Topaz Street

 Topaz Street

 HOW ANIMALS WOULD CROSS THE ROAD IF THEY WERE PEOPLE.

America's Spiritual Destiny

Excerpt from "The Priceless Pearl" (1969), Ruhiyyih Rabbani's biography of Shoghi Effendi 

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The American nation...stands, indeed, from whichever angle one observes its immediate fortunes, in grave peril. The woes and tribulations which threaten it are partly avoidable, but mostly inevitable and God-sent..." He went on to point out the changes which these unavoidable afflictions must bring about in the "obsolescent doctrine of absolute sovereignty" to which its government and people still clung and which was so "manifestly at variance with the needs of a world already contracted into a neighbourhood and crying out for unity" and through which this nation will find itself purged of its anachronistic conceptions and prepared to play the great role 'Abdu'l-Bahá foretold for it in the establishment of the Lesser Peace. The "fiery tribulations" to come would not only "weld the American Nation to its sister nations in both hemispheres" but would cleanse it of "the accumulated dross which ingrained racial prejudice, rampant materialism widespread ungodliness and moral laxity have combined, in the course of successive generations, to produce, and which have prevented her thus far from assuming the role of world spiritual leadership forecast by 'Abdu'l-Bahá's unerring pen - a role which she is bound to fulfill through travail and sorrow."

 

"The troubles of this world pass, and what we have left is what we have made of our souls."

--Shoghi Effendi

Eat All You Want!

 

At Last

Human Evolution

 

The Seven Arts Building

 

The Seven Arts Building at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Street in Carmel, California, is a favorite of mine.  

Architect: A.B.Coats

Tip of the hat to the architect's great-grandson.

A Slow Reveal

 

"The declared purpose of history’s series of prophetic revelations, therefore, has been not only to guide the individual seeker on the path of personal salvation, but to prepare the whole of the human family for the great eschatological Event lying ahead, through which the life of the world will itself be entirely transformed. The revelation of Bahá’u’lláh is neither preparatory nor prophetic. It is that Event."

From "One Common Faith"

(Compiled at the Baha'i World Center)

Clare Daly MEP-Free Press

 

Catherine Hyde

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

 

 

Gathering Storm

 

 

Photo: Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images

"In the future the negative forces will become more and more powerful. The negative forces will be like a hurricane storming and you must find your way to the center of the hurricane. You must find your way to the center where it is quiet and it is calm. And the faith you had one day will not be sufficient for the next day."

Shoghi Effendi,
Pilgrim's Notes,
Margaret Sears, 1952.

Ohara Koson 1877-1945

 

Blue Irises

Group of Egrets

Egret and Moon

Castle Street

 

castle street, telegraph hill

Ronaldo Farelli

Vine Maple

 

Among the Blissful

 

from Haideh Azarbakhsch

Frances Lanier

 

Nursing school graduation photo, (circa 1919) of Frances Lanier. See served during World War II in the Philippines, England and France as a member of the United States Army Nurse Corps, earning the rank of Major. 

Seaside

 

Seaside

Nevada Theater Murals

"The murals feature California poppies, the Humbolt Lily, oaks, acorns, pines, and many other native elements, including a Niesenan basket."      --Allyn Kate

The Mother Temple of South America

 

The House of Worship in Santiago, Chile, was the final Continental Baha'i House of Worship to be constructed. It was dedicated in 2016 and is a place where everyone may worship God.

"O people of the world! Build ye houses of worship throughout the lands in the name of Him Who is the Lord of all religions. Make them as perfect as is possible in the world of being, and adorn them with that which befitteth them, not with images and effigies. Then, with radiance and joy, celebrate therein the praise of your Lord, the Most Compassionate. Verily, by His remembrance the eye is cheered and the heart is filled with light."

--Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas

Machinists Mate First Class

 

From the Puget Sound Naval Museum

  

The Car matches the House

   

thanks diz thomas

Pat Cooney

 

My dad (on right) with his long-time friend and colleague, Pat Cooney, who's pretending he's on the phone.

Pat