Oct 22nd, 2007
Standing Up and Standing Down
Stand up for the Divine Cause, and behave with the utmost affection one with the other. Bahá’u'lláh, Bahá’í writings
It was my birthday yesterday and so a time for reflection. But rather than reflect on the whole past year, I want to reflect on just the past few days, which have all been about standing up and standing down.
I’ve been a magistrate for 25 years exactly now. Magistrates are volunteer, unpaid, first level judges here in the UK - as someone once so succinctly put it, we put people in jail for a hobby. For the last nine years I have been vice chairman of the bench (this is what you call a collection of magistrates who sit in the same court). But I stood down at our annual meeting a few days ago to let someone else have a go. I am still in post until the end of the calendar year, though.
A group of us at the University of Edinburgh took a robust stand against terrorism and the fear of terrorism, looking at the implementation of the Bahá’í teachings, particularly on world government and collective action and security, as the most effective way to prevent and deal with terrorism.
The girls at Newstead Wood School in Bromley and I stood together as women who want to change the world and know we have ability to do so! We considered many ways to get involved in volunteering, entering public life and being social activists. What excellent young people they are - vibrant and engaged and concerned for the well-being of humanity.
On 15 October I stood up for the environment with bloggers around the world - amazing to be part of this worldwide endeavour!
I finally stood down from chairmanship and the board of the One World Trust at its meeting last week after 10 years. I was sad to go but will continue to support their work.
Everyone stood up for poverty on 17 October. The poverty gap continues to widen - astounding, when we have the ability and means to get rid of poverty completely.
I sat down, too, on 17 October and watched a concert in Cardiff in aid of the UNIFEM Trust Fund to combat violence against women. A wonderful concert, largely thanks to the efforts of UNIFEM members Kay Richmond and Marina Monios. We raised quite a bit of money - but, again, why does violence still go on in the 21st century?
18 October was chance for local people from all faith traditions and none to take a stand on the question `Islam in Europe: Who Adapts to Whom?’ Bedford Council of Faiths hosted and I facilitated a vigorous, lively and powerful discussion on this `elephant in the room’. Muslim academics Sheikh Michael Mumisa and Iftikhar Malik put across the point that Islam is a religion that is based on flexibility and changing circumstances; local Member of Parliament Patrick Hall and local C of E vicar Jay MacLeod responded on how we in Europe can live peacefully side by side, standing together against the tiny minority of whatever persuasion who would destroy our unity.
On Friday local parish and town councillors and the clerks sat down to discuss the Sustainable Communities Development Plan that drives our local development. We discussed initiatives around the environment, health, young people, jobs and work, and housing. Astounding to me that people think these are all separate things . . . and then complain when they learn they are connected, saying that we are saying the same things over and over.
Friday night I learned about young people standing up for what they believe and being strong in the face of life’s difficulties. This from Ruhi book 5 - my favourite of all the Ruhi training institute books - which I am facilitating with a group of friends.
And yesterday people of many faiths stood together in Guildford to reflect on the work of the UN and on the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. This was after I sat down with my family for a breakfast birthday party, including balloons, strawberry and cream flan and pass the parcel!
Today I am standing in for the Bedford Council of Faiths at the official opening of the Bedford campus of the new University of Bedford in the presence of HRH the Earl of Wessex and later on will drive north to stand as the Bahá’í representative on the Multi-Faith Centre at the University of Derby at its AGM.
You may think these are all different things - actually, they are all one thing: people living together on one planet. Bahá’ís believe that by standing in unity and working together for peace, for the environment, for women, for young people, for families, for understanding, for education the world will be much more live-in-able. This is why I am happy to stand up as a Bahá’í.
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And I am standing right beside you.
Can we sit down now?
Dear Wendi, I am very thankful to you for having started this blog. Your posts are always very beautiful and thought-provoking. God bless you!
What an exciting post! And goodness you DO a great deal of things. Was that the Jay Macleod who wrote the book “Ain’t no makin’ it” I wonder? We just finished reading it in the class that I teach “Sociological foundations of education”. His book is a classic in the field of the sociology of education and on the back of the book it says that he went to England to become an Anglican priest.