Wendi’s Wanders

Through the breaths of the Holy Spirit it performs miracles; the Orient and the Occident embrace each other, the North and South become intimates and associates . . . and the canopy of the oneness of the world of humanity is raised on the apex of the globe . . . `Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í writings

Bahá’ís do not exactly `celebrate’ the holidays and holy days observed by other religions but we certainly share them, especially when our relatives and friends do commemorate them and when everyone else around us is observing them. This seems to be particularly true of Christmas and New Year here in the UK. Many people have time off work. The Bahá’ís try to arrange various programmes during this period because people are free to attend them. This year I attended two Bahá’í events, both marvellous in their own way.

The first place I went to was Finland. I had been invited by the national governing council of the Bahá’ís of Finland, the National Spiritual Assembly, to present the mains talks at its winter school, which was held over the new year. I jumped at the chance, as I had never been to Finland before and really wanted to see this fascinating country. My mother was visiting, so we went together. Her own mother was born in Norway, so she feels she has an affinity with that part of the world.

The winter school was held in a school building in a village near the small town of Joensuu. It was dark for a good portion of day but snowed only a little, much to the disappointment of the Finns (we, however, were rather relieved, after hearing reports of temperatures dipping to 30 below freezing!)

The Finnish Bahá’ís are wonderful and come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds - Finnish, of course and Sami, but there are also Americans of all kinds and ethnicities and many different Europeans, Iranians, and a Nigerian. There were even two people there who were taught the Bahá’í Faith by my mother’s sister in Arizona! The diversity was unexpected and really powerful - we had been expecting a `monoculture’.

The programme was a little unexpected too. Well, I knew what I was to talk about - marriage and the family - but I wasn’t expecting to see fencing and climbing as workshop possibilities, nor an origami competition (in heats!) as part of the evening entertainment. But perhaps most fascinating for me was the invitation to go ice swimming on new year’s eve. Yes, several people actually went off to swim in the ice covered water - I declined… Instead, my mother and I watched fireworks from the warmth of our hotel room.

I learned a lot from the Finnish experience and from the Finnish Bahá’ís. I loved their workshop on the Bahá’í history of their country, I very much appreciated that every single word was translated for me into English, and I admire them for their hardiness and dedication. I hope to go back - though perhaps in the summer, when I can actually see the outdoors!

The second place I went was the Warwick UK Bahá’í Festival `Writing the Future’. 1600 Bahá’ís from 22 countries (including my nephew Devon Gundry, from the US, who came with the fantastic Dawnbreaker Collective) - amazingly powerful. My favourite events there? Sarah Munro’s one woman show telling the story of George Townshend, and Steven Phelps’s talk at the parallel conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies entitled `Adversary or ally? The new atheism and the Bahá’í Faith’. And the jazz band. And the three short films at the film festival. And, well, everything.

Oh, and have a look at this link - describing my new role with Bedfordshire PCT.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i Faith, Finland, UK Baha’i Festival 2008, Devon Gundry, Dawnbreaker Collective, Bedfordshire PCT

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