day thirteen

“Thou hearest, O my God, my sighs and my groaning, and beholdest my powerlessness, and my poverty, and my misery, and my woes, and my wretchedness. I swear by Thy might! I have wept with such a weeping that I have been unable to make mention of Thee, or to extol Thee, and cried with such a bitter cry that every mother in her bereavement was bewildered at me, and forgot her own anguish and the sighs she had uttered.

I implore Thee, O my Lord, by Thine Ark, through which the potency of Thy will was manifested and the energizing influences of Thy purpose were revealed, and which saileth on both land and sea through the power of Thy might, not to seize me in my mighty sins and great trespasses. I swear by Thy glory! The waters of Thy forgiveness and Thy mercy have emboldened me, as hath Thy dealing, in bygone ages, with the sincere among Thy chosen ones, and with such of Thy Messengers as have proclaimed Thy oneness.

I am well aware, O my Lord, that I have been so carried away by the clear tokens of Thy loving-kindness, and so completely inebriated with the wine of Thine utterance, that whatever I behold I readily discover that it maketh Thee known unto me, and it remindeth me of Thy signs, and of Thy tokens, and of Thy testimonies. By Thy glory! Every time I lift up mine eyes unto Thy heaven, I call to mind Thy highness and Thy loftiness, and Thine incomparable glory and greatness; and every time I turn my gaze to Thine earth, I am made to recognize the evidences of Thy power and the tokens of Thy bounty. And when I behold the sea, I find that it speaketh to me of Thy majesty, and of the potency of Thy might, and of Thy sovereignty and Thy grandeur. And at whatever time I contemplate the mountains, I am led to discover the ensigns of Thy victory and the standards of Thine omnipotence.

I swear by Thy might, O Thou in Whose grasp are the reins of all mankind, and the destinies of the nations! I am so inflamed by my love for Thee, and so inebriated with the wine of Thy oneness, that I can hear from the whisper of the winds the sound of Thy glorification and praise, and can recognize in the murmur of the waters the voice that proclaimeth Thy virtues and Thine attributes, and can apprehend from the rustling of the leaves the mysteries that have been irrevocably ordained by Thee in Thy realm.

Glorified art Thou, O God of all names and Creator of the heavens! I render Thee thanks that Thou hast made known unto Thy servants this Day whereon the river that is life indeed hath flowed forth from the fingers of Thy bounty, and the springtime of Thy revelation and Thy presence hath appeared through Thy manifestation unto all who are in Thy heaven and all who are on Thy earth.”

Bahá’u’lláh

“That the heart is the throne, in which the Revelation of God the All-Merciful is centered, is attested by the holy utterances which We have formerly revealed. Among them is this saying: “Earth and heaven cannot contain Me; what can alone contain Me is the heart of him that believeth in Me, and is faithful to My Cause.”

Bahá’u’lláh

layli (los angeles, u.s.a.) left: this morning as i woke, i opened my shutters as i do every morning during the Fast, to greet the new day and watch the sun peek up over the horizon. on this morning, to my surprise, i saw these two creatures standing outside my window, mesmerized and stunned with delight and/or confusion, as if they had been standing there all night – i like to wake up to such strange sightings.

and as the sun sets, every night, i cannot wait to tear through my delightful blood oranges and all the other citrus picked from our friends trees. the citrus is so beautifully colored, so happy and bright, it literally has the power to bring me cheer. its that time of the Fast for me where i am spiritually jacked on happiness & gratitude; my focus and inner sight is with such a keenness that i feel as if i am traversing through my history and baggage with roadrunner pace. this is the time of the Fast that i catch myself actually saying, “i don’t want it to end”.

p.s. i love that i am able to share this day with my brother, who is worlds away in the ‘jing. like last year, on this day, when we share this lovely opportunity on 19days, i feel so much closer to him, and know that we are both thinking of one another all day. it is so sweet.

na’im (beijing, china) right: This is my 13th Fast. My first Fast, I accidentally ate a Frutio. That lemon Frutio is a symbol of the Frutios that I face every year, which often must be consciously declined, or sought out in the subconscious to be rooted from my character. It is an awesome (like a supernova, not like a hot dog) process that redefines me for the remaining year, highlighting the standard to which I hope to attain. That it also is nestled in a context of love that spans the planet, fellowship, and awesome (like a hot dog) food is a bounty undeserved.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samimi-extremie/5532664621/