The 2020 California CZU Lightning Complex fire burned more than 86,500 acres in Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties.
The Bosch Baha'i School, located off Empire Grade in the Santa Cruz Mountains, had significant loss of cabins and other structures. The main buildings were spared and there was no loss of human life..
And what of the advent of Judaism's "Lord of Hosts"; Christianity's "Return of Christ in the glory of the Father"; Islam's "Great Announcement"; Buddhism's Maitreya Buddha; Hinduism's new incarnation of Krishna; and Zoroastrianism's "Sháh-Bahrám"?
"Consider the past. How many, both high and low, have, at all times, yearningly awaited the advent of the Manifestations of God in the sanctified persons of His chosen Ones. How often have they expected His coming, how frequently have they prayed that the breeze of Divine mercy might blow, and the promised Beauty step forth from behind the veil of concealment, and be made manifest to all the world. And whensoever the portals of grace did open, and the clouds of divine bounty did rain upon mankind, and the light of the Unseen did shine above the horizon of celestial might, they all denied Him, and turned away from His face—the face of God Himself." -Baha'u'llah
O ye loved ones of God! In this, the Bahá'í dispensation, God's Cause is spirit unalloyed. His Cause belongeth not to the material world. It cometh neither for strife nor war, nor for acts of mischief or of shame; it is neither for quarrelling with other Faiths, nor for conflicts with the nations. Its only army is the love of God, its only joy the clear wine of His knowledge, its only battle the expounding of the Truth; its one crusade is against the insistent self, the evil promptings of the human heart. Its victory is to submit and yield, and to be selfless is its everlasting glory.--Abdu'l-Baha
"In the fall of 2009 and winter of 2010 the Washington State Board on Geographic Names, the Province of British Columbia Geographic Names Office, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and the Geographical Names Board of Canada each approved the name ‘Salish Sea‘ as an official designation for the inland marine waters of Washington and British Columbia." LINK
My father was the sales manager at a radio station on Cannery Row in the early '60s. He had a small office in the Bear Flag Building, whose infamy was made popular by John Steinbeck. At the time of his employment, the Row was transitioning from processing seafood to processing tourists. I would often read of fires of undetermined origins burning down abandoned canneries, only to have hotels appear soon after the debris was cleared.
Interviewing California Governor Earl Warren for KSRO
Exploring my documents file, I came across this letter I wrote years ago to a Jehovah's Witness.
Dear Sir,
During your recent visit, I am
afraid the answer I gave to your question was not very well presented. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify.
Your question was simply this: “Who do you believe has dominion over the
world?” Without hesitation, I answered
“God”. You then said that “God” was a
good answer, but you referred me to a passage in the Bible which indicates that
Satan has dominion over the world. As you
seemingly put me in the position of believing something that contradicts the
Word of God, I was naturally defensive, especially considering how you were
standing at my front door at a time you chose, wearing a suit and tie and
having prepared yourself to use the Bible to prove to me that I was incorrect
in my beliefs, while I, on the other hand stood before you
unshaven, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt and fearing that my
cat would dart out the open door into traffic. I believe you had both the
mental and physical advantage over me, and so in the interest of fairness I
decided to write to you and explain my belief in the realm of ideas, being stripped
from physical appearances.
As a Baha’i, I believe that God, the Creator, has dominion over all things visible and invisible, and has no partner or equal nor has He ceded authority of any part of His creation.
And so what of the Bible passage that says unequivocally that Satan has dominion of the world?
Baha’is believe that we have two natures: spiritual, and
physical. Satan is the personification
of our animal, or lesser nature, which prompts us to avarice, greed, jealousy,
envy and the like. Being born into the
physical world we each have this physical nature, and as we learn from the Word
of God, we are to overcome the promptings of this aspect of our reality on
Earth through the spiritual guidance given to us by God’s Manifestations. When the Bible says that Satan has dominion
over the world, it refers to the inescapable physical matrix into which
we are born and struggle with every day.
Baha’is believe the Bible is the Word of God given unto men
two thousand years ago. Passages such as
the one you questioned me with were written to convey spiritual truths in a manner appropriate for the times.
There is a passage that states that in the Last Days, the
Books would be opened. As a Baha’i, I
believe these are those days, and Baha’u’llah has opened them.
Thank you for your time—I hope you visit me again some day. There are many things to talk about!
Sincerely,
