both reflect those attributes and see them mirrored in other people. We must look for the beauty in the world to see it and we must look for the attributes of God to see them in ourselves and other people.

A New Theme for Next Week

7 Asma 163 B.E. - August 26, 2006 A.D.


Today I said a prayer of assistance (page 19) before beginning this entry.
Tomorrow Sunday, August 27, 2006, begins a new week and a new theme the entries in this blog. The theme for the coming week will be the name of the week day. In the Baha'i calendar each of the week days is named after an attribute of God. So for each day I will writing something on the divine attribute for that day.

Not only will Sunday begin a new blog theme for the week, but it is also the beginning of a new class for me. The class is EDU620: Principles of Instructional Design. So the next five weeks will be busy. My first two assignments are due on Saturday 2 September. In addition I am taking a Ruhi course called the Twin Manifestations about the lives of the Bab and Baha'u'llah. I'm finishing a rewrite and finishing a novella.

I like having a lot to do, if I have a lot going then I don't have time to do anything but focus on what needs to get done. I know that sounds strange, but it is how I feel. If I have a lot to do then I don't have time to worry or anything. All I have time for is work and pray and work and review and work and read the scriptures.

Up Coming Course

6 Asma 163 B.E. - August 25, 2006 A.D.


Today I said the Tablet of Ahmad before making this entry.

It is interesting that I worry about things and what I worry about never occurs. What does this have to do with an up coming class, I'll tell you. In the last class I worried about making an A, if was afraid I wouldn't and then there would be a problem with this class. However, I did make the A. In this up coming course, which begins Sunday I need to make at least a B.

I think what I need to do is set a schedule, follow it and place all my fears in God's hands. In fact, 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote a prayer specifically for placing one's problems in God's hand; Baha'u'llah also wrote prayers for the same thing, but the prayer by 'Abdu'l-Baha I've memorized and can say it without going to the prayer book. This helps when one is setting in front of a computer and doing home work. I can stop what I'm doing, say the prayer and then continue working on my class work.

Thankful Thursday

5 Asma 163 B.E. - August 24, 2006 A.D.


I belong to an online journal group one of the prompts on Thursday is to write ten things you are thankful. I've been thinking about ten things that I'm thankful for and how one shows thanks. One of the ways to show thanks is to say a prayer of thanks every day, but often times we don't stop and list the things we are thankful for. So today I'm going to list ten prayers revealed by Baha'u'llah that I am thankful for. Before I get to that the prayer I said before starting this entry was the Table of Ahmad (page 307 in the Baha'i prayer book).

Ten Prayer's I'm Thankful For

1. The Long Healing Prayer,
2. The Fire Table,
3. The Obligatory Prayer,
4. The Dawn Prayer,
5. Blessed is the Spot,
6. Intone, O My Servant,
7. Thy name is my Healing
8. Create in me a pure heart,
9. Magnified be Thy name,
10. The Evening prayer.

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Prayer is the Theme of the Week

4 Asma 163 B.E. - August 23, 2006 A.D.


The basic theme of my blog entries so far this week has been prayer. On Monday, I said "Blessed is the Spot" before writing the blog entry and wrote about Earth being blessed because of God sending his Prophets or Manifestations. On Tuesday, I said "Intone My Servant" and wrote my thoughts on prayer. Today I said the short Obligatory Prayer (Baha'i Prayer Book, page 4) before starting this entry. Each of these prayer were revealed by Baha'u'llah.

Prayer is an important part of the life of a believer in God. It really doesn't matter which religion you follow because prayer is a part of all religions. Prayer is an important part of a person's relationship with God. The reason for this is one soul needs to communicate with the Divine Essence and the way to do this is through prayer. The soul is the lover and the Divine Essence is the Beloved. A prayer can be one revealed by one of God's Prophets or it can be the person talking directly to God or to the Prophet.

The first two prayers I memorized as a child was "Now I lay me down to sleep," and the Lord's Prayer. The next scripture verse I learn was the Lord is My Shepherd. I still remember them, but since becoming a Baha'i I have added to the prayers I know by heart. As one gets older it seems to be a little more difficult to memorize prayers, however, it is not impossible. Now when I want to memorize a prayer, I read it aloud in the "privacy of my chamber" everyday; eventually I find that I have learned the prayer by heart. I have found that the longer the prayer, the more difficult it is to memorize; still it isn't impossible it just takes persistence.

Thoughts on Prayer

3 Asma 163 B.E. - August 22, 2006 A.D.


This is day two of reading a prayer by Baha'u'llah before writing this blog entry. Today the prayer I read was "Intone, O My servant," it is found on page iii, of the Baha'i Prayer book.
Prayer is very powerful. Prayer can change the individual reciting it and it can attract the hearts and souls of other people. Yet how many of us are aware of the power of prayer in our own lives. We pray for a specific items and if that precise item doesn't come, we think the prayer isn't answered. However, the prayer is answered, we need to look beyond what we pray for, look around and see what blessing God did bestow. Even if we don't get the item we prayed for our prayers are answered, we simply have to look around and see what God did give us in response to the prayer.

Then again sometimes we just need to keep praying, we need to be president in our prayers and keep asking. Or perhaps we need to start thanking God for what the blessing we have received, rather than just asking all the time. Thank God and share what we have. Then there is the possibility that we already have the ability to get what we're asking for ourselves rather than God simply giving it to us.

Earth is Blessed

2 Asma 163 B.E. - August 21, 2006 A.D.


The Earth is Blessed, it may not seem so when you look at all that is going on and going wrong in the world today. However, the planet is blessed, blessed because the is not a single place on earth where one of God's names is not mentioned and known. Not a single nation or land where the words of one of God's Prophets has not been spoken. Not place where prayers are not intoned, whispered or thought.

Often times we look at the negative and think that is how life is, but life is not completely negative. Eventually these wars will cease and humanity will realize that it is one race with many colors. We look at the differences and fail to see the similarities between humans, nations, or religions. Focusing on the differences cause them to overshadow the similarities that exist. If the similarities are not obvious one must look for them and pray to see them.

The Earth is Blessed, not just one country or region, but the whole planet. Everything on earth has a reason for being here, a reason to exist. If we don't see the reason we must look for it. Since the Earth it Blessed, humanity is blessed, but to see the blessing we must look for it, expect the blessing to appear.

NOTE: Today I said "Blessed is the Spot," page i, in the Baha'i Prayer Book. This prayer was revealed by Baha'u'llah.

A New Approach to Blog Entries

1 Asma 163 B.E. - August 20, 2006 A.D.

I have decided to take a new approach to my blog entries. There are times when I cannot think of what to write, not because my life is not exciting. No matter how mundane my daily activities are, there is one thing, or perhaps I should say one person, in my life that makes it exciting. The person in my life that makes my life exciting is Baha'u'llah. So from now on before I start making a blog entry, I am going to say one of the prayers revealed by Baha'u'llah. Now come the decision, which prayer am I going to say.

Baha'u'llah has revealed a multitude of prayers on various subject. There is nothing that happens in my life or that can happen that there is not a prayer covering that subject. There are prayers for protection, prayers for aid and assistance, prayer for tests and difficulties, and many others. I think what I will do is start at the beginning of my prayer book and say a different prayer for each blog entry I make. The prayer book also contains prayers by the Bab and 'Abdu'l-Baha. However, for the next nineteen days I think I will say Baha'u'llah's prayers and after that consider choosing prayers from the others.

When I make the blog entry I will put the page number of the prayer I use. I will not choose a theme or subject for the blog until after I have said the prayer. This is going to be fun, I am looking forward to see what subjects I write about. I love the prayers of Baha'u'llah, I cannot get enough of them. They are beautiful, inspiring, and spiritual.

Outside My Front Door

19 Kamal 163 B.E. - August 19, 2006 A.D.

I saw a Praying Mantis on the side of my house, just outside my front door. This isn't the first time I seen a Mantis there, in fact this is probably the same one I saw there Wednesday. The Mantis was a pale green, almost pastel and it sit on the wall just outside the door. This is the first time I've seen a Praying Mantis in Las Vegas and I've been her over thirty years.

Another unusual sight lately is a humming bird. So far, I've seen the bird twice, both times it was flying in front of the picture window in my living room. I don't know if it saw its reflection in the window or what. Each time a cat got into the window it flew off. My mother said she saw it in the backyard, so the little lady must have a nest around here someplace. I've never seen a humming bird around my house before. I couple of summers ago I saw a humming bird moth. The last time I saw a Humming Bird was at the Community College Campus in North Las Vegas about five or six years ago.

I will admit it was a pleasant experience to see both a Humming Bird and a Praying Mantis in the same week. There are lots of birds here, we have sparrows, mourning doves, and someone in the neighborhood has pigeons, because I noticed them eating the olives off the ground under my olive tree. There are cats in the neighborhood too, but no stray cats. The cats that roam around here are well fed and don't chase the birds.

Power Breakfast

18 Kamal 163 B.E. - August 18, 2006 A.D.

Everybody has a different definition of a power breakfast. For some it is an early morning business meal, while others consider it bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast, and coffee. For me a power breakfast is dawn prayers. It is sitting on the patio as the sun rises over Frenchman's Mountain or Sunrise Mountain, with a prayer book reading the verses revealed by Baha'u'llah.

In the neighborhood I live in most backyards are enclosed, either by stone walls, wooden fences, or a combination of the two. Everyone has either a covered enclosed patio, a covered back porch and a pool, or a combination. I have a covered enclosed patio myself, so when I sit there it is private. The only things you can hear that early in the morning is a neighbor's dog barking, the roar fighter or a commercial jet, Metro's helicopter, or sirens echoing. When I sit on the patio of a morning, I am alone with my prayer book, my journal, and a bottle of water.

This morning when I sit out there it was chilly boarding on cold. Which is unusual for this time of year. Normally it's pleasant or warm bordering on hot. This morning I sit on the patio and read the Tablet of Ahmad, yesterday I read the dawn prayer as the sun rose above the eastern range of the Rocky Mountains. It is nice to sit on the patio reading prayers and then writing in my journal. I didn't write in my journal this morning because it was so chilly. In the morning I think I'll take a sweater out there with me, then I'll have something to cover my arms, so I can sit say prayers and write in my journal.

The days doesn't go well if I miss my power breakfast, without time for prayer of a morning the rest of the day is a complete loss. I get more done when I spend a little time with Baha'u'llah of a morning. I still have difficulties whether I say prayers or not, but if I don't pray of a morning then I take everything harder than when I say prayers.

Urgency To Act

17 Kamal 163 B.E. - August 17, 2006 A.D.


I feel an urgency to act, to accomplish something today. I feel like I am riding a lightning bolt ready to strike the ground. I feel the approach of something wonderful, but I'm not sure what. I feel like I could achieve anything I set out to do today.

I did something different with my prayers this morning. I said the dawn prayer revealed by Baha'u'llah, while I sit on the patio. The air was cool and fresh, it felt marvelous, tranquil, and peaceful sitting in the early morning as the sun ascended over the eastern mountains. I have had a since of joy all morning. Baha'u'llah prayers always make me happy, whenever I say them. However, the feeling I get this morning is different from usual.

This is not the first time I had the feeling of "riding on a lightning bolt", I always get this feeling when I need to take action or something marvelous is about to happen. I can never tell which, but I know to expect a great surprise when I take action. Now all I have to do is to figure out what action to take. I am not sure if what I am writing makes any sense or not, but that is how I feel this morning.

Not to change the subject, but I had an interesting dream last night. I dreamed that I was moving from one task to another in swift succession. I do not remember precisely what the tasks were, but whatever they were I was getting a lot accomplished, finishing a lot of projects. Whatever the projects were they were important and I was starting and finishing them in record time.

Maybe the dream has something to do with the way I feel this morning. I know that the more I accomplish this morning the more I want to accomplish. I do not seem to be able to type fast enough, the faster I type the faster I want to type. I have a lot of energy this morning. In fact I am multitasking, of course with a telephone internet connection, this is not difficult; especially if I am doing a survey or downloading something. A telephone connection is sometimes a "bit slow", OK, maybe a lot slow. So I can wait for something to download and compose blog entries or play a game of free cell solitary while I am waiting.

Today I am not playing free cell, not that I have not played it this morning, I did that earlier while I was waiting for SpyBot to run. I run one of my antispy ware programs every morning before getting started on the days project, while I am running those programs I play free cell solitary. After the antispy ware has did its job, then I go online, lately I have considered changing the time I run one of the antispy ware programs to before I shut the computer down at night. Well I think this is all today, I have other things to do before I go to the post office and the recycling company.

The reason I Carry My Pen and Paper Journal Everywhere

15 Kamal 163 B.E. - August 15, 2006 A.D.


What am I going to make this entry about today? I'm composing this post in longhand writing in my pen and paper journal because I don't have access to my computer today. My computer is at home and I'm elsewhere, so I'm unable to type it up on the computer. I won't have access to my computer until after 7:00 p.m. tonight.

This entry isn't the first thing I've written today. Everything is written in longhand because I'm unable to access a computer where I'm at and I need to write. (I think I'm repeating myself.) I have my pen and paper journal with me, so I can write in it, retype everything later, and then post the stuff.

Anyway, here I am eating a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich, sipping a soda and writing a blog entry. Today is 15 Kamal 163 B.E. (August 15). This entry will not be posted until later this evening or early tomorrow, it depends on how late I get and and how tired I am when I do get home.

I started this out not know what to write about. Well I found a subject to write about: the reason I carry my pen and paper journal with me everywhere. True it's not very exciting, but this is how things are today. I think my blog entries are becoming a bit stale, unexciting or mundane. I guess I should spice them up a bit, maybe add some pictures. Perhaps even change the picture I've posted on this blog. I've found some more family pictures, so I think I'll post other pictures of myself at various ages. I don't have a recent picture of myself, at least not one that isn't over two or three years old. Probably about time I took a new picture of myself.
This is not going to get posted until August 16, but I'm not going to change the dates since I composed it today (August 15).

I Saw a Humming bird today

14 Kamal 163 B.E. - August 14, 2006


I saw a humming bird today. I looked out my living room window and there it was flying back and forth in on the other side of the glass. This is the second time in two weeks that I've seen a humming bird, fluttering outside that window. The last time I saw the bird, my cat didn't see it, but this time Lion saw the bird. He sit on the table, this is in front of the window, and watched the bird. He couldn't take his eyes off the little creature. The humming bird isn't the only unusual bird I've seen in the front yard lately.

Normally the only birds around here are mourning doves and sparrows, but lately there have been lots of different kinds of birds in the yard. There is a couple of pigeons flying in from somewhere to eat the olives, these two birds don't nest around here, but the come to eat the olives that fall off the tree. Besides the humming bird and pigeons, there is another larger bird that flies around here, I'm not sure what it is because I've never seen it before and I'm not a person who make a hobby of bird watching. However, the bird is larger than a sparrow and not as "fat" as a pigeon. It has nice tail feathers, it could be a nightingale, but I've never seen a nightingale so I don't know.

I saw a humming bird today,
its wings fluttering between the visible and invisible,
it flew outside my window.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

12 Kamal 163 B.E. - August 12, 2006 A.D.


I started to make an entry for the past two days, but never got any farther than the date. I was completing an assignment and that took all my attention. The assignment is complete and posted so now I can focus on something else. I will not have classes between Sunday, August 13 and Saturday, August 26, but I have lost of writing and stuff planned. I've started something new, a journal in which I write what I accomplished during the day. This shows me I've at least achieve something. In fact that journal holds two list. The first list is the things I've achieved during the day and the other is things I need to schedule.

Yesterday, August 11, was my Grandparent's wedding anniversary. Grandma and Grandpa Newland were married in 1918. I remember them celebrating their 50th anniversary. The had some friends over to the house, a cake, and ... that's about what I remember of it, except that Grandma and Grandpa smiled a lot during the entire celebration.

How Many Months to Go?

7 Kamal 163 B.E. - August 7, 2006

At one of my e-mail address I receive a self-improvement newsletter, this particular newsletter gives journal exercises in each issue. I think that's why I requested the newsletter in the beginning. Sometimes I have problems coming up with themes or subject for my blogs (yes I said blogs, but that's another entry). Anyway, the newsletter that arrive today had an exercise concerning what I wanted to achieve between now and the end of the year. There are five months left until December 31, 2006. However, I don't celebrate January 1, 2007 as the new year, the new year I celebrate i Naw-Ruz, which falls on March 21, 2007 and on that date I will celebrate the year 164 B.E.

The exercise in the newsletter was a three part exercise consisting of stating what I wanted to accomplish between now and the end of the year. The first part of the exercise ask for a list of things to accomplish between now and December 31, 2006. I'm changing that to what do you want to accomplish between now and Naw-Ruz? Next it ask for what difficulties you need to overcome to accomplish these goal. The third part ask for what actions are you going to take to overcome the difficulties. So here goes my three lists. (There's nothing like posting your goal and difficulties on a blog where more then a million total strangers can see and comment on them.)

What do I want to accomplish between now and Naw-Ruz, March 21, 2007?

1. Complete my Masters Degree in Educational Technology.
2. Become a published author.
3. Complete the Ruhi Institute series of courses
4. Pay off my bills.

What difficulties do I need to overcome to accomplish these goals?

1. I am a procrastinator, so I must over come the tendency to put things off.
2. I am a worrier, I worry if i don't have anything to worry about and worry causes me to find obstacles where there are none.
3. I see the obstacles in the way of accomplishment rather than look for the path over, under, through, or around it.
4. I am inclined to focus on one thing until it is complete, this works well if one has only a single thing to accomplish, but it doesn't work very well with multiple deadlines or goals.

What actions am I going to take to overcome the difficulties?

1. Say the Tablet of Ahmad everyday, when I say this prayer I can handle difficulties much better and don't focus on the difficulties.
2. Write an action plan with the steps necessary to accomplish each goal.
3. Work on each item a little bit each day or each week rather than focusing exclusively on one goal for weeks or months at a time.
4. Step back from the obstacle and see if I can find another approach.

Verses Running Through My Mind

6 Kamal 163 B.E. - August 6, 2006


The verses, "turn my darkness into light" and "change my sorrow into blissful joy", have been running through my mind all day. Thinking about them, I realize that this is what reading the writing of the Bab, Baha'u'llah, and 'Abdu'l-Baha do. I can be completely disheartened before reading or reciting a prayer and my whole attitude changes. If I'm on the verge of tears and read a prayer or chant the Most Great Name, my attitude changes to one of joy and confidence. It always amazes me the effect that the Sacred writing have on my emotion and thought pattern. If I am in a negative mood say a prayer or reading a verse of one of the tables make my thought more positive.

O Pen of Glory!
Your verses bring me joy
they transform my darkness into light.