day twelve

“I beseech Thee, O my God, by that Letter which, as soon as it proceeded out of the mouth of Thy will, hath caused the oceans to surge, and the winds to blow, and the fruits to be revealed, and the trees to spring forth, and all past traces to vanish, and all veils to be rent asunder, and them who are devoted to Thee to hasten unto the light of the countenance of their Lord, the Unconstrained, to make known unto me what lay hid in the treasuries of Thy knowledge and concealed within the repositories of Thy wisdom.”

Bahá’u’lláh

“Far be it from us to despair at any time of the incalculable favours of God, for if it were His wish He could cause a mere atom to be transformed into a sun and a single drop into an ocean. He unlocketh thousands of doors, while man is incapable of conceiving even a single one.”

Bahá’u’lláh

leili towfigh/left (boston, ma, usa): At dawn, the sun glimmered into my studio. At sunset, there was that cosmic, slate-gray, big-sky feeling. Recently, I heard an astronomer talking about how the iron that is to be found in our blood was once, billions of years ago, a star that exploded. Now, I’ve heard the expression “We are all stardust” before and, admittedly, it sounds like a concept straight out of 1970s glam rock, but it did capture my imagination, and I have been thinking about it throughout the Fast. I’m reflecting about chance and creation and tininess and power and creativity and perfection and knowledge and service and how we can improve, how we can influence and change ourselves and our environment, and why are we here and what is our relation to each other. Even some other things, too. It has been a very challenging Fast, physically. Also full of art, connection, gratitude.

kadria simons/right (toronto, on, canada): The bridge in my dawn photo is near our home and is one of our favourite places to walk in the mornings. It reminds me of a bridge in North Vancouver near the house where my mother grew up. My grandmother used to take my older brother and me for walks on that bridge. I am thinking of her today and wondering what life would be like if she were still alive. The dusk photo was taken at Bluffers Park near Toronto. My husband and I set out with a delicious picnic and some prayer books. After taking some shots, we ended up breaking the fast in the car as the temperature dropped as quickly as the sun!